Unhappy Hump Week

Humph :( I am being reminded from all sides (even from my own mother!) that this week is my hump week. This is terrible news! I'm having a hard time even thinking about it. Last night at the mission fireside, one of the elders going home in a couple weeks started crying, and I felt like crying with him. This is rough. I can't believe it's half over. I feel like I have so much more to do! :(

Lots of big things happened this week! First off, our first M&MTC went great! The Spirit was SO strong, and we had 10 members show up! Even though it was a small number, I know everyone felt the Spirit, and our goal is to have them invite even more members this week. Keep praying for us! This is the key to helping out our branch. The help we get from members isn't exactly the best (that's putting it nicely), and we're really trying to get them pumped. We're just having a hard time getting them to be more welcoming to the zillion inactives we already have and to get pumped about inviting more people. They aren't the most welcoming/warm branch.... But we're working on it! I am LOVING my life!!

President Woodbury had big hopes for our branch. We're pushing to become a ward, but the only way that's going to happen is if we get more people attending. Out of the 300+ on our roster, only 100 come every week, if that. We really need to get these less-actives back! But anyway, President Woodbury told President Cole (our branch president) that he would help the Owensboro branch become a ward. That's why we have 6 missionaries assigned to it. I feel honored to work here. :) We'll call this "How the Owensboro Branch Became a Ward." Woo!

ALSO! We met the Broughs this week, and they are AWESOME!! I love the Broughs!! They are SO funny and PUMPED about the work! And President Brough has SO much energy. He's amazing!! I am SO SO excited to be working with them! They've got the vision. :D

haha wanna hear a funny story? There's a Relief Society teacher in our branch who's really old and....well, she likes to prove people wrong by how much she knows. And she hates the sister missionaries for some reason. So yesterday she was teaching the lesson and asked a question, and Hermana Luke answered it, and the lady goes, "Hmm.... nope. You have a veil over your mind." RUDE! We're still laughing about it. That's basically a "nice" way of saying, "You don't know anything Sister." Ay ay ay.

Oh! And last night we got to go all the way to Louisville to the Charla! The car ride there was miserable because our investigator, Erasmo, drove us in his van that doesn't have any AC. I basically felt like a rag dropped into a bucket of water to dry. It's SO humid, plus it was 93 outside. Woof. But we made it to Louisville, and my heart was SO happy. I got to see Josue AND William! William bore his testimony and thanked me, Hermana Lawrence and Hermana Wilkinson for helping him. I also got to see HERMANA CARNAHAN and our investigator Dario!! I was so happy to see him! He's such a timid person, but he came! It's so good to see people I used to work with doing so well. :) Hermana Carnahan is doing great too! We miss each other so much! I love that girl!

The Charla itself was wonderful. Elder Blauer, who is one of our Spanish Zone Leaders (he's comps with my old District Leader, Elder Skousen, in Louisville right now) was bearing his testimony at the end, and he said, "My mom hung up a sign in my room that says, 'You could help so many people if you went on a mission'. I've tried to give 100% of myself to this work, but for some reason I always receive more." And he talked about seeing all the people who've touched his life and who he's helped over the years.

It's so true. I was on cloud 9 last night seeing all of the people who make me who I am. That's why leaving the mission -- or thinking about leaving! -- is so hard. I can't imagine leaving all of these people behind -- Josue, William, Dario, Jose, Hermana Carnahan, Hermana Lawrence, the people of the Rama Quinta, Corydon, Owensboro -- and going home to a life I don't even remember. These people have changed me. They make me who I am. I never knew I could love people this much. It hurts. That's why I don't even want to think of it being my halfway point in the mission. If I'm going to meet and love as many people as I did my first half.... it's going to hurt twice as much to leave. Ugh. Help!

I just wish I could relate to you all about how much my mission means to me. I can't thank Heavenly Father enough for this opportunity to serve Him 100%. I don't know what I did to deserve this chance to be here, but I'm going to thank Him every day for the rest of my life for it. This Church is the Church of Jesus Christ, and this is His Gospel. We are doing His work. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. It's the word of God. I want everyone to know it!

"Today is the day I will open my mouth. I'll shout from the rooftops! The words will come out. And I'm sharing my soul in the words that I speak and the love that has made me this way. Yes, today is the day I'll proclaim what I believe!"

Hermana Porter