Being a Missionary is so Great!

We had a centipede in our apartment. then another, and then another. Then I found a dead one in the bathroom of the Buena Vista Chapel where the YSA meets. Gross. I am the catcher and the killer of them. Being the tallest companion, you get the hard jobs. It is so gross. I have never seen one before, but the first one we wanted to keep and show to other missionaries, it was an ordeal! We almost lost it in the carpet. So scary. It's body was 2 inches long, but it had 4 antennas and 30 legs. Don't worry, I have a picture!

We just had two baptisms, Kayana Kane and Wyatt Weese. Fun fact, Wyatt's birthday is the 28th of December, my nephew Wyatt's birthday is the 28th of December! Cool! It was so amazing to have been part of someone learning in person, not just teaching the Restoration and watch them walk away wondering what will become of them. My companions had started teaching them before I came, but just barely. Kayana is so good, the YSA elders have already asked her to be a member present in a lesson this week! Wyatt can't wait to get married in the temple, literally, ever since he had the Law of Chastity lesson and temples, he talks about it every time. They are so great! It will be fun to follow them on social media and keep in touch with them. Their testimonies are so strong!

We are busy everyday.

Sundays we go to the Tongan ward at 8:30 am. They sing in Tongan, which so amazing. The older generations speak in Tongan, the youth speak in English. We leave after sacrament meeting and go to the YSA ward, which starts at 10:30. We stay all three hours. Actually, this past Sunday, my companions and I spoke. Since Kayana and Wyatt got confirmed a member and received the Holy Ghost, that only left a short time for us to speak. I was the last speaker and as the time came down, I spoke for like four minutes, which is A-okay with me! Speaking in church is not my favorite. But we all did great.

We do about five hours of planned service each week.

Eating in Tongan homes is odd. Usually we eat and they watch us or are off in the other room, or the head of the house will eat with us, but even then not that much. That is the culture or they just hand us some money. Kind of sad. But for the YSA Chili Cook Off we are dressing in some Tongan attire and being Tongans for Halloween. My companions last transfer got these beautiful matching Tongan dresses a member made for them. There is this skirt chilling in the closet that fits me, so I get to wear that. My hair is just a blond Tongan version, so I am covered there.

There are quite a few less actives that we work with that are making so much progress. There is one that falls asleep a lot during meetings, so the sisters would give him mints. Well, for the baptism he was so persistent of a mint to keep him awake, I gave him like half of my mints. Then we had a "Why Believe Fireside" (devotional) Sunday night, He asked for some more, I just gave him the rest of the container. He was very loud about getting them out of the thing. So funny. The fireside happens at the end of each transfer, each zone puts on their own, and members are invited to come, and a few are asked to share their conversation stories. Kayana shared hers, a less active we work with shared his, and some other member did as well.

Also, this is huge, I guess. So the Bishop of the YSA ward has been a bit standoffish to the missionaries, both us and the elders, because some missionaries awhile back were a little too close with the members. So he hasn't done much with us. But this past transfer, he has texted us a complement and then this last Sunday he wanted to have a meeting with us, the elders, and our ward mission leader. This is HUGE! Really HUGE! He doesn't want any of us to get transferred out next week, which neither he nor us can control, but he appreciates the efforts that we have been putting in. I wasn't as excited as Sisters Lovestedt and Christensen and Elders Harmon and Wegelin, but they were super, super stoked, which made this very note worthy by their reactions.

Man, being a missionary is so great!
Sister Glanzer

Also we ate dinner with this family up in Cold Springs, which is super far away in our area, and their less active friend gave us nicknames. Sister Circumference, Sister Lock n' Load, and Sister Glycerin. Best nicknames ever.

We ate octopus ;)

The Zone

:)