It was good...except for the part where my soul got crushed

Sister Alex Solomon:

Well well well, where do I even begin? This week has gone by so ridiculously fast, it has been a blur the whole time. Seriously, SO much has happened and I kind of don't want to think about any of it. Buckle up because this is gonna be a long one.

So, to start out, we had personal interviews with President Griffin which was awesome. He sat down with me and talked about my letter that I wrote him about our Ward mission leader. He said, "normally, I take bits and pieces of missionary emails and send them to the bishop but yours was so well written that I sent him the whole thing. It was great because you explained the issue like a grown up and it wasn't bitchy. See how you solved your own problem? I sent him the email because he can go over it multiple times..never underestimate the power of written words. Well done." That certainly made me feel pretty good (President is a true Montana rancher and he usually throws a couple of swear words in. This is why he says he'll never be a general authority) He showed me some of his back and forth emailing with our bishop and he told the bishop that he knew there was an issue because "Sister Solomon hasn't complained to me in over 9 months." YEAH. Take THAT, Brother Gould!  But yeah, so our bishop has taken control and now we meet with him and the WML at the same time and our meetings have been WAY more productive lately.

On Thursday, we were so stoked and we showed up early at our meeting so we could take pictures with and meet Elder Lynn G. Robbins and Elder Holland. When we got there, they told us that Elder Holland's plane had malfunctioned and been delayed for just a little bit so we were just going to do the picture later with him. Anyway, fast forward and we are in our meeting receiving instruction from our mission president and his wife and our area seventy and his wife and they came up and told us all that the plane had been delayed just a little bit longer. Finally, Lynn G. Robbins got up to teach us and he was amazing! He was trying to stall so that Elder Holland could come in and surprise us so he ended up teaching us for over 3 consecutive hours! It was so awesome! In the end though, Elder Holland's plane finally landed in Phoenix and he was on his way to the church building we were at for a singles fireside he was doing but they said he wouldn't be able to make it in time for the missionaries and that we all had to go back to our areas. I was so unbelievably disappointed that I thought I was going to cry a little bit. We came home and got In-N-Out to make ourselves feel a little better. Things don't seem as bad when you have animal style fries in front of you.

Well, Nanette got to see him so she sent me all her notes from it and she said that she left an index card on the podium for him that said the missionaries loved him and she even put my name on it. Gosh, I love her.

Later that night, I also felt better because we met this random drunk guy stumbling around in the street and he had tons of questions. It was hilarious and I'm sure he won't remember any of it but it was a good conversation. He told us that we should leave our missions and go see the coral reefs before they all get bleached. I told him I would so he gave me the most awkward drunk man hug ever and it was a pretty good end to the day.

For the work in our Ward, we have had so many lessons cancel (what's new?) BUT we found a new investigator!! We went to go visit this inactive member one day and she actually called us beforehand and said, "so, I'm at my neighbor's house and he seems a little lost and like he could use the gospel. You should come teach him." So we did, and she helped us and it was great all around. ACTIVE MEMBERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO THAT. His name is Pete and he wants to come to church whenever he can. He might be gone a lot though because he is trying to get a job with Roehl trucking here in Phoenix. He is single and wants to see the country! But yeah, he's pretty cool so we are going to try to get him out to church this week.

Overall, it has been good. I have been so focused on working all the time that I feel like I don't have much time for anything else, even thinking about home and missing people. I just have too much to do and it's nice that I'm finally at that point. I'm trying to not get too overwhelmed with my Sister training leader responsibilities and everything else so I hope it all turns out well.

I love and miss you all and I can't wait for Mother's Day this Sunday!!

LOVES ❤️

Elder Holland at the Glendale North stake center (my old area!). 

I heard he was "pounding on the podium", in true Elder Holland fashion.