This week was so good.
My companion and I had a few really neat conversations about the gospel and other different things, we taught some good lessons, have 2 people committed for baptism!!!!!!!!!! and have finally gotten in touch with a couple people that we've been searching for for a while.
First of all, the K's baptism got moved to the 12th so I'll be heading to that on Saturday. But I'm very excited!
The 2 people we have set for baptism here are H and S.
We can't believe some of these people we meet and teach. They are so prepared by the Lord to receive His gospel. It's amazing how, if His children just listen and let Him go to work, He does!!
S is a young black woman who has been through some crazy stuff. But she's basically more in tune with the Spirit than I am... and she doesn't even have it yet! She met Sis. D on a bus in Kaw River (Kansas City, KS) and saw a picture of a B of M on her pass along card and said, "Oh! I've been wanting one of those!" and they gave her one, taught her once in a McDonald's, and then she fell off the face of the earth. (so many do....) Then she finally reappeared this week and she's in much better circumstances and she's in Alma 51 or something, started from the beginning! I'm excited to get to teach her more and know her better.
Then H we've been teaching for a couple weeks and we committed him to be baptized on March 20. And he said it was the perfect day because it's his birthday! I was like, "Yaya! Fui bautizada en mi cumpleanos tambien! ....pero tenia 8 anos.... hahaha." He's so ready. He was asking us what else he needed to do to prepare more to be baptized. He doesn't drink or smoke or live-in-sin and he loves the Libro de Mormon. He doesn't understand all of it, he admits, but it's good and he reads the parts over and over that he doesn't understand.
I'm getting more used to the VC now. I still want more time in our area, but alas, it's ok. And the Lord definitely blesses us in the time we do have.
Last week we were able to help D organize her things after we helped her move on Tuesday. It was good and we got to talk to her about the gospel. We need to see her again soon, though...
She was supposed to come to stake conference on Sunday and didn't. Stake Conf was amazing, by the way. Pres. Eyring and Elder Cook and Bishop Burton and Sister Cook spoke. VERY good talks. Of course. So this was our super-duper-frustrating moment for the week...
We set H up with a ride to stake conf. with the P family. Sunday morning at 7 they call us and tell us they can't bring him. So we call half the ward to find him another ride and finally Bro. L said he could pick him up. He went and rang and knocked but no one answered, and he described the house and we knew he had the right one.... and we called H 10 times and his phone was screwing up for some reason.... (only time it's ever done that...) and we were so sad when he wasn't there. Especially since he was supposed to come to the VC afterward. Then later in the day he called us and we were like, "Le extranamos, a la conferencia de la estaca...." and he told us how he had gotten up at 7 and showered and gotten all ready and went out at 8:30 and looked for a car..... no car.... and then again at 9.... no car.... and he has no idea why his phone wouldn't ring for us or why he didn't hear any doorbell. "Yo estaba al hogar! Si! Si! Estaba esperando por el ride!" He was totally ready and waiting.... BAHH. I hate Satan. But this Sunday that will not happen. No way.
USU won the WAC!!!!!!!! (my comp's dad updates her on all the sports. And apparently BYU has been getting a lot of publicity about that honor-code-breaking-player... but that it has actually been a good thing.)
And thank the YW and ward for the signed Book of Mormon. I'll do my best to place it in the hands of another teenage girl who will be most effected.
I thank you muchly for your prayers. They are seriously real. God hears them and blesses us as missionaries with the things you pray for.
Thank you for your emails and letters. I love hearing about life at home.
One last thing I should've said before, I love taking tours at the VC. Especially nonmember tours. :) I took a couple of those this week and they both went very well. It's neat how the special feeling and spirit within the VC works on people. They feel the difference. They walk out with Books of Mormon and with the commitment to go to church, different things like that whereas they wouldn't have otherwise.
And yesterday I went on exchanges into an English area, but got to teach in Spanish! It was good, too, that I came that night because the husband wouldn't have understood much at all if it was all in English as it would've been if I weren't there. Yay. God is great.
I hope you all are doing marvelously, growing spiritually, physically (did you win the competition, DAD?????), mentally, emotionally and socially. I know I am!
Hasta despues...
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Marzo 2
Hola mi familia,
Como estan?
Esta semana ha sido interesante. Siempre, no?
So this week was good. An adjustment.
I like being out and about all day a lot better and we have extremely limited miles which gets in the way of a lot of things. :(
But this week we taught a man named Humberto twice. Spanish! He is so prepared. I don't know why he's not baptized already. We have another appt. with him tomorrow where we'll commit him for baptism. :) :)
We also taught a woman named Alma yesterday. Also Spanish. I have high hopes!
And we have an appt with Maria tomorrow (it'll be the first formal teaching appt so cross your fingers...)
And we're still trying to get in constant contact with Sharon, a woman who walked into the church the week before I came requesting a Book of Mormon because she'd read one of Glen Beck's books that mentioned it.... She's golden, but SUPER hard to get a hold of because her job is nuts and takes her out of the state all the time. Please pray for her also.
Last week we also taught Orlando and made it very visual. :) I made a path out of random things leading to his wife and children and Sis. D. and I were "the gate" aka baptism (2 Nephi 31). The hard thing with them is they're illegal from Honduras and not married, even though they've lived together for 15 yrs and have like 4 kids. And to get them married is like pulling teeth because Missouri and Kansas require proof of legal residence now.
So our ward is so unique. Talk about the antithesis of a Utah ward hahahahahahahaha.
There are grand total of like.......... 19 white people in the ward....... including the missionaries........ like 60% are Spanish, 25% are Black, 7% are like Cambodian or Marshalese ...... Very diverse. We serve with elders. It's nice to have them for backup and help, etc. Elder N. (of Sandy) and Elder G. (of California). It's also neat being around so many other missionaries. Out in JC, district meeting is by far the most missionary contact you have haha, but here you see the sisters every day and elders throughout the week. And there have been many miracles this week in so many wards, it has been wonderful seeing them and hearing about them. One of our miracles was how we were driving down the street to contact an LA (less active) and there was a lady scraping ice away. We stopped to help her and afterward found out she is a member. Man.... the Lord KNOWS HIS SHEEP AND THEY ARE NUMBERED. We'll be back to visit (and hopefully reactivate her) and I took note of a few people on the street that maybe we can contact when we got back... Also, Humberto is a miracle. He's so great. He has family who are members in Utah I believe and within 2 days of our 1st lesson was on 1 Nef. 10. :D
Well, this email was definitely scattered. And granted I'm still trying to gain my bearings here. You have to work and weave around sOOOOOOO many different time obstacles here. Drives me slightly crazy. But it's good to learn how to do. And the Lord is very aware of His work. So it'll be okay. And I have a good companera. :) I make her laugh all the time and we're pretty similar in work ethic.
Well'm, I hope all of y'all's weeks went well.
Have a wonderful week.
Thank you for your love and support and prayers.
Please pray for Humberto, Maria, Sharon, Dieune, Anjulette, Maureen.
And look for missionary oppotunities WHEREVER YOU ARE. :D
Como estan?
Esta semana ha sido interesante. Siempre, no?
So this week was good. An adjustment.
