Connor, with comp Elder Jolley, plus roommates
Dear Family,
Welcome to Yakistan. Or Crackima as it's also lovingly nicknamed. Yakima is known for three things: Apples, COVID-19 ... and COVID-19. Soooooo yeah, were still on heavy lock-down.
What we can do is service though, and we do quite a lot of that. From moving families into the ward to cleaning out backyards to helping out the Salvation army, we do a ton of service, which is nice. Aside from service we make phone calls, have Zoom meetings with members and make content for the WYM Facebook page.
I've been in Yakima for almost a month now and I'm navigating this new environment well, but for the first couple weeks it was pretty rough. I experienced a lot of mood swings and some really dark days. Days when the sun shone on the earth but not in my life. Those days made functioning hard. I struggled to eat well, to study, and to find motivation to do anything. After having several of those days in a row I decided to talk to one of the mission counselors about it. We've worked together (over Zoom) to help me navigate better. This quarantine is rough and missionary life looks different - perhaps more than it ever has before. I don't think we need to suffer more than necessary (if we can help it), and my experience has taught me that reaching out to others is a great way to get some help on your side.
I'm the unofficial barber of the Yakima Zone, which makes for good social interaction; everyone needs a haircut. Well, all Elders do. I've done 37 haircuts now. I'm getting better and better.
I'm working on finding new ways to do missionary work, mostly though art and crafts because that's what I'm good at and there's a lot of that on Facebook so it has potential to be a great thing.
My Spanish is coming along well. (thanks Duolingo!!!) Yo necesito usar mi celular para cartas! 😁😁😁
Welp, that's about it, we aren't really teaching anyone right now, so pray for creativity to flow and new people to be found!
Love and hugs,
Elder Craig
