P-DAY TRIALS: Our Car Is Not Working

This week marks one quarter of our mission completed.  We arrived here on June 18 and today is September 21.  I would never have thought I would feel this comfortable in what I am doing so soon.  That is not to say that I would want to live here forever or that I don't struggle from time to time.  I still get pretty bored when we are not in the temple.  The apartment isn't big enough to do anything in or have a sewing project going.  We still find we need to go out and about most days-especially on our days off.  Today is Monday, our official P-day since the temple is closed.  I went on a 2.5 mile walk this morning.  About one mile into it, it started raining a little so I headed back towards home.  The rain stopped so I continued around the neighborhood, up the temple stairs and down again and to the trail up behind the temple that goes through an old cemetery.  It never did rain again but the humidity took over so I was dripping from that.  I exercised some more when I got back to the apartment since Larry was helping his brother with a project at his house.  I showered, got cleaned up and went to the grocery store.  That in itself is a trial for me because food is so expensive here and I know what those items cost in Utah.  $41 later with only two reusable bags full to show for it, I started home.  I had pulled out onto Kam highway and travled about two blocks and the car quit.  I pulled over as far off the highway as I could and tried to start the car again.  It would NOT start. I called Larry and he got a ride from a missionary across from us to where I was stranded.  Turned out that we had to have Keith come and tow it to his house.  Larry thinks it is the timing belt that is the problem.  Not sure what the cost will be for repairs but I'm sure it won't be cheap.  So as of now, we are borrowing Keith's truck.  Now I am wishing we had not sold our car at home but had it shipped here for our use.  Hopefully we can get it fixed in the next few days.  So grateful that Larry's brother was here to bail us out and that he knows people that can help us.  I'll report more on this next week.

I have mentioned before that a big reason for my being here was so the Lord can teach me in a different environment and with a changed heart.  Yesterday in church, the high councilman talked on Christlike attributes which we should all be seeking.  He used a seed as an acronym to things we can do.  I thought I would share it here so, if nothing else, I can remember it.
S= See others as God sees them.  Each person is precious in the sight of God and      should be treated as such.
E= Exemplary life.  We should be living each day, each moment as an example to others of how the Savior would want us to live.
E= Edify.  Edify those we come in contact with and even edify ourselves in our actions.
D=Depend on Him.  We know we can't "do" this life alone and would be foolish to think that. After all we can do, we  then need to hand over our problems to the Lord and have the faith that he can and will help us.  Humility seems to stand out to me in this part.
I was very impressed with his talk and felt the spirit tell me that I have a long way to go in becoming as the Savior know I can become.  Working at it day by day will bring me closer.

Again this week, I have been training ordinance workers in the temple.  I really do love that part of my responsibilities.  Saturday I had three new workers to train.  Two had been ordinance workers before so it was pretty easy to catch them up on what they needed.  The other one is a sweet return missionary (Sister Beaver) who served in Jacksonville, FL.  She has been home four weeks and was just SO excited to be learning to be an ordinance worker.  The young girls are so quick to pick up on the things they need to memorize.   I have also been training Sister Qi from mainland China.  She has taken to be and was there as a substitute on Saturday.  She told me she has been doing family history and has four names to bring to the temple to have their work done.  They are her grandparents on both sides.  She is so excited to do the work.  I inquired whether her parents were members and she told me yes but her father was afraid to go to church much because he works for the government in China and doesn't want them to know he is LDS.
I can see the hand of the Lord in my patriarchal blessing when it says that I will have opportunity to work in the temple and learn of those sacred ordinances and know that they are from God.  This knowledge gives us hope that we can and will return to our Heavenly Father at the appointed time.

Wow!  That is a lot for one day so it is time to close.