Hi.
Is it Wednesday yet? Nope, not counting down till transfers or anything. Actually I am. I am ready to close this chapter and start anew. I am staying in Steilacoom! Wahoo! I actually am excited about that. President said I'll probably be here a while so probably 3-4 transfers. I'm ok with that. It's a great area. The companion that I am getting is Sister Chronister who is coming from my mission birthplace up in Silverdale. Her and sister Jensen are actually swapping places, so Jensen will take her spot up North and kill off a dying sister that goes home at the end of this next transfer. (such weird missionary jargon, i know). So my comp will be a greenie. Should be good. Hopefully she works hard and we can make up for a lot of lost time here in Steilacoom. This past transfer wasn't my best in terms of dilligence or success. Which I can attribute to obedience. Partially due to me, partially due to my companion. Won't dive into details but I am going to be a lot better this time around.
We might as well start off with a good food story. Well, "good" in terms of the story and not so much "good" in describing the food. I think it's more than safe to say that I DO NOT LIKE SEAFOOD. We were tired and hungry and not really wanting to talk to each other, so a dinner with the Barnes family was going to be my saving grace. I thought in the back of my head just as long as we don't have something weird like oysters, I think I'll be able to call it a good. So of course we would have oysters....Of course. But, I have become a food dare devil and I tried everything they put in front of me. Raw oysters...hmmm. Not so much. I liked the cooked ones. Bro. Barnes made them from a Camodian recipe he got from a friend and cooked them out in the grille. Like chewing on well...something chewy. Artichoke was next. Nope, I think I'll stick to artichoke dip from Chili's and not the steamed kind that you eat plain. Then we had lobster tail. I am probably describing a delicious meal to many of you, but to me it was a waste of I'm sure a lot of money and some poor lobster's perfectly functioning tail. Oh, I forgot, as an appetizer I munched down on a Habanero pepper. I love hot stuff so I figured that I might as well try it. Hot dannng it was hot. And of course I didn't think to take the seeds out. Within seconds the entire right side of my tongue was numb. Made the rookie mistake of licking my lips and then set those babies on fire too. Needless to say, it was hot. But I liked it. My comp wouldn't do it.
How was everyone's Easter??? Mine was fantastic. It was so nice and sunny and warm 70degrees! Can you believe it? I almost didn't. We had a great church meeting and dinner with the Tate family. Home made chicken noodle soup. Phew! I was worried we were going to have ham. Yuck. But we didn't. They were expecting it to be cold and raining so soup was what they thought would sound good to us. We ended up getting 4 easter baskets! Well, Jensen got 3 and I got one extra from the Graves family! Wendi and the gang did a tour of the mission and hand-delivered Easter goods to all of their favorite sisters. Like they literally spanned the mission. They are the COOLEST. The RS president made us a basket just stacked with treats. Our WML's wife made us one and the family that we ate dinner with got us one too. But of course, the real reason for the season or meaning of yesterday was to recognize and remember that Christ overcame the grave and that HE LIVES. There is a really cool link to a video on Mormon.org about it.
So good right? I love that video. People tell us all the time, "Wow, you missionaries sacrifice so much. I could never do that." But really it is nothing compared the infinite and eternal sacrifice of Jesus Christ. There is this poem that someone gave me about times when missionaries want to quit because it's hard and compared it to the Savior.
"Is it worth it?" I said as I reach our place,
to get that door slammed in our face/
"Is it worth it," I said, with a heavy sigh,
"to wear this stupid shirt and tie?"
"Is it worth it?" I said, when it's 40 below,
to walk for miles in a foot of snow.
I wonder what my friends would say,
If I were to go home today?
It's not the things your friends would say,
but what the Lord would do today.
What if the Savior would have said,
"I think I'll quit before I'm dead."
"Is it worth it, Father? To do this thing?
for a bunch of people I've never seen,
to sweat my blood from every pore,
so that man can live forever more?"
It's funny that I'm not struck down,
for being such a selfish clown,
my trials aren't so bad after all,
compared to Christ's they're kind of small.
So if you're feeling kind of sore,
because somebody slammed their door,
try sweating blood from every pore,
for people you've never seen before.
I cannot really accurately express what I feel when I think of the Savior and His love for all mankind. Even enough to suffer, bleed, and die. The least I couldn do is knock some doors and cry some tears so that others could gain access to his infinite gift. "Work cannot always be agreeable. Since we shall have to learn it sooner or later, we might as well begin now to learn that we cannot always do just the things we like to do and work only when we feel like working." Sometime I don't feel like working. Sometimes I'd rather just go home. Sometimes I want to walk away from my companion. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed with love and joy. Sometimes I feel a decimal of what the Savior feels for us when I see someone in need. Sometimes I give really freely. But I ALWAYS love my mission. I can't think of any other way to be more like Christ. I can't imagine He liked suffering or feeling angusih and grief for us. But He did. So why are we paying for it again by suffering in sin alone? Just as He was raised on a cross, we too, can be lifted up. From a sinking hole to a higher plane. One that will one day elevate us to live with God again.
Love you guys,
Sister Baylon
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