April 24, 2012

Family!

Another week has come and gone. Pretty sure that P-Days not only keep me sane but also help me take a breath before hitting the ground running again. It has been a great week and we've worked our butts off again and managed to get all our goals and more. So, last week Monday, we kinda finished our P-Day early because a guy in one of the Wards was struggling and needed a visit from the Sisters, so we went over and helped lift him up from his depressive state.  Later, we taught a lesson to a guy in the YSA Ward and following that we went and visited Sherrie - the lady whose husband committed suicide.  It was a much better visit then the first time we'd visited and we got to share a message with her and she did indeed want us to come back so that was a good thing.  I recognized that Sherrie just needs to feel loved and wanted, so we will keep visiting her.

Tuesday was another good day where we went around meeting mostly less active Ward members or people that the Relief Society had asked us to visit.  But, honestly, I am realizing that all these people need is someone who cares about them and is thinking about them.   We volunteer at an assisted living place and we play games with these very elderly people and so that's something we always do on Tuesday and it is so cool. I am learning patience if nothing else. Wednesday was crazy. We had lessons every hour on the hour. It was awesome because being busy is great. There isn't a lot of detail to go into about the lessons we taught because a lot of the people we teach are less actives.  We had a lesson with Anthony that night and he told us that he had received his answer and that he definitely will be getting baptized on May 5th!  It made my heart sore!  It is so awesome hearing an investigator tell you that through prayer they can receive their answers and they feel love from the Lord. We visited the Sister missionary who is preparing to leave on her mission but is struggling as to whether or not she should go.  She is still sick from her wisdom teeth extraction.  We shared a lesson with her and then set an appointment to have lunch with her so that will be fun. She is so close to going on her mission but I know Satan is working hard on trying to stop her. Oh, and a family gave us money to go buy our own dinner. They couldn't feed us because the wife had just had surgery so instead, they gave us some money and we took ourselves off to Pita Pit! Yup, it reminded me of home a little bit but I reckon Pita Pit in NZ is way better and the food taste better too.  Just saying...

Thursday was weekly planning day and then we taught Matthew again. He feels good about everything we have taught him so far, but hasn't committed to baptism yet so this week we will hopefully have him commit to a date and see how that goes. I know the Lord needs him in his church.

Friday we had a lesson with Craige who is supposed to be getting baptized this weekend and I was a little skeptical about whether or not it was going to happen because we hadn't seen him in a week or so, but he showed up, and he answered all the questions to the baptismal interview and was very keen on being baptized.  Hopefully, that will happen this weekend.   The night ended with us going to Kuna for exchanges and Sister Huckfeldt and I were back together and we stayed in Meridian for the night.  I may have told you about her before that she's  from Brisbane and I really love working with her! Its like you become familiar with different sisters when you go on exchanges and its just cool being with an Aussie.  Anyway, so on Saturday Sister Huckfeldt and I had a great day together.  (Story to follow about a lady we met on Saturday evening!).

We took Anthony to a baptism so he could see what would happen to him and before teaching him the Plan of Salvation we had a few other people we had to visit and then later caught up with Anthony and taught him.   He thought it was an awesome lesson and had the biggest smile on his face the whole time.  It was like he could feel the spirit testifying that it was true. Then we went and visited a few more people and committed them to taking the missionary lessons. They said we could come back and teach them the Plan of Salvation but it wasn't like an official acceptance to take the lessons so we will have to watch and see what happens. Then we switched back to our companions and Sis Moncur and I were reunited.  That evening I had to do some finishing touches to my talk for Sunday and then it was bed time.

