Hola mis amadas
personas!
This week was insane.
I know I say that all the time, but this time I'm not kidding! It was crazy! We
had so many meetings, and so many random schedule changes, it actually made me
have some anxiety. I didn't realize what a routine I had gotten into until it
was different. We also went to a less active member's house on Monday night. His
name is Slader, and he's a musician. At first it was exciting because the ward
has been trying to get in with this guy for years, and no one could get him to
open up, but then I finally was able to use my music knowledge to get in the
door. But then it really tripped me out for a few days, because he has a bunch
of amazing Taylors and Fenders, a Steinway, and a recording studio, and just a
ton of amazing stuff. It was really hard to stay in missionary mode in my
brain. All I wanted to do was jam! I was a little thrown off for about two days
after that! It was so weird.
We had meetings almost
every morning last week, so we didn't get our usual study time right when we
wake up. We had to do it in the afternoon instead, and that threw me off as
well. There's just something about reading God's word for an hour each morning
that really starts your day off well. We also got really stressed out last
night. We are having Zone conference in Moses Lake tomorrow and thought we
would just be getting a ride from a member, so we drove clear out to this
neighborhood on the edge of our area and used up a ton of miles earlier in the
week! Last month we ended up with a ton extra so we thought we as well use some
of them and visit this neighborhood that rarely gets visited. So long story
short, we ended up being told last night that we do have to drive to Moses Lake
because of car inspections, so now we are going to run out of miles. It's
really stressful, but we are trying to save them where we can and keep up a
positive attitude. Hopefully some members can help us out and give us rides.
Besides the craziness,
we have seen a lot of miracles and blessings in Royal this week. We have five
new investigators and another one that was a former investigator, who we came
back in contact with! She has had smoking and drinking problems her whole life,
and we found out a few days ago she has been sober for nine months now! Her
next goal is to quit using tobacco and cigarettes. She seems pretty great!
Please keep her in your prayers.
Ana is doing better as
well. His leg is still recovering, but it's really looking good! It's still
pretty black and red, but it's not swollen anymore, and he can wear socks
without it bleeding! We also started teaching his brother and nephew by
surprise! We stopped by last night to see how he was doing, and the brother and
nephew were there. We started talking and ended up getting through all of The Restoration!
Another cool thing yesterday was that right after we got the text about the
miles and were stressing out and trying to adjust our plans this week to save
miles (we were at the church studying), a little boy opened the door and said
"Hey, I just saw you guys through the window, and saw you look really
upset, is everything okay?" How sweet! It was one of those little mercies,
like Heavenly Father is so aware of us. He knew we were stressed out, so the
Holy Ghost prompted that little boy to say something to us.
One of the new
investigators we found this week is a less-active member, Nora's husband,
Kevin. It was actually so cool talking to him, because he has ADD too, and the
way that he thinks and explains things that he thinks about is just like me!
I've never met someone so similar to me except my dad. It was so great to read
scripture passages with him and see his responses. Nora and Hna. L were both a
little lost and Nora said that half the time she can't figure out what the heck
he's talking about. But it actually all made perfect sense to me! Kevin said
one of the things he's always really respected and admired about the Mormon
faith, is that even though people are always preaching against us, and
publishing awful lies and anti-Mormon literature and persecuting us, we never
say bad things about other religions. He said that always bothers him about
other Christian sects because being so hateful against somebody else "just
doesn't seem very Christian, now does it?" I was so glad to hear that,
because one of the most important things to us as missionaries is to not tear
down other's faith, but to build on what they already have. Needless to say,
he's awesome, and we have visited him twice already. Nora said she's been
thinking about coming back to church, because there's a special feeling there
that she has never felt anywhere else. I love it when they share their
testimonies with us.
One of our favorite
people to see, Yvonne (we do service for her on Thursdays because she had a
heart attack) has actually been inviting her boyfriend, Charlie to church too!
It's really exciting to see others involved in missionary work too.
Making apple jerky at Yvonne's!
Another thing that
helped me feel a lot better this week was listening to the song "This is
the Christ." It was kind of random--we just had the music on shuffle, and
it popped up out of nowhere. But something about it just really brought the Spirit
into the room and helped me feel so much better. If you have a chance you
should definitely listen to that song! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir version is
super good. My favorite lyrics are "How many drops of blood were shed for me?"
CHILLS Listen here.
I have started reading
the New Testament again lately, and it's crazy how many new insights I have
gotten. This morning I was reading the Sermon on the Mount. I'm also really
enjoying Psalm 46:5. I have it written on the front of my planner and look at
it all the time and it's so good. It helps me have that little encouragement
when I need it.
Something else cool
this week was on Wednesday there was a Worldwide Missionary Broadcast, which
actually hasn't happened in over ten years. It was great! We heard from several
members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a member of the Quorum of the
Seventy, the Second Counselor in the Young Women Presidency, and some others
from the missionary department. One of my favorite quotes I took down in my
notes is from Elder Neil L. Anderson "If you're ever unsure what to say,
speak of the Savior."
I guess that's about
all this week, we're doing pretty great all things considered, and I'm still so
grateful every day to be a missionary. I love you all and hope to hear from you
soon!
Beautiful Royal City Sunset
Chickens!
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