Fun things:
We finally figured out a way to describe PTC. Basically you feel like you're on a resort all the time with all the golf carts going by and people never staying for too long because they all work for Delta. So in a nutshell--I feel like I'm always on vacation but never allowed to relax.
I heard a story about "the golf-cart groper" this week and now I have nightmares. (Don't worry mom, I'm safe).
I'm currently emailing you all from a tiny town in the middle of Georgia called Senoia. (pronounced "Sen-oy-uh" or, "Sen-oye" by the locals). PLEASE LOOK IT UP. I'll probably send pictures of it next week because it's awesome, and it's the set of the show "The Walking Dead". I literally drove past the set on the way here, and massive group of people was walking around going on a tour of the place. why that show is a thing though, I'll never understand. It's gross :( Resurrection is supposed to be beautiful.
*Also I'm dying because the air vent above me is freezing my fingers off in this library so excuse my typing mistakesz*
This past week was pretty strange and off-the-wall and spontaneous to say the least.
The latest news is that i'll be serving in a trio for the last few weeks of the transfer and double-covering areas! Long story short, a sister we live with has had mono for the last 5 months and ended up flying home to get some rest this morning. (wow, it sounds like she died from that sentence, i'm way sorry haha..SHE'S FINE.) therefore, this is the reason why we are in Senoia--some sight seeing in our "new" area! My new "tri-panion" is Sister Hines (aka my BFF) and she came out with me! for the last 10 months (yikes, yep i'm really that far along hahaha), we've been joking that we'd become comps and prez really made it happen haha. WOO
Update on Y.--sadly she moved back to Norcross already and we are really bummed out. BUT! Good news is that it's still in our mission so I can bug the Brockett sisters to go see her as much as i want until she gets baptized so that's really good news.
We took Paulina completely off-date for baptism this week because she still hasn't come to church and she honestly didn't seem the least bit upset about it which was pretty disheartening. We're seeing her tomorrow so we'll have a good chat i think.
The rest of this week was filled with some random weird activities like shelling purple peas for a woman in the other ward, and funky finding ideas including "Tabling". We set up a table on the golf-cart path outside our church and tried flagging people down like fools to give them a card or Book of Mormon or pamphlets. Semi-successful..we are still working out the kinks.
Fourth of July was pretty great! July 4th is a big deal here in PTC....they actually have one of the "Top 10 Most Patriotic Parades in America" (or so they say) and it's just this big golf-cart decorating contest with some floats thrown in the middle. I didn't know you could make a golf cart into so many bizarre shapes and animals with just some cardboard and crepe paper... Way cool way fun.
We walked up and down the parade for a while handing out cards and that honestly was getting us no where--no one wants to be interrupted during this holiday haha. So we ended up finding a member to sit with and started handing cards and candy to people walking IN the parade. pretty hilarious, not gonna lie. They took it and then started throwing the candy and cards back out into the crowd and pretty much did all the work for us. #Efficiency
On Sunday, a woman in the ward got up to share her testimony about my favorite verse of scripture of all time: 2 Nephi 2:25. Men are that they might have JOY. This lady is going through the ringer--her husband just got diagnosed with stage 3 brain cancer, and has very little chance of surviving. she has the possibility of being left behind for a while with her small 10 month old baby and very little income. The world is against her right now. Yet, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE SO HAPPY IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.
her thoughts on this scripture are exactly why it's my favorite:
"That verse of scripture is applicable for everyone everywhere always. No matter what. It is not conditional--Men are that they might have joy,depending on how much money you make..or how beautiful you are, or how easy your life is. NO WAY. There is no caveat to this verse. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy all the time, even in the midst of our difficult challenges--that's the way He designed us! God will comfort you, no matter how low you might feel, or how justified you might be to feel the way that you do, or how badly you want to wallow in your self-pity. You will be comforted, and you will become happy if you just maintain an eternal perspective and remember why you were created."
"That verse of scripture is applicable for everyone everywhere always. No matter what. It is not conditional--Men are that they might have joy,depending on how much money you make..or how beautiful you are, or how easy your life is. NO WAY. There is no caveat to this verse. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy all the time, even in the midst of our difficult challenges--that's the way He designed us! God will comfort you, no matter how low you might feel, or how justified you might be to feel the way that you do, or how badly you want to wallow in your self-pity. You will be comforted, and you will become happy if you just maintain an eternal perspective and remember why you were created."
There were a lot of parts of this week that were sucky, I'm not going to lie. But thankfully God has given me a chance every single day to become better and to try again and to remember why i was created--it's to have JOY.
If i've learned anything at all on my mission, it's that I'm here on earth to be happy. If i'm not, something needs to change.
Happy 4th y'all!
Sister Lawson
Sister Lawson
1 and 2--georgia is pretty.'
3. Us in our patriotism
4. The andersons!
5. Shellin' purple peas
6. A golf cart parade...?
7. A lady kicking a duck
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