Using Pokemon to convert

Hannah has been a Pokemon fanatic ever since she was a kid. She literally knew everything there was to know about every Pokemon, every move, every version of the video game (from Gameboy to 3DS), EVERYTHING! So what are the chances that a month and a half after she leaves for her mission, the biggest thing to ever happen to Pokemon HAPPENS? Enter Pokemon GO. As soon as I heard about it I knew I needed to get into it on her behalf. We've all told her things about it, while trying to downplay it somewhat. But let's face it, she's not living under a rock. You better believe people are playing it all over Washington DC, and (although she is getting her iPad tomorrow - YAY!) she can't participate in it. This is probably one of the first big worldly sacrifices of her mission, after turning her beloved phone over to Hayden. I know that the commitments she has made and her desire to follow the rules she has agreed to will win out. She has the big picture in mind right now and this is such a trivial thing in contrast. But she's still a 19-year-old 'kid' in a lot of ways, and it has to be hard for her. It makes me even more proud of her. I love that she used it as the title of her email this week. Here it is:


I really wish I had some cool baptism story to report for this week,
but we don't :/
We were able to meet with a guy and his wife who's been inactive for
most of his life, so we're progressing towards finding an investigator
*nervous laughter*

We have a really hard area - I was told that from the start so I guess
I'm not too surprised - but this is just an area full of people that
have a lot of money and big nice houses.  They're just content in
their possessions and have no desire to change.  I honestly just wanna
tell half of them "it doesn't matter what religion you are--you're not
gonna take your stuff with you when you die".  But I refrain because
I'd rather not be shot.  Our area is really safe, however, so that's a
blessing.  One of the companionships of sisters lives a half hour away
from their area because the apartments in their area are 100% not safe
- we're talking there have been homicides there recently.  So I'm
really blessed in that sense.

I'm reminded of a Native American proverb which goes something like this.
We all have two wolves inside of us and they are always fighting.  One
represents truth, honesty, happiness, compassion, charity, goodwill,
love, and light.  The other represents lies, deceit, sadness,
selfishness, bitterness, hatred, and darkness.  The question then
remains, which wolf wins?  And the answer is quite simple.  The one
that wins, is the one you feed.

Oh how much this is like life!  If we focus on the bad, then certainly
we will view our lives and situations with disgust.  True happiness
comes not from having a good situation but having a good outlook.

I've had to take a step back and look at my situation as a whole many
times this past month or so.  Absolutely, we have one of the hardest
areas in our mission, we don't have any investigators, and we're
dragging down the averages.  But man, I have a car with air
conditioning, I don't have to worry about my safety, and I get to
consecrate 18 months of my life to serving the Omnipotent being that
created me and loves me dearly - yes, even God.

Who knew perspective could mean so much?

I love DC!
~Sister Galli

P.S. The Temple is a special location on Pokemon GO (a new app that's
sweeping the nation), so we have people staring at their phones,
wandering the temple grounds.  We, at the VC, are trying to find a way
to use this to our advantage.

Sister Galli has been out for 56 days, and Sister William has 56 days left.
Of course the math girl would figure that coincidence out.