Remember the last time you said to yourself, "After x (fill in the blank) is over, things will slow down and I won't feel so crazy!" And then, suddenly x is over, and life just picks up in another direction at the same speed or faster?! Yep, that's me and that was our weekend. Filled with a sprint triathlon, a visit from a haz. mat. crew and our local fire department (more on that tomorrow) , and best of all....an email from Sadie.
Forty plus years ago my father-in-law served his mission on the remote and incredibly beautiful island of Samoa. Nine years ago, he took our family there for and amazing, once in a lifetime trip. Sadie celebrated her 10th birthday getting to know some of the islanders. We all fell in love with Samoa and it's people.
As Sadie was preparing her mission papers, she commented, "I would love to go to Samoa on my mission". But remember, her mom was praying for a stateside mission. So...I will preface a few excerpts of Sadie's email by just telling you that I (once again) was laughing and crying as I read it. Our Heavenly Father knows her so perfectly.
"Dearest sweet family of mine,
I'm here I'm here! Holy moly I have so much to tell you so please excuse my fast typing and mistakes. Ok so I LOVE IT HERE! So I am the minority here, haha yep! I'm like a real gangsta now. (haha Sierra, from your letter) Everyone calls me baby or hun or whatever, I'm like YO MY NAME IS SISTA! Haha anyways but Dad you are correct, mis companeras are from TONGA and SAMOA!!! Sister Tau is from Tonga and SIster Tofa is from Samoa. So cool right??? They have accepted me as their cuz, and they say I'm not a polangi, which means white girl. They say I'm a poly :) Tell Bumpa they are teaching me a dance and we are going to video it and send it home! KUTAAA! Ok so this week we have already seen so many miracles and crazy things. Don't worry mom I'm not afraid because angels are always protecting us, when we walk, there are only 3 of us, but I can feel a whole bunch of angels behind us."
"Also Dad, you would be so proud, a lot of people are Hispanic too and speak only Spanish, so I'm learning to speak it and it's AWESOME! Somos misioneras para la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias, Tenemos un mesaje para tu familia! Haha it's getting better. I prayed out loud in Spanish for our companionship prayer, and it was good! It's amazing how the Spirit can be felt in any language."
"... there is so much diversity here it's almost like being in a foreign country. We are teaching a lady names Christina from Liberia, Africia, and she even speaks her own dialect! ""Ok I love my companions because they are letting me to keep using the computer, because they're are only two and they let me have it a little longer! They are seriously the greatest! They both have a New Zealand accent, because they've lived there too, so don't be surprised when I call at Christmas and sound like them! Haha seriously I'm already picking up on their accent and I sound Hispanic sometimes when we all speak in Spanish. Fabulosa!! "
And, well, you get the basic idea. She loves her first area, and through some miracle that I can only attribute to blessings, I feel so peaceful about where she is.
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