I like being out and about all day a lot better and we have extremely limited miles which gets in the way of a lot of things. :(
But this week we taught a man named Humberto twice. Spanish! He is so prepared. I don't know why he's not baptized already. We have another appt. with him tomorrow where we'll commit him for baptism. :) :)
We also taught a woman named Alma yesterday. Also Spanish. I have high hopes!
And we have an appt with Maria tomorrow (it'll be the first formal teaching appt so cross your fingers...)
And we're still trying to get in constant contact with Sharon, a woman who walked into the church the week before I came requesting a Book of Mormon because she'd read one of Glen Beck's books that mentioned it.... She's golden, but SUPER hard to get a hold of because her job is nuts and takes her out of the state all the time. Please pray for her also.
Last week we also taught Orlando and made it very visual. :) I made a path out of random things leading to his wife and children and Sis. D. and I were "the gate" aka baptism (2 Nephi 31). The hard thing with them is they're illegal from Honduras and not married, even though they've lived together for 15 yrs and have like 4 kids. And to get them married is like pulling teeth because Missouri and Kansas require proof of legal residence now.
So our ward is so unique. Talk about the antithesis of a Utah ward hahahahahahahaha.
There are grand total of like.......... 19 white people in the ward....... including the missionaries........ like 60% are Spanish, 25% are Black, 7% are like Cambodian or Marshalese ...... Very diverse. We serve with elders. It's nice to have them for backup and help, etc. Elder N. (of Sandy) and Elder G. (of California). It's also neat being around so many other missionaries. Out in JC, district meeting is by far the most missionary contact you have haha, but here you see the sisters every day and elders throughout the week. And there have been many miracles this week in so many wards, it has been wonderful seeing them and hearing about them. One of our miracles was how we were driving down the street to contact an LA (less active) and there was a lady scraping ice away. We stopped to help her and afterward found out she is a member. Man.... the Lord KNOWS HIS SHEEP AND THEY ARE NUMBERED. We'll be back to visit (and hopefully reactivate her) and I took note of a few people on the street that maybe we can contact when we got back... Also, Humberto is a miracle. He's so great. He has family who are members in Utah I believe and within 2 days of our 1st lesson was on 1 Nef. 10. :D
Well, this email was definitely scattered. And granted I'm still trying to gain my bearings here. You have to work and weave around sOOOOOOO many different time obstacles here. Drives me slightly crazy. But it's good to learn how to do. And the Lord is very aware of His work. So it'll be okay. And I have a good companera. :) I make her laugh all the time and we're pretty similar in work ethic.
Well'm, I hope all of y'all's weeks went well.
Have a wonderful week.
Thank you for your love and support and prayers.
Please pray for Humberto, Maria, Sharon, Dieune, Anjulette, Maureen.
And look for missionary oppotunities WHEREVER YOU ARE. :D
Thursday, February 24, 2011
febrero 23
Hola familia~
This email has about 476 things to contain..... we'll see how many we can fit in in the time alotted.....
First of all, yes, I got transferred.
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
I did NOT want to leave JC. AT ALL. Teaching THREE families, plus individuals, and on my last teaching night in that area, we committed the Ks for baptism on Mar 5. And I cried. And they cried. But I was transferred to Riverview, which means I'm in the Spanish-speaking companionship at the Independence VC and our area is the Riverview ward in Kansas City, MO. So we (Sis. N. and I) set up the Ks and the Ws (WML family) coming to the VC on Saturday morning, which they did. We were SO happy to see each other. It was so neat to take them through the VC, which I had tried hard to familiarize myself with on Friday to be ready for them. They are so sweet. They remembered that I LOVE NUTS and so they made me cookies with tons of nuts in them and brought them to me. :) They were able to watch the Joseph Smith movie, listen to Special Witnesses of Christ testimonies, go through God's Plan for His Family (Y'all need to go to Temple Square this week and check everything out so you know what I'm talking about... even though Temple Square has a lot more stuff than we do). And Pres. Van Komen came into the VC on Friday with an elder (And his family) who was going home and I talked to him and he said to do whatever I could to get back to JC for the Ks' baptism. I was already planning on it, but that really helped to have permission straight from president, which I would have had to get via the zone leaders via the assistants, which I still have to do.. but at least I know I already have it. :) So The Ws are picking me up and the Ks are driving me back from the baptism. I couldn't believe they would be so willing to do that, much less OFFER before I asked. I look forward to it SO MUCH and I will write them a letter today. (Wednesday is now my P-day btw)
It was so hard to leave. I was only there 2 transfers, but I finally felt like I knew exactly what needed to be done in the area, we finally had the work up and going strong, knew exactly how to work with the ward and stake and branch........... BUT the Lord had other things in mind. And after all, it's HIS work. Not mine.
So the new area is...... SO DIFFERENT. I am struggling with having to be at the VC every day for 6 hours and only having like 5 hours in my area each day... on a GOOD day. And we're extremely limited in miles. And all the surrounding areas give us their Spanish referrals so all of the current investigators (none of which are progressing a ton) are not even in our area! I wish we could just be out there the whole day with unlimited miles hahaha. But we can't. So we do the best we can. And honestly, being at the VC is a neat experience. There's a very unique spirit there. We look across the street to the Community of Christ's "temple" (I call it the seashell) and I hear it's neat inside.... but extremely hollow. Interesting how when you lose the ordinances that Christ instituted..... you lose almost everything. You lose the gravity and the fulfillment and the purpose.
Working in the VC you also have some veeeeeeeeeeerry interesting experiences. ugh. Some very neat. Some very..... I-am-so-uncomfortable-I-can't-see-straight.
To give you a taste of what Kansas City, MO is like...... here are some happenings of the past week:
-I was escorted to the bathroom by a cop.
-A drunk came up and talked a lot about.... pretty much nonsense.... told me to pray for him.... I said I would.... I think it's a good thing I can't remember what he said to me....
-I get a LOT more Spanish practice here! A guy told us his life story last night. In Spanish. My head was spinning when we got to our dinner appointment. Which was with the elders. Oh yeah, there are a set of elder in the Riv too. They're awesome. One's from Sandy. Elder N.
-I had a very strong prompting last night to knock on a certain door. They lived in a scary part of town so I don't blame them for not answering their door, but I left a Plan of Salvation pamphlet there with a note and our number and names and pray that they'll call or we'll make contact somehow.
-Yesterday we were trying to contact people on the ward list (inactives, PMFs, etc.) and there's a little part of downtown KC that's a little ritzier than most. We weren't able to contact either of the people, but it's funny how the Lord provides for His missionaries. They were apartment buildings where you needed a card or code or call thing to get in or all of the above and we had none of the above.... but somehow through a series of events we got into both of the buildings. I have a feeling that a lot of things happen for us that don't happen for the general population simply because we don't LOOK like the general population. We get MANY kinds of looks and stares here, but among them are definitely curious looks and stares. It's amazing what the Gospel does, how it changes people. We act very differently. We were walking down Prospect the other day and we couldn't avoid walking through a group of men and when they try and stare you down, you just look em straight in the eye and say, "Hi! How're you doing?"
-We walked into a house where a referral lives and her mother was sitting on the couch braiding her other daughter's hair with hardly ANYTHING on and we were just thinking, "It's a GOOD THING that WE contacted this referral instead of the elders!"
