6/30/2014

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!

This email will probably be short because I literally can't remember anything. The days feel like weeks, but the week feels like a day. It all mushes together.

Basically, we are just awesomely, ridiculously busy. The busiest I've been on my mission so far. Its almost overwhelming. We have three solid baptism dates for three totally different investigators on the SAME day. And the Church just changed the standards for lessons taught before baptism and so now we have to teach all three people lesson 5 before they get baptized on July 12. So that is probably our main focus for the upcoming couple of weeks. Like, two? Ahhh, stress.

Oh! I'll tell you a miracle that happened! The other day (can't remember when), we were driving downtown on our way to someones house or something. On the corner where the Mexican grocery store is, there was a nice young man who waved at us. I was like, "He needs the gospel! Lets go talk to him!" One of my comps was like, "No, it'll look like we are hitting on him!" Buuuut because I'm the driver and have made it a personal goal to talk to everyone and especially talk to those that the Spirit prompts me to, I pulled right over and started walking over to him. My companions walked behind me a couple of feet, but I knew that I needed to talk to this guy. So I shake his hand and say, "hola, como estas? Hablas ingles?" to which he replies, "No, no hablo. Solamente espanol. Hablas espanol?" (Which means, "No, I only speak spanish. Do you?") I told him that I could only speak a little bit of Spanish. So he talked and I understood every single word he said! He was from Mexico, had been in the US for 5 days, was studying architecture, and was visiting a friend. He understood NO english, so I did my best to pull every ounce of Spanish I could. I told him we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and he said (in spanish) "Yeah, I know. I used to meet with the boy missionaries in Mexico." I asked him if he had ever seen the Book of Mormon and he goes (in Spanish still), "Yeah! It's about a family from Jerusalem that is asked to leave and they come to America and they are lead by God. Right?" I was totally shocked! He said that he is Catholic for his parents, but he loves studying other religions and that he has a copy of the Book of Mormon. I asked him if he read it every day and he said no, so I invited him to read it 10 min a day and he said he would. He didnt have a phone or an address since he's visiting the states, but I gave him the Spanish Elders number and if anything, helped him remember the Spirit that he felt as he met with missionaries before! 

It was awesome because not only did I follow a prompting and meet someone who had actually read the Book of Mormon, but there was definitely the gift of tongues going on. I have no idea how we had such a long conversation. He didnt understand or speak English, and I can't actually SPEAK Spanish. But I did! God is good.

Our Sister Training Leaders came down for a day on Saturday and we blitzed janesville. Sister Jordan went with my two comps and I was with Sister Martin. We had a ton of fun and saw lots of miracles. We had one of the best lessons I've ever had on my mission so far with our friend Robby. The Spirit was SO strong, we were all on the verge of tears like...the whole time. We taught him the Restoration and we taught it to fit HIM and HIS needs and I've missed that. We use pamphlets a lot here - and don't get me wrong, the pamphlets are great! - but I think that sometimes they encourage us to get in a rut and just teach a generic lesson instead of teaching a PERSON. Robby felt the Spirit. We felt the Spirit. It was great!

Yesterday we had a lesson with Mikayla after church. She is struggling with things going on in her family. We taught her fasting, tithing, and word of wisdom and she was totally accepting of them all. I LOVE that girl. I LOVE that she has seen that the gospel has brought her confidence. It makes everything else that we teach her easy because she already has a testimony that when we do what God asks, we are blessed. She is willing and open and wanting to be the best she can be. Ahhh, I love it.

JAMES CAME TO CHURCH! That man has been avoiding us so hardcore and we have been trying to figure out what to do with him. We got a couple of nice dress shirts for free from a garage sale that our friend Deb had last week, so we took those to him this week. He straight up would not look us in the eye. But come Sunday morning, he called us asking if it was possible to get a ride. And he came and he LOVED it. He's changing. It's exciting.

Oh! We had our first family history class at the library! It was a huge hit! We were filled to capacity. The library publicized it on the radio and the newspaper and gave us fliers to put up around town. it was great. When we were first starting we were all soooooo nervous. We are NOT family history pro's. The first half hour of the class was chaos with getting people to create an account and remember their emails and too many people were creating accounts at the same time, so the site crashed. But. After we got a handle on it, the class was awesome! We got to help adorable old people find their ancestors. The Spirit was so strong in the room and we really weren't doing anything. The Spirit of Elijah is real, friends. SO tangibly real. I saw it. I saw it in people's eyes. And they even SAID to me ,"I know that I need to do this". And they were so thankful for the technology that makes it possible. The lady I worked with kept saying, "This is such a blessing. This is a miracle. This is wonderful" about family search. And I saw the truth of what the general authorities have said about the youth being the ones entrusted to do the work. We have been born in a tech-filled world because technology is what is going to unite both the living and the dead for eternity. That right there, is mind blowing in itself. 

So cool. 

We had a lesson with Jacob, who got baptized at BYUI in March. He told us that has been thinking about going on a mission but he has no idea how he would because his family doesnt support him at ALL. He was close to tears the entire time. It breaks my heart that his family is so mean to him about him joining the church. But he has a solid testimony, and even though he can't come to church, he is sharing the gospel and helps us plan YSA activities and he's the best.

Aja is still set for baptism! She's the best.

What else?

Deidre told us that she is going to go to BYU Idaho in the Fall of 2015. PARTY. So exciting.

The work is going great! Being in a trio is getting harder and harder by the day because we have all spent so much time together. We are all great missionaries, we just all have different opinions about HOW to do missionary work, so there is a lot of compromise that goes on. In every companionship there are different opinions, but for some reason having three makes in a billion times harder. Transfers are coming up in 2 weeks and we are all kinda getting..impatient..? Thats not really the right word, but whatever. We are just trying to work hard and baptize our friends.

We have interviews with President tomorrow, so thats exciting. Sister Jardine is from Canada and her mom sent us a huge package of Canadian stuff so we could celebrate the 1st of july, which is Canada Day. And then its the 4th and we are having dinner at Bishops, which is sure to be a blast and a half. And thennnnn thats it. haha. But then next week should be a good week for baptisms! Today is my half birthday! I can't believe that I came on a mission when I was 19 and then turned 20 six months ago and that I will turn 21 in 6 months and then go home a month later. Its not okay. But what can I do? Oh, right! Missionary work! (:

Love you all! Have a safe 4th! Light off some fireworks for me!!!(: <3