May 26, 2014

"Believe you can, and you're half way there."

Theodore Roosevelt

Erin's on Her Hump Day!

Well, the time has hit, and I am officially over the hill... in regards to my mission timing. That’s right, I hit my hump day, and instead of a mid-life crisis, I experienced a mid-mission crisis. Didn’t know there was such a thing until I experienced it. I think there were happy tears shed and also very sad tears because I still have no idea where the time went. Also, that same day I have finally decided to face the fact that I am lactose intolerant... Yes, it’s true. I have cleaned out the fridge of all dairy products and have substituted almond milk (vanilla flavoring of course) for my delicious 2% milk. I know that things are happening for a reason, but there was definite reason to shed a tear or two... or three...sniff, sniff...

Anyways, this week has been crazy! There is a dead time in Dublin from 10am-5pm where nobody is home because they are all working, paying for those expensive houses. So we were told to fill the time with service, preparing for lessons, and also completing any paperwork that we have. Well... companionship study = preparing for lessons, paperwork = do it while driving, and service = well, we are working on branching out on that. We are finding new things to do daily. The reason I share this is because it has been so hard to find investigators. A lot of our teaching pool has continued to push us to come back once it's summer. It’s so hard because we have 7 days to wait until "summer" but really, everyone is done with school. It’s difficult when your focus is pure missionary work and their focus is the worldly things. I know how hard it can be, but come one, God is important people!

Sis. Gale and Sis. McIntyre at Murfield Park

Our P-day yesterday was amazing! Our ward held a huge breakfast (I couldn’t eat most of it), and then we played ultimate Frisbee with all the youth. Afterwards, we went to the Memorial Golf Tournament with a family in our ward; he is actually the ward mission leader. Then we went to the church where a surprise birthday was being held for one of our zone leaders; then we went home, changed, and went to dinner with Cynthia because both us and Cnthia did not want to spend this wonderful holiday alone. It was such a great day! We did go tracting the rest of the day, but we didn’t have any success. We are hoping to come up with, once again, new ideas for finding people. I know they are out there!

Heading to Murfield Park with the Mangum family.

I want to make a huge shout out to my brother who is now a newly endowed member of the church! It is so great to see his smiling face! I also want to say that I am so proud of all his accomplishments! He also graduated from high school which unfortunately makes me officially old. Jake also graduated from middle school! He is awesome and looked great in his purple tie ;)

I also would like to ask for prayer to be said for a dear friend of mine who recently found out that her son has been diagnosed with lung cancer. I know that as we put our faith in Heavenly Father that His will will be done and that comfort can be given to those of this family. 

I am so grateful for the gospel and for all those who are supporting me. I know this work is great, and I know that Heavenly Father is so aware of our needs and wants. As we turn to Him and allow Him to help us, we will be comforted and feel the love that He has for each of us personally. I know this gospel is true, and I know the Book of Mormon IS and will forever be the word of God, The Book of Life. I love you all again, and I truly hope we take the time to remember those who "risk a lot to save a lot." I love this work again, and I do love my job!

Love, 

Sister Gale 

Okay, so this is the Mangum family who we went to the Memorial golf
tournament with. They are awesome! These are their cute girls also so it is awesome to hang out with them. We are going to go back to the tournament later this week because it will be a great time to proselyte to people. So the reason why we are standing on a bridge and the reason I am pointing in the distance is because of something funny Sister McIntyre and I did. This place that we are walking at is in Murfield park. You cant walk on the paths any time of the year except for this tournament. 



Well.... Sister McIntyre and I were driving around one day and looking at huge houses, and we came across Jack Nichoalson's (famous golfer) house; we just continued driving on. The road got more and more narrow, and we were so confused. We came up to a fence, and our side mirrors barely missed the poles. We were freaking out, and then we got to the bridge, that we are standing on.... Right then we realized that we were driving on the golf course! We prayed hard that we would get across the bridge safely, and we did. We continued to drive for about 15 minutes until we finally were able to get onto a real road. The funny part of this story is that people aren't even allowed to walk on those paths until the tournament comes into town, and then you have to pay a TON of money to get in... Well, we just drove it and got our own scenic view for free. Oh, and people would get arrested for something like that! Miracle? I think so! Haha