Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Wierdo week

Dear family! 

I just want to start off by apologizing that I wasn't able to email you yesterday. As you probably already know, Nelson Mandela passed away last week. His funeral was on Sunday and then yesterday was kind of like a day of mourning. Everything was closed in respect of Mandela's passing. 

Well Like I said, it was kind of a weird week. First of all, Sister Anderson and Sister Twongeirwe came! I am now in a 3-some with Sister Clifford and Sister Anderson! I'm excited to be companions with her again. Its a little weird cause we have both grown a lot since we were last companions but its been great so far. All 5 of us sisters live in the same little flat so things are a bit crowded but we are making it work. 

Thats not what made the week weird though. What made it weird was all the random medical issues! It all started on Wednesday. We were going to pick up a member so she could go teaching with us. She has 8 dogs. I have gotten a lot better about dogs since coming on mission. I still don't particularly love them but I'm ok with them. Well these dogs were smallish but they were circling me very suspiciously the whole time we were at the member's door. All of a sudden the biggest one went crazy. It charged at me and started chewing on my leg. Then a couple of the others thought it looked like fun so they joined. My companions literally had to pull me away while the member got the dogs. By some miracle none of them broke the skin. But my leg was super swollen and scratched up and bruised. It hurt. A lot. So we had to cancel our lesson so we could go home and I could take care of my leg. That pretty much took up an entire afternoon. It was crazy. But I can officially say I have been bit by a dog on mission! I'm a real missionary now! (p.s. Im completely ok now. I still have a pretty nasty bruise wrapped around my whole leg but nothing I can't handle)

So there was that on Wednesday. Then Thursday and Friday were pretty normal days. We did some tracting, we taught some lessons. Everything was fine and dandy. But then Friday night Sister Anderson was having some  pain in her lower stomach. It got progressively worse as the night went on and by the time she went to bed it was really bad. Sister Clifford and I diagnosed her as best we could. Then Saturday morning the Elders came over and gave her a blessing. After that it got so bad we decided to take her to the emergency room. We spent a good chunk of the day there. After a few hours she was released with antibiotics and pain killers. Turns out Sister Clifford had diagnosed right! Then we stayed with her the rest of the day while she rested. Same thing happened Sunday. I got to go to church with Sister Abraham but after that we just stayed home with Sister Anderson. She's doing a TON better now. The medicine is working and we are back to work! 

So yea we didn't get to do much missionary work this week. And even the work we did do was slow. Everyone is gone out of town for Christmas already.  I wish there was more to report... Hopefully this coming week will be better. 

Yesterday was fun even though we weren't able to email. Some members took us to a dam just outside of town. We didn't actually even see the dam. It was basically just a lake. It was so much fun. It was nice to just be outside having fun with the other missionaries. I got to wear a Zulu headband, we got to skip rocks, we saw some donkeys. Nothing overly exciting but just lots of fun.

We also decorated our christmas tree this week! Its the best we could do with the circumstances and our budget but its wonderful. The elders were great and went and got it for us. Then we spent an evening stringing popcorn and paper chains. It turned out great. Its amazing how different it feels being away from home but how it can still be home here. 

My favorite scripture this week was Romans 1:16 which I know we have all read a hundred times but it really hit me this week. It made me stop and think if its true or not for me in my life. I made it a goal to be more bold in expressing my love for the gospel. 

Well I am so excited to talk to you next week! One week from tomorrow is Christmas!!!! I can't believe its almost here!!! Its nuts! Time is going way too fast. 

Have a great week! I love you all so much!

Love, Sister Gehring
Me icing my dog bite.

Sister Anderson in the hospital... poor girl.

The triumphant release!!
This guy was at the dam catching fish and cleaning them right there on the shore. I was so proud of myself! I watched and I didn't get sick!

Me and Sister Twongeirwe. Thats a traditional Zulu headband. Sadly its not mine. Its Elder Brown's 
Ready for battle!!!!!!
Everyone at the dam! 

Me and my companions.
This picture was an accident but it turned out really funny! They tried to pick me up but my weight wasnt balanced so I started falling back. Then Elder brown was pretending to punch at us and his fist turned out in the perfect spot. Fun stuff!
Me and my former companions!

Our lovely Christmas tree. I know its not much but its home.
Elaine with the present she gave me. It was a hang made bracelet wrapped in a hand decorated tin can. It was adorable!

Daphne showing us old photos (she's one of our new oumas).

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