Well, it's interesting here. And Sis D. is GREAT. And we both keep wondering why in the world we were so lucky to be born in the circumstances we were. Thankfull for the Gospel.
Well, my time is totally gone!
Hope you had a good week.
This email has about 476 things to contain..... we'll see how many we can fit in in the time alotted.....
First of all, yes, I got transferred.
:( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(
I did NOT want to leave JC. AT ALL. Teaching THREE families, plus individuals, and on my last teaching night in that area, we committed the Ks for baptism on Mar 5. And I cried. And they cried. But I was transferred to Riverview, which means I'm in the Spanish-speaking companionship at the Independence VC and our area is the Riverview ward in Kansas City, MO. So we (Sis. N. and I) set up the Ks and the Ws (WML family) coming to the VC on Saturday morning, which they did. We were SO happy to see each other. It was so neat to take them through the VC, which I had tried hard to familiarize myself with on Friday to be ready for them. They are so sweet. They remembered that I LOVE NUTS and so they made me cookies with tons of nuts in them and brought them to me. :) They were able to watch the Joseph Smith movie, listen to Special Witnesses of Christ testimonies, go through God's Plan for His Family (Y'all need to go to Temple Square this week and check everything out so you know what I'm talking about... even though Temple Square has a lot more stuff than we do). And Pres. Van Komen came into the VC on Friday with an elder (And his family) who was going home and I talked to him and he said to do whatever I could to get back to JC for the Ks' baptism. I was already planning on it, but that really helped to have permission straight from president, which I would have had to get via the zone leaders via the assistants, which I still have to do.. but at least I know I already have it. :) So The Ws are picking me up and the Ks are driving me back from the baptism. I couldn't believe they would be so willing to do that, much less OFFER before I asked. I look forward to it SO MUCH and I will write them a letter today. (Wednesday is now my P-day btw)
It was so hard to leave. I was only there 2 transfers, but I finally felt like I knew exactly what needed to be done in the area, we finally had the work up and going strong, knew exactly how to work with the ward and stake and branch........... BUT the Lord had other things in mind. And after all, it's HIS work. Not mine.
So the new area is...... SO DIFFERENT. I am struggling with having to be at the VC every day for 6 hours and only having like 5 hours in my area each day... on a GOOD day. And we're extremely limited in miles. And all the surrounding areas give us their Spanish referrals so all of the current investigators (none of which are progressing a ton) are not even in our area! I wish we could just be out there the whole day with unlimited miles hahaha. But we can't. So we do the best we can. And honestly, being at the VC is a neat experience. There's a very unique spirit there. We look across the street to the Community of Christ's "temple" (I call it the seashell) and I hear it's neat inside.... but extremely hollow. Interesting how when you lose the ordinances that Christ instituted..... you lose almost everything. You lose the gravity and the fulfillment and the purpose.
Working in the VC you also have some veeeeeeeeeeerry interesting experiences. ugh. Some very neat. Some very..... I-am-so-uncomfortable-I-can't-see-straight.
To give you a taste of what Kansas City, MO is like...... here are some happenings of the past week:
-I was escorted to the bathroom by a cop.
-A drunk came up and talked a lot about.... pretty much nonsense.... told me to pray for him.... I said I would.... I think it's a good thing I can't remember what he said to me....
-I get a LOT more Spanish practice here! A guy told us his life story last night. In Spanish. My head was spinning when we got to our dinner appointment. Which was with the elders. Oh yeah, there are a set of elder in the Riv too. They're awesome. One's from Sandy. Elder N.
-I had a very strong prompting last night to knock on a certain door. They lived in a scary part of town so I don't blame them for not answering their door, but I left a Plan of Salvation pamphlet there with a note and our number and names and pray that they'll call or we'll make contact somehow.
-Yesterday we were trying to contact people on the ward list (inactives, PMFs, etc.) and there's a little part of downtown KC that's a little ritzier than most. We weren't able to contact either of the people, but it's funny how the Lord provides for His missionaries. They were apartment buildings where you needed a card or code or call thing to get in or all of the above and we had none of the above.... but somehow through a series of events we got into both of the buildings. I have a feeling that a lot of things happen for us that don't happen for the general population simply because we don't LOOK like the general population. We get MANY kinds of looks and stares here, but among them are definitely curious looks and stares. It's amazing what the Gospel does, how it changes people. We act very differently. We were walking down Prospect the other day and we couldn't avoid walking through a group of men and when they try and stare you down, you just look em straight in the eye and say, "Hi! How're you doing?"
-We walked into a house where a referral lives and her mother was sitting on the couch braiding her other daughter's hair with hardly ANYTHING on and we were just thinking, "It's a GOOD THING that WE contacted this referral instead of the elders!"
Well, it's interesting here. And Sis D. is GREAT. And we both keep wondering why in the world we were so lucky to be born in the circumstances we were. Thankfull for the Gospel.
Well, my time is totally gone!
Hope you had a good week.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
febrero 14
For some reason I was SUPER excited to check my email today. Just so good to hear from you all!
The leadership training you mentioned Brent going to... obviously the leaders of my ward and branch here went to it and they told me about it and it was AMAZING. The bishop told us that we are now formally invited to attend (the bishop has to give the ok for us to attend certain meetings, that being one of them) so too bad he didn't say that before the meeting! ha. But they changed the 3-fold mission of the church to the 1-fold mission with 4 sub points. And IT'S ALL ONE WORK!!! as we've been trying to stress in the ward with our WML. It's ALL missionary work! It's all the work of the salvation of souls. :)
I'm feeling better, thank heaven. It helps when President called for a mission-wide fast for everyone's health (and a few other things). Apparently many were sick. I'm not all better by any means--in fact every single day my body amazes me in the amount PLUGGAGE it produces--but my voice is almost normal now. Almost. Still can't sing. :(
This week, despite being sick, we worked HARD! It was awesome. We taught a TON.
The Ks are still progressing. We had dinner with them and the Ws (WML) on Thursday and had a lesson on the Priesthood which went really well. She did say that night that her current difficulty is Joseph Smith. I can definitely relate. I didn't gain a real testimony of the First Vision until I was 17. Obviously if the Book of Mormon is true and the religion true Joseph HAD to have been a prophet, but for some reason you need more than the logic. You definitely need the spiritual confirmation for yourself before you can testify of it.
H's baptism was awesome! I LOVE baptisms. Of course. :) And if we pray enough, listen to the Spirit enough, and work hard enough we will have 5 more soon. :) . . . . . . . But Bro. B is absolutely right. You don't ever really know just how ready they are or where they are on their spiritual journey. Investigators are like icebergs and you only see the tip but everyone has these deep down concerns and backgrounds and tendencies and weaknesses and Satan knows them better than we do and he works on them like crazy while they take the discussions from us. Thank Heaven the Holy Ghost knows them perfectly.....
We began teaching the Ws as well. Another army family. They're open and sweet and I would ask that you pray for them with me! G lost his mother in his arms when he was 16 and we taught the plan of salvation on Saturday and it went really well. They didn't attend church, however, so we'll do our best to help them attend next week.
