"Use your charm!"
"Charm...charm..." (*trips lady*)
(I laugh because Elder Schauerhamer would probably
do something similar if he was put in the same situation.)
This last Friday a special training meeting was called,
where we received instruction on how to use an exciting and mysterious new
missionary tool known as "Facebook." We missionaries are to use
Facebook each day to keep in contact with members, investigators, less-actives,
and recent converts, set up appointments, teach lessons, share spiritual
thoughts, and all that goodness. The next day Elder Schauerhamer and
I embarked to the local public library to start the process of editing our
Facebook accounts, which included:
A) eliminating embarrassing pictures. (Oh, the embarassing
pictures.)
B) hiding pre-mission friends and family from our newsfeed
C) hiding pre-mission posts
Essentially, hiding or deleting anything that you would not
want a complete stranger to see, especially since you want them to recognize
you as a representative of Jesus Christ and our Facebook pages must reflect
that.
I must say, my missionary self was mortified at a lot of the
things my pre-missionary self did. Truth be told, I still feel like I'm being
disobedient every time I get on Facebook -- that strange moment when obedience
(not using Facebook) becomes disobedience and disobedience (using Facebook)
becomes obedience. I guess that will pass, in time.
I find this situation ironic in several ways. My last post
on Facebook before my mission was: "This is Elder Fisher,
signing off. See you in two years, everybody."
And, well, actually, it turns out that I'll see you all in
just one year after all, since the Church changed the policy.
We are allotted an hour of time to use Facebook throughout
the day. This is also ironic, since it means that I will be using Facebook more during my
mission that I did before my mission. Who knew.
At this moment in time, the Facebook thing is so new that
they haven't really ironed out the rules on usage. The general guideline is:
"Do not let Facebook distract you from your work." I interpret this
to mean that we shouldn't be able to see what our family and friends back home
are doing.
The Facebook thing is nice, since it allows all of you who
are interested to hop on every once and a while and see what I'm up to, but I
must request that, if you live outside of North Carolina, you please refrain
from messaging me or posting things on my wall in order to help me stayed
focused on my work.
Other than Facebook, not much has happened this week. Elder Schauerhamer
and I got blasted by rain earlier this week, though, which has led me
to label North Carolina
as "The Land of the Surprise 10-Minute Thunderstorm."
Additionally, a rather long and convoluted conversation
between Elder Schauerhamer and myself this week eventually led me to
discover, quite by accident, that he honestly couldn't tell me a single thing
about who George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, or Hitler were. No, really; he
wasn't joking or playing stupid; he had slept through History class during his
high school years and literally didn't know. History lessons every night after
planning have since commenced, and Elder Schauerhamer is now able to
intelligently tell me that Abraham Lincoln was not actually president
during World War I, which occurred in the 1600s shortly after the Thirteen
Colonies were formed. Thank goodness.
Well, I'm caught in that dilemma of really wanting to share
a particular spiritual thought, but not really having the time to do it
justice. I guess I will just have to put it off yet another week.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here in Monroe and my companionship with Elder Schauerhamer.
We love each other and are learning a lot. We will see if we are still
companions for the next transfer this upcoming Saturday. I love my mission and
I love you all. Hurrah for Israel !
Elder Fisher
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