Sister Wilson (tell you about her later) and I are whitewashing. Which means we are both new to the area and only have the notes and records of the previous Sisters and the members to go off of. Pray for us.
Just kidding. But seriously, pray for us.
It has been a really...interesting week. I rode in the transfer van for the hourish ride to Hattiesburg, then waiting all day for Sister Wilson to get there. Then we loaded all of our stuff into the car, and headed off by faith.
To answer the question I'm sure you are all asking right now, No. No I did not have any idea I would be taking over an area blind. No idea whatsoever. So that was a nice surprise when I got off the T van all nervous and anxious to meet my new companion only to find out I would be one of two new sisters in the Purvis area. 
Not cool.
Honestly it hasn't been that bad. My first thoughts after getting settled in were as follows:
-Holy crap! How are we going to do this?!?!
-I need to pray!!
-Okay, maybe we can do this after all....
-NOPE!! TOO MUCH!!
-Breathe. Okay. We can totally do this.
-Breathe. Okay. We can totally do this.
-This is going to be the place where I can THRIVE!
-Prayer of gratitude for this opportunity
-Prayer of gratitude for this opportunity
I feel really excited and confident about this experience! It is going to be great!
If Sister Wilson and I don't kill each other first....
Mostly kidding. Here is a little background on her:
-From Jamaica
-24 years old
-3rd grade teacher
-Convert since age 8
-Met the missionaries at age 7 when she was playing in an abandoned van after running away from her 7th day Adventist church. Thought the Elders were pretty cool so she brought them to her family
-Her parents are members, her brother is not, her sister in law is
-Served for 5 months in Jamaica as she waited for her visa
-Very strong willed. Sounds like someone I know...
-Snores very loudly
-Different sense of humor that takes a little bit to understand
-This is her 4th whitewash
-Only calls me Sister (she can't pronounce my last name 
)
-Takes initiative. Sometimes too much...
-Out her to find and teach others like herself
-In her 10th month as a missionary
-Like cow tongue soup 
-Threw away my birthday cake because she decided it was time to throw away everything in the fridge when we got there. I hurriedly ran out to the trash can and fished it out of the bag. Luckily it was in the Ziploc bag so it was safe. 
Like point 8 and 11 say, she is very strong willed and knows what she wants to do with this area since she has done this before. This caused problems the first couple of days. From the get go she had an idea of what SHE wanted to do, and didn't care what I, the inexperienced one, wanted to do. We went through the area book. Okay so she did, and decided the "progressing investigators" that were in there weren't progressing the way SHE wanted so she pulled them out and put them in the "other investigators" section. Then she took the phone and began texting people. When I asked her what and who she was texting, she told me to stop being contentious and raising my voice. I wasn't. I just asked what she was doing. 
When we were tracting, she would just walk away from me and go to a different door than the one we had just walked up to. She said it is just the way she tracts. She does what she wants and her companion is supposed to just follow. I told her I didn't really like that since it left me wondering what the crap was going on. She even walked away from me and walked up to a door alone because I was still at the last door. She knocked and got mad at me when I told her I didn't want to do it that way. She said "contention is of the devil Sister." and walked away covering her ears. That was fun.
We finally got to talking about it two days later, when she finally decided she would listen. We have found the way that works better. She can continue doing her thing, but she has to let me know when she is going to walk away and kind of let me know a general reason why so I know it isn't that she hates me or is just trying to tick me off.
It is going better.
Our strong willed-ness is working for our benefit. As long as I constantly pray for humility and Christ like love and kindness, while also learning to just laugh off much of what she says that could be taken offensively, then the day goes good.
She is really a funny person, if you just laugh off the seemingly hurtful comments. She is a determined hard worker and has a sincere desire to help people come unto Christ. She is great.
Sister Oliver, one of the mission nurses, called me Tuesday night to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. She said she saw the post Mom put on Facebook and wanted to make sure I knew I was loved. It was nice!
President Olson also called. Not to sing Happy Birthday, but to ask me about something that happened while I was in Clinton. Sister Fa'ulao apparently offended an Elder by making fun of him for kissing a Sister. The situation was bad, but didn't warrant those comments. Anyways, that Elder is still butt hurt about it so President wanted my side of the story about it. I don't remember much of what was said, so I'm not sure it helped, but whatever. He also told me that I was handpicked to come to Purvis and whitewash. He feels I am the one for the job since I am hard working and determined. He said he has great faith in me. I thanked him for the trust and opportunity. Looks like things are finally dying down and he believes that I am a great person. 
Sister Fa'ulao is one of the Sister Training Leaders in my zone and is in my district, so we get to see each other each Wednesday at District Meeting, and then throughout the week on occasion. Hopefully we can keep from cat fighting each other. 
I am really excited for this area! Despite my bad attitude last Monday, this is going to be great. I am praying that I will learn and grow the way the Lord would have me. And that I will develop the humility and patience required to continue to work together with Sister Wilson. I really want it to work out!
Here is my address my adoring fans!
1106 Howell Road Apt B
Purvis, MS 39475
Now go send me lots of stuff!
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