Bike Week

Dear Family and Friends,

Sister Mecham says that some weeks are for teaching others and some weeks are for teaching us. This was definitely a teaching us week. There were lots of set backs and many times where it would have been very easy to give up but we never did and we learned that we can do hard things. There were many times when we had the choice to cry or laugh about our situation but we chose to laugh because as my good friend Camille Niebert once said "You can either laugh or cry but crying would just ruin your mascara and then you would have bigger problems"

So this week was bike week. We traded our car for our bikes on Tuesday and that's when our troubles began. The day actually went pretty well until we were coming in for dinner. We were biking up the hill to our apartments when I had a pretty epic bike crash that involved my shoe flying off and hitting my back tire sending my bike straight into the curb. Fortunately I was only a little bruised and scraped up so we went on our merry way to dinner thinking that was the end of our bike week troubles. Unfortunately we were mistaken.

Wednesday we started out strong. Then I ran over a piece of glass and punctured my tire. We were luckily close to one of our member's home so we stopped there and called for help. A nice couple in our ward came and picked us up so we were late for Bingo (the old folks get very cranky when their bingo game starts late) and then picked up my bike to take home. The missionaries down here all buy their bikes from a bike store owned by a bishop who lives here and they all have a two year guarantee. So we called the bike store and they said they could fix the bike no charge. So bike week became walk week for the night....or so we thought.

The next day we had a member drive us around because we were still waiting for the bike people to call us back. Unfortunately every single appointment we had for that day fell through. So we went back home and at this point we were starting to feel a little discouraged. So I turned on my favorite song as loud as my little speakers would allow and I danced all the discouragement away. Sister Mecham was in the bathroom when the dancing began and she was a little surprised when she came out to her companion jumping and twirling all around the house :) But we both felt much better after that.

The next day we still were down a bike and we hadn't heard from the bike people. So we gave them a call and they said that because it was just a flat tire they didn't want to make a trip all the way down to Conway to fix it and they had meant to call us earlier to tell us this but had forgotten. So we made plans to go get the bike fixed the next day and were determined that bike week would not get the best of us.

So we called a member to come get us Saturday and take us to the local bike shop. When we got there we found out that it is open everyday...except Saturday. So we went to Wal-mart with my bicycle tire in tow so we could make sure that we got the right sized tire tube. We got to Wal-mart and got the tube and then had some members put the whole tire together. Now all we had to do was put it on the bike. Which we did but in the process we messed up my brakes. So the elders came over and attempted to fix it. Which they did. Now all we had to do was fill up the tire and we could hit the road. YAY!   But unfortunately the new tire did not want to fill up nicely and so Sister Mecham was lying on her stomach trying to get the tire filled when all the sudden the bike tipped over and landed right on her. At this point we didn't know whether to laugh or cry so we did a little of both.

We laid on our living room floor and just laughed at how our week had gone. Then we got up and went back to work. We did finally get air in the tire but when the elder fixed my front brakes they also decided to "fix" my back brakes which is now rubbing against my tire permanently.

Sunday was good and we thanked Heavenly Father for helping us to get through the week. I was asked to playing for primary this week! So I had about two hours to practice during the week and then I get into primary and the chorister hands me a list of songs that I had not been told to practice. Oh my! It ended up going really well though. The Lord guided my fingers and somehow I was able to play without being nervous at all. Tender mercy :) It reminds me of one of my favorite songs by Cheri Call that talks about all the names for Heavenly Father like "mathematician and concert musician, master physician, and listening friend." Who knows all about cars (or bikes) and my fragile heart. So the best name would still have to be "Heavenly Father." He was definitely all of those things for me this week. But I really learned how to rely on my Savior and my Father in Heaven this week because there was nothing that I could do. It was hard but we never gave up even when it seemed hopeless. We were blessed with the ability to see the positive and to not get discouraged. I'm so grateful for the hard weeks because they teach us so much. We saw so many small miracles this week and even though my bike still isn't ridable I'm not discouraged. I know that the Lord knows where I'm at and that everything is going to work out. Because it always does.

As much as I learned this week though I'm really hoping next week isn't quite as eventful :)

Love

Sister Aase