It's so beautiful here!!!
I'm sad to say, my dog
died this week. It is a hard pill to swallow, but I really do know that she is
a lot happier now, so I will be okay with it.
So this week was pretty
meh... A lot of different things going on right now.
Monday we had some fun
at P-day with our district. Elder Flamm taught me how to play a fun board game
called Risk. It was Star Wars themed, so pretty fun! A funny thing that
happened- we were about to start the game, after a lot of set up, and then the
volley ball that the others were playing with accidentally got hit over to our
table and landed right on the board ruining everything we had just set up!! It
was pretty funny. We were like... “Well I guess you won!” to the person who
threw the volleyball. Then we had to set it all back up, and then I won! Woo
hoo! "Beginner's luck," according to Elder Flamm.
Tuesday we found out
that one of our investigators got evicted! The phone number is not working
either... so that's pretty sad and concerning! We already had a few investigators
drop us lately and now another one has disappeared! After that shock, we went
to the community service center to do some service at the thrift store. It was
kind of fun, because they got about 4-5 huge truckloads of bags of clothes to
go through about 2 weeks ago and they are still working on it! So Hna. M and I
sorted through clothes for about two hours straight. Then we had to get going
but they told us that if we saw anything that we liked or needed we could take
it for free. So we got a nice lamp for the apartment (which is usually very
dark and needs more lights), and I got another multi-skirt hanger thing. Very
useful for sister missionaries! That evening we did some surprise service for
one of our investigators, Jane. We went over to just stop by and see how she
was because we hadn't had an appointment in a few days, and when we got there,
there was a bunch of boxes of clothes! She’s starting a clothing business out
of her house of modest and comfy clothes, so we ended up coming in and helping
her unpack and sort out all the new clothes! It reminded me of my retail days!
So Tuesday pretty much was just all about clothes, until we had a lesson with
our investigator, Emma. Sis. Hall came along, because they are good friends. It
was a wonderful lesson, actually. Emma has been investigating the church for a
very long time now--I think about 9 years! She bore her testimony about a lot
of things like priesthood blessings and the Book of Mormon. We were just like
Emma! Why don't you get baptized then?!! She said she's just not ready for the
commitment yet.... We'll get there :)
Wednesday we met
Arvin. He's a new potential investigator! Which is really, really good because
we seriously are running a little dry in the investigator pool right now. He's Spanish-speaking,
too! Which is really exciting. Usually when we are knocking on doors, (plan Z)
we just share a simple and short message, but he actually got really into it
and started asking more questions. We ended up talking with him and teaching him
for almost an hour! It was cool. That night we had dinner with Mama and Papa
Abken. It was enchiladas, and they were delicious! Almost the best enchiladas I
have ever tasted made by a white person (except my mom's of course)! Then Mama
Abken came with us to a lesson with a sweet older couple we have been visiting
lately, the Damans.
Thursday we had
an awesome lesson with Larissa, a less-active member from the ward. We read
Ether 12 together (SUPER good read, BTW) and discussed it. There's always
something new I don't notice! I can read the same chapter four times, and each
time I'm still like, “Wow! When did that get there?!” I didn't realize that
Moroni was numbered among those who have actually seen and talked with God. Thursday
night we had a WEIRD member dinner.... seriously weird! Everyone was being so
goofy and teasing and sarcastic, which wasn't like, a bad thing. It's just that
we've eaten with them in the past and it was 100% not like that! Their friend
was there, and they apparently go way back with her and have this strange love
language of harassing each other constantly... Personally, I feel lines were
crossed! It was hard to find a way to direct the conversation to something
spiritually uplifting. We tried a few times to even just bluntly change it, but
it was useless. The good news is I got to eat a carb-free waffle. Interesting,
but not bad! Plus, we had some fresh strawberries. Mmmmmmm! After that we went
to Emma's again and had a great lesson about family history, and I got to help
her set up her Familysearch.org account. She was amazed that it was free, even
to people who are not members of the Church!
Friday was weekly
planning, or sometimes how I like to call it--Weekly Stressing!! Then we had
dinner with the Rutters. It was super delicious taco salads. I also made a
low-glycemic cheesecake this week, like how I used to at home all the time. Sometimes
I just really miss having time to cook and bake! We finally met a less-active
member, Ruby, that night. We had been trying to figure out where she was, so
that was good, but then ANOTHER investigator dropped us! One of the members got
way too excited about sharing the gospel and went really deep into the
doctrine. He started sharing things with her way too fast and overwhelmed her
with information. It was really hard not to be mad at him after that. We went
to his house the next day. Because he's actually a recent convert, we still
teach him, and we had to talk a little about milk before meat. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2,
and Hebrews 5:12-14. It’s so important that you start with the basics and build
your way up! We did it in the kindest, most loving way we could, but he still
got a little offended. We didn't even bring up specifically what happened, but
he knew what we were talking about. I think it’s just hard for him, as an
older guy to take some correction from a couple of kids.
On Saturday, since
pretty much all of our investigators, save a couple, have either dropped us,
moved, or disappeared from the face of the planet, we literally knocked on
doors all day. It actually wasn't bad though, I don't mind knocking. It was a
beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold. We were up in the mountains, so the
view was incredible, and we met some really interesting and nice people. We
even met this crazy vegan lady who was so funny and gave us some facon (fake
bacon) made out of coconuts, maple syrup, and liquid smoke! It was actually
weirdly good.... then we had a solid conversation about the Godhead.
Sunday a convert
of 30 years came back to visit for Memorial Day weekend. He said he wanted to
come back here, because his baptism is something he wanted to remember. (Remembering
was a HUGE theme at church yesterday!) During this brother's testimony (it was
testimony meeting because we have Stake Conference next week) he talked about
how he was investigating the church for several years and put off getting
baptized for a long time. He said he is SO grateful for the blessings he has now
from being a member of the Church, and he regrets putting them off. He said if
there was anyone in the congregation right now that was thinking about getting
baptized they should do it, because it was the best thing they could ever do. “Just
jump in feet first!” he said. EMMA WAS AT CHURCH! She was crying. The spirit
was SO strong in that meeting. I have a good feeling about her. :) Thank you
random convert visitor man! So, back to the theme of “Remember.” We were
reading in Mosiah chapters 25-27 in Sunday school, and the teacher
started to point out all the times he says “remember.” Then he took us to
Helaman chapter 5, verses 6-7 and 9. There are so many more “remembers”
everywhere. He asked, “Why is remembering so important? Because when we don't
that's when the pride starts to creep up on us.” That was just so profound to
me! Don’t' forget where you come from and what you have been through, and that
the Savior went through it all with you! Forgetting=pride.
Well I think that's it
for this week, please pray that we can find some more people that need us! I
love and miss you all.
More beautiful scenery!
The grass is so green now!
Hermana Marble stacking eggs???
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