OPERATION GOOBLER

HEY EVERYBODY!!! This past week has been pretty crazy! Monday we had a pretty chill preparation day, which was nice; and then that night we went out to work, but we didn't really see anybody! Seriously - we tried checking on SOOOOOO many people, but nobody was home/they wouldn't answer the door. So that was a pretty uneventful day. Tuesday we had District Meetings and Zone Portion, which is always wonderful! And it was extra fun because we got to give Sister Herring (there are several of you from Orem who might know her!), and Sister Cushing (Sister Woodbury's MTC companion) a ride to District Meeting. I love them both - ESPECIALLY Sister Cushing! They're both adorable! :) Later that day, we did some online proselyting and I got to chat with one of my favorite people! :) That night we had dinner with the Smith family in our ward, and they are WONDERFUL! I love them! They are SO sweet! Especially because they made DELICIOUS gluten, dairy, and meat-free meal, and they said that they genuinely ENJOYED it and putting it all together! I appreciate people like that SOOOOOO much! :) Later that night, we stopped by and visited another wonderful family in the ward, which was wonderful! :) After that, we went and met with President Riggs at the mission office so that I could talk with him. Now, don't worry - it wasn't anything too big, I've just been struggling with my health, and now with my badly sprained ankle, so I was just having a rough time for a minute and I just needed to chat with him. So anyways, by the end of our time talking, he came up with a wonderful inspired plan that he likes to call "Operation Goobler", so that I can rest my ankle for however long (from that point it was probably another 3-4 weeks), and my companion doesn't have to be held back with working all the time (we've still been working WAAAY hard - probably a lot harder than I should've been cause I wasn't letting my ankle rest like I should've - but we haven't really been able to do much tracting since this whole ordeal came about). Anyways, President decided that I will come to the Mission Office and help out with whatever needs to be done around there (he actually even threw out the idea of me being the mission historian, so that's cool!), and then Sister Christensen will go out and work with her old companion, Sister Bell (who just so happens to be in a trio in the area right next to us), or one of her companions in our area. After talking with President, I felt MUCH MUCH better! He is sure wonderful! :) Wednesday we went to the Alternative House and did our weekly service there, which was great. After that, we did some online proselyting, which was also really great! That night after dinner, we visited a less-active woman and her husband (her name's Jessica), and we just talked with them for a while and got to know them, and I really feel like we made some headway with them! They are really wonderful children of God! Seriously! I love them! And they love Harry Potter - at least SHE does, so we really hit it off with that! Haha! :) Thursday was when "Operation Goobler" officially went into effect! :) Sister Bell and her companions came over here and we each had a chocolate ice-cream soda (made specially by Brother Davis! I LOVE him!), and then we were on our way! Sister Bell stayed here with Sister Christensen, and then her companions drove me to the Mission Office. As soon as I hobbled into the Mission Office, I was warmly greeted by Elder and Sister Riggs, who work in the office now! I love them SOOOOOOOOO much! They really are SO wonderful!!! :) Shortly after I got there, we left and picked up lunch and took it to a zone conference for what is now the zone that Crystal City is in! So that was fun! I was able to chat with the missionaries who are in Crystal City a little bit and check up on my old favorite people there, which warmed my soul! :) After lunch (they had a salad for me to eat as well, which was so kind of them!) we went back to the Mission Office, and I did filing for them there until the Sisters picked me up again at about 4:45ish. After they picked me up, they took me home to the Davis' and we ate a quick dinner (we didn't get home til about 5:45ish with traffic), then after about half an hour or so, Sister Christensen and I were on our way back out the door to get back to work together! :) That night, we had a lesson with our investigator, Jason, which went really well! After that, we had a lesson with our investigator, Jean Pierre, which also went really well! Friday we had weekly planning, which ended up taking until about 3:30ish or so in the afternoon. After that, we went to the library and did our progress record and some online proselyting, then we went back home for dinner! Later that night, it was another night of a whole bunch of driving around to see people, but nobody was home... but it's ok! It was good companionship bonding time! :) Saturday was another miracle day! :) We got half of our key indicators for the week in that one day, just like we did the week before! Crazy! Anyways, we saw Brother Murray in the morning, but ended up mostly talking with his mother, who isn't a member, so that was really cool! She's so cute! :) After that we had lunch, then we went and had a lesson with Renette and Ashley! I really do love them SO much! They are WONDERFUL! I love my wonderful African people! :) After that, we saw Amanda and I was able to have a really wonderful visit with her and get to know her a lot better, which was amazing! I love her! :) After Amanda, we met up with Brother Larsen at Chipotle and had dinner with him there! He's such a cute old man! He always has riddles for us to solve! He's suuuper funny! I love him! :) We finished the night off by visiting the Beard family and having a really good visit with Brother Beard! He's wonderful! He's one of those members who tells you that he should be doing missionary work, and he knows it, and he will do better at that! I LOVE people like that! AH! SO wonderful! :) Sunday wasn't too eventful. We had church, which was really good. Then that evening we had dinner with the Hall family in the ward, which was wonderful! They're also VERY missionary-minded, which is WONDERFUL! (Well, I mean, he IS the Stake President, so I guess that that would help out with that a little bit. Haha.) He even suggested that they invite our investigators, Renette and Ashley, over for dinner and then take all of us to the Temple Visitors Center later this week! They are WONDERFUL!!! :D That night, we finished the night off by visiting the Bazzarone's, which ended up being a HUGE blessing - in SO many ways! But probably the biggest one is that Brother Bazzarone is a doctor, so he took a look at my ankle and gave me some really good medical advice! I'm pretty sure that in the couple of minutes that he was touching my ankle and foot, he figured out where my ankle is sprained and how bad it is WAAAY faster and WAAAY easier and was able to give me WAAAY more information than the Doctors at the Urgent Care that I went to a couple of weeks ago, but it's fine. Haha. It was just nice to finally understand exactly what I should do to help my ankle heal as quickly as possible. It turns out it's a high-ankle sprain, which explains why it's been taking FOREVER to heal, and why it's SOOOO painful to walk still - even three weeks later. But it's all good! Haha. I know that God truly allows us to go through trials in this life for a reason, and I know that although this experience is really painful - emotionally and most of all PHYSICALLY - I know that there are things that my companion and I both need to learn from this experience, for whatever reason. But I know that it's all in God's hands, so I have nothing to worry about! I know this church is true and that God and Jesus Christ both live and that they love us SO perfectly, we cannot even comprehend their love for us! This is one of the many reasons why I LOVE being a missionary SOOOOOOO much - because I get to feel a small piece of the love that God and Jesus Christ feel for each and every one of us! And it is truly a beautiful thing! :) I love you all SOOOOOOOOO much! Thank you SO much to those of you who have been writing me and/or e-mailing me (that means YOU, Cory, Mom, and Daddy and Grandma Heiner and Orrock, and anyone else I forgot to mention)! Y'all are the best! :D LOVE ALWAYS, Sister Aubrie Orrock P.S. Thought for the week: "Tell God your needs and don't forget to thank Him for His answers." Thank you SO much for your quotes of love and encouragement, Cory! They really mean A LOT! :)