AH! Transfer calls came yesterday and I was sooooo sure I was leaving and Sister Caldwell was staying. (which was actually a blessing though because it's made me work way harder these past few weeks because I thought I was never going to see these people again.) We were at a member's for dinner and the phone rings and it's President Baker which means it's a big deal if he's calling you and not the assistants and....I'm staying in Kempsville and Sister Jamie Anderson (fun huh?) is coming to be my companion. Her and I both came out at the same time so she just finished training as well. Sister Caldwell is going to Norfolk to be one of the new Sister Training Leaders. I am SO excited for her! She is going to do so many great things. I am terrified to take over the area and I'm not sure I know how to be a missionary without Sister Caldwell but I know that it's time for me to learn and grow and stretch. Last night I just kept telling myself "fear is from Satan" and he's the one who wants me to think I can't take over this area and this morning in the bottom of my journal there's scriptures and todays was Isaiah 41:10 "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." I think the Lord needs me to learn something.. :) Missions are the hardest and the easiest thing at the same time because this is literally THE HARDEST thing I have ever done but at the same time it's the easiest because everything in a mission is so evident how clearly it's from God. It's cool to look back to even last week and see how much I've grown. It's taken some time but I really do love being a missionary and I love the work that I get to do. (It's a lot easier than figuring out what school to go to and what to major in too..:))
We went on exchanges with the Salem Sisters on Monday night to Tuesday. That was fun. It's fun to think that Katie lived there at one time too. We taught this family..they are SO baptist. They know their Bible like no one I've ever met before but they're going to get baptized I know it. They straight up said they know their church isn't true and they're looking for the truth. And then Tuesday morning we went on a bike ride with President Lambourne. I feel like it's been years since I've been on a bike. It was so much fun! Something that I learned from Sister Smith too was something that I really needed. After our lesson I asked her what I could do to improve on my teaching and she reminded me that the Spirit is the real teacher so all that matters is that you create an atmosphere where the Spirit is there and keep studying Preach My Gospel and the scriptures. Tuesday we also went and did service at the Food Bank. It was such a neat experience. It's something that I'll never forget. So many people are doing such cool things in the world.
I'm super excited to stay in the Kempsville ward. They're so missionary minded and you can just tell that they're right at the beginning of all this progress that is going to happen. The Bishop even came to our correlation this week and went over families that need the lessons to be taught to them again and our new ward mission leader is awesome and we had Ward Council visits again this week and they were such a miracle. Gah, being a missionary is so neat.
On Friday we went and did service for this lady in our ward who is SO pregnant and she asked us to bring a lesson because she was really stressed out so we shared a scripture on faith and then while we were talking I looked down at my "be still" ring and knew that's exactly the scripture that she needed to hear. The Spirit is so amazing and it's SO cool to see how He guides us in what to say. And then later we were meeting with this less active lady in our ward and a scripture that we had talked about earlier (Phil 4:13) was exactly what she needed to hear. As long as we're willing to do our part, the Lord promises He'll take care of the rest. This Church is so true.
I think I may have already told y'all this story but I was thinking about it a lot this week. Sister Brimhall told it to us (but the way she said she got a great email from you Dad. Thank you for keeping in touch with her.) She calls it the "Snow" story. She said one day they had this huge bag of flour out and she left the room and when she came back in her son was yelling "It's snowing!" and had gotten the flour everywhere and she said she was just about to yell at him and just for one second she saw their neighbors son's face on her own son's face and she realized that if that had been the neighbor's son who had made the mess she wouldn't have yelled at him so instead she got some "snow shovels" and they cleaned up the mess and from then on she tried to always treat situations like that because really why do we get most upset at those who we love the most? I'm learning a lot from Sister Brimhall. She seriously is one of the most amazing people I've ever met. And maybe somebody needed that story this week, or else I just needed to write it so I'll remember it someday.
We only have 2 investigators and one of them cancelled on us this week and everything seemed to not go the way we had planned so we just kept telling ourselves, "What does the Lord need us to do today instead" and I read in my scriptures a quote that I had written when they first changed the age for missionaries that really helped me. It's by President Eyring. It says "We can't insist on our own timetable when the Lord has His own." Now I just need to live that and remember the lessons that I'm learning because really the Lord is teaching me soo much. And He's giving me so many blessings. The weather has been SO nice here this week. We walk outside every morning and go "Ah it's Utah weather" because the humidity hasn't been so bad. I've even straightened my hair this week and that's saying something because normally it is not even worth my time.
I'm so grateful for all of you! THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGE from amazon! That was the most exciting thing to ever happen during companion study. I seriously was the happiest missionary there is. I thought it was just the pills and then I kept pulling out more and more and more and it was so fun! Y'all are amazing and I really have the best family EVER. Thank you for all of your support and for writing. It means a lot. I love you all and I hope you have the best best best week ahead of you!
Love, Sister Szabo
p.s. Sorry one more story..y'all will appreciate this after the week you've had..we went and helped a lady move on Saturday and we were there FOR 5 HOURS and we got nothing done compared to what needs to be done by this weekend when they actually move her. People are crazy out here and now more than ever you bet I'm going to have a clean house when I'm older..nasty nasty nasty. I love you all!
The Croy family
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