The Ws are good too. Not progressing as fast as they were, but we're not giving up. L (mom) and C (son, 5) came to church yesterday and it was good to see them. A young man in the ward gave a 15 minute talk on dating and standards..... never ceases to surprise me what people say over the pulpit. Sis. N and I were cringing at least 12 of those 15 minutes. And he talked about the awfulness of nonmembers... as Sis. W who is married to one and whose daughter is one is sitting next to us.... yeah. Fun fun. Her favorite part was when he said that nonmembers come with a lot of "baggage" .......... Ya know, cuz members don't and everything.... hahaha
Last Monday after we had emailed, we went to the PX (army Walmart basically) and as we were leaving a soldier came up to us, introduced himself, and said that he and his wife had felt the need to give us their address so we could come and visit, that they had been inactive for a long time, but wanted to come back. (Miracle! If it weren't for many things leading up to that we wouldn't have been there at that particular time... and we don't have his records in the ward so we didn't know about him and we can't tract on base....) So we visited them this week and then they also invited us for dinner on Friday. They're an awesome family.
Soo.... we get the transfer call tomorrow night.... can't believe it has been another 6 weeks. I will be SO ..... NOT HAPPY ... if I'm transferred.........
Well, I hope all of your weeks and Valentine's Days go well and are full of LOVE. Thanks for the card and the package. I looooooooove you all!!
The leadership training you mentioned Brent going to... obviously the leaders of my ward and branch here went to it and they told me about it and it was AMAZING. The bishop told us that we are now formally invited to attend (the bishop has to give the ok for us to attend certain meetings, that being one of them) so too bad he didn't say that before the meeting! ha. But they changed the 3-fold mission of the church to the 1-fold mission with 4 sub points. And IT'S ALL ONE WORK!!! as we've been trying to stress in the ward with our WML. It's ALL missionary work! It's all the work of the salvation of souls. :)
I'm feeling better, thank heaven. It helps when President called for a mission-wide fast for everyone's health (and a few other things). Apparently many were sick. I'm not all better by any means--in fact every single day my body amazes me in the amount PLUGGAGE it produces--but my voice is almost normal now. Almost. Still can't sing. :(
This week, despite being sick, we worked HARD! It was awesome. We taught a TON.
The Ks are still progressing. We had dinner with them and the Ws (WML) on Thursday and had a lesson on the Priesthood which went really well. She did say that night that her current difficulty is Joseph Smith. I can definitely relate. I didn't gain a real testimony of the First Vision until I was 17. Obviously if the Book of Mormon is true and the religion true Joseph HAD to have been a prophet, but for some reason you need more than the logic. You definitely need the spiritual confirmation for yourself before you can testify of it.
H's baptism was awesome! I LOVE baptisms. Of course. :) And if we pray enough, listen to the Spirit enough, and work hard enough we will have 5 more soon. :) . . . . . . . But Bro. B is absolutely right. You don't ever really know just how ready they are or where they are on their spiritual journey. Investigators are like icebergs and you only see the tip but everyone has these deep down concerns and backgrounds and tendencies and weaknesses and Satan knows them better than we do and he works on them like crazy while they take the discussions from us. Thank Heaven the Holy Ghost knows them perfectly.....
We began teaching the Ws as well. Another army family. They're open and sweet and I would ask that you pray for them with me! G lost his mother in his arms when he was 16 and we taught the plan of salvation on Saturday and it went really well. They didn't attend church, however, so we'll do our best to help them attend next week.
The Ws are good too. Not progressing as fast as they were, but we're not giving up. L (mom) and C (son, 5) came to church yesterday and it was good to see them. A young man in the ward gave a 15 minute talk on dating and standards..... never ceases to surprise me what people say over the pulpit. Sis. N and I were cringing at least 12 of those 15 minutes. And he talked about the awfulness of nonmembers... as Sis. W who is married to one and whose daughter is one is sitting next to us.... yeah. Fun fun. Her favorite part was when he said that nonmembers come with a lot of "baggage" .......... Ya know, cuz members don't and everything.... hahaha
Last Monday after we had emailed, we went to the PX (army Walmart basically) and as we were leaving a soldier came up to us, introduced himself, and said that he and his wife had felt the need to give us their address so we could come and visit, that they had been inactive for a long time, but wanted to come back. (Miracle! If it weren't for many things leading up to that we wouldn't have been there at that particular time... and we don't have his records in the ward so we didn't know about him and we can't tract on base....) So we visited them this week and then they also invited us for dinner on Friday. They're an awesome family.
Soo.... we get the transfer call tomorrow night.... can't believe it has been another 6 weeks. I will be SO ..... NOT HAPPY ... if I'm transferred.........
Well, I hope all of your weeks and Valentine's Days go well and are full of LOVE. Thanks for the card and the package. I looooooooove you all!!
Monday, February 7, 2011
febrero 7
This week was... well, a bit hard. Luckily I LOVE being a missionary so I took it in stride. :)
The majority of our investigators .... mmmff. They stopped progressing and got more flaky or we couldn't get a hold of them or it wasn't a good time, etc. So we went to Chapman, KS and tried to contact PMFs, went by an Islamic Mosque, ordered our free Qurans, contacted a million (or tried) PMFs within JC and have basically been helping the bishop clean up the ward list in the process by finding out who has moved, who died, who converted to another religion, etc. And going into 4 million homes and getting not as much sleep as we'd like and constantly being stressed equals... yup... I'm sick. Very sick. So sorry, Dad, but your email didn't find me healthy and well haha. Tuesday my throat started feeling weird. Hurt in the mornings but just felt THICK throughout the days... and eventually my throat swelled up so that there was only a little hole for my throat and I lost most of my voice and got phlegmy and then the congestion came with the HUGE lymph nodes and small fever and painful head and neck. But a doctor in the ward gave me a bunch of meds and told me to GO TO BED (you always feel like a slacker if you climb in bed when you could be out teaching or contacting people so you avoid it at all costs). It was pretty bad when I got up yesterday, but I ignored it because we had way too many things to do that day at church (missionaries run around like chickens with their heads cut off on Sundays) and two investigating families supposed to be attending church... there was no way I was staying home. And yes, I did get worse but I don't regret it. We got SO much done. :) :) But at about 6:15 last night we both felt like we were going to DIE (she had a really bad headache) so we went home.
So anyway! On Friday, we helped a family move in on Fort Riley, the Ks. They were referred by some members in North Carolina (Fort Bragg) right before the members moved. (silly people!!) They were being taught by the elders over there for about 2.5 weeks and then we got 'em! They're amazing. They have 2 little girls, 1 and 3, and they came to church yesterday for Sacrament. The mom has a hard time leaving her kids with other people unless she knows them very well so they didn't stay for Sunday School, but we introduced them to the nursery leader and kids and Saturday night took them brownies and answered their questions, etc. We're stuper excited to start teaching them. They feel "engrossed" in the Book of Mormon (!!!!) and they talk about it together and they keep commitments and... yeah. Super excited to work with them. I just pray that the Lord will help us be the missionaries they need.
We couldn't get a hold of the W. family for the better part of this week, which really worried and saddened us. But then they finally called back on Friday and we set up an apt. on Saturday for Monday (today). Ed won't be there, but we'll have dinner with the rest of the family and I think it'll be good to be able to focus on Linda and Connor (we got him a picture B of M!) and maybe Brittany if she's there.
