It was a crazy and awesome week this week!
Monday we were playing ultimate Frisbee at a park, and I got
hit in the face with the Frisbee and had a purple lip all day.... I think I'll
take a break from playing sports with the elders for a while. This is injury
#9480572984502485209348752345, it seems like...
Tuesday we went and visited a few less-active members, and
taught Romero with the Hood River hermanas. We are passing him to them, since
he actually lives in Hood river. He got his baptism interview yesterday is
ready to go! We had a really fun time planning his baptism service with him,
the other sisters, and the Hood River Ward mission leader.
Wednesday and Thursday were pretty “meh”. We were driving
ALL DAY. Usually, I don't mind, and the scenery is totally gorgeous here, but
it was just too much for me to be in the car for pretty much two days straight.
We had a lot of extra miles, so we decided to go out to our borders and check
on some less-active members. Plus, we have been getting a LOT of member referrals
lately, and one was out in Glenwood (border of the area) and sounded really
promising. We went out to talk to them, but we had the wrong address and spent
about 2-3 hours looking for a farm that wasn't there! Fortunately we got the
right address now from the member and are going to try again next week. :)
Thursday night I started feeling super icky. I don't even totally know how to
explain it, but I just felt terrible. I felt like I was just really worn down
or something spiritually and emotionally, so we said a prayer and I decided to
get a blessing from a brother in the ward. It was kind of interesting that his
name was the one that popped in my head, but as soon as we stepped foot in
their house I knew this is where I needed to be. The Spirit returned to me, and
I felt peaceful again as soon as his hands were on my head. He said he felt
honored to be asked to give a missionary a blessing, and that he hasn't had a
chance to share his priesthood with anyone in a long while. Prayer works!
Friday a miracle happened. A few weeks ago, on Hna. M's last
day here, we stopped by our investigator, Max's house to say goodbye. He had
been progressing awesomely, and we were going to pop the baptism question
really soon. But then he came out and met us on the porch and said that we actually
needed to take a break from our lessons for a little while. His wife was
starting to get freaked out because she had heard some really bad lies about
our church. He said he still believes and everything but that he needs his wife
to be okay with it, so he wanted a little bit of time to be able to teach her
and share his testimony with her. We asked if we could help resolve her
concerns at all, but he said she wouldn't be comfortable talking to us. So we
figured all we could do was pray! So the last three weeks Hna. H and I have
been constantly praying for their family. Every single prayer, "Please
bless Jane that her heart will be softened."
And then it happened! Friday night we got a super long text
from him. He said that he needed to meet up with us and Bishop, because he had
an amazing spiritual experience and knows he needs to be baptized and join the
church. It was amazing! So we met up with him and Bishop during his lunch break
on Saturday morning, and talked about all of it. It turns out, his wife is actually
a consultant for a company named Lula Roe. It's a multi level marketing type
business started by LDS members, and they sell modest clothes for women and
girls. Their family is getting really
into her Lula Roe business, so they went down to California for the weekend to
a Lula Roe convention. There were a ton of Mormon families there, and it was
really inspiring for them. He said looking around and talking to everyone he
could just tell there was something different about these people. The families
were so close knit and there was a "light about them". He said that's
exactly what he wants for his family, and he can tell the Gospel is what makes
the difference. He was seeing all the successes these families were
experiencing and knew it was Heavenly Father blessing them for all their
efforts to be examples of the believers. He ended up talking to a ton of people
and making a bunch of new Mormon friends from all over the country. I actually
got pretty choked up when he was telling us about all of this because it
reminded me about how in the Lord's church we are all a big family, and that no
matter where you go, you always have a home! And we can always depend on each
other. Who would have thought the wavering Washingtonian investigator, being
taught by a couple of Texan missionaries, would go to California and meet a
bunch of Mormons from all over at a clothing convention and be converted to the
Gospel? It's truly amazing the way that Heavenly Father works! It was also
really sweet to hear about how he was telling everyone that he had been meeting
with the missionaries, and they were encouraging him. We even have member
support in California. I LOVE MORMONS. <3
Saturday we went over to Larissa's house to practice teach
her and one of her non-member friends. (Larissa is an AMAZING member
missionary) and then had a mini-celebration, because on Thursday was my “hump-day”
and Sunday Hna. Hull hit 2 months! My baby is growing up so fast! It was a
great celebration, and there was even a rainbow in the sky!
(click for one of my favorite Gospel groups!)
Hump Day and Two Months!
Celebration with Larissa
My awesome Hump Day present from my Momma.
She is SO TALENTED!!!
Sunday was a great day. We got a go-ahead from Bishop to
teach the 5th Sunday lesson at church! We are going to talk about member
missionary work and share a few clips from "The Missionary Next Door"
by Diane Hoelscher. It's really great, and member missionary work is a huge
focus for the Washington Yakima Mission right now. I'm so excited to get it
into hyper drive!
Well, I think that's it for this week. I'll probably think
of some things I forgot later, but that's the major stuff. Prayer works and
miracles are real.
An alpaca named Angus we met at a member's house
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