Week 61: Hanging in there...
It's been a challenging few weeks for Sister Fairbanks, but she seems to be holding up a little better lately. It's not all roses, of course, but she's getting better about not internalizing everything and taking everything on herself, as though everything was her fault. I think Satan tries hard to convince people of faith that when things aren't going perfectly, it is because of a lack of faith. It's a devastating and pernicious lie that can be hard to grapple with. But she's figuring it out. 💕 After editing out the more personal parts of Becca's email to me, there is still quite a bit that was shareable (and she gave me permission to do that each week, fyi), so here you go:
Tuesday was one of the best days I have ever had on my entire mission. We woke up at 4AM and drove down to Syracuse for the mission tour. We held it at the stake center which is actually in Liverpool! It was so fun to be back! It looked exactly the same as it did last year.
During lunch of the conference, Elder Bennett encouraged us to have a one on one conversation with our companions about what were we learning and what goals we were going to make. Ours turned into a mini companionship inventory... There's still a disconnect there, but it was a good little conversation. Then we talked about the meetings and she talked about what she wants to continue to change with the area. Then we went to the rest of the meeting until 4. It was really wonderful. It was nice to sit and focus on someone else and just absorb as much as I could. We got to hear from President and Sister Vest, as well as Sister Bennett. We got to shake his hand on the way out the door. He's a great man.
At the conference, I saw Sister Di Iulio. When she saw me she squeezed me so tight and started to cry. I was touched. She passed me a note in Italian later that said she loves me and misses me. It was great to see her. I saw Sister Swallow too! She is serving in Liverpool! I didn't get to talk to her a ton, but it's cool that she is in my first area. I hope it has changed a lot in the last year.
Wednesday stunk... That night we actually had a pretty cool experience. A young adult came and sat by us just as we were finishing our dinner at the Methodist Church. She is transgender, so probably prefers to be called "he." She was so sweet though. She timidly asked if she could sit by us and we started visiting with her. I was prompted that this was a prime time to minister to this young person, and I felt so much love for her. A love that was truly from outside of myself. She ended up telling us her whole life story (that happens a lot when people can sense you have the Spirit with you) and couldn't exactly figure out why she was telling us so much, haha. She's great though. Very tender hearted, had a horrid childhood, is technically homeless and living on the closed university campus, is horribly mistreated by peers and other adults because of her decisions, and just found God about four months ago. We had a pretty cool discussion and I left just feeling so much love for Ellian (the new name she has chosen.) It was a pretty cool experience and I hope to see her again this week.
Thursday... We talked to a cool Hindu guy that loves the missionaries. We talked about God and having Him as the center of our homes - and he was doing most of the talking. SO cool. He's from India and it just re-sparked my love for travel and I have always wanted to go to India and learn more about the people. What a good man. And a good lesson with Jay that night, so that cheered me up.
Friday morning was the same, but Friday evening we actually had about a three hour conversation. We got talking about music and sang some of our mutual favorite songs, shared stories just gabbed all night long while we walked around Canton. It was wonderful. There was a festival at the park in the center of town so there was good music playing and a lot of energy in the town. It was a good night and gave me some hope and joy.
Saturday was back to meh. That morning was kind of fun, I got to play Helen's player-piano! It's hard but it made her SO happy and I enjoyed it too. That afternoon we helped with a book sale that was happening in the festival, same one that was going on yesterday. There was even a parade for Dairy Princess Weekend. Oh, North Country...
Sunday was pretty good. Pretty silent. In this hard time, I have come to appreciate the sacrament even more and so many of the testimonies shared yesterday were about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I found a lot of solace in worshipping yesterday and was edified by all the meetings. We had dinner with the Tartadoffs, that was a lot of fun. Then a lesson with Jay. He is seriously the best. The only reason I would want to stay in Canton at this point would be to continue meeting with him...
1 - Jay!
2 - "hey let's do duck lips"
3 - Helen and the player piano
And here's the group email:
Happy June!
I'm excited for summer to finally come, if it ever decides to come, haha. But I am excited for this new month of June!
This week we had a mission conference in Syracuse with a General Authority Seventy, Elder Bennett. It was wonderful!! He is a great man and he taught us for about six hours. We also heard from his wife and President and Sister Vest. It was fantastic to receive so much spiritual uplifting and doctrinal training. It was definitely the bright spot in my week.