We also were finally able to contact a Temple Square referral we'd been trying to contact for weeks last week. Well, actually we contacted his wife and little boy. But we'll definitely be going back, she was super friendly and seemed open and the little boy really wanted us to come back haha.
Then we had dinner with a rockstar-awesome family the C.s on Saturday evening. One of Bro. C.'s coworkers has been asking a lot of questions about the Church and he really wanted to come to church, even without the wife, though he tried to convince her. She didn't want to come, but then she like had a fight with someone over the phone and afterward said she wanted to go with him...? They are expecting their first child and for the 4th time he has started praying about which church to join, which church is right and he says that every single time he has prayed about that, there has been a Mormon placed in his path.... so now he's starting to get the point, haha, and he thinks it's not a coincidence. (Of course it's not!!) So we were anxious to have them at church yesterday.. but Satan has a tendency to make people sick Saturday nights and Sunday mornings... He does it a LOT actually. But I was talking to Sis. C. last night and said, "Well it's good we're strong willed and won't give up, huh? Take THAT, Satan!!" and she went, "Hahaha that's right!" She's so funny. They are so sarcastic and laid back and Sis. Nuckles and I felt right at home there Saturday night haha.
So we've had dinner all over the place lately and I've picked up a couple boyfriends along the way hahaha. Tanner and Bryce. They're both 4. :) Tanner kept whispering to his mom during dinner (this was the T. family) and he'd come up and give me hugs periodically and blush it was so funny. And then Bryce is the C.'s 4 yr old and he was playing peek-a-boo over the pews with me at church and every time I looked at him he'd pretend to keel over with a smile on his face hahahaha. His big blue eyes and little mohawk.... so cute.
One of the big things we were busy doing yesterday was finalizing our upcoming baptism! This Saturday is Hannah's baptism. She's the 10 yr old daughter of a recent convert. Her mom was baptized a little while ago and she's the only one of her kids who wanted to be taught by the missionaries, and her step dad who was inactive but is now very active in the church will be baptizing her. :)
Okay, now for the blog shout-outs...
Rachel P ~ Where is my letter??? Haha jk. But really. It's time Em heard from Rachie.
Brady ~ The letter's comin, don't worry. So your great-grandpa Wren was born south of JC? Well we just visited a PMF last week whose last name was Wren.... AHH! Considering how you're somehow connected to everyone I know..... yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if they were connected somehow.
To everyone I love: Happy Valentine's Day in a week!!
The majority of our investigators .... mmmff. They stopped progressing and got more flaky or we couldn't get a hold of them or it wasn't a good time, etc. So we went to Chapman, KS and tried to contact PMFs, went by an Islamic Mosque, ordered our free Qurans, contacted a million (or tried) PMFs within JC and have basically been helping the bishop clean up the ward list in the process by finding out who has moved, who died, who converted to another religion, etc. And going into 4 million homes and getting not as much sleep as we'd like and constantly being stressed equals... yup... I'm sick. Very sick. So sorry, Dad, but your email didn't find me healthy and well haha. Tuesday my throat started feeling weird. Hurt in the mornings but just felt THICK throughout the days... and eventually my throat swelled up so that there was only a little hole for my throat and I lost most of my voice and got phlegmy and then the congestion came with the HUGE lymph nodes and small fever and painful head and neck. But a doctor in the ward gave me a bunch of meds and told me to GO TO BED (you always feel like a slacker if you climb in bed when you could be out teaching or contacting people so you avoid it at all costs). It was pretty bad when I got up yesterday, but I ignored it because we had way too many things to do that day at church (missionaries run around like chickens with their heads cut off on Sundays) and two investigating families supposed to be attending church... there was no way I was staying home. And yes, I did get worse but I don't regret it. We got SO much done. :) :) But at about 6:15 last night we both felt like we were going to DIE (she had a really bad headache) so we went home.
So anyway! On Friday, we helped a family move in on Fort Riley, the Ks. They were referred by some members in North Carolina (Fort Bragg) right before the members moved. (silly people!!) They were being taught by the elders over there for about 2.5 weeks and then we got 'em! They're amazing. They have 2 little girls, 1 and 3, and they came to church yesterday for Sacrament. The mom has a hard time leaving her kids with other people unless she knows them very well so they didn't stay for Sunday School, but we introduced them to the nursery leader and kids and Saturday night took them brownies and answered their questions, etc. We're stuper excited to start teaching them. They feel "engrossed" in the Book of Mormon (!!!!) and they talk about it together and they keep commitments and... yeah. Super excited to work with them. I just pray that the Lord will help us be the missionaries they need.
We couldn't get a hold of the W. family for the better part of this week, which really worried and saddened us. But then they finally called back on Friday and we set up an apt. on Saturday for Monday (today). Ed won't be there, but we'll have dinner with the rest of the family and I think it'll be good to be able to focus on Linda and Connor (we got him a picture B of M!) and maybe Brittany if she's there.
We also were finally able to contact a Temple Square referral we'd been trying to contact for weeks last week. Well, actually we contacted his wife and little boy. But we'll definitely be going back, she was super friendly and seemed open and the little boy really wanted us to come back haha.
Then we had dinner with a rockstar-awesome family the C.s on Saturday evening. One of Bro. C.'s coworkers has been asking a lot of questions about the Church and he really wanted to come to church, even without the wife, though he tried to convince her. She didn't want to come, but then she like had a fight with someone over the phone and afterward said she wanted to go with him...? They are expecting their first child and for the 4th time he has started praying about which church to join, which church is right and he says that every single time he has prayed about that, there has been a Mormon placed in his path.... so now he's starting to get the point, haha, and he thinks it's not a coincidence. (Of course it's not!!) So we were anxious to have them at church yesterday.. but Satan has a tendency to make people sick Saturday nights and Sunday mornings... He does it a LOT actually. But I was talking to Sis. C. last night and said, "Well it's good we're strong willed and won't give up, huh? Take THAT, Satan!!" and she went, "Hahaha that's right!" She's so funny. They are so sarcastic and laid back and Sis. Nuckles and I felt right at home there Saturday night haha.
So we've had dinner all over the place lately and I've picked up a couple boyfriends along the way hahaha. Tanner and Bryce. They're both 4. :) Tanner kept whispering to his mom during dinner (this was the T. family) and he'd come up and give me hugs periodically and blush it was so funny. And then Bryce is the C.'s 4 yr old and he was playing peek-a-boo over the pews with me at church and every time I looked at him he'd pretend to keel over with a smile on his face hahahaha. His big blue eyes and little mohawk.... so cute.
One of the big things we were busy doing yesterday was finalizing our upcoming baptism! This Saturday is Hannah's baptism. She's the 10 yr old daughter of a recent convert. Her mom was baptized a little while ago and she's the only one of her kids who wanted to be taught by the missionaries, and her step dad who was inactive but is now very active in the church will be baptizing her. :)
Okay, now for the blog shout-outs...
Rachel P ~ Where is my letter??? Haha jk. But really. It's time Em heard from Rachie.
