WEEK 19: Not my first rodeo but i knew better. Like my helmet?:)

Hi again! This week was another one for the books! 😂 

I went to my first rodeo, here at Fort Scott Community College! A member named Zach, and his girlfriend (who we are going to start teaching) invited us to go with them. We excitedly agreed!!  

  ...Wow was that just a disaster! First off, we thought the arena was an open/outdoor one. So despite ME BEING allergic to horses, we decided to go. BAD. IDEA. We get there, and its definitely an indoor arena. Right off the bat we are watching these bucking horses, and the air is just a mess. Within 10 minutes MY eyes were red and she was coughing. In the next 30 minutes (I refused to leave) MY throat started closing off. We go out into the hall and track down a member of our church who works there. He tracks down the guy who's over the rodeo safety. He finds me some benedryl. I takes 2 of those and then insists, between practical wheezes, on going back in so I can enjoy the rodeo. my companion was like  "I'm not about to kill my companion!" LOL needless to say, we left early to get me home. Especially because the benedryl started to make me loopy and tired haha. That night, I barely slept because even though the meds knocked me out fast, my airway was still tight and I was so afraid that i  was going to  stop breathing 

Lots of service

This was all on Saturday night, and just the night before, i got a phone call and was asked to speak in church on Sunday. So i kinda panicked that i wouldn't be able to do that anymore because when your throat swells up your voice kinda gets raspy and torn up. 

service on our faces

Long story short, we end up at church the next morning, stay for the first meeting so i could  talk and cough at the pulpit (LOL) and then go home for naps. I'm doing a lot better now; I've made a near full recovery! lol. Lesson learned. No more rodeos for this companionship. 

Miracles in teaching/finding:

We were able to teach Connor last night! Its been a few weeks since we have been able to really catch him and figure out how he is doing and how we can help him. And I am so glad we did because what we talked about and shared was so powerful. We asked him to make a list of all of his goals, and also a list of his fears. We talked about each fear and what he could do to overcome them so that he can achieve the goals that really matter to him. In the end he realized that the most important goal to him was to be joyful (Happiness is temporary, joy is eternal). And for him to have joy he needs to improve his relationship with God and develop trust in Him. 

We spend some time talking about why he doesn't come to church, and he admitted that it's because if he starts coming again and changing his life, he KNOWS he is going to want to serve a mission. Which he wants to do, but its also scary to him. He knows that he will want to be, "a good Mormon," and eventually have a Mormon family in the temple. He knows that it's a life commitment. 

We really understand Connor on a different level now- he wants to be the best there is at this, but its a long road. We are so ready to support him and get him to, where he now realizes, he wants to be. 

I love that I get to be a part of this life as a missionary! I love getting to see the Lord work with His children. God loves Connor, and all the rest of us. 😊

Its been a good week! I hope you all have had a good one too. 

Catch you next week!

Sister GILMOUR