This week was an interesting one for sure.
Our first few days were pretty regular with the last bit of time with the trio companionship. Then transfers happened and the roller-coaster started.
Here's the main points:
- We broke a windshield...WITH MY HEAD (notice the pun in the subject title)
- Sis Pennington got a cold (with tender mercies of course)
- We moved back to Walnut Creek Ward
- We did baptisms at the Redlands Temple with our new convert, Edward
I'll start by saying I am okay and no damage was done to my tough noggin. However this is perhaps one of the funniest things to ever happen to me.
We were picking up some pizza for our dinner and I sat the food in shotgun. Missionary rules say we have to back our companion out anytime we reverse, and so I went and did so. When I went to get back in the car, I was trying to move the pizza out of my seat.
Somehow, Sister Pennington thought I was in the car with the door closed.
I was not.
I was about halfway in when she started driving. Once she realized, she slammed on the brakes and my head went straight into the windshield. It cracked considerably (see the pictures below). Poor Sister Pennington thought she killed me and started bawling her eyes out. I told her I was fine and I could barely feel anything. I couldn't stop laughing because I couldn't believe my head had done that much damage.
Honestly, I felt a little lightheaded that night and was worried about a possible concussion. But, by morning, all tenderness or aches were gone. Don't worry, I had lots of people check in on me and make sure I wasn't in a concussed state of delusion.
We had to get our windshield replaced later in the week. #safeliterepairsafelitereplace
I guess when people call me hard-headed, in a way, they are correct.
Sister Kline:1 Windshield:0
The next day, Sister Pennington woke up really not feeling well. We went to the store early to get her some medicine and such, but she was wiped after that. We opted to stay in and that stretched to the next day. I had lots of time to study and clean, which I was grateful for.
I feel like I never have enough time to study all the things I want, so it was a blessing to have that time.
Sister Pennington started feeling a bit better in the last few days but has a cough that won't let up. Of course that lined up exactly with when she's supposed to give a talk in church. But she said as soon as she stood up and spoke she was fine, and when she sat back down it got scratchy again. God is truly a God of miracles!
We moved back to our original area and we're hoping to find lots of new people to teach! This was definitely not how we wanted our first week of the transfer to go, but we have big goals for our area, and there's always next week!
We even taught an Arabic lesson entirely over Google translate. We hope that the Spirit got our message across, but the two guys we taught both seemed super excited to learn more!
This last week, we got to take Edward (our new convert) to the Redlands Temple to do baptisms for the dead for the very first time! He got to take the names of people like his dad and grandma and do their work. He said he felt so good afterwards. It was such a blessing for Sister Pennington and I to take him.
Bishop accompanied us and was kind enough to get us breakfast, even though they signed up to feed us dinner that night as well. He was amazed by my pancake consuming capacity.
Here's my spiritual thought:
I studied Matthew 4:1-11 this week, when Jesus is tempted by the adversary before his ministry begins. There's an awesome BYU speech by Elder Holland called "The Inconvenient Messiah" that describes it all beautifully in true Holland fashion. Give it a listen.
Every time Christ was tempted, it was before or after a spiritual high--communing with God, at the temple, and receiving a vision from the Holy Ghost. The adversary comes for us right before or after we've done something great because he wants to a) prevent us from doing something great or b) knock us off our spiritual high.
So, next time you feel under the pressure of opposition, think...have I done something awesome? Or am I about to and maybe I don't know it yet?
I love you all and I hope I have less head trauma to report next week. As always, reach out. I love hearing about the happenings of your lives.
Sister Kline❤️