Brady ~ The letter's comin, don't worry. So your great-grandpa Wren was born south of JC? Well we just visited a PMF last week whose last name was Wren.... AHH! Considering how you're somehow connected to everyone I know..... yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if they were connected somehow.
To everyone I love: Happy Valentine's Day in a week!!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
enero 31
Wow. What a packed week!! For all of us.
Thanks for the funeral updates and commentaries.
To answer questions:
Mmmm maybe you won't ever see me new hair. Dunno. Taking pictures tends to be at the BACK of my mind out here and then printing them off at Walmart and sticking them in a letter and.... yeah. Just kinda no time, ya know? :) Haha, but with our haircuts, Sis. Nuckles and I look like real sisters--much more than Rach and I ever did ha. Basically it's a shorter A-line that reaches my jaw line and is super short and choppy in back and instead of having 10,000 layers I have 40,000 layers.... but somehow she made it lay exactly right with no product or hairspray or pomade. :) Yay.
So as I said, this week was very packed.
Monday - More absolutely crazy confessions. Like as in I couldn't even invent something that could happen more to these people.
Tuesday - Got the call that Grandma has passed away. Sis. Nuckles said we should go back to the apartment. Talked to Mom, she answered a prayer I almost didn't know I had, it was super good to talk to her and Brent.
Wednesday - Special training with Pres. Van Komen. He is so amazing and I love him. Of course his training helped us. It was on planning and always making a to-do list every day.... which is good because I already do it! And other things of course.... And then we tried to contact Spanish potentials in Manhattan... not so successful.
Thursday - Taught the W. family--the family that lives out in the boonies and is super down-to-earth whose dad said, "She can stay" when she found out I liked the Longhorns. Both Sis. Nuckles and I were unusually nervous and anxious for this visit (just our second) and we wanted SO BADLY to handle it perfectly because we both see so much potential with them. We prayed for the Spirit's guidance and impressions many times and neither of us ever felt a strong prompting throughout the whole day. So when we finally went to the apt. at 7 we just went with a prayer in our hearts. And the Lord answered our prayers. I couldn't tell you anything specific, but I can tell you He must've worked through us because ...... I'll tell you when we get to Sunday :) :) But as we were leaving the house, I just kept saying, "Sister! This is our family! (every missionary dreams of baptizing a family) I can see Ed ordaining Connor to the Aaronic Priesthood!...." and she goes, "Sister! That's our vision!" (you need to have a vision for your investigators to get them where they need to be.)
Friday - We did exchanges with the sisters in Lawrence, KS. I went with the sister leader in Lawrence and her comp came to work with Sis. Nuckles in JC. Sister Robinson and I had a great time together. It was one of those every-door-you-knock-on-and-every-investigator-you-try-to-visit-isn't-available days so no lessons to speak of. But it was fun working together. We served food at the Salvation Army in the afternoon and then rode the bus and walked all over until the ligaments in my right thigh were screaming at me. But it was like 60 degrees that day so I was definitely lucky that the one day I walked everywhere was the one warm day. (It is very much freezing again now.) For dinner a member took us out to dinner on a famous downtown street called Massachusetts St. The restaurant served all sorts of Asian cuisine, from Vietnamese to Napalese to Thai to Indian... it was sweet. Very yummy.
Saturday - We switched back companions. Later on we visited the D.s (dad is a returning less active, mom is a recent convert, we are working with the 10 yr old daughter to become baptized.) and it was good because we got her to set a baptismal date: Feb. 12 and talked to both of the parents about receiving Patriarchal Blessings.
Sunday - We spoke in sacrament meeting about missionary work and love and charity and fellowshipping. We were supposed to have 4 investigators in church that day (Tracie, Mark, Josie, Hannah) and we really hoped that Sister W. would attend. She has been inactive for years and years--not for any particular reason (she wasn't offended.... what a miracle and relief!) but just got out of the habit of going and I think probably just didn't have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. The W.s live a ways away but she had to come to JC for a bowling tournament that day anyway and we would give her (them) what she later called "Gentle shoves" to come to church (along with reading the Book of Mormon of course). So as we were sitting on the stand as the meeting began, we were both somewhat anxiously scanning the congregation and watching the doors for our investigators. Hannah. Check. Josie. Check. Tracie...... no Tracie. Mark and Carrie! Check. Sister W....... Sister W..... please.................................................................................................... [end of hymn]........[prayer]................[ward business]...... OH MY HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister W. AND Ed, her husband (whom we LOVE and is so funny and such a cowboy and Texan dad) and Connor their 5 yr old (absolutely adorable) son walked in! I kid you not, it was like the happiest moment in Sis. Nuckles' and my lives. We just squoze hands and beamed at them as they sat down. I was the first to speak. I formally welcomed them ("any visitors") and gave my talk. Then Sis. Nuckles spoke. Then Bro. Wheatley, our WML... who's amazing. I was so much more nervous about jumping off the podium and getting them fellowshippers and talking to them before they could slip out then giving any talk! Like as in Sunday morning sleep was bad and stressful and full of half-awake-half-asleep stressing over it. The second the meeting ended, we jumped up (leaving our stuff by our chairs), I grabbed the bishop and Sister Brantley and quickly made our way toward the Ws. We talked with them, the Gavins came up and joked with them (apparently they've known each other for a long time), Sister. Brantley talked to them, the bishop talked to them, Bro. Wheatley introduced himself, Sister Smith did too.... (having just spoken on fellowshipping definitely helped....) and then we moved to the lobby and talked more until they left for her bowling thing. I was talking to Sister W. and just asked, "So how was Sacrament?" She said, "It's good to be back. I really enjoyed it." And Sister Nuckles later told me that Ed told her he had woken up at 4 a.m. and made two trips to Wichita in a semi on Saturday so he could be there.... !!! Wichita is like 2.75 hours away. And they have been reading the Book of Mormon. Including the testimonies in the front and Joseph Smith's account of receiving the gold plates. So we hope to see them twice this week. (there was an emergency transfer in the zone so the zone is low on miles so we can't drive much right now). The rest of the day was crazy too. We had a small, good lesson with Josie and Bro. Wheatley about eternal marriage, we passed our dinner calendar around the ward and branch (and it's completely full!), we talked to tons of people and during our dinner apts. this month we'll be scouting who's missionary-minded, who's willing to go on team-ups regularly and fellowshipping, etc. And we helped with the baptism of Mark. And we taught our Spanish Primary class... I love those kids. And they love us. :) They are so funny and full of energy! And then we went on a team-up with the V.s (Denise and Angel) to a Spanish investigator family. We kind of discovered a diamond in the rough, Pele, the husband's son from another marriage, Kevin. He's 16 and in very smart. Usually he disappears into his room, but is friendly, but this time we made him sit out and talk to us and we all discussed his many questions, which were GOOD questions--ALL of which are answered by the Book of Mormon! So we gave him one, told him to read it, bore out testimonies, discussed what it contains, etc. Diana was sick, but Pele said she has been reading it. I think that Pele was very affected in a good way by how we interacted with his son and gave him the best answers to his hard questions he's ever heard AND we brought the Spirit. Then that night we walked to our RCLA apt. and talked about Patriarchal blessings and their temple prep class, etc. and got a referral. GOOD DAY.
So I am definitely out of time, but I love you all.
