A Beautiful Birthday Week

Hello, loves of my life!

Let's get down to business to talk about what a wonderful week I had, topped off with a celebration of the day I was birthed. What's interesting about not being home for the holidays and other important days is that you learn to FIND joy. I haven't been home for my birthday (or Thanksgiving...or Easter...) for the last four years. I used to have this Mopey McWhinerson attitude about it. Now? I'm appreciating that I have the rest of my life to be at home/with family/friends on these dates. I will never have another birthday with these people in this place again. Honorary members of the Goodpaster family are everywhere! I had about seven offers for birthday cake, presents, flowers, and general lovefesting. AND missionary work got done, too. Soooo good!

As promised, Mamalama Goodpaster relayed all of your facebook messages to me via email. Warmed my soggy, Washington-resident heart. Thank you! More than thank you! Love to you. As much as I can communicate through keys and screen.

This last week it was G-G-G-G-G-G-G-GORGEOUS in Granite Falls. We did our weekly planning outside, on our tiny excuse of a front lawn, while the sun shined, no clouds in the sky, just about 60 degrees. Bliss. BIRTHDAY bliss.

In other odds and ends, this week I:

~ Held a tarantula. Picture evidence exists. This is my warning to my mother to have an adult diaper on when she views my next round of pictures.

~ Was surrounded by llamas as I tried to get into our car after dinner.

~ Marveled at a 5-day-old baby, born to a family in our congregation on St. Patrick's Day.

~ Had DELICIOUS Indian food for the first time in forever.

This week's bit of insight came to me yesterday evening. A teenage girl in the ward asked us at dinner, "Are missions stressful?"

Pause.

More pausing. Pondering.

Thought: LIFE is FULL of opportunities for stress. Of all sorts. I thought back on all of the times on this mission where I could have chosen to let a situation stress me out, but I chose to give it a moment, breathe, and laugh about it. Little things, you know? Then I thought about all the times where I chose to react like a child and throw my hands up at a situation that, in hindsight, wasn't as cataclysmic as I thought it was at the time.

Take life in stride. You know what helps me?

Prayer.

After a very frustrating inventory with my district leader last night, I tried to determine why every single conversation I have with him is frustrating. Stressful, if you will.

I concluded that he is an awful listener. And then I talked with Sister Anderson.

Think about how prayer works. God is not physically next to us when we speak to Him, nor does He answer in audible ways. Ahem, usually. I know this is by divine design.

I've never ever ever heard someone complain that they were "trying to pray, but God just kept interrupting me and I couldn't get a word out!" or "God kept interjecting with advice when all I wanted Him to do was listen!" or "I prayed to God, but He just kept rolling His eyes!"

Conclusion: God does not listen or converse like the rest of us. He is the best listener of all time. I wonder if we tried to communicate with one another, to really listen, like God listens, how much more loving we'd be. Let's listen intently, respond thoughtfully, and just show love. I'm by no means perfect, but the faults of another should always cause us to look inward. And be that change.

Remember to breathe. To pray. To find the joy.

Love,

Sister Goodpaster

Things Can Always Be Worse

People!!

Gather 'round and I'll tell you a story about how when you think times are trying, there's just another challenge around the corner. As last week's issues were clearing up, I got sick on Tuesday--sinus congestion to the max. As soon as I called our mission president's wife, she says, "Ooooohhhh, you've got it, too!" Greeeaaattt. Pass the tissues, lozenges, and decongestant meds, please.

Basically, the sickness lasted until Friday when I just couldn't take it anymore and had to flee the house...with Sister Anderson, of course. Slowly but surely I'm feeling better, though the throat is still scratchy and the nose runs from time to time. Fact: being sick on a mission has absolutely no rewards, other than maybe some extra sleep. No TV. No computer. No awful Lifetime made-for-TV movies that star Angela Lansbury and make you feel all warm and gooey about going through menopause. NONE OF IT! I read a chunk of the Old Testament, blew my nose 1356 times, tried to sleep on our smelly couch, and thought about the meaning of why we have eyebrows.

ANYWAY, enough about being sick. Life goes on and my immune system keeps on truckin'.

This week's highlights:

~ One of our investigators, whom I literally thought might be dead, appeared at church! Welcome back to the land of the living, brother!

~ Another lesser-active woman came to church for the second week in a row AND is contemplating leaving her verbally-abusive husband. Her grown kids also live with her and it's just not a healthy situation. I love it when the Gospel resolves situations temporally AND spiritually.

~ I had corned beef and cabbage thrice this week. Everyone gets real excited about St. Patrick's Day around here. (They love all the green? You know, Washington? Greenery? Terrible jokes? Yes.) Conclusion: that meal will set your intestines free. Use caution.

~ An investigator who Sis. Hone, along with her previous companion Sis. Saxton, taught also came back out of nowhere last week. Only, this one came back from...JAIL! Are we going to teach this person and love him and provide him every means to become a contributing member of society again? You bet your sweet set of scriptures, we are! (Don't worry, Mom--strong dudes accompany us to every meeting.)

