January, in a word, was slow. Our star investigator, Harriet, moved out of our area, and therefore we can no longer teach her, and finding new people to teach has been like pulling teeth. To be honest, adjusting to a new companion is hard. Especially with how close Sister Pickett and I got. The transition was difficult. For awhile, trying to develop a relationship with Sister Woolsey felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. However, as Randy Pausch once said, and as my mother often reminds me, "Brick walls are there for the people who don't want it bad enough."
I was sitting there, pounding my head against this wall
thinking, 'This is never going to work. There's this wall here, and look! I'm
trying, but I can't get through it! What more could I do?' Then, after a lot of
pain (possible side-effect of head-banging), I decided to change my approach.
Instead of staring straight ahead at the wall and thinking, 'The only way
forward is through', I looked up, and saw that the wall was not as tall as I
thought it was. So I started building a ladder. Then, after spending some time
building the tools, up and over I went! And boy is it awesome on the other
side!
Basically, to summarise that extended metaphor, things were
hard while I tried to keep doing them the way I'd always done them. But once I
adapted and looked for a new way, everything sorted out and is
now all sunshine and roses—figuratively at least—it’s still raining all the
time. Anyway, Sister Woolsey is wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious, and not
completely sane, as I had previously hoped. ;) Then again, I can't really claim
to be sane either, so we make a good pair.
It's actually pretty interesting. While there hasn't been a
ton of teaching this month, there has been so much learning. I
have changed so much this last month, and it's awesome. One thing that's
changed a lot is the way I view and read the scriptures. I've always liked
reading the scriptures. I love the stories, I love the teachings, but for me,
before my mission, scripture reading was like a five minute thing at the end of
the day. Read a chapter, think 'Oh that's nice', and then go to bed. Since
coming out on my mission, the scriptures have exploded in my mind. Rather than
looking at the page and thinking, "Yes that is a piece of paper",
it's gotten to be more like, "WOAH, IS THAT NARNIA?!" They've become
like a portal to a whole other world of understanding. The scriptures are
awesome! I'm even starting to like Isaiah. Crazy! I have come to love reading
the scriptures.
The only thing cooler than the scriptures themselves is
prayer and scripture study. Start with a prayer for
understanding, read awesome doctrine from ancient prophets, and pray again. So
many doctrinal questions that I've had my whole life have just clicked into place
this last month as I've improved my scripture study. Honestly, I'm starting to
feel like I could learn anything from God if He willed it.
Actually, that's something that I really believe. God is not the author of
confusion. If there is anything He wants, it's for us to know the way
forward.
Sometimes, that way forward is not what we think it ought to
be. I know that it's probably the same for all of us. Maybe you're staring down
a brick wall. The Lord knows that. He sees us, and He sees what we can become.
He has not left us alone, but He has given us prayer—a constant lifeline to
Him—and scripture study, through which our minds can be enlightened. But none
of that makes any difference if we keep our heads down, focused on the hard
thing right in front of us. We have to look up and imagine that there could be
something more than this. When we do that, the Lord can show us a path.
Well, I hope you all had a lovely January! Here's to a
love-filled February! ☺
Love you all!
Sister Pike
