Helloooo from Oklahoma!
Guess what folks, I'm here! In the good ol' land of oil, red dirt, and blue forever sky. Never quite seen anything like it. You look straight ahead, and all you see is blue. Seriously. Oh sure, there's a few brown trees that reach about 8 feet off the ground but other than that, it's a land of blue with white puffy clouds everywhere. And oh boy, is it flat. If I ever do get on my bicycle in the next year and a half, I'm not too worried.
Well, I don't quite know where to start. I guess the beginning might work.
My stay at the MTC was probably the most stressful, beneficial experience that I've ever had. The schedule was insane along with the things that were required of us, but now that I'm out here, I can most CERtainly tell you that they did it for a reason. It's helped so much. I absolutely loved it there. I think I told you last week that my companion was Sister Cox, the hick from Wyoming. She was incredible! Together we got through the crazy schedule and both had the time of our lives.
But now. Down to the field.
We woke up at two Tuesday morning in order to finish packing and catch our bus at 3:30 to the airport. Things were crazy, having 100 missionaries check in luggage and go through security at five in the morning. The Elder's belts were sending off alarm signals everywhere along with the sister's jewelry and such. Man, it's no wonder the church has us catch such early flights. We'd freak out some people. Pretty sure we already did. You could see it in their wide eyes "Oh snap, the Mormon's are coming!" 'Twas a blast though. Anyways, we flew to Atlanta, Georgia (pretty sure I only saw about 10 white people ((okay. MAYBE a few more than that). It was great)! We took a train through that huge airport to make our connecting flight. Oklahoma City, we were coming.
Well, after the flight we began to make our descent. All of the Elders and Sisters (There was 12 of us) were scrambling over poor passengers, getting their first view of Oklahoma.
Brown. And red. Lot's of red. That's all you saw. (We have red dirt here don't cha know).
Well we stepped off that plane and were going down an escalator where President and Sister Walkenhorst were waiting. We were almost there and I looked down. My name tag had fallen off somewhere and was gone. Holy smokes! I wasn't going to be THAT missionary! We got to the bottom of the escalator and I dropped my backpack, digging around to find my second (and last) name tag. It took me a second and I know that I looked like an absolute doofus, scrambling around. I finally clipped it on in time to hear a deep voice "Sister Call"? I looked up still, red with hair all over in my face. And up. And up. Everyone, my mission President is 7 feet tall.
Need I say more. Well needless to say everything worked out. As for first impressions, not quite sure how well it went. BUT. There is a little thing called redemption and the atonement in this church. There's hope for me. I'll work hard and just show him what I've got. :)
We went to the church, had dinner, meetings, and got out bikes. We then went to the mission home and spent the mission. The next morning, well, I met my Trainer *drumroooolll*** Sister Cottle!
Yep. Call & Cottle. Oklahoma's dream team. She is 27 and going home next transfer. Her 18 months are up. She was telling me how unusual that is for someone in their last transfer to train but well, um, special case? Ha I'm not sure. But the Lord know's what he's doing. I'll be getting a new trainer after she leaves for another 6 weeks to finish up my training, but after that (Sister Cottle told me) I'll probably become a trainer myself.
....!!..
'Tis because of the area that we are in. Goes by the name of Sulphur and it's just a little town in the middle of nowhere. You have to go about 80 miles to really reach anywhere. The are has not been doing very well...until Sister Cottle came along just last transfer that is. ;) It is incredible what she has done in just the last 6 weeks. So many investigators and potentials! We're just a little tiny branch. Barely reaching about 60 active members a week. And mind you, some of these people drive from over an hour away. It's incredible. One of those things that you hear about in mission stories but rather hard to believe until you experience it. Especially since I've always just grown up in a larger than life, active ward. Anyways, it's rather stressful because yes, I'll have a new trainer next transfer and she'll technically be training me...but she won't know anything about the area. Or the members. Or less-actives. Sooo in a way I'll be training my trainer. But hey! If the Lord thinks I'm up for it, than I am. Then either I will stay and train or my next trainer will be the one staying because the area is struggling so much, they need someone with a familiar face at all times. Someone they love and trust. It's crazy how much the missionaries are involved here. Everyone truly does depend on us. And they all LOVE Sister Cottle. I only hope they come to love and trust me at least half as much seeing as she's leaving and then they're "stuck" with me. But HEY, I spoke yesterday! It was awesome. We have to drive 30 minutes to Paul's Valley where our little, 5 room church building is at. We have Elders there in Paul's Valley and a new one came in along with me last transfer, Elder Burdett. We were the only one's that spoke. *Gulp* It was AWESOME though. I wasn't sure how long I was going to speak, but I sure wasn't expecting, he hem, TWENTY minutes! Oh man, I'm turning into my mom. (Sorry mom, I absolutely love you though!) I left about 10 minutes for Elder Burdett. I like to think the look that he gave me was one of gratitude when I sat down and he got up...but it could have been one of another. Oops. There was a small ice storm during church though, and once a small Okie looked outside the news spread fast and they were all up and out within five minutes. Yes, the church building was dark within five minutes. Needless to say, church ended an hour early. You see, Okie's don't know how to drive in the snow. Everyone was only a tad nervous. I don't blame them seeing how bad the ice is and how some had over an hour drive ahead of them! Sister Cottle and I have been bottled up in the apartment the past two days because our car's are grounded. Well, we went and tracted for over two hours yesterday despite the weather. People looked at us as if we were crazy. Well, we definitely were...crazy about the GOSPEL. I probably bugged Sister Cottle to high heaven with all my different renditions of "Put your Shoulder to the Wheel" and "Called to Serve." *Shruug* Just trying to keep warm. It was an absolute blast though and we saw miracles through it.
I better wrap this up though. I love the Lord. I''m grateful for this privilege to wear his name everyday and spread his word.
I love you all! Have a FABulous week!
Sister Call
Kay well, I better wrap this up.
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