Week 77: Cutsie Title Here...
It's been quite a month here in Fairbanks-land. Marissa has had some back trouble since she fell out of the tree in the front yard and broke her arm a month ago. The issue was hard to pinpoint, because it didn't start in her back, and it started 9 days after the fall. We think we're on the right track now, though, so we filled Becca in on the basics. We'll give her the gory details later. Let's just say that it's been way harder on all of us than we admitted. Becca's got enough on her mind with coming home. We're praying that Marissa will have improved greatly by the time Becca gets here, anyway. So, that's why I'm a little slow on the blog--we never know when a bout of pain will hit Rissa, and when one does, the mom-ness takes over, and I have no brain cells to spare for anything else. Poor Roo. She had a pretty darn good afternoon today, though, so I figured I'd try to catch up on a couple of things.
So, without further adieu, here's most of Becca's email to me, some pics, and a short video:
Hi Mom!!
Sounds like a pretty good week. I feel so bad, though, that Rissa has had such trouble with her back. (No fun. It's hard to be still when you feel good and just want to get up and play. I'll keep her in my prayers.)
My week was pretty good! I'm trying to find the balance of preparing for home and staying focused.
Tuesday was bonkers, haha. We were so busy all day, but that's great! That day we met with Eric, who is still getting some opposition from friends and family. :/ Poor guy. He's doing great though. It's amazing to see the person, the saint, he is becoming. That night I was feeling particularly stressed. I did email President and talked to him about what's bothering me, and this morning I read his response. I'm so grateful to have a mission president who loves me. His response was perfect and just what I needed.
Wednesday we got a call from a sister asking us to sing in the ward later this month. But Sister Hunt volunteered her way out of it, so I will be singing a solo next Sunday. Yikes! Hopefully it goes well.
Thursday was pretty good and busy. Lots of lessons that day that I don't feel like typing out the details to, haha. Oh, that night I prayed out loud for the first time in a very, very long time. Too long. That was incredibly uplifting and I will probably be doing that more often.
Friday was fun!! Friday Forum was great and a branch member was trying to convince me to come to Cornell after my mission. I wouldn't have considered it at all before, but if I ever had a reason to come to grad school, Cornell would absolutely be on my list. The members here are absolutely incredible.
Saturday was a roller coaster. That morning I was having kind of a hard time, so I was kind of praying that a miracle would happen that day to cheer me up. Well that afternoon we had two incredible lessons and my prayers were answered. One was with someone we had just met. He name is Enji and she hasn't ever believed in God before, but would like to. We started from the very basics and just talked about who Heavenly Father is and how to pray to find out if He is really there. We also figured out that bringing a translator that speaks Chinese will help a lot. :) It was fun trying to find a verse in her Chinese Book of Mormon though, haha. That was really awesome.
Then we went to Dryden to see if we could catch little Madison at home. She was outside playing but stopped so she could come sit and learn with us. We taught her the plan of salvation using little cutouts that I have and she loved it. Teaching kids is a lot of fun. They know truth when they hear it. :D So that made my day. We also had a really fun dinner with the Ruesches.
Yesterday was pretty good, too. I always love Sundays. That evening was interesting. Sister Hunt was in a grumpy mood and being negative, although she recognized it and said she was sorry. She said she wanted to be more like me and look at the positive. At one point, she prayed before we got out of the car that the Lord would help her have a better attitude. The very next person we talked to gave a pretty good sermon on being positive and grateful. I mostly let the two of them talk and watched in awe as the Lord answered her prayer and taught her something important. It taught me too, but I am grateful for the growth I have seen in being more positive. I hope I can keep that up.
I'm excited to talk to you today!!
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Sister Fairbanks
So, without further adieu, here's most of Becca's email to me, some pics, and a short video:
Hi Mom!!
Sounds like a pretty good week. I feel so bad, though, that Rissa has had such trouble with her back. (No fun. It's hard to be still when you feel good and just want to get up and play. I'll keep her in my prayers.)
My week was pretty good! I'm trying to find the balance of preparing for home and staying focused.
