Week 56 - One Does Not Simply Walk Into Morden
Hey!!! I have way too much to talk about this week so sorry if it's a bit long! If you want to read it in separate sittings, I'd recommend reading "Prologue" to "Miracles Follow" in one sitting, and then the rest of the sections are self-contained.
Prologue
ANYWAY. This week was super busy. Nothing but hard work all day every day, and Kayven is on track to be baptized this Thursday! I'm so excited. But, we had a lot of other plans fall through, and a lot of challenges. Through it all we pressed on and kept putting our full effort even when nothing was working how it was supposed to. It was TOUGH. The laptop is broken again and we still need to finish a video for the month, a bunch of lessons fell through, and no one we've talked to has been interested in meeting with us more.
The Soy Strikes Back
As you know, I have a recently discovered soy allergy that I never noticed before because I just never really ate a lot of soy products. Well, Saturday, somehow I just happened to eat a bunch of things with soy on the same day. A store bought cake from a member had soy, some pudding, possibly something from another member meal, and possibly some hot chocolate I had that evening. I say possibly because I don't have an ingredients list for those, but I have a feeling that's where the extra soy came from. That night, I hardly slept and was writhing in excruciating pain. I'm definitely being more careful to avoid soy now. Soy sauce and other little things are probably fine still just not a whole lot in the same day so that that doesn't happen again.
Miracles Follow
Sunday morning was tough. I was exhausted, I felt like I was going to vomit, I felt dizzy and feverish, it was awful. But Sunday was an important day, as it was Kayven's baptismal interview. Once I connected the dots, and realized it was the soy and not some other virus, I decided I would still push on and try to have a productive day. Luckily church wasn't till 12, so I had some time to recuperate and mentally prepare myself for a struggle of a day. And was it a struggle. Honestly, I felt like I was just along for the ride for most of it. But wow. So many miracles happened that day! All of our goals for the week happened in one day. During church, a less active family with 2 unbaptized youth texted completely out of the blue and asked to meet with us!! We met with them that day, and are scheduled to meet again this Thursday! Then, while we were at the church building, a dude named David just showed up without warning for a free Bible! Apparently the Wascana Sisters planned to meet him, but they weren't there and also he lived in our area, not theirs. So we gave him a church tour and we'll be meeting him again soon!
Transfer News
After a crazy week, I went to bed Sunday night with a lot of anxiety knowing that transfer news would be announced the following morning. That night I tossed and turned and slipped in and out of sleep. I had 2 dreams that night. 1 dream where I got out of bed, checked Transfer News, and saw exactly what I was hoping to see: staying here in Regina. In the dream I was relieved, and excited to serve another transfer here. Then I woke up, realized it was a dream, and struggled to sleep again. Eventually I did and I had another dream. In this one, I got out of bed and I said to myself: "whatever the news says, wherever I'm going, I should be excited. Because that's where I need to be." Then I opened the transfer news and saw that I was going to Morden. Morden is a super unpopular area. It's a tiny town, and no one wants to go there. But in the dream I was excited and determined to do well! Then I woke up. I checked the transfer news for real this time… I checked Regina, my name wasn't there. I was pretty sad, I really wanted to stay. But where was I going?? I searched the page for my name and after what felt like ages I finally found it in the place I least expected. Morden. Morden? Of all the places to go, why Morden? I've already been in both the Winnipeg zones, if I'm not staying here I should be heading to Saskatoon next! Why Morden???... but then I remembered my dream. There's a reason I'm going to Morden. There has to be. And you know what? I am so excited to figure out what it is. So, Morden? Heck yeah. I'm so excited to go to Morden!
Fred Hays
Christmas with the Cruickshanks
Now that's not a caption you expected to see in September, eh? Long story short, one of the sisters accidentally said "Christmas with the Cruickshanks'' instead of "Christmas with the Kranks'' while one of the YSA members, Ben Cruickshank, was listening. So, he invited all the missionaries over for "Christmas with the Cruickshanks" and it snowballed into this huge celebration! It was SO FUN. We had a white elephant, played games, sang Christmas songs, all in September. Weird? Yes. But I don't care. It was lots of fun. Also, I smoked Elder Mendenhall in Magic 3 games in a row using a deck I've never used before. So yeah, I'm undefeated with that deck and it was a good day.
Man. Long email. Sorry again about that! There's just so much to share 😅
I'll really miss Elder McFadden. It's been an amazing transfer, and it's been awhile since I've gotten along with a companion as well as I get along with him. But I'm excited to see what awaits me in Morden!
It's a great day to be a missionary!!
-Elder Hays