September 10, 2012

Hello From the Land of Enchantment!!!!

Well this week has been an interesting one. I feel like I don't have a week go by that things happen as I would expect them to. But that is the way of mission life, and I'm coming to expect the unexpected.

We are teaching this family right now and I am actually super excited about it. Our first week here, we were going through a list of former inv. and went to go see some lady named Sandy. Well, Sandy had moved and Rudy and Lisa live in her house. Rudy answered the door and told us that right now was not a good time (the common answer) and set up an appointment for us to come back. We weren't expecting much, since everyone says that and then usually blows us off. But when we went the Spirit was SO strong, and I knew that they have been prepared for the gospel. After that amazing lesson, when we went over for our second lesson I was SO NERVOUS. Since I have been out on my mission we haven't had any progressing inv. so no one will consistently come to church or do any of the commitments like read the scriptures or pray. (this is one reason I was excited to be here in this town) And each time before that we had an inv. that was actually progressing they would call us and drop us. This has now happened twice before and once here. Satan is so evil! So I was so worried that this was going to happen again. And when we went to that second appointment, no one answered the door, so I was sure it was doomed. :( BUT all is well, because we went to visit someone else and on our drive back, we saw that their front door was open, so we stopped by. And they weren't avoiding us! Rudy had been asleep and Lisa forgot and went to the library! But the lesson went well again! The Lord is really preparing people for us, and I am so happy to be here.

Funny story:

One night we went to go see a member, but couldn't find the road she lives on. We were in the dark, and basically lost, so we prayed to be able to find the road or to be lead to where we needed to be. After our next turn we found it. (miracle of being a missionary!!) So anyhow onto the funny part. We got lost again on her street and thought we might have the wrong house because the car's plate said North Dakota and we knew the lady was from Idaho. So I said maybe the house number is mixed up, so we drove down the street a little bit, and as we are looking at houses, this man who had been standing outside came over and knocked on our window. He was just making sure we weren't "casing the houses" but then we explained that we are missionaries and how we are lost and started talking to him. He said he was interested in coming to church and such, and then at the end of our conversation he stared asking about the car: "Is this a rental? or do you own this car?" and we told him it is owned by the Church. His response to that was, "Oh! You guys are so lucky. Mormon's only have bikes!"  To which we started laughing and told him WE are Mormons!!! He was so embarrassed! And told us that he wasn't sure he wanted to come to church anymore because now he doesn't believe what we believe (whatever that means, 2 seconds ago we're all good, we mention our church's nickname and it's all over?) But we addressed his concerns and so he's not weirded out anymore. BUT SO FUNNY!

And the end of this week, Sister L had a kidney infection. She has always had weak kidneys, and with how stressed out she is, it just flared up again. So Saturday and Sunday we stayed inside all day. It is teaching me a lot of charity, and how to serve, and I am just so grateful that I do not have such problems. It makes her throw up, and she has lost 4 pounds this weekend. She also can't sleep because her back hurts where her kidney's sit, and her stomach hurts because of her kidneys too. We did go to Stake Conference on Sunday though, and a member drove us. It was all the way down in Roswell, and was nice. The Augustin's were there and spoke, and afterwords I made Sister L spill things out for S. Augustin. She is so SO sick. I am fasting for her today, because she is so miserable. But I feel better now that someone else knows so that it can be taken care of. :(

Family and Friends: I was reading in this past Conference Ensign and read  Was it Worth it by Elder David F. Evans. THIS TALK IS AMAZING! I urge each one of you to re-read it and to apply it to your lives. Just like it says: it doesn't matter if we are reactivating a less active member, or sharing the gospel with friends who do not have the truth, it is all the same in the Lord's eyes. This is the great work that we can all take a part in!

So to explain a few of the pictures:

 The black cat is Samuel. We named him after Samuel the Lamanite. The elders found him on the side of the road, and thought dropping him off at our house would take care of our mouse problem. It was out of the kindness of their hearts that they dropped the cat off, BUT it was a kitten, and cried like all night. So after a half hour of that, we called the elders and told them to come get the cat. PLUS the cat across the street decided to attack the kitten and it was just maddness until the elders came about an hour later to get the poor thing. So much drama!

The spider (yes that huge ugly thing!) is another gift from the other elders. They were driving down the street and saw it going across the road so they thought they would catch it and bring it to us (so nice right?) Sister L actually likes spiders so she thinks this is cool, and I in fact do not. We named it Charlotte as in Charlotte's web, and took pictures with it. (not my favorite day)

Then there is my district, before transfers.

The L family (a mom and her 3 daughters) live here, and are members. She invited all of the Korean exchange students to her house for a lesson. One of these things in the picture is not like the other... any guesses? ;) 

And I think that's it!!

Love you all!!! xoxoxoxo!