Farmington Week Nine
Hello, friends!! I cannot believe I've been in Farmington for just 9 weeks so far! It kind of feels like I've been here forever. But definitely in a good way!
Here's the highlights:
Monday. The birthday fun continued. Divonna and Rashaan, my favorite returning members in the ward (don't tell anyone I have favorites), threw me a little surprise birthday party! We came over for what we thought was going to be a lesson, but when they opened the door they had streamers and balloons and a beautiful birthday cake! It really meant a lot because things aren't the easiest for them money-wise, but they just have the biggest hearts and wanted to make sure that I felt extra loved while I was away from family for my birthday so they made the sacrifice to get some decorations and cake. That was the best tasting birthday cake I've ever had especially knowing the love and sacrifice in it!! They are an amazing little family and I love them so so much. Myla (the almost-one-year-old) really enjoyed the chocolate cake and I got some cute pictures of that so that was a super fun time too!!
Tuesday. We've been trying to get one of our returning members, Roman, a calling for a long time and today Bishop extended one to him! He'll be teaching Gospel Principles (one of our Sunday School classes)!!! He is so excited to teach next week and we're so excited too!! This is exactly what he needs! President Hinckley once said, "Activity is the genius of this Church. It is the process by which we grow. Faith and love for the Lord are like the muscle of my arm. If I use them, they grow stronger. If I put them in a sling, they become weaker. Every convert [or re-converted returning member!!] deserves a responsibility." And that's 100% true!
Wednesday. We've been trying to build up the member-missionary work in 2nd ward the past 2 months and on Wednesday we had zone conference and talked a lot about working with the members, which was perfect! As soon as we got home we said a prayer and started setting up dinners and message appointments with a bunch of active members. You would not BELIEVE how fast they were responding!! It was miraculous! Zone conference was also really great because we had it in Bloomfield! So I got to go back to my first missionary home and walk around that wonderful wonderful church building!! It was good to be back :)
Thursday. We went to an appointment with Johnny and Sally, but they weren't home so we crossed the street to talk to their neighbor who was outside. He wasn't interested, but as we were going to walk back to the car, Johnny and Sally pulled up!! And we had our appointment after all! It was one of those miracles of the Lord's timing. If we hadn't have gone to talk to that man, we would have missed Johnny! And he doesn't have a phone so it would have been really hard to meet again!! But God didn't let that happen. He is so good! AND I hit my year mark today!! I'm officially an old missionary!!
Friday. On Friday our whole district got to help out at the library's annual book sale. We were just setting up books for them to be sold the following day but it was so fun!! We were stacking them up in a really specific way (as we were told) and at one point one of the guys in charge walks over to me and Sister Darlington and says, "You guys are doing SO good. Seriously everyone is freaking out about how good you stacked those." And then he took a picture. It was really funny because we were honestly just doing what we were told but hey it's nice to feel appreciated!
Saturday. First thing in the morning we went to a baptism for the Spanish branch, Tres Rios, because I was asked to play piano. It was a beautiful and reverent baptism and I was grateful to be a part of it! It is always so amazing to see people taking steps towards Jesus Christ, especially sacred and significant steps like baptism. For the special musical number Elder Padilla and Elder Hodges sang "Peace in Christ" and I got to accompany them on the piano. That is such a beautiful song! And the piano part is SUPER fun. I realized that was the 11th special musical number that I've been apart of on my mission! That's crazy!! Today we also got to help with the book sale again! But this time we were reorganizing books that people had pulled out of their boxes. They had a bunch more tables outside with boxes of books all set in their with their spines facing up and people would pull the books out and move them around while they were looking through them so for 2 hours we just went from table to table fixing the little messes. It was basically a dream come true for me because I love fixing little messes, but it also really made me appreciate people that work retail. Sister Higgins told me a couple months ago that on Black Friday when she was working at Downeast she spent 4 hours cycling through 3 table of sweaters refolding the ones that everyone had rummaged through. 4 hours going table to table! I really liked cleaning up book tables though and now I'm pondering working at our library next summer!
Sunday. Sister Jones, another returning member we have recently started working with, just showed up at church today! It was so unexpected that when we saw her walking through the doors we weren't even sure it was actually her! She has had fears and concerns about coming back and we haven't been too sure how to help her overcome them but she came!! She was SO happy and even stayed after and chatted it up with some relief society sisters! We also met a great part-member family tonight. We just stopped by their house to try them on our way back home for the night so we didn't get much time with them, but they were so great! I'm excited to go back this week!
I really can't believe that I've been out here for a year. One whole year of literally bearing Christ's name on my chest every single day. What a privilege it has been, although it's not been easy. It's been the greatest year, but also the hardest year of my life. But I find comfort in knowing that even when I do struggle, I'm in good company. Peter, Nephi, Moses, Alma. They all struggled. But they all stayed true to the Master who led them forward. And that's what I will continue to do for the rest of my mission and for the rest of my life. At every meeting we have together as missionaries we recite "Our Commission". It really encompasses how I feel about being a missionary and why I'm here. I'm here to love God's children and to serve them and care for them just as Christ would if He were walking among Him. Here's my commission now and forever:
"I am called of God. My authority is above that of kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and He has chosen me to represent Him. To stand in His place. To say and do what He would say and do if He were personally ministering to the very people to whom He has sent me. My voice is His voice; my acts are His acts. My words are His words; my doctrine is His doctrine. My commission is to do what He wants done, to say what He wants said, to be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of His great and marvelous latter-day work. How great is my calling!"
It truly is great. I love my Savior with all my heart and I feel blessed to get to serve Him every hour of every day. I LOVE being one of His missionaries!!
From Farmington with love,
Sister Bohman
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