"The more you run, the more you baptize. The more you run, the more you baptize. THE MORE YOU RUN, THE MORE YOU BAPTIZE." <----Literally the words that cycle through my head on repeat when running up hills. Sister Blatter does NOT mess around. We don't just run on runs. We like, always run. Including in the flat. Sometimes not literally, but sometimes. And to be honest, I don't know how she does it. She is literally 5 feet and 2 inches tall and I REALLY don't know how she does it. But I LOVE HER FOR IT.
This week was grand! Aye, so it was! We taught all of our friendly neighborhood South American friends, and then some. On exchages with my new favorite Flordian, Sister Wilson, we taught Alex and Lee in Phoenix Park and then I told them that I had a bag of apples in my pocket and that I wanted to find the mysterious herd of deer that apparently live in the park (In YEAH, the center of Dublin) and Lee got super excited and led us on this wild deer chase up a steep dirt hill, but guess what we found at the top? 50 DEER. WITH ANTLERS. AND SPOTS. AND AN ADORABLE LOVE FOR HUMANS!! I'm dead. Not really, but REALLY.
This week I spent a lot of time on my knees. Sometimes because I would be sitting on the ground and not be able to get up because my calves were so sore, but mostly in prayer to my Heavenly Father. It has becoming increasingly apparent to me that I can't do this alone. None of it. And I don't want to. It's a beautiful thing, when our will becomes His. It's a beautiful thing, to be kneeling and kneeling and praying and praying and suddenly hear a quiet voice in your soul that you know isn't yours.
Tuesday was rough. We planned our day, but forgot about two lessons. They very kindly reminded us at the very last minute, but we had to do a fair bit of sprinting from one side of town to the other. God is SO GOOD though! The second one we forgot about was with Deborah, a recent convert who was baptized in Nigeria before coming here for school! We were dead on our feet after the day we'd just had, and didn't remember what we were supposed to teach her, but lo and behold, SHE taught US and even bought us pizza and oreo milkshakes. She even brought her roommate to meet us who isn't a member! It was MANNA to our SOULS let me tell you! If it's been a while since you've read, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come” by Jeffery R. Holland, I highly recommend it! When we push through hard things and give everything we have to God, we can EXPECT good things to come. We can HOPE for them. And I sincerely hope you do!!
Thanks for bearing with me on this wild ride! I swear it gets more wild with every week that goes by. But I'm happy, healthy, and well.
God bless you and you and you and each of you. I think perhaps I'll keep writing group emails throughout my August Communication Fast. I'm sorry if it takes me a few weeks to respond!
See you when September comes!
Sister Allen
PS. Feijoada 1 and 2 are the names of our matching cacti. We bought them on our way to lunch with the other missionaries / some recent converts, Guivemar and Maria from a wee garden shop on the high street! Or rather, the sketchy part of town that turns into the high street!
PPS. Feijoada is also the name of our favorite Brazilian dish!
