6/23/14
Okay man....all I can say is this week was CRAZY. And I'm
emotionally exhausted...and you'll see what I mean after this long email.
So let's start with (investigator) WAS BAPtIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can say is, working with her has reminded me of an
important thing: "THIS IS GOD'S WORK...and HE HAS A HAND." I just
remember our world was crashing down when she dropped us a week before her
first baptism date a month ago. My comp and I just kept asking ourselves what
we did wrong and if there was anything we could have done to prevent
what happened.
And then she called us....and told us that she felt this is
where she needed to go.
The spirit is what converts people...not us! Not one bit! If God
hadn't helped her take the steps she needed to she wouldn't have been standing
in the font yesterday.
And also I just can't help but think how there was NO WAY she
could have quit smoking without His help. Can you believe that after she's been
doing that since she was 12...one day she just sits down and puts out her last
cigarette and decides she's done? Without us having to push her? Can you
believe she didn't have any horrible cravings last week? I CAN'T.
The gospel is true. These things wouldn't happen if it
wasn't.
I'm so grateful for the Lord's hand in helping her. She is a
special woman who will always be super dear and near to my heart. I love her.
I'm excited for her!
So I’d better talk about everyone else. The older couple (who
live in the country) are being handed to the other Elders because they're
actually in THEIR area. We taught them the restoration last week...it wasn't
THE BEST Restoration lesson ever but I think they felt something and I really
hope he is going to read the Book of Mormon. I'm not sure what will happen but I
know everything happens for a reason and there was a reason as to why we met
with them.
(name) moved. And we are saying goodbye to her this Saturday.
I'm so sad. I love her so much. And she is so prepared. Last week we met with
her and she was SUPER STRESSED because of the move. She was here
alone with her two small children trying to pack while her fiance was living
with her family and working 2 hrs away. She got frustrated and asked us why
God wasn't listening to her and answering her prayers. She just got a lot of
venting out last week...and most of the time we just listened. But we invited her to
read the scriptures with intent and to pray with intent...we
talked about what that means and it turned out to be a really spiritual lesson.
Yesterday she texted us and told us that after we left she prayed and read her
scriptures...and she felt much much better. She told us how we helped her so
much...and how she wants to go to the church in her new town. She knows that
this is the direction for her. The spirit is really working with her.
(Investigator’s) birthday was last week. So we had a little
party with him and taught him a lesson. It was at the member family’s house and
they really took good care of him. I think that it was good for him to know
that he has support and people that care about him in the church. The coolest
part though is that he came to church Sunday and witnessed (name’s) baptism. He has never seen a
baptism before. He told my comp afterwards that he felt so goooood. He felt the
spirit and felt that it was right. He said he felt it throughout the entire
program. It was so good to have him have that desire to keep preparing for his
baptism. He still has to wait 6 months which is hard...so yesterday really
helped him I think. It was great!
We received really really sad news last night. A member called and said that (investigator) passed away last
Friday. We had no idea. Man...when I
heard that I felt like something was driven into my heart. I'm still pretty sad
about it. I'm going to miss him...and it's really sad. But at the same time I
feel a lot of peace that he's no longer
in physical pain. I always felt bad seeing him in the state that he was in,
whether it was in the hospital or in their home. He was in so much pain. And
now he's relieved of it. I really hope he can come in contact with the gospel
in the spirit world...I hope that's one of the reasons why the Lord placed him
in our paths. As for his wife I'm really worried about her. She didn't sound good when we called her last night. But we are visiting her
tonight and I hope we can provide consolation that she needs. I don't know what
I'm going to say to her...but I hope everything is okay.
Anyways on a lighter note...even though this week wasn't crazy
for (our baptism friend) ...it was crazy for us. So many stories happened and I
have so little time. So I'll just shortly share with you what happened and then
you'll see what I mean by crazy...
Tuesday night we were at the church when the power went out. We
looked outside and there was a massive storm...a storm so strong I think it's been one
of the worst I've seen. Thunder, lightening, sideways rain, and the branches
were all flinging around in a circle... I guess the winds were so strong it was
in a tornado warning category. Luckily it eventually stopped and we were able
to drive from the church. But all the power was OUT. The stoplights were out
and there were car crashes. Trees had flipped over all over the place. We
dropped by (name)’s and two doors down across the street a tree had FALLEN on a
house and crushed the roof. In front of his house a telephone wire was snapped
by a huge tree branch. There was debris everywhere and it was crazy. I felt
like we were in a natural disaster! It
got all cleaned up pretty fast but it was wild.
Wednesday: We decided to use the bikes. Super stoked. We get out
and two seconds out my comp’s chain falls off. So we got it back on and started
heading off again. We get to the end of the road and this time her PEDAL falls
off. We pull off and a man pulls over and offers to fix it with his tools. So
he grabs his toolbox and fixes it in front of us and we get on our way. THEN we
bike for 20 more min and the pedal falls off AGAIN. So then we just pull over
to Papa Johns and lock our bikes to a tree and called a member to "save
us". So much for that. So the bikes are in the shop now.
So...yeah...didn't work out.
Thursday: Guess who accidentally
left the keys in the house? I did. And my comp locked and shut the door before
I realized. We locked ourselves out. And the members who live with us were 45
min away. So we were locked out for a good 1 hr and 30 mins.
Hahah. Never a dull moment here in the mission! Never!
Anyways that's the week. But I'm excited for THIS week. It's
going to be great. First of all zone conference is tomorrow! YaY!!!! I'm so
excited for it. It's going to be awesome.
And I'm excited to see Pres and Sis Scott for the last time.
Awww I'm going to miss them sooooooooooooo much. I love them. They are amazing.
They've helped me grow so much and I just don't know how I could ever thank
them. They've been amazing leaders. And I just always feel so loved as I've
worked with them. It's going to be a very bitter sweet day tomorrow. But I'm
excited for Pres Clayton and his wife to come in. I've only heard good things
about them. It's going to be weird because I will not have a lot of time with
them but I hope it will still be good.
Also...this week we have exchanges. I WAS going to Oshawa Toronto
It's going to be a BUILDING week for us! We gotta find people to
teach now!
Love you all. The work is true. I can't say that enough.
Remember who you are and keep being the great people that you are.
Onward and Upward!
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