Last night we get a phone call from the zone leaders that went something like this:
"Put us on speaker phone with all the sisters in your apartment"
"Okay. We're all here."
"Okay. Sister Sheffield: transferring. Sister Hawkes: staying. Sister Buckley and Spjut both transferring. Area shut down. All Boynton Elders: Staying. . . . (rest of the zone info that I couldn't comprehend)"
"Whoa. Could you repeat that?"
"Boynton Central and Boynton South are combining back into one area. Sister Hawkes is staying. The rest of the Sisters are transferring."
"Whoa."
"Okay. Bye."
So. I am being transferred. I don't know where I'm going until the meeting tomorrow. But I know I have to pack up all my stuff and leave all these wonderful people here. This came as a huge shock because Sister Hawkes really thought she was leaving and I really thought I was staying. Oh how wrong we were. I'm sure it will all be fine, but right now, it is still just all too shocking. ("There's nothing shocking about this. These people are just having a good time!")
I still have to call a whole bunch of people and say bye. I'm not looking forward to it. Especially Ardena and Jerry. I can't stand leaving them. I met them my third day here and we've been visiting them ever since. They have made so much progress and, although they still can't get baptized for a while because of not living the commandments, they have come so far and I wanted to be here to help them stay strong. But I guess the Lord has other plans for me. He knows where I need to be, and even if it is somewhere that is not as great as Delray (and let's face it, here is the best. Here is where I was born), I know that wherever I go is where I am supposed to be.
(One day last week, Jerry made an interesting comment: "I love you ladies coming over here, but PLEASE, bring a man!" It was so funny)
Despite the news of yesterday and the agonizing wait leading up to that phone call, we had a pretty great week. Last Wednesday we had a Mission-wide harvest. All of the missionaries went harvesting (tracting) from 5-7 pm in the attempts to bless 200 homes. We all went harvesting and got 368 blessings! It was incredible! We, as a companionship, blessed 9 homes and our district did 27. Our zone had made a goal of 30, which we exceeded by getting 58! So cool. It was amazing to feel the strength and the faith of the entire mission together! Our plan is to get 100 baptisms in January, mostly from those homes we harvested into last Wednesday.
Speaking of Baptisms, CHARLENE WAS BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!!!! It was so amazing! We met her in the middle of December and now she is a member of the Church (well, she will be next Sunday when she is confirmed)! She accepted everything we have taught her and is totally willing to live the commandments. Although she didn't show much enthusiasm at first, she had a strong desire to be baptized and always prayed that she would be excited for baptism. And now she is! She has slowly gotten more and more comfortable with us there and yesterday she was telling us all about her family (semi-paralyzed 13 yr old brother, trouble maker 6-yr-old brother, "junkie" brother that she lives with, mom who doesn't care that she just got baptized). It was pretty crazy. Her daughters are way more comfortable with us there, too. They were a little TOO comfortable and noisy, but I love them.
Also, this week we ate Haitian food and Filipino food. In the same day.
Also, Maria Elena set a baptismal date! For Jan. 29th! (Her husband decided not to go to Colorado because of it! Huge act of Faith!)
Tell you all about my new area next week!
Sister Anna Sheffield
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