*Slightly out of breath* I've made it...*deep breath* to five months...ouch, my feet hurt!
So. Did not know this, but Blacksburg, Va, is home to Virginia Tech. Also did not know that VT looks like Hogwarts. Also, their mascot is a Hokie bird. Yeah, look it up. Another fun fact, this area is a bike area, the only one in the mission for sister missionaries. You know what that means. Yup, I had to relearn to ride a bike. In a skirt. It gets breezy....
A little about the wards here, we sisters are over two wards, YSA (young single adult, aka, college students who are single) and the local family ward. We walk everywhere, bus everywhere, and bike everywhere else. Everyday is an adventure! My feet hurt so bad and my legs and hips are killing me, but it is SO AWESOME!!!!
Because Virginia Tech has such a diversity of students, that is also reflected in our teaching pool. Most of our investigators are Chinese and some are Muslim. How cool is that?! I've had to brush up on my knowledge of world religions, to establish what common ground we have with other world religions. Kinda weird, being around so many people my own age. Oh, and Satan know my weaknesses, seems we always see a cute boy here or there. Or everywhere. Ugh, temptation.
So, my week began catching fireflies in Buckhannon. It's true, fireflies do exist, and they look way cool in jars! On my last Preparation Day, Sister Merrifield and I went to the Lunatic Asylum in Weston, then went to the Game farm with hte Ordanez family. Breaking news- Sister Ordanez is getting baptized this week! Praying the date holds true and she goes through. My last night in Buckhannon, I said goodbye to the Gregory's. I testified of the purity and rich spirit that dwells within the the temple, and that families are so blessed by the temples of the Lord. It was really hard to say goodbye, especially to those two. They are like my other mom and dad. Who knew one of my best friends would end up being a 46-year-old convert, and that we would bond over Star Wars. Man, the Lord has blessed me. Brother Gregory gave me one of his guitar picks, so I punched a hole through it and wear it as a necklace, to remind myself that I do make a difference and that blessings can be found anywhere. I love you, WV mom and dad.
Thursday was an early day. Got my stuff together and headed to Clarksburg, where we got on a big van to head to Charleston. Switched vans in Charleston, then made our way to Blcaksburg. There I met up with my new companion, Sister Binham. Oh my gosh she is drop dead gorgeous! She has dark brown hair and the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen! She's got a smattering of freckles and the cutest nose! Don't know why she doesn't go into modeling. Anyways, Sister Bingham is from Utah, and she is so sweet! She reminds me a lot of my older sister Makena, so I feel right at home with Sister Bingham. I love her so much already.
The Hokie bird is the Virginia Tech mascot. I don't know what the difference is between a hokie bird and a turkey, but they look like the same thing. Anyways. Being on campus and around the university makes me homesick for Rexburg, where I went to a semester of college at BYU-I. Kinda makes me trunky (i.e. ready to go back to civilian life). Caught myself wishing I had homework. Freaked me out. So the new name of these email series will be Hokies at Hogwarts beacuse if you look up VT online, you too will agree that it looks a lot like the wizarding school. Hehehe.
So on Saturday, the town celebrated Summer Solstice, and we held a Family history Booth. As we were walking with our pop-up and our supplies and table, we got caught in a rain storm. Man, what a cloudburst! Soaked in four minutes flat. So, we turned back to the Institute building, where church is held for the YSA ward, tried to dry off, found pancake mix in the kitchen, along with nutella. So I whipped up a batch of pancakes, we waited the rain out, and played a bit of ping pong. Who said missions where boring, I'd like to bop them.
Well, I'm here in the university's library, typing on a lovely silver mac, listening to everyone speaking their mother tongue. Later we will go tour some of the art galleries on campus, take even more photos, and chill. I love you guys. Y'all rock.
~Sister Mary Sierra Peacock
WVCM
"There is beauty within every beast... We must only have the courage to find it." ~Me
No comments:
Post a Comment