Shout Outs!
Grandpa I just wanted to let you know that I worked extra, extra hard to find some elderly people to talk with aaaaannnnnd we did! I can't remember his name but I do remember that he wasn't interested at all and he might have given us the finger hahahah! Sister Maeta and I had a good laugh over it though :)
Jill- I FINALLY GOT MY BIRTHDAY PACKAGE! I stinking loooooovvvveee the sling shot! In fact if it stops raining today we are going to go and shot pop cans with it : )
The Davidson's- Thank you so much for the letter and the gift cards! It was so generous of you!!!
Dad- I learned how to check my brakes!!!!
I would like to start out with one of the most awkward moments on my mission thus far that has happened to me this week. I was at Sister Wagner's home (she is my favorite member EVER!) and we were having dinner. It was wonderful! I was sitting next to her son who is 25 years old and we were all having some ice cream. I turn my head to look at something and the next thing I know Guy has a spoon full of ice cream right by my mouth and before I can do anything he tells me to try some of his ice cream and proceeds to SPOON FEED ME!!! BAH! WHAT THE HECK!? I was stunned. I just sat there not knowing how I should feel about what had just happened to me and now Pralines ice cream will never be the same.....
We found a new investigator this week :) His name is Richard and 8 years ago he started going to the LDS church in Oakville but lost contact with the missionaries and the church when he moved to Guelph. We were debating on whether or not we should contact him when we saw him because we were just about to head in for the night but we decided to talk with him. Turns out he had been praying for months to find a church to go to and then we "happened" to run into him. We quickly make an appointment to see him later this week and rush inside to make it home on time.
---> fast forward to when we see him
The moment we walk into his apartment I see this biiig bowl of weed on his table bahahahaha! Richard is from Jamaica and I'm not surprised in the least. As the lesson goes on the spirit settles in. We testify of the greater happiness that comes from following Jesus Christ and how when we make changes to follow Him we find true happiness. As we testified and taught we could see a change take place in Richard. His countenance lightened and we could see that he had been searching for this :) I just hope that he will really rely on the Lord to make those changes.
We saw Sister Martinez this week again and her testimony is stronger than ever :) Something I failed to mention last week was that while we were visiting with Sister Martinez her friend Sol was sitting in and we got a return appointment with him. So this week when I say we saw Sister Martinez we were also going to teach her friend. Sol is very interesting. First he says he is too old to change his ways and second he believes in God BUT he also doesn't believe in God... Going into this lesson we knew that we had to be very open to allow the spirit to take the lesson where ever He needed it to go. We started out by talking to him about Who God Is. At first he would just shake his head at the things we would say, it all just seemed too unbelievable, but Sister Martinez was persistent in sharing her lifes experiences with him. She talked for 90% of the lesson. Normally I would start getting annoyed at this but I had this feeling that I needed to let her keep talking. As Sister Martinez continued to bear testimony through her experiences we could see a change take place in Sol. Instead of saying no it wasn't possible he was starting to ask how. It was nearing the end of our hour and we had time to say one last thing so I looked him in the eye and asked him if he wanted to know if God was real. He said yes. We explained to him that just as Joseph Smith prayed to know what church to join, he too could pray to know if God is there. He paused for a moment and told us that he really truly wanted to know and told us that he would pray. The spirit was incredibly strong and I was completely wiped out afterwards and yet that was probably the lesson I had talked the least in on my entire mission.
As for Jen, her husband to be David got home this week!! FINALLY! We got a chance to meet him and it went really well! He seems like a very nice man- and get this! He used to go to the LDS church as a kid! His mom would take them!!! Back in his home country they used to have the missionaries over all the time! He told us that he's pretty much done it all except baptism. It is incredible how involved Heavenly Father is in each of His children's lives! He truly is preparing every single one of His kids to hear the gospel. Thats puts a great responsibility on our shoulders as members of the church to always be sharing and inviting!
Lastly I wanted to share this advice for all missionaries (that includes members!)
Golden Rules of Missionary Work
-Realize that every moment of your mission has eternal significance. Don't waste a minute of it.
-Work as though it is impossible to fail. After all, anything is possible with God's help.
-Humbly seek the direction of the Spirit to guide your words and actions.
-Break free from fear and disappointment by working hard.
-Continually build your testimony and share it with everyone.
-Keep an upbeat attitude. Remember, you are delivering glad tidings!
-Never underestimate the power of goals backed by positive action.
-Treat everyone you meet as a Child of God that deserves your love and respect.
-Embrace every mission rule as though it were a message directly from the Lord to you.
-Imagine what the Savior would do and do it.
Have a wonderful week!
Line of the Week: I had sent an email to my family asking them what blessings they have received from my service as a missionary. This is Jill's reply..
Jill: "In our marriage, especially, we haven’t had any major trials to overcome and I consider that a huge blessing. So don’t come home- I don’t want to lose Tyson!!"
Scripture of the Week: D&C 6: 35-37
"Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.
Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.
Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen."
A Haiku For You!
gratitude
the source of His peace
in all things
Sister Hall
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