Tragic Week. Still Got Hope!!

Hello family and friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

It is so good to write you each week.  I'm so grateful that they give us these iPads to just sit down when we want and write an email.  Dad, feel free to share more experiences from your mission- I would love to hear more!!!!  Well I'm just going to get into this week.  This past week was probably one of the worst weeks of my mission!!!!!!!!😭😭👎🏻😭  Now don't get me wrong- I definitely have found the positives in the week (and there are always good things that happen) but I'm just so glad last week is over with!!!!  The week started off great- we got to do service, my favorite thing!!!!!!!!  We mowed the S's lawn and I got to do their super big hill in their backyard.  It was a great work out with some great pondering time!!!!! I thought a lot about our district because they weren't getting along so well.  It's just a lack of communication and working things out.  No one wants to say anything and that's upsetting to me.  I'm huge on communication and I feel that by talking things out it make things better.  If you just let something upset you and let it fester inside you then you have bad feelings toward the situation or the people.  I've been in trios where there was lack of communication and there were sore feelings.  If they had just talked it out, things would have been better and they would have felt fine sooner.  The same thing goes in any relationship really.  Communication is one of the most important things and should be done constructively and not destructively.  Both people should be willing to tackle the situation together.  I'm still working on my communication skills but I have done a TON better than when I was in high school and first out on my mission!!!!! I still need to be better with my words and how I use them to communicate my feelings and thoughts to others.  I am continuing to learn this skill.  Anyways that was what I was pondering.  

After the lawn/hill mowing, we had splits.  We were going to see an investigator but a parade that we had no idea about totally cut off the only road between Lemoyne and New Cumberland!!!😫😤😫 Soooo... we had to cancel the appointment because there was no way we could get there (we were even stuck trying to get back to our apartment).  Needless to say, it was a very frustrating that night!! I felt bad for the youth who were with us. I apologized to the youth over and over so hopefully they will forgive us!  We spent they entire day trying to set it up, finally got the appointment and WE then had to cancel.  Argghh

Wednesday I got to go on exchanges with an Elder I came out with, Elder Aitken.  It was a fun exchange.  We knocked on a lot of doors.  Thursday was Zone Training.  Elder Aitken was thinking a lot about the training and what was going to happen in it so we didn't talk a whole lot that night.  Zone Training was about church attendance and getting people to church. My companion and I do well with getting the less active members

to church but I haven't had one investigator come to church the whole time I've been here!!!  That's crazy!!!! So I hope we can have at least 1 come out before I leave because we've been trying to find those who are ready!!! I didn't talk too much (which is unusual for me) because I was thinking a lot about how I was doing personally with each question they asked.  I ended the training with reflectiing upon what I was going to improve in the different areas that were talked about!!!🤔  I did a lot of pondering hahaha!!!!!

Training Meeting

Then we did zone service which was fun. I had a great time I just wish
we would've done a zone activity because it always brings the group closer together and the departing missionaries could've shared their testimony at the end.  Oh well, I'm just glad we did something fun so I can't complain too much.  hahaha

Elder Butikofer and I are really good friends!!!!! I'm glad he's my companion!!!!🤗😜🤗 We both like to have fun and work hard!!!!!!!   It is good to have a good friend around when adversity strikes!  right after the training, almost alll of our investigators that we gained this week dropped us!!😟 So instead of 4 we now have only 2 investigators.  It was both confusing and frustrating because we had been working so hard and they were so interested.  So now we have to start from scratch yet again... which is what we did to get all these investigators.  But we will keep trying and working our butts off even more!!!!!! I know this is Gods work and He has a plan and it is His timing.  

The view of Harrisburg

We had some fun service on Saturday- we cleaned up the trash that people threw out of their windows.  We cleaned up all the trash!!!!!!!  We decided to go to an area that you are able to see all of Harrisburg when the unthinkable happened!!!!  My favorite pants got caught in the bike chain and my favorite pair of pants RIPPED!!!!!!!!!!!!!😡😡😡😠😠😤😤😫😫😩😩 ugggh  I was soooo upset!!!!!! They were my favorite pair of pants.  A woman stopped and asked if we needed help.  She was sooooo nice.  She helped us out and we helped her out by giving her a B.O.M.

My favorite pants ripped but I gave away a BOM!

 A good teaching moment occurred.  I told her that even in the times when our favorite things are taken from us (ie. my favorite pants ruined), we can have eternal happiness because God has shown us the way to return and live with Him again.  Then I told her the B.O.M. teaches us about those things and gave her one.  We then took a pic with her.  

Sunday was a great time as we ate at the J's home.  They gave us some helpful advice as we talked about our down week.  I'm grateful for the members!!  I thought a lot of members were going to think that we were just garbage missionaries if we had a bad week but they really help and lift us up!!!!! 

Sorry I'm sending this email out late.  We went to Harrisburg and visited the Capitol.  I have a ton of pictures.  Sooooo neat!!!!!!!!  Anyways I love you guys.  I'm going to work my butt off this week.  Love you.  Take care.  Bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️

Elder Cahoon the Baboon