This last instance leads me to this week's thought: God DOES NOT hold onto past indiscretions if we don't. If we move on, doing ALL we can to make it right, He will not only forgive, He'll remember our wrongs no more. I feel like our tendency as human beings is to remember, and to hold on for dear life, to our mistakes and the mistakes of everyone else. This isn't God's way. I know there's a reason we remember our own mistakes: so we learn from them and move forward. But remembering the ills of everyone else? Continuing to hold them accountable for mistakes already repented of? Let it go! Christ's Atonement wasn't just an event that occurred thousands of years ago and "isn't it a nice favor Jesus did for us?" No way! The Atonement is a living, relevant blessing, no, an investment in us. It's His way of telling us, "You don't have to hold on to this. I already paid the price." Let it go? Of course we can. Every single day. Moving forward and leaving what's passed in the past.

I love you people a lot. A lot a lot. Be wonderful. Appreciate the sun. Love your family. Love everyone, really.

With so much love,

Sister GP

Mama Said There'd Be Days Like This...

Friends, Romans, countrymen...

This week was one of the toughest I've ever experienced on my mission thus far. But you know what? Tough circumstances breed serious growth.

I spend many of my days trying to show people that God will help them through anything, no matter how inadequate they feel. I probably should have expected a considerable trial of that faith, right? No one is exempt from struggle. And now I'm starting to realize that what I'm telling people is RIGHT! God legitimately helps you, and not in some cosmic/incomprehensible way that "you'll only fully grasp fifty years from now." (Okay, okay, sometimes that happens, but follow me...) He helps you realistically, tangibly, with certainty.

Some days you only have the wherewithal to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. And that's okay. I don't have to be the perfect missionary, just like you don't have to be perfect people. This coming week I'm going to make you a serious promise:

I will be loving even when I want to be frustrated. I will admonish God's blessings even when I want to ask him whhhhhyyyyyyy things are difficult.

Things are difficult sometimes, but they're supposed to be. This whole thing--LIFE, and living the best we can--is not a cheap experience. It's a gift. Expect that you'll struggle. But also expect that you'll emerge. Weather-beaten, but better. Tired, but stronger.

I love you people. I feel your prayers moving me from day-to-day. Thank you. Yes, you.

Love,

Sister G

Change and Moving Forward

Hello people I love! How are you? Seriously. I pray you're well.

It's March already!?! I realized yesterday that, at the end of this transfer (6-week period), I'll only have one year left of the mission. B-a-n-a-n-a-s!!

This week President Wilson and his wife had all of the sister missionaries get together for a luncheon and training. Sweet, merciful beauty, it was great. We're up to 21 sister missionaries in a mission of about 160 plus/minus elders. We're a rare breed, but we are mighty. I'll share something President shared that literally blew my shoes off. Often we think about the doctrine of eternal families in the context of OUR nuclear family unit--two parents, some children. But, did you know what we're really doing when we're sealed for time and all eternity to our family? We're sealing ourselves to God as part of HIS eternal family. Our families are not just one complete cross-stitched doily. We are a quilt, people! Your family unit is just one of kajillions of squares. Throw THAT in your bubble bath and soak in it!

Random thought having nothing to do with anything: if I never hear the words "Mitt Romney" again in my mission, it will be too soon. I never realized how much the Church's neutral political stance would bless me in a mission situation. I'm interested in being socially/politically conscious as a member of this great land, but I'm thrilled NOT to listen to the radio, watch TV, or peruse the internet during an election year. People, I know I'm a Mormon. I'm aware that Mitt's a Mormon. Do I know him? Nope. Do I care if Mitt enjoys the occasional episode of Jersey Shore or wants to be the president? I don't. Step off my bean, Washingtonians.

So, it's happening. Sister Hone is getting transferred tomorrow. Little Sister G (that's me) is staying in good ole Granite Falls. Remember last week how I talked about sorrow and gladness occurring in the same breath? This is a lot like that. Sad to see her go, but thrilled for her to train someone else for 12 weeks before she heads back home. I pray my new companion will be as cool as Honesauce (sparse likelihood), or I fear the ward may turn on her with pitchforks and torches.

Final thought for today: we have to accept change so that we can grow. This morning Hone and I talked about how four sisters are going home today, and how it won't be much longer before Hone goes home, too. Leaving this experience should be a rejoicing about the ability to grow, to learn from and move on. I think many of us get stuck in the "Look what I LEARNED!" stage and forget about the moving on sequence. You've got to move your feet, friends (ahem: forward, not backward). Are there circumstances I don't prefer here? You bet your bifocals there are, but there's a beautiful loophole. "Non-preferred" stages are not permanent. You face the challenge, garner all you can, and sprint to the next phase--for better or worse. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this week I'm focusing on not getting caught up in the details of change. "Make the most of it" comes to mind. The keyword is make. It's not "have the best of it," or "search hopelessly for the best of it." We make change good or bad. Something rotten is happening in your life? Your fretting won't cause it to vanish. Your willingness to accept change and be humble/able to grow from it WILL make it better, if not wonderful. P.S.--God's got it MORE than under control anyways, so keep calm and carry on.

Is this making sense? Sometimes I feel like I try to share the thought of the week and it turns into this Oprah Winfrey moment of schmaltz and weak pep talks.

Point: Accept. Grow. Move on.

Love,

Sister Goodpaster

P.P.S. My birthday's in 19 days. I'm counting.