Hello again from Appleton!

Hello again from Appleton, Wisconsin. Land of the free and home of the brave.

I'm obviously in a weird mood today. Yaaaaaaaay for Tuesday P-days!

 

(Aisles of cheese.  Even chocolate cheese)                   (Buying flowers for yourself is always ok.) 

This week FLEW by. I'm glad I brought my journal with me, or else I'd have nothing to report on. 

Monday was SOOOOO HUMID. While I was emailing it was raining. Then we walked out and it was a wall of disgusting hotness. Probably one of the hottest days here so far. And it had JUST rained a ton so it was sick nasty. Every Pday we all get together at the church and play sports. The elders and I tried to play ultimate frisbee outside (my comp refuses to play, so she watches and writes letters), but we only lasted for like 20 minutes. Too humid for life. So sweaty. It was like swimming in hot air. Yuck. 

We visited a sister who hasnt been able to make it to church because of medical things. She talked our ears off. She was hilarious. She told us all about her mission and she has some GOOD stories. I can't wait to add some more to my book. It was a great visit. 

We also had dinner with some members. Oh my heck. The Thiels are the nicest people in the whole world. Great food. Great discussion. Brother Thiel used to be on the Mission Presidency Council so Sister Proffit was super intimidated the entire time. haha It was great. 

Tuesday was sad cause we didnt have district meeting, but it was also AWESOME. We got some really great lessons in. Sister Rose got to come with us to teach Zorina and it was such a blessing. Sister Rose is also from the Phillipines and speaks Tagalog. Oh my goodness, it made all the difference in the world. Sister Rose would tell her things and explain and Zorina would say, "Oh, I didnt know that!" Sister Proffit and I were kinda like *facepalm* because we have been telling her all of it for weeks. haha. But it's great that God has given us three native Tagalog speakers in Appleton 2nd Ward. #miracles.  Sister Rose is also the best missionary ever. She is a pro. She was extending commitments and runnning the show. It was great. 

It also rained again! I got to dance in it. hahaha. We thought  there was gonna be a tornado because the sky turned green, but it was just a thunderstorm. But I was in love. Sister Proffit calls me Nature Girl. It gives me strength. It centers me. hahah. I'm strange.

Wednesday was Zone Conference. I love missionaries and I love President and Sister Cutler. Our district sang Come Thou Fount as a special musical number and it was really fun. We learned a lot about the Atonement. President Cutler promised that if we made sure our ward members understood the Atonement better, we would be promised more referrals and baptisms. #challengeaccepted. There was also a really cool prophecy said. Thousands of people in Wisconsin will be baptised in the coming years. When the Lord says he is hastening His work, he definitely means it. 

Thursdays are weekly planning and it takes forever and everyone basically hates it. 

But Friday was the BEST DAY EVER. We had THE GREATEST LESSON EVER. We met with Stephanie for the second time this week and we planned to teach the Plan of Salvation. She is the greatest, most prepared person ever. She brought up Laman and Lemuel and how they were terrible brothers before we even follwed up with her committment to read the BoM. Not only did she understand what she read, but she related it to her own life!!!! AND she was so excited to talk about it. We were literally speechless for a bit. That almost never happens. And THEN. We got into the lesson and she like...already knew everything about the Plan of Salvation. I asked her what she thinks happens after we die and she goes, "Well. I don't know. I think there should be levels in heaven. Like murders should go in the lowest, and then there should be a place for those who are good but not always good, and then like a real heaven for those who follow Christ. ?!?!?!?!?!??! WHAT?! Who knows about the levels of glory? No one. Everyone gets super weirded out by that part. We were literally speechless again for like 10 seconds. We were beaming. Grinning ear to ear, baby. Greatest thing ever. We explained the levels of glory and she totally got it. Crazy. That literally NEVER happens. She always says she knows what we are saying is true because of the glow in our faces. We have met with her 3 times, but she is starting to glow too. She looks so good. The change in her is wonderful already.  It is literally the most amazing thing ever to SEE the Spirit working inside of someone. I challenged her to notice her own glow even more and to watch as she continues to grow in "glowiness" as she continues to learn and act. She was excited. She wants to make shjirts with glow in the dark paint that says, "found the glow?" New bestest friend. 

Saturday we sent the WHOLE day out. We had tons of miles left, so we drove all around our area. Literally after like 7 hours of being EVERYWHERE in our area, we talked to like 8 people face to face and only 4 if them were actually nice. hahha. Oh well. Getting yelled at actually isn't that bad. It's mostly just sad for that person. The gospel just brings so much peace. I know that if they would let their guard down for 2 seconds, I could answer their questions. Oh well. We testify as much as we can. I always try to leave a grumpy person with a good experience, so I ask them about their dog or their car or something. Everyone will talk about something they love. Even if they just yelled at you for 5 minutes about how corrupt your church is. I hope that by leaving on good terms and conversation, it will soften their heart and leave them more receptive to missionaries later. Lets hope. I like being a real person rather than a missionary robot. Real people have real conversations about things that are close to them. The good things is that uyou can relate the gospel to almost anything. 

Zorina and her family came to church again!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is SO good. Miracles have happened. Williams heart has been softened. Getting people to church is the hardest part. 

Oh! And John, Kira's husband is getting baptized this week! :D So happy! 

I have come to realize my responsibility as a missionary and representative of Christ even more this week. Everyone is struggling. Everyone comes to us for help. Relief Society presidents. Young women. Ward members. Investigators. Everyone. Everyone is leaning on us. I started to really feel that pressure. I don't feel adequate. I don't know how to ease peoples burdens. I'M the one that needs help. BUT. I have also realized that I don't have to do it on my own. Christ is the one who is helping these people, not me. I don't have to feel that pressure. We have been studying a lot about the Atonement and it's enabling power. The Atonement not only gives us freedom over sin, but it gives us actual power to do hard things. Grace is one of the biggest blessings of the Atonement. Christ is the one we lean on. He knows how to succor all people. As a representative of Him, I have a lot of pressure on my shoulders, but I am learning how to hand it over to Christ to help me with. 

God is good!