Chi-Chi's First Day at Church = )

Today Mandy went to church, so we went to her old ward instead of the ward I’ve been going to with Marian them.  I really enjoyed it!  It felt more familiar to me than the other ward.  One thing that I’ve noticed I love so much in both wards are the hymns.  It doesn’t matter what I don’t understand or what feels foreign; the hymns are always the same (even if they‘re being sung wrong…haha - hard because there‘s just the keyboard in the chapel…and maybe the primary have one, I‘m not sure…so if a note is being sung wrong by the Relief Society they can‘t correct it), and I can always feel the Spirit through them…plus I love to sing! = )  It was so neat because Mandy is so clearly loved there, and everyone was so excited to meet and hold Chi-Chi (she was in a dress that I bought her and looked SO cute! - if I do say so myself…haha ; )  And they were all very friendly to me, too = )

Some things are different though, and I found these differences quite interesting.  One is that the mother’s room is right at a busy junction, and has a wall of open windows on one side, and a door with a window in it.  It also has no comfy chairs - just little primary folding chairs = (  In Relief Society, they do the testimonies first, not after the lesson.  I thought this was kinda neat ‘cause it ensured that there was time for testimonies.  The testimonies today were so sweet - it was neat to hear people on another continent, half a world away, who have the same knowledge and conviction that I do.  Heavenly Father is truly the father of us all and listens to each of our prayers and takes care of us as individuals.  For song practice, they ask, “Who will share with us a hymn that no one knows?”  When someone suggested one, the President asked for a raise of hands of who knew the song, and when too many people did, that idea was rejected and we had to wait for another volunteer with a lesser known song…haha = )  And the presidency made this really big, beautiful chart with all of the Relief Society companionships - but they’re actually gonna mark on it who did their visiting teaching, and post it for everyone to see!  It seems to be culturally acceptable, though, because at the school, right in front of the front office, they post the JHS 3 students’ exam scores in ranking order = (  

Other than that, I’ve been feeling pretty sick for the past couple of days - hoping I feel better for the new week because I don’t want to take time off…and don’t know if I can, really.  But yeah…been sleeping and resting a lot so I should be okay = )…but wishin’ I had some Emergen-C…haha = )  It was actually really neat, though.  Our lesson in Sunday School was about having faith and a willing attitude to be obedient to God’s commandments (we were talking about Nephi and the stories of him breaking his bow and building the ship).  When Nephi broke his bow in the wilderness, and he and his wife and children, as well as the rest of his family, had no food and were in dire straits, he did not murmur; he did not fear.  That’s because he had faith that if he did his part, the Lord would provide.  I was sitting there, feeling so weak from fasting and being sick, and smelling the fresh baked bread in Mandy’s purse from Brah Keke…and I realized, I had nothing to worry about.  I wasn’t in even as close to as difficult a situation as Nephi, and I needed to not murmur and have faith that the Lord would give me the strength to complete my fast.  Then tonight I read in the words of the Prophet George Albert Smith, “If the members in this organization [the Relief Society] will be as faithful as were those who lie buried on the plains, who met their problems with faith in the Lord, you will add to your many accomplishments and the favor of a loving Father will flow to you and yours.”  So that’s the goal for the week; meet my problems with faith in the Lord = )