Tuesday was bonkers, haha. We were so busy all day, but that's great! That day we met with Eric, who is still getting some opposition from friends and family. :/ Poor guy. He's doing great though. It's amazing to see the person, the saint, he is becoming. That night I was feeling particularly stressed. I did email President and talked to him about what's bothering me, and this morning I read his response. I'm so grateful to have a mission president who loves me. His response was perfect and just what I needed.
Wednesday we got a call from a sister asking us to sing in the ward later this month. But Sister Hunt volunteered her way out of it, so I will be singing a solo next Sunday. Yikes! Hopefully it goes well.
Thursday was pretty good and busy. Lots of lessons that day that I don't feel like typing out the details to, haha. Oh, that night I prayed out loud for the first time in a very, very long time. Too long. That was incredibly uplifting and I will probably be doing that more often.
Friday was fun!! Friday Forum was great and a branch member was trying to convince me to come to Cornell after my mission. I wouldn't have considered it at all before, but if I ever had a reason to come to grad school, Cornell would absolutely be on my list. The members here are absolutely incredible.
Saturday was a roller coaster. That morning I was having kind of a hard time, so I was kind of praying that a miracle would happen that day to cheer me up. Well that afternoon we had two incredible lessons and my prayers were answered. One was with someone we had just met. He name is Enji and she hasn't ever believed in God before, but would like to. We started from the very basics and just talked about who Heavenly Father is and how to pray to find out if He is really there. We also figured out that bringing a translator that speaks Chinese will help a lot. :) It was fun trying to find a verse in her Chinese Book of Mormon though, haha. That was really awesome.
Then we went to Dryden to see if we could catch little Madison at home. She was outside playing but stopped so she could come sit and learn with us. We taught her the plan of salvation using little cutouts that I have and she loved it. Teaching kids is a lot of fun. They know truth when they hear it. :D So that made my day. We also had a really fun dinner with the Ruesches.
Yesterday was pretty good, too. I always love Sundays. That evening was interesting. Sister Hunt was in a grumpy mood and being negative, although she recognized it and said she was sorry. She said she wanted to be more like me and look at the positive. At one point, she prayed before we got out of the car that the Lord would help her have a better attitude. The very next person we talked to gave a pretty good sermon on being positive and grateful. I mostly let the two of them talk and watched in awe as the Lord answered her prayer and taught her something important. It taught me too, but I am grateful for the growth I have seen in being more positive. I hope I can keep that up.
I'm excited to talk to you today!!
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Sister Fairbanks
And here's the group email:
It's been a great week in Ithaca! I think the best day of the week was Saturday. I actually wasn't having the greatest morning, so around lunch time I offered a silent prayer that perhaps a miracle would happen that afternoon. We had a tentative appointment with a woman from China, so we headed out to her house and she was home! We were able to visit with her for a while and had a full lesson with her in very simple English. She already has a Book of Mormon in Mandarin, which was fun to try and find a specific scripture in. But we got to know her beliefs and desires a little bit. She has seen that people who believe in God are happy. She didn't grow up believing in a God at all, but she wants to learn and try it out for herself. We talked about our Heavenly Father and taught her how to pray. We are very excited to meet with her again next week!
The miracles that afternoon didn't stop there! We drove to Dryden to see if we could get in contact again with little Madison. She was outside playing when we got there, but stopped what she was doing and immediately came over to sit with us on the porch. ❤ We taught her the plan of salvation and she loved it. Kids are so intune with heavenly truths! She also told us that she read the first chapter in the Book of Mormon and really liked it. She's amazing.
So that was just Saturday. The miracles continued on Sunday. That evening, Sister Hunt was having a hard time feeling excited about the work after we had knocked on doors for an hour somewhat unsuccessfully. So she prayed that the Lord would help her. The very next person we talked to had nothing to say but positive things! Despite his humble circumstances and crazy people around him, he was happy for the beautiful, hot day we were having and tries to make every day exciting. Sister Hunt was practically floating when we finished that conversation. Not only for the pep talk she just got, but because of the Lord's immediate goodness. It's the little moments in this work that make it incredible.
Hope you have a miraculous week!
Sister Fairbanks
1 - we got to help a member's little girl pick flowers for the dinner table
2 - our beautiful creation - actually God's beautiful creations
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