Hope to hear from you all soon.
Thanks for the funeral updates and commentaries.
To answer questions:
Mmmm maybe you won't ever see me new hair. Dunno. Taking pictures tends to be at the BACK of my mind out here and then printing them off at Walmart and sticking them in a letter and.... yeah. Just kinda no time, ya know? :) Haha, but with our haircuts, Sis. Nuckles and I look like real sisters--much more than Rach and I ever did ha. Basically it's a shorter A-line that reaches my jaw line and is super short and choppy in back and instead of having 10,000 layers I have 40,000 layers.... but somehow she made it lay exactly right with no product or hairspray or pomade. :) Yay.
So as I said, this week was very packed.
Monday - More absolutely crazy confessions. Like as in I couldn't even invent something that could happen more to these people.
Tuesday - Got the call that Grandma has passed away. Sis. Nuckles said we should go back to the apartment. Talked to Mom, she answered a prayer I almost didn't know I had, it was super good to talk to her and Brent.
Wednesday - Special training with Pres. Van Komen. He is so amazing and I love him. Of course his training helped us. It was on planning and always making a to-do list every day.... which is good because I already do it! And other things of course.... And then we tried to contact Spanish potentials in Manhattan... not so successful.
Thursday - Taught the W. family--the family that lives out in the boonies and is super down-to-earth whose dad said, "She can stay" when she found out I liked the Longhorns. Both Sis. Nuckles and I were unusually nervous and anxious for this visit (just our second) and we wanted SO BADLY to handle it perfectly because we both see so much potential with them. We prayed for the Spirit's guidance and impressions many times and neither of us ever felt a strong prompting throughout the whole day. So when we finally went to the apt. at 7 we just went with a prayer in our hearts. And the Lord answered our prayers. I couldn't tell you anything specific, but I can tell you He must've worked through us because ...... I'll tell you when we get to Sunday :) :) But as we were leaving the house, I just kept saying, "Sister! This is our family! (every missionary dreams of baptizing a family) I can see Ed ordaining Connor to the Aaronic Priesthood!...." and she goes, "Sister! That's our vision!" (you need to have a vision for your investigators to get them where they need to be.)
Friday - We did exchanges with the sisters in Lawrence, KS. I went with the sister leader in Lawrence and her comp came to work with Sis. Nuckles in JC. Sister Robinson and I had a great time together. It was one of those every-door-you-knock-on-and-every-investigator-you-try-to-visit-isn't-available days so no lessons to speak of. But it was fun working together. We served food at the Salvation Army in the afternoon and then rode the bus and walked all over until the ligaments in my right thigh were screaming at me. But it was like 60 degrees that day so I was definitely lucky that the one day I walked everywhere was the one warm day. (It is very much freezing again now.) For dinner a member took us out to dinner on a famous downtown street called Massachusetts St. The restaurant served all sorts of Asian cuisine, from Vietnamese to Napalese to Thai to Indian... it was sweet. Very yummy.
Saturday - We switched back companions. Later on we visited the D.s (dad is a returning less active, mom is a recent convert, we are working with the 10 yr old daughter to become baptized.) and it was good because we got her to set a baptismal date: Feb. 12 and talked to both of the parents about receiving Patriarchal Blessings.
Sunday - We spoke in sacrament meeting about missionary work and love and charity and fellowshipping. We were supposed to have 4 investigators in church that day (Tracie, Mark, Josie, Hannah) and we really hoped that Sister W. would attend. She has been inactive for years and years--not for any particular reason (she wasn't offended.... what a miracle and relief!) but just got out of the habit of going and I think probably just didn't have a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. The W.s live a ways away but she had to come to JC for a bowling tournament that day anyway and we would give her (them) what she later called "Gentle shoves" to come to church (along with reading the Book of Mormon of course). So as we were sitting on the stand as the meeting began, we were both somewhat anxiously scanning the congregation and watching the doors for our investigators. Hannah. Check. Josie. Check. Tracie...... no Tracie. Mark and Carrie! Check. Sister W....... Sister W..... please.................................................................................................... [end of hymn]........[prayer]................[ward business]...... OH MY HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister W. AND Ed, her husband (whom we LOVE and is so funny and such a cowboy and Texan dad) and Connor their 5 yr old (absolutely adorable) son walked in! I kid you not, it was like the happiest moment in Sis. Nuckles' and my lives. We just squoze hands and beamed at them as they sat down. I was the first to speak. I formally welcomed them ("any visitors") and gave my talk. Then Sis. Nuckles spoke. Then Bro. Wheatley, our WML... who's amazing. I was so much more nervous about jumping off the podium and getting them fellowshippers and talking to them before they could slip out then giving any talk! Like as in Sunday morning sleep was bad and stressful and full of half-awake-half-asleep stressing over it. The second the meeting ended, we jumped up (leaving our stuff by our chairs), I grabbed the bishop and Sister Brantley and quickly made our way toward the Ws. We talked with them, the Gavins came up and joked with them (apparently they've known each other for a long time), Sister. Brantley talked to them, the bishop talked to them, Bro. Wheatley introduced himself, Sister Smith did too.... (having just spoken on fellowshipping definitely helped....) and then we moved to the lobby and talked more until they left for her bowling thing. I was talking to Sister W. and just asked, "So how was Sacrament?" She said, "It's good to be back. I really enjoyed it." And Sister Nuckles later told me that Ed told her he had woken up at 4 a.m. and made two trips to Wichita in a semi on Saturday so he could be there.... !!! Wichita is like 2.75 hours away. And they have been reading the Book of Mormon. Including the testimonies in the front and Joseph Smith's account of receiving the gold plates. So we hope to see them twice this week. (there was an emergency transfer in the zone so the zone is low on miles so we can't drive much right now). The rest of the day was crazy too. We had a small, good lesson with Josie and Bro. Wheatley about eternal marriage, we passed our dinner calendar around the ward and branch (and it's completely full!), we talked to tons of people and during our dinner apts. this month we'll be scouting who's missionary-minded, who's willing to go on team-ups regularly and fellowshipping, etc. And we helped with the baptism of Mark. And we taught our Spanish Primary class... I love those kids. And they love us. :) They are so funny and full of energy! And then we went on a team-up with the V.s (Denise and Angel) to a Spanish investigator family. We kind of discovered a diamond in the rough, Pele, the husband's son from another marriage, Kevin. He's 16 and in very smart. Usually he disappears into his room, but is friendly, but this time we made him sit out and talk to us and we all discussed his many questions, which were GOOD questions--ALL of which are answered by the Book of Mormon! So we gave him one, told him to read it, bore out testimonies, discussed what it contains, etc. Diana was sick, but Pele said she has been reading it. I think that Pele was very affected in a good way by how we interacted with his son and gave him the best answers to his hard questions he's ever heard AND we brought the Spirit. Then that night we walked to our RCLA apt. and talked about Patriarchal blessings and their temple prep class, etc. and got a referral. GOOD DAY.
So I am definitely out of time, but I love you all.
Hope to hear from you all soon.
enero 24
So it hasn't been too long since I last wrote you... but it still kinda feels that way ha.
This week we found a couple new investigators.
Yesterday we had quite a time..... blah.
