Things Are Looking Up!

Hello everyone! I am sorry that my post last week was so short. It was a hard week, but things are looking up! I wanted to mention last week what I did for the 4th of July. A family from the ward invited us to go watch a little parade with them and then come over for lunch. So, we were able to watch a fun parade and then enjoy a good lunch with a couple families from the ward. For dinner we actually ended up eating two meals! One family from the ward asked if both the Elders and us Sisters could come over for what we thought was going to be a party. Normally we can't eat at the same house, but we figured since it was a party and we weren't going for dinner it would be ok. Because we didn't think we would be eating dinner over there the Jones (the couple we are living with) asked if we wanted to come back and eat dinner with them, so we said yes. When we got the families home it ended up being a dinner with just their family. Not only did we have a dinner appointment after this, but we were breaking the rules since the Elders were there too!! We figured since it was a Holiday and we were already there, we would just stay and eat. The dinner was nice, but after we were done we decided to go. When we got to the Jones they had the table all set ready for dinner! We were so stuffed but we just couldn't not eat the dinner they had made for us. Suprisingly enough we were able to eat it, and then they brought out desert! Brother Jones had made us mint chocolate chip sundaes! They were so good. By the end of the day I think I gained about 20 pounds! It was a really good 4th of July :)

 

Well I just have to say thank you to all of you who have written or emailed me. I have been receiving so much love and support. Getting letters really just does so much for me. For any missionary it really is just a blessing. I encourage you to write any missionary that you know. It will truly make their day, like it does mine!

 

So even though last week was rough, this week has been so much better! This week we were able to teach a family and so now we have two new investigators, Greg and Anna. They have 3 young kids. 2 boys and a little girl. We went to teach them on Thursday this past week and also had Sister Harker from the ward join us. The only bad part about all this is that during the lesson I froze up and didn't really say much. I felt as if I just didn't know anything and so the whole time I just sat there nodding my head! Luckily, my companion and Sister Harker did a really good job. It was a hard lesson because they seemed to know their Bible. They just had so many questions and I felt as if I just didn't know the answers. The lesson went very well though because we are going back this next Wednesday to teach them! I am just going to pray that I will be more confident in my knowledge of the gospel. I know that if I just put my trust in the Lord he will help me to know what to say and I will be able to contribute and open my mouth!

 

Other than that it has been pretty slow here. We have been trying to work with part member families and less actives. We also have been able to do some service for some of the ward members. One of the ward members, Sister Craig, has a neighbor who seems a little interested in the church. We went over to help Sister Craig in her garden with picking and weeding, and while we did that she was able to tell us all about her. She is a single mom of two kids who is always just really busy. When we went over there she was with a friend, so we just asked if we could do anything to help her and she told us to come back on Saturday morning to help her weed and we did! We spent about three hours helping her with her yard. Then after that we went and helped Sister Jones weed some of her yard. Needless to say I am ready to never weed again!! I am glad we got that opportunity to serve her though. Melanie who is the single mom was able to really open up to us. She told us that had heard some about the church, but not much. We are hoping that even with her busy schedule we will be able to get in and teach her the lessons!

 

The ward members here have just been so sweet to us. They really know how to take care of us. It feels like home already. Our meal calendar is so full, we have a dinner every night this week! The poor Elders though, they have about 3 dinner appointments this week. I don't know what it is, but everyone just loves the Sisters more. That's not coming from me!

 

I am so excited to be here and can't wait for all the many more people that I am going to meet. It has been hard but it wouldn't be worth it if it wasn't so challenging. I know I will learn so much and it's going to bless me and my family more than I even know. The Lord wants me here and I know it. Please keep up the letters. They help me more than you know. I love you all and hope that you are doing well. Keep up the missionary work. Always be praying that you can have a missionary opportunity. You don't need to wear a name tag to be a missionary. Please know that I love you all with all my heart. 18 months will go by faster than I know, but I can't wait! Have a great week :)