Only Everlasting Beginnings

Another week has gone by and Elder Brown is getting more antsy every time I say I don't want to race him. Oh, silly Elders. My driving is such that I'm pretty sure anyone could beat me, though.

Long Beach with my awesome companion

I hate it when our car monitor Tiwi yells at me. It pierces my soul a bit. I was telling Hermana Fa'ulao the other day how there's a spot when the speed limit is 30 on one side of the road and 40 on the other in the same spot in Glen Cove and Tiwi say 'check your speed' every time when I go 40 on the 40 side. It feels like a teacher is grading my test incorrectly and there is nothing I can do about it. I've decided I'll call the Tiwi people today to tell them about it.

This week was... quite the week. We had exchanges with my past companions Sister Valverde and Sister Tarnasky, we had interviews with President Reynolds, I spoke at a funeral, I visited the Merchant Marine Academy again, I said "shalom" to some Jews, and we taught another investigator who had received anti-mormon misinformation.

Exchanges!

So, let us start from the very beginning (a very good place to start). We went hiking last Preparation Day at Welwyn preserve. It wast beautiful. I highly recommend it. It is also home to the Holocaust Memorial of Nassau county. We didn't have an opportunity to go in, but the Children's Garden was lovely and the building itself was formidable. On Tuesday we had a lesson wherein a woman pulled out all the polygamy, continuing revelation, worldliness in dancing, and many other unfortunate discoveries she had found on the internet. It was too bad to see that she had no desire to be taught anymore, and I was glad to have a member with us who was able to explain to her many things we could not.

Interviews on Wednesday happened to be exactly what I needed. I had been feeling as if perhaps there were some areas I was falling short in, but President Reynolds communicated to me that he knew that I was doing all I could and that I just needed to continue being the best missionary I could be. It was nice to know that he trusts me where I am and trusts in me to do all I can.

On Friday we had exchanges with my old companions Sister Tarnasky and Sister Valverde. It was so amazing. And, as prone to happen on exchanges, we had many odd experiences. We got chastened for talking to a girl walking her dog on the street, and met a man who looked at me and said, "You're the same as this bush, I'm the same as you - we're all the same consciousness. You're Jesus!" In addition we went knocking in a Jewish neighborhood on Friday night, which is apparently when the sabbath begins because there were many Jews inside their houses singing in Hebrew.

We knocked on one house and a teenager threw open the door and cried "Shalom!" Her face was radiant and we just kinda stood there and said a weak "Shalom...?" Her face dropped and she looked at her father (who had come over whilst singing in Hebrew) and went to him, covering her mouth and loudly whispering "*They're American!*" The family went silent. The dad politely said, "We're not interested." Needless to say, it was an awkward moment for many of us.

Three Jews walked past us on the street and said, "Shabbat Shalom!" "Shalom!" I replied. At that exact moment a woman who had been about to chasten us came out of her house. Hearing my (pretty amazing) Hebrew she stopped short and asked who we were and where we come from. We replied and she told us how offensive we were. Then Sister Tarnasky made a beautiful comment that stuck with me. As we walked to knock on a different house she said, "Jesus was very offensive. Very." He claimed to be (and was) the son of God. He threw money changers out of the temple, he ate with publicans, he talked with Samaritans. What we do may be offensive to some, but it is necessary for their eternal salvation so it is still important we do it. Very important.

It was lovely for me to have the opportunity to see a recent convert that I love up at the Merchant Marine Academy again. That place is beautiful. I'm sad she is going off to sea for eight months, though!

Also, our recent convert of two weeks is flying home to El Salvador. The cancer is more malicious than ever and she wants to go home and be in the place she loves when she dies. It is sad, but I'm glad she will return to a place she loves.

Funerals...

The topic of death is a sad one, but I spoke at a funeral for a less active member this week, as well. It was very hard to put into words the hope that comes from death, in addition to the sorrow. I loved a bit from a talk by President Uchtdorf.

"In light of what we know about our eternal destiny, is it any wonder that whenever we face the bitter endings of life, they seem unacceptable to us? There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings.

Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny.

The more we learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more we realize that endings here in mortality are not endings at all. They are merely interruptions--temporary pauses that one day will seem small compared to the eternal joy awaiting the faithful.

How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that in His plan there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings."

I am grateful for the everlasting beginnings my God has given to me. Also, I am so grateful for the wonderful people we have met this week. Many of whom welcomed us in and accepted our invitations to read the Book of Mormon and pray. May you all do the same!

Love you so much!

Hermana Ally Voss