Week 58: It's not all rainbows...
You know that if Sister Fairbanks is admitting in her group email that things are not great, her email to me was even more telling. Our Mother's Day video chat was kept light and cheery on Sunday, but we got down to more of the nitty-gritty during our more private video chat on Monday (PDay). I think a small part of the issue seems to stem from the idea that by this point on a mission, a missionary should have things figured out and their confidence will have increased, and it will be smooth sailing on the "downhill" half of the mission. It's a common notion, but ultimately incorrect, especially when you consider that we are taught that "If you are on the right path, it will always be uphill." That's not to say that there will not be seasons of confidence and peace on that uphill climb, but for us to think we will know when those seasons will/should come is fairly naive. Anyway, that's not the whole story behind her struggles lately--there are always multiple variables when we are struggling, of course (and missionaries have more than their share of reasons to feel the strain at times). I'm sure she would be grateful for any prayers you might feel to offer on her behalf. I know this mom would be grateful. 💕
Most of Becca's email to me was not for sharing this week (as with all of us during our trials at times), but here are some of the brighter points:
Good Morning!
... Sister Chanipo and I did have some fun this week. We are getting to know each other a little more and finding things to relate with each other. She is not what I expected at all, haha. Although I'm not sure what I did expect. She's great though. She is a very good missionary and we're working on having more unity in planning and teaching. We had a great lesson this week where we bounced back and forth, both of us were really following the Spirit, and we were able to say things that I knew were able to touch the person we were teaching. It was a good reminder that there are still great experiences to be had and still missionary moments to find.
(Thankfully I keep a journal or I never would have remembered what happened this week.) We said goodbye to Madison on Tuesday night. She moved home for the summer and I am going to miss her like crazy. She's an amazing girl and I feel privileged to have known her.
Wednesday we had a lesson with a very mentally challenged lady. She seems fine, until you get her talking and I realized that she is very bipolar. And suicidal. That was intense. ...We were able to get her to calm down before we left. She's not receptive to the gospel right now, but she is in a safe place where she will be watched. My goodness.
Fun fact: I learned that the church movie "Freetown" about a couple missionaries in Africa during war times is actually Sister Chanipo's father's story! She hasn't actually seen the movie, but she says that people ask her about it once in a while. She only knows a little of her dad's story, but we had a couple cool experiences that have inspired her to learn more from him.
Yesterday was pretty great. I told you how awesome church was. Then after I called you, we spent the rest of the day walking, tracting (going door to door), and talking to people. It was exhausting, but good. We had a great visit the whole time...
Here is a pic from Instagram (posted yesterday):
And here is the group email:
Good Morning!
Well, this week just kind of stunk. Usually I try to focus on the good parts of my week in my emails, and there were a few. But I'll be honest, this week was just plain hard. There is a lot of stress that goes into missionary work. Often, all of those aspects of missionary work can be positive and joyful! And sometimes they are just not. This week I was pretty overwhelmed by it all, but of course there were also some good lessons to be learned.
Last night, we had a pretty cool experience. We were out walking when we saw four guys by their car and went over to talk to them. Sister Chanipo asked where they were each from and they were all from Africa, four different countries! Sister Chanipo was really able to relate well to each of them (I really had no idea what was going on, haha) and we ended up giving them two copies of the Book of Mormon and had a great discussion with them! I thought it was a lot of fun. :)
On Sunday we had a combined meeting for Sunday school taught by our district (stake) president. It was a wonderful discussion on repentance. He referenced the most recent talk given by President Nelson on repentance, which talked about repenting being a change of mind, heart, and knowledge. It was enlightening. It helped me learn for myself that it IS possible, through Jesus Christ, to become the person He wants and expects us to become. It's easy to lose hope in that when that change doesn't happen immediately. But when we trust in our Heavenly Father, and do our part, which is to be a little bit better and do a little bit better every day, we can get there. I'm so grateful for these truths.
Hope you all have a great week!
Sister Fairbanks
1 - couple of giant nerds joined us while tracting :D
2 - saying goodbye to Madison (moved home for the summer)
Most of Becca's email to me was not for sharing this week (as with all of us during our trials at times), but here are some of the brighter points:
Good Morning!
... Sister Chanipo and I did have some fun this week. We are getting to know each other a little more and finding things to relate with each other. She is not what I expected at all, haha. Although I'm not sure what I did expect. She's great though. She is a very good missionary and we're working on having more unity in planning and teaching. We had a great lesson this week where we bounced back and forth, both of us were really following the Spirit, and we were able to say things that I knew were able to touch the person we were teaching. It was a good reminder that there are still great experiences to be had and still missionary moments to find.
(Thankfully I keep a journal or I never would have remembered what happened this week.) We said goodbye to Madison on Tuesday night. She moved home for the summer and I am going to miss her like crazy. She's an amazing girl and I feel privileged to have known her.
Wednesday we had a lesson with a very mentally challenged lady. She seems fine, until you get her talking and I realized that she is very bipolar. And suicidal. That was intense. ...We were able to get her to calm down before we left. She's not receptive to the gospel right now, but she is in a safe place where she will be watched. My goodness.
Fun fact: I learned that the church movie "Freetown" about a couple missionaries in Africa during war times is actually Sister Chanipo's father's story! She hasn't actually seen the movie, but she says that people ask her about it once in a while. She only knows a little of her dad's story, but we had a couple cool experiences that have inspired her to learn more from him.
Yesterday was pretty great. I told you how awesome church was. Then after I called you, we spent the rest of the day walking, tracting (going door to door), and talking to people. It was exhausting, but good. We had a great visit the whole time...
Here is a pic from Instagram (posted yesterday):
And here is the group email:
Good Morning!
Well, this week just kind of stunk. Usually I try to focus on the good parts of my week in my emails, and there were a few. But I'll be honest, this week was just plain hard. There is a lot of stress that goes into missionary work. Often, all of those aspects of missionary work can be positive and joyful! And sometimes they are just not. This week I was pretty overwhelmed by it all, but of course there were also some good lessons to be learned.
Last night, we had a pretty cool experience. We were out walking when we saw four guys by their car and went over to talk to them. Sister Chanipo asked where they were each from and they were all from Africa, four different countries! Sister Chanipo was really able to relate well to each of them (I really had no idea what was going on, haha) and we ended up giving them two copies of the Book of Mormon and had a great discussion with them! I thought it was a lot of fun. :)
On Sunday we had a combined meeting for Sunday school taught by our district (stake) president. It was a wonderful discussion on repentance. He referenced the most recent talk given by President Nelson on repentance, which talked about repenting being a change of mind, heart, and knowledge. It was enlightening. It helped me learn for myself that it IS possible, through Jesus Christ, to become the person He wants and expects us to become. It's easy to lose hope in that when that change doesn't happen immediately. But when we trust in our Heavenly Father, and do our part, which is to be a little bit better and do a little bit better every day, we can get there. I'm so grateful for these truths.
Hope you all have a great week!
Sister Fairbanks
1 - couple of giant nerds joined us while tracting :D
2 - saying goodbye to Madison (moved home for the summer)
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