Sunday, I got up, studied and then headed to church. I gave a 20 minute talk on the Restoration. I was the concluding speaker and I must say, I am getting really good at filling up excess time.  Haha!  But seriously, I just always pray they listen to the spirit teaching them and not me.  We went to the YSA Ward Council and honestly,  Single Wards are still just as awkward whether you are a missionary or not. It's strange!  Then we went back to the Ward Anthony attends to sit with him.  After Sacrament was done another miracle happened where we had a couple come up to us and say that they had a friend who was ready to take the missionary discussions. We made an appointment with them and this was awesome because we were fasting that day to find opportunities to teach and the Lord is literally putting people in our pathway. So that was nothing short of a miracle. We will see what happens this week with their friend.  Then we had dinner.

Now, I have a story to tell you!  So, on Saturday, we went to visit this family called the Johnson's. We parked our car and walked over to their home only to see Sister Johnson outside talking with another lady. So, we go up and casually meet her and she's nice and then we go inside and teach the Johnson's then we leave.  As we are walking to our car, Sister Huckfeldt says, "Don't forgot to go back and see that lady!" So, I make a mental note to myself to go back and visit the random lady that we had just met on the street, who lives opposite the Johnson's.  Well, on Sunday we had several places we could be, and I kept thinking about this lady who we had met. She lived kind of opposite in a way from another family who we had an appointment with that night so I figured, well before the appointment we can stop and see this other lady.  So, we get to her home, knock on her door and I hadn't said two words maybe, "Hey" and literally not a lot else came out of my mouth before she started going off her rocker! She said, "I have studied and I know all about your church and I feel sorry for what you believe and blah blah blah!"  I then said, "Oh, so you've met with missionaries before?"  She then said, "No!"  So, I said, "Oh, so you've met with who then?  Who has taught you about what we believe in?"  She then proceeded to say, "I've met with some ministers!"  I quickly asked, "Ministers, from our church?"  She said, "No!"  So, I am  standing there about to say something and then she keeps carrying on and on with her verbal attacks and it was as if she thought my companion and I were dumb or stupid for believing what we do.  Well,  I couldn't handle it anymore and I just started crying. I don't even know why!  I just burst into tears and said, "You know I hadn't even mentioned my religion to you and you started attacking us.  I thought you were a nice lady and here you are condemning us to hell!" Well, she carried on and on and said, "Well look who you represent?"  In my mind, I am thinking to myself, "I'm pretty sure I represent Jesus Christ" and then she's like, "Well not the Jesus Christ I believe in!"  That was it, I said to my companion, "We're done!"  I thanked her and wished her well then walked off. Okay, so as I am walking off, I am thinking, "Why the heck did I start crying?"  I kept thinking, "I have dealt with worse people at their doors before, why did I start crying?"  I think it was because I felt sorry for her.  Anyway's, we walked into our next appointment with the Sager Family and they have two kids that were baptized a few weeks ago and the dad is an ex Jehovah Witness and at first we were having a hard time connecting with the family.    We were sitting talking with them and then they ask, "So how has your day been?"  I quickly blurted out, "Up until 5 minutes ago it was great and then told them what happened and the dad said, "Well, if it makes you feel any better... and then went on to tell us all this stuff about himself."  It was so cool to listen to his story because it truly helped us to develop a trust in him and he was very accepting and open to having us in his home. So, as strange as it may seem, I felt that, "I bust out crying in front of one lady, which then leads to building trust with another family!"  Aargh!   I really did learn a lot from both these experiences and I have been thinking about the mean lady and I think for Mother's Day I might do something nice for her and see if it will soften her heart. I am still thinking about it!

So,  that is how my week ended. The Lord really does let us have all these different experiences so that we can learn and grow from them. Transfer calls are this week and I am all but 100% certain that I am staying in this area but am a little anxious about learning who my new companion will be.  Having had 2 companions in three week increments is really not advisable. Anyway's, wish me luck and pray for me this week.  I hope you all enjoy the last week of April. Take care and guess what?  "It's getting warmer here and its awesome!" I am pretty sure I will be packing all my winter clothing away for another year real soon!   It was so warm today that Sister Moncur and I studied outside our apartment this morning because of how nice the day was. Take care. I love you all. Sister Chadderton xoxo