Week 21

What a wonderful week. We had less lessons with our investigators this week than we normally do but the ones that we did dhave were great and were filled with the spirit. On Monday we had a lesson with Minnie. We went through the rest of the Restoration with her. We talked about how the pure gospel has been restored. She paused for a while and asked, "Can that really exist in this world?" And without hesitation, Sister Edgel and I said in unision "Yes!" I really feel like she is beginning to understand that pure truth really exists. She is hesitant to go to church with us because she is in the habit of going to her church, but hopefully we can change that. :)

On Wednesday we had Zone Leader Training. Sister Fisher is in my new zone. She is one of my companions from the MTC. The Zone leaders did a fun object lesson. They asked for one missionary to stand in the center of the gym. They placed cups on the floor around him which represented different things about the church (temples, baptism, family, the gospel, etc). They asked the missionary to defend the cups from falling down as the two zone leaders tried to run and knock the cups down. It was impossible for the one missionary to defend all of them. They tried again and they added missionaries to help defend the cups. Eventually it took all of the missionaries to defend the cups. The last time we tried, the sisters took the cups and put them in the center. We circled around the cups and the Elders ran and tackled the zone leaders. it was quite funny and a really good object lesson. It is not enough to have just one valiant missionary trying to defend the gospel from the adversary. It takes ALL of us missionaries to defend and uphold the gospel.

Unfortunately, we had to drop on of our greatest investigators, Jonathan. We came to his house one day for an appointment, and Jonathan's father came to the door. He said that his mom told Jonathan he could meet with us no more. It was devastating to have to stop meeting with Jonathan because his mom didn't want him to. Jonathan said he loved meeting with us, and he had a wonderful testimony of Christ. I pray that God with prepare a way for him in the future to keep learning about the gospel. Sister Edgel and I were having a really hard time that day so we went and got an small ice cream cone to soften the sadness. That night was amazing though. We went with Joanna (a return missionary) to visit a less active member. Without Joanna, we wouldn't have been able to find her and we came at a perfect moment in Kylee's life. It is amazing how Heavenly Father puts people in our path and provides for us the work we need to do. 

 

Saturday was filled with service. We went to Monticello where they were doing a big service project. We packaged dry ingredients of rice and vegetables for families. There were a few hundred people there helping out. We were able to package nearly 100,000 meals. It was really cool. Sister Edgel and I even bought a t-shirt to be able to remember this area. That night we picked up two investigators. Dashawnique and her sister Datia (yes that is how you spell them). It was so wonderful. We meet them nearly a month ago and it was amazing how the Lord placed us in their path at the perfect moment in their lives. This night we were able to go through the entire restoration and the spirit was definitely there.

 

Saturday night brought a big storm which left us with a foot of snow Sunday morning. Church was cancelled and the District Leader asked us to keep our cars parked for safety. This made it a challenge to stay busy on fast Sunday but we did it. We did a lot of shoveling snow, and we were able to see some recent converts with the help of members giving us rides through the deep snow. That night we were able to have another lessons with a pretty new investigator, Bianca. We read the book of Mormon with her and her son came in and said "We have to pray!" He always likes to pray with us.

This week was definitely different and brought some sadness and challenges but it is still good. I love the sense of purpose that I feel as a missionary. I am learning how the spirit speaks to me too. it is a slow process but I am learning little by little. I love all of your support. thank you so much. The support of family and friends means so much to me. Thank You!! I love you!!!!!

 

Sister Edgel and I studying at our desks.

Sister Edgel parked so close to the car next to her that it made it difficult for her to get out

Me in the snow. You can see how much snow there is on our car.

This is when we got ice cream. Yum!

Sister Edgel wanted to do a snow angel