When Your Ox Is In the Mire

Hello my dear friends and family! Boy am I excited to tell you 'bout my week 'cause it was something' else...

Primero, I'd just like to start with a quote from Elder Richard G. Scott that goes "Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more." That is what we faced this week!!

First, we had MANY lessons set up and a few members ready to come help us, but despite our best efforts, very very few of those lessons actually went through. Part of the problem was the excessive amount of rain. Apparently it hasn't rained this much here in over like 40 years, so everyone is freaking out and there's been lots of flooding and it's a mess. No one likes the rain even though they need it so badly. So everyone hides inside and doesn't wanna talk to a pair of soaking wet missionaries. Bummer :P

Then we had a real surprise about 2 AM on Saturday... I was happily asleep when I woke up to the weirdest noise (seriously that sound will haunt me forever)... It took me a minute to really wake up and check it out, but it turns out a pipe in the bathroom ceiling busted and water was just pouring in through the light fixtures. By the time I figured out what was going on, the whole bathroom had a solid inch and a half of water, and it was quickly spreading throughout the rest of the apartment. That's when Hna Zohner woke up (she said at first she thought I was in the shower and was just really confused...). And then the fire alarm started going off because the water was really hot and creating lots of steam, because winter and cold. We scrambled to throw the windows open and get the thing to shut up, which thankfully it did. And then we called the manager who--miracle!--actually answered his phone at 2 AM. He came and turned the water off and fixed the pipe, but not before the entire house was flooded. We did our best to run around and get important things off the floor so they wouldn't get ruined. So we were exhausted and couldn't get back to sleep until like 5 because that's how long it took him to fix everything.

By lunch time we didn't have a table to eat on anymore...

Then we spent all of Saturday making calls to the zone leaders, the housing coordinator, and Hna Villanueva and then packing everything up because the floor was ENTIRELY ruined--meaning we'd have to move. It was such an exhausting day, especially running on my grand total of like 4 hours of sleep. :P

Then Sunday we were in a real pickle. Because of how bad the flooding was, we needed to move ASAP, but with it being the Sabbath we didn't want to move--preferably we'd wait until today. But the apartment was SO messed up we just couldn't stay there. Our figurative ox was seriously in the mire (which is actually a fairly good word to describe the state of our apartment!) So after stake conference--which PS was amazing, we had an investigator come and it was super great--we did what you do when your ox is in the mire: get it out. We called the troops together and went to work. Major shoutout to our zone leaders, Elders Patterson and Low, and also Moises--a young man from the ward. The were incredibly helpful and went above and beyond to make sure everything was okay. Those boys are a blessing. And we managed to get everything moved in about an hour, and now everything's okay :)

Here's to life in #2 now

Throughout the whole ordeal we saw a TON of blessings and tender mercies. For one, there was another apartment in the same complex that was available for us to move into (which honestly is probably the biggest blessing of them all). Also, nothing was seriously ruined in the flooding aside from the floor. Plus we received all the help we needed (and more) to make everything work out okay. We definitely we able to see the Lord's hand in a lot of ways :) I'm so grateful we were protected in all of it and that we were able to fix everything so quickly. Blessings, my friends. Blessings. :)

....here's hoping it never happens again though! ;)

-Hermanitas Johnson and Zohner, who somehow aren't dead

Also, funny story. Zohner forgot her tag and took mine, so I took Sister Oh's extra one. I'm Chinese now