(Near) Dead Dinner at Deorbrah's

So, we had a dinner appointment with Deorbrah last night. Yes, that is spelled correctly. Sis. Balmforth kind of tried to give me a heads up on it, but it mostly involved, "Well, you'll see when we get there." Deorbrah lives in a double wide with her truck driver husband and I think several children, but I can't be sure how they were all related, and she is the only member in her family and has been for just over a year. There were 2 "daughters" and 1 "son" that were older and 2 grand kids. We sit down to eat, with the fake Christmas tree right behind me, 70's orange carpet all over, and chairs that sink so low the table was about at my chin. Unfortunate for Sis. Balmforth who is 6 inches shorter than me. There is a ton of food on the table, most of it meat, but all different kinds. There was chicken, steak, and hot links. I survey the food and determine that it would be safest to eat the steak, but one of the more cooked ones. I try finding a small one, but these are not the kind of people that have small portions. So, I take one half of the cow. Trying to be nice, I grab one for Sis. Balmforth, not really looking at the piece of meat I was about to slap down on her plate. Too late did I realize the thing was barely cooked. In fact, we are both pretty sure it was still mooing. I was just barely holding it together trying not to laugh THE WHOLE MEAL. The rest of the meal was lima beans, white rice, carrots and potatoes, and biscuits. Interesting combination. OH, side story. Forgot to include this part. Yesterday was Sis. Balmforth's birthday! Yayy!! The Finnegan's got her this awesome cake the night before and we shared it with the YSA ward so we had already had some cake that day. When we get to Deorbrah's, one of the daughters walks in a goes, "Got that cake for ya momma!" It was some sort of angel food, whipped cream, weird fruit cake. We both took the smallest pieces possible. By the time we left I needed to get out of there because I was trying so hard not to laugh. Still not sure exactly what was so funny, but I'm just guessing it was that it was an experience that I have definitely not had before. We get in the car after and Sis. Balmforth turns to me and goes, "Way to give me the bloodiest piece of meat you could find! As soon as we walked in I knew I should have talked to you about the dinner appointment code." Then, she told me this great story about some baby ducks and how if you can't eat something just start playing with your ear and your comp will try and help you out. Great night.

Sundays, by the way, are going to be the longest days in my life. We are over a family ward and the YSA ward for the stake, so do you know what that means? 6 blessed hours of church (more if we have meetings) ever Sunday. Man, that was a rough day, but it was also good because we heard the same lessons from different points of view. We missed Sunday School for the family ward though because we went and sang with some of the YSA people at an Alzheimer's facility. Every other week the Finnigan's do a quick non-denominational church service for the patients in there so they can have the chance to go to church if they want. Yesterday we sang a few Christmas songs and told the story of Jesus' birth since this was the last one before Christmas. I really enjoyed going, but it's pretty sad because it's such a terrible disease.

We went and saw an inactive lady the other day who is having a hard time with stuff, including her job. We talked about prayer and asking for help and being wiling to have people help you. I think she was slightly intoxicated while we were there, but she appreciated our visit anyways. As we were leaving, she pulled me in for a hug. And just hugged and hugged and never let go. It was the longest hug of my life and I had just met this woman about 20 minutes before. You know how I love that. Sis. Balmforth told me after that she was just trying not to laugh the whole time. Jerk. I paid her back with that bleeding meat though. Juuust kidding :)

Friday we met with this girl who has been inactive for most of her life and decided to change her life around and come back to church. The bishop arranged the meeting so we weren't really sure how to approach it or what to talk about but it ended up being a great lesson. We talked about what it's like trying to come back, how yeah, it will be hard and she probably will face more challenges and temptations because Satan does not want her to come back. He knows it's so important for us to do this, so he will work his hardest to get us on other paths. It sucks. But, we started talking about temples and the blessings that come from going and she decided that the temple was going to be her end goal for her reactivation. It was amazing, as she was telling us about that I could just imagine her there and how happy she will be once she gets it. It made me miss the temple a lot. At first I was unsure of the temple, but the more I think about the times that I did get to go, I was so lucky and it blessed me so much, even if it was just to get that peace that I needed.

I was so blessed this week. We had not 1, not 2 , but 3, count it 3, sunny days here in Silverdale! It's a miracle!! Haha I get so excited every time. And, we got to play basketball today as a zone. Lovin it. By the way, this is just for Deneka: Not only have I seen Elder Dayhuff and talked to him, he is my Zone Leader. Imagine that. Super nice, great missionary.

So, we don't have a ton of people to teach. It's kind of frustrating because both of us want to be busy, be productive, and not waste time, but it's hard when we've seen everyone, no one wants to talk to us, no one is interested when we go out tracting, and the members don't have referrals for us.We're trying our hardest though, keeping busy, praying a lot, and for me, making sure that I have the faith to know that a miracle will happen, we just have to do what we are supposed to and wait for the Lord to fill in the rest in His own time. Please keep the missionaries in your prayers. It really does help so much. There isn't always a lot you can do to help them, but pray and give them someone to teach. That's enough.

Welp, the mission Christmas party is this week, so that will be exciting. Other than that, just ready to keep working. It's hard but it's great being out here. Different than I expected, but then again, I didn't really know what to expect. Love you guys, write me a letter. Get my apartment address from my mom if you want me to get something faster than every 6 weeks. Message her on Facebook. She'll like that, it will make her feel popular and loved. :)

Love,

Sara

P.S. Joshua 1:5+9 It's a great one, I promise. Go read it. Go. Now.