We had some great lessons, especially with Jay. He just loves the gospel and the Book of Mormon and eats it up like crazy. I love to hear his testimony and I love to hear him pray. We also had a couple of cool experiences finding new people to teach this week. Miracles continue to happen, even in the hard times. :)
Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Sister Fairbanks
Tuesday was one of the best days I have ever had on my entire mission. We woke up at 4AM and drove down to Syracuse for the mission tour. We held it at the stake center which is actually in Liverpool! It was so fun to be back! It looked exactly the same as it did last year.
During lunch of the conference, Elder Bennett encouraged us to have a one on one conversation with our companions about what were we learning and what goals we were going to make. Ours turned into a mini companionship inventory... There's still a disconnect there, but it was a good little conversation. Then we talked about the meetings and she talked about what she wants to continue to change with the area. Then we went to the rest of the meeting until 4. It was really wonderful. It was nice to sit and focus on someone else and just absorb as much as I could. We got to hear from President and Sister Vest, as well as Sister Bennett. We got to shake his hand on the way out the door. He's a great man.
At the conference, I saw Sister Di Iulio. When she saw me she squeezed me so tight and started to cry. I was touched. She passed me a note in Italian later that said she loves me and misses me. It was great to see her. I saw Sister Swallow too! She is serving in Liverpool! I didn't get to talk to her a ton, but it's cool that she is in my first area. I hope it has changed a lot in the last year.
Wednesday stunk... That night we actually had a pretty cool experience. A young adult came and sat by us just as we were finishing our dinner at the Methodist Church. She is transgender, so probably prefers to be called "he." She was so sweet though. She timidly asked if she could sit by us and we started visiting with her. I was prompted that this was a prime time to minister to this young person, and I felt so much love for her. A love that was truly from outside of myself. She ended up telling us her whole life story (that happens a lot when people can sense you have the Spirit with you) and couldn't exactly figure out why she was telling us so much, haha. She's great though. Very tender hearted, had a horrid childhood, is technically homeless and living on the closed university campus, is horribly mistreated by peers and other adults because of her decisions, and just found God about four months ago. We had a pretty cool discussion and I left just feeling so much love for Ellian (the new name she has chosen.) It was a pretty cool experience and I hope to see her again this week.
Thursday... We talked to a cool Hindu guy that loves the missionaries. We talked about God and having Him as the center of our homes - and he was doing most of the talking. SO cool. He's from India and it just re-sparked my love for travel and I have always wanted to go to India and learn more about the people. What a good man. And a good lesson with Jay that night, so that cheered me up.
Friday morning was the same, but Friday evening we actually had about a three hour conversation. We got talking about music and sang some of our mutual favorite songs, shared stories just gabbed all night long while we walked around Canton. It was wonderful. There was a festival at the park in the center of town so there was good music playing and a lot of energy in the town. It was a good night and gave me some hope and joy.
Saturday was back to meh. That morning was kind of fun, I got to play Helen's player-piano! It's hard but it made her SO happy and I enjoyed it too. That afternoon we helped with a book sale that was happening in the festival, same one that was going on yesterday. There was even a parade for Dairy Princess Weekend. Oh, North Country...
Sunday was pretty good. Pretty silent. In this hard time, I have come to appreciate the sacrament even more and so many of the testimonies shared yesterday were about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I found a lot of solace in worshipping yesterday and was edified by all the meetings. We had dinner with the Tartadoffs, that was a lot of fun. Then a lesson with Jay. He is seriously the best. The only reason I would want to stay in Canton at this point would be to continue meeting with him...
1 - Jay!
2 - "hey let's do duck lips"
3 - Helen and the player piano
And here's the group email:
Happy June!
I'm excited for summer to finally come, if it ever decides to come, haha. But I am excited for this new month of June!
This week we had a mission conference in Syracuse with a General Authority Seventy, Elder Bennett. It was wonderful!! He is a great man and he taught us for about six hours. We also heard from his wife and President and Sister Vest. It was fantastic to receive so much spiritual uplifting and doctrinal training. It was definitely the bright spot in my week.
We had some great lessons, especially with Jay. He just loves the gospel and the Book of Mormon and eats it up like crazy. I love to hear his testimony and I love to hear him pray. We also had a couple of cool experiences finding new people to teach this week. Miracles continue to happen, even in the hard times. :)
Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Sister Fairbanks
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