Halloween Pday

 Hello everyone
Writing you from this sunny Halloween Pday. Today will be a relatively easy
day which is much appreciated, because this last week was way hard.  Today
the President wants us to have our weekly zone meetings at night so that we
are not out in the streets.  Not a good time for missionaries to be walking
around.  After the zone meeting we are having a Halloween party.  Weird to
think that we are going to a Halloween party on the mission.  Ususally
 Pdays are actually kind of stressful.  A whole lot of things to do and not
a lot of time to do it.  The majority of the day is consumed with playing
sports and going out to lunch with the Zone.   Today, we got permission to
leave the area and go to Silverdale so that my comp could go shopping.
Kind of bittersweet.  I saw members at Target, at the mall, and at the library just now from my old wards.  They either didn't even know that I
was transferred or they were way bummed to see that I had left the area.
Well, that is the nature of missionary work.  We change around a lot.
Sometimes that doesn't really sit well with investigators.

To any of you that might have just recently sent me mail to my old
Silverdale address chances are I didn't get it.  My old comp tried to
forward them to me but I should have received them by now and they haven't
come.  The mail system might have bounced them back to the original return addresses.

So my new comp is doing pretty well.  Waaaaay different then Holman.  She
 is an islander and all that comes with that.  Different personality,
> different sense of humor, different way of thinking, different pace,
> different likes/dislikes.  Not bad, just different.  Definitely an
> adjustment from Holman.  Fortunately she is really humble and teachable so
> that helps the work a lot.  I feel like I have to correct or teach her a
> lot more of what not to do as well as what to do then my last companion.
> It is teaching me patience and understanding.  This past week has been a
> proving ground and one that definitely is causing me to stretch far out of
> my comfort zone.  It's hard starting from zero.  So much pressure.
> Unspoken pressure, of course. Pressure that I mostly place on my own
> shoulders.  In just this first week though we have three new investigators
> and one on date to be baptized.  So that is a miracle!!  I keep trying to
> tell myself that I am doing my best and that is enough.
>
> The area is....scary sometimes.  Mom, I don't want to worry you
> unnecessarily so I think there are some stories that I'll just have to tell
> you when I get back.Yes, the Spirit will whisper and prompt you of danger
> but at the same time you have to be smart and use good judgment about what
> situations you are placing yourself in.  Missionaries are not invincible
> and I think that is a common misconception a lot of young elders have.
> Sometimes when we are out tracting or even just driving around I think to
> myself, "Man, what in the world am I doing here?  Why would President think
> to send me to this place?"  But then I think on it a little more and
> remember that Heavenly Father called me to this area at this time with this
> companion and that he is the all-knowing, all-powerful Master planner and
> has a divine design for this Washington Tacoma mission.  I think of all the
> places in the world that I could be at that exact minute of the day and
> know that this is where He needs me to be.  Humbling.  Makes you feel a
> little more significant when sometimes you feel like an ant on a playground.
>
> I made it all the way until Thursday night before I cried.  Frustration,
> sadness, confusion, and honestly just feelings of being alone reached their
> breaking point.  I let heavy, wet tears roll down my cheeks as I sat in
> this lady's house as she is laying in to us about how upset she is that the
> elders left her and now she is stuck with us.  Luckily, I was able to pass
> off my tears as a product of the Spirit as I bore my testimony but really
> they outpouring of my emotional dam breaking.  I was able to pull it
> together and salvage the rest of the night.  I don't want to turn this into
> a cry fest so this letter will be brief. I uploaded some pictures from
> lately.
>
> I know that the Savior of the world is the one that is going to get me
> through this little rough transition.  I know that there are great things
> that are in store for us here.  I just have to keep the faith and keep
> believing that this is true.  If you feel like life is trying to defeat
> you, read my favorite scripture: Alma 26:12 .  Has gotten me through a lot
> of sleepless nights.
>
> Love you guys,
> Sister Baylon