So we said we'd pick her [Tami, an investigator] up at 8:45 a.m. for church... that morning we got a call from the bishopric that church was postponed until 10:30 a.m. and we'd just be having Sacrament Meeting due to the "weather". We tried calling her and leaving messages but no go. So we go out to our car at 10:15 and it has a solid 1/4 inch sheet of ice on our car. I literally cleared 5 square inches of the windshield in TEN MINUTES. The day before it'd heated up to 37 degrees and got super watery and slushy all over and then plummeted to 9 degrees and froze everything solid. So by the time we got to Tami's trailer it was 10:40. They were almost ready when we got there, however! So when they finished getting ready, we left and got to the church at about 10:55. We happily walked in, glad we'd made it, and sat down while they were singing a hymn... and then someone started walking toward the podium and I thought, "Oh noooo....." and sure enough Bro. Humbard went up and offered the benediction. BAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Are you KIDDING ME???!! Apparently the scheduled talks couldn't make it to church so they just ended the meeting after the Sacrament. And the whole thing was kinda stupid because IT WASN'T EVEN SNOWING HARD. Yeah it was icy, but if people had already come out here ya might as well give 'em some spiritual nourishment on top of the Sacrament!....
Luckily, the Spanish ward was meeting after that. I asked Tami how much Spanish she understood and she goes, "De nada?" I said, "Well.... you'll still feel the Spirit." So we took her and her daughters into a classroom and decided to use the time to teach them a lesson. Sis. Wheatley took her daughters with her daughter and played in another room.
So we went to the Spanish ward and then to Primary (which is basically held in English) because we thought her girls would like it. And then the branch pres. canceled the 3rd hour so people could start to get home. (and once again we were a bit puzzled.... there was no storm!) So it was kind of a weird day. But she afterward said she felt welcomed and good and safe at church and that it was good to get out of the house on the weekend.
Another person we taught this week was Lonnie. We were going through our PMF list and knocked on his door looking for some people who had since moved. We asked if we could come back and teach him and he said yeah and that he gets off work at 3 every day. Sa-weet!
So we went back on Saturday and taught him (And kinda his roommate who was in and out) and they were interesting to talk to. Lonnie's super down-to-earth and laid back. Tattoos, been in prison and jail, used to do drugs, smokes and drinks. His kids live in Texas (Houston) and he's 42. He said, "Ya know, the older you get, the more you realize, 'I'm gonna have to answer for this... I better stop doin it...' " So he believes in God, he read a little of the Bible in prison, he believes we'll be held accountable for what we do someday. He's tried a few churches around town but didn't like any of them. We'll see what we can do there...
We talked with Charles yesterday about the resurrection and eternal marriage. They're from Nigeria! They are SO funny and so great. He's very intellectual and it's hard to explain things to him at the right angle. I was reading the other day in Luke 20 about when the Savior is answering some Sadducees or something about whose wife a woman will be in the resurrection and Jesus says people neither marry nor are given in marriage in the resurrection. So to Charles that meant our doctrine of eternal marriage is false. Oh and we read Alma 40 and he thinks it contradicts the Bible because it says everything will be restored to its proper and perfect frame and Christ still had His scars and how will we recognize each other if we don't have the same features? So I'd like to open this up for discussion because I want to return with a good answer for him. What did Jesus mean when He answered that in Luke 20:35??? Are we reading "marry neither are given in marriage" in a different context than He said it in? Is He saying all marriages will be final by the time everyone is resurrected? . . . . . . .
Well, my time is up!
I will hope to hear from you all very soon.
I love you and pray for you! Thank you, in turn, for your prayers in my behalf. They work.
This week we found a couple new investigators.
Yesterday we had quite a time..... blah.
So we said we'd pick her [Tami, an investigator] up at 8:45 a.m. for church... that morning we got a call from the bishopric that church was postponed until 10:30 a.m. and we'd just be having Sacrament Meeting due to the "weather". We tried calling her and leaving messages but no go. So we go out to our car at 10:15 and it has a solid 1/4 inch sheet of ice on our car. I literally cleared 5 square inches of the windshield in TEN MINUTES. The day before it'd heated up to 37 degrees and got super watery and slushy all over and then plummeted to 9 degrees and froze everything solid. So by the time we got to Tami's trailer it was 10:40. They were almost ready when we got there, however! So when they finished getting ready, we left and got to the church at about 10:55. We happily walked in, glad we'd made it, and sat down while they were singing a hymn... and then someone started walking toward the podium and I thought, "Oh noooo....." and sure enough Bro. Humbard went up and offered the benediction. BAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Are you KIDDING ME???!! Apparently the scheduled talks couldn't make it to church so they just ended the meeting after the Sacrament. And the whole thing was kinda stupid because IT WASN'T EVEN SNOWING HARD. Yeah it was icy, but if people had already come out here ya might as well give 'em some spiritual nourishment on top of the Sacrament!....
Luckily, the Spanish ward was meeting after that. I asked Tami how much Spanish she understood and she goes, "De nada?" I said, "Well.... you'll still feel the Spirit." So we took her and her daughters into a classroom and decided to use the time to teach them a lesson. Sis. Wheatley took her daughters with her daughter and played in another room.
So we went to the Spanish ward and then to Primary (which is basically held in English) because we thought her girls would like it. And then the branch pres. canceled the 3rd hour so people could start to get home. (and once again we were a bit puzzled.... there was no storm!) So it was kind of a weird day. But she afterward said she felt welcomed and good and safe at church and that it was good to get out of the house on the weekend.
Another person we taught this week was Lonnie. We were going through our PMF list and knocked on his door looking for some people who had since moved. We asked if we could come back and teach him and he said yeah and that he gets off work at 3 every day. Sa-weet!
So we went back on Saturday and taught him (And kinda his roommate who was in and out) and they were interesting to talk to. Lonnie's super down-to-earth and laid back. Tattoos, been in prison and jail, used to do drugs, smokes and drinks. His kids live in Texas (Houston) and he's 42. He said, "Ya know, the older you get, the more you realize, 'I'm gonna have to answer for this... I better stop doin it...' " So he believes in God, he read a little of the Bible in prison, he believes we'll be held accountable for what we do someday. He's tried a few churches around town but didn't like any of them. We'll see what we can do there...
We talked with Charles yesterday about the resurrection and eternal marriage. They're from Nigeria! They are SO funny and so great. He's very intellectual and it's hard to explain things to him at the right angle. I was reading the other day in Luke 20 about when the Savior is answering some Sadducees or something about whose wife a woman will be in the resurrection and Jesus says people neither marry nor are given in marriage in the resurrection. So to Charles that meant our doctrine of eternal marriage is false. Oh and we read Alma 40 and he thinks it contradicts the Bible because it says everything will be restored to its proper and perfect frame and Christ still had His scars and how will we recognize each other if we don't have the same features? So I'd like to open this up for discussion because I want to return with a good answer for him. What did Jesus mean when He answered that in Luke 20:35??? Are we reading "marry neither are given in marriage" in a different context than He said it in? Is He saying all marriages will be final by the time everyone is resurrected? . . . . . . .
Well, my time is up!
I will hope to hear from you all very soon.
I love you and pray for you! Thank you, in turn, for your prayers in my behalf. They work.
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