Last week was pretty slow. But this week was pretty exciting!
So Monday we found out the transfer news. Obviously we were desperately sad, and we moped and packed with Sister Goettsche all day. *Side note: I am so relieved that I don't have to train. I have no desire to do that. Ever. But anyways. It was a depressing p-day if there ever was one. Except, Sister Goettsche painted me a painting and it was #tender. It's really pretty. I don't have a picture but remind me to send one next week. It's one of those paintings that you can be like, "What do you think it means?" and the person will say, "This" and you're like, "Exactly." I love it. That night we went to teach R, and man I love that woman. She doesn't have any teeth. It's the best. And she also brought her friend K who does have teeth to the lesson. K actually came to Relief Society Activity a few weeks ago and asked a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation which were fun to explain. And then we got to teach her the Restoration. About halfway through the lesson this guy named D showed up. He started out kind of wanting to Bible-bash with us, but thank heavens Sister L (a member of their ward) was there! Sister L used to be Catholic and is a masterful teacher. She can make connections with people. So she did; and once D saw that we have more similarities to his current religion (Southern Baptist...of course) he began to respect us as teachers of religion. He was actually asking us questions in order to learn more instead of to prove that our religion is not correct Anyways, after D left we actually ended up teaching K and R a lot of other things. Sister Goettsche and I brought up baptism and Sister Goettsche said, "you're going to have to make a lot of changes if you want to get baptized." And K kinda tilts her head and goes, "What kind of changes?" So we briefly went over the Word of Wisdom (which she wants to do) and the Law of Chastity (which she also wants to do) and committed her to be baptized! Such a great lesson. And all y'all missionaries reading this email, it is well worth the effort to get members involved in missionary work. I would hazard to say that even if the majority of what you do in a specific area revolves around helping members to be more invested in this great final cause of Christ, you have baptized more than you would have without their help. Because members make ALL the difference. Missionary work is pointless without the help of members who are not full-time missionaries.
Tuesday! We had a wild time saying goodbye to everyone. We went over and taught a VERY sick R about stuff (mostly reading the Book of Mormon) and kinda laid into S because he was smoking when we pulled up and he was supposed to have quit two weeks ago. He kept saying, "I'll quit on Sunday when I go out of town" and we kept saying "S, you can't procrastinate the day of your repentance!" and he just wouldn't do it. It was very discouraging, especially because S literally experiences no physical symptoms of addiction. He just plain likes smoking. So he won't stop because he enjoys it. Which is actually the worst. Ugh. Then we went over to U's and Sister Goettsche (Margaret) sang while Elder D (Felix) played the cello. They did "Come Thou Fount" and twas muy bueno. Tuesday night we went out to eat to celebrate Sister Goettsche's life here and then we had some leftover dinnertime and Petco was right next door so we went to Petco and looked at all the animals to relieve stress. We also made some phone calls and packed some more stuff.
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| New companion! Sister Kniffen |
Wednesday morning was transfers! Sister Goettsche left and it was literally the saddest thing that has ever happened so we're done talking about that now. But my new companion, Sister Kniffen, is the greatest! She is from Idaho, has been out one more transfer than me, and has her cosmetology license so I don't have to pay anyone to cut my hair (not that I was going to anyway, but now even more)! She is super funny. She is this really excellent blend of cute and awkward. It took us 5ever to get home, mostly because President C (of the mission presidency) and his wife broke all the rules and took us out to eat even though that is NOT allowed and they know it. *sigh* But they were driving us so we couldn't exactly refuse point blank without causing a terrible scene. Pray for our souls. That night we went to the S Family. E is a prospective elder and J is an unbaptized youth. She wants E to baptize her. The problem with this is, E thinks that God isn't real. He thinks that God's plan should have been for everyone to have the same life and for no bad things to ever happen. To which thought we responded, "E, that is literally Satan's plan. What the heck." Also, U dropped in to meet Gloria (which is Sister Kniffen). I love her so much.
Thursday we went to Mepkin! I got to drive Sister Kniffen around and show her cool stuff while we cleaned up some debris. We saw the Cooper River, a gator, the Laurens graves and lots of other pretty things. We also picked up some trees. Not branches. Trees. And broke them. With our bare hands. They were smallish trees. But they were still trees. When we got home we changed and shot right off to S and A's house so we could say goodbye to them before they move. Oh, PS, I am the designated driver now, so pray for us. It was my first time driving out to Cane Bay where a lot of church people and investigators live, and we got very lost. We made it just in time and had a nice chat with S and A. (S is a former investigator and A is her less active husband. He still believes in the doctrines of the church and pays his tithing but feels guilty about being a retired Navy seal and killing people and stuff.) But it was a great visit. They even lent us their canopy for the family history booth at the farmer's market. Our EZ Up that we had blew into the baseball fence a few weeks ago before we could secure it, so the past few weeks we've been out in the sun for 4 HOURS. Bless them. Anyways, the family history booth went really well. We met this guy who sells REALLY GOOD SAUSAGE and offers free samples which is the freakin greatest, and he was super interested in the gospel and family history but lives in Sumter, so we sent Elder D over there to give him the Sumter missionaries' information because he served in Sumter before he served here. Hopefully he gets baptized because he is really nice and seriously his sausage guys. I don't even like sausage that much. But I daydream about that stuff. The Church needs his unique talents and abilities. That night was Sister Kniffen's first Book of Mormon class. We literally talked about politics the whole time. Sister Kniffen said, "I felt like I was in a secret government meeting instead of a class on the Book of Mormon." It does feel like that sometimes.
Friday we had weekly planning to do. We thought it would take 2 hours, tops, and we had all this great finding planned for the day, and it was great. AND THEN. We're about an hour into weekly planning. This dude calls us. His name was JR. He is a Judeo-Christian. He believes in temples. And he's reading the Book of Mormon. And he lives in our area. And he totally accepts the Book of Mormon as an ancient record translated by the power of God. He called us and he said, "I need someone who's been a member for at least a decade!" and I said, "I am qualified!" and he said, "Someone who has taken classes on the Book of Mormon!" and I said, "I am still qualified!" and he said, "I don't want you to come to our house though." And I said, "Oh." And I thought, what the heck. Why not? He sounds like he really wants the Book of Mormon to be true, and he's looking for something that refutes what he "knows" the Book of Mormon means by the condescension of God, (literally Jesus Christ. That is what the Book of Mormon means.) but he currently can't find any, and he wanted basically for us to prove that the Book of Mormon is in fact correct. Long story short, this phone call was 5ever long and exceedingly confusing and unproductive. And by the end of it, JR was like, "Okay I'm going to call you 2 to 3 times a week because that's what the Salt Lake people said I could do" and we had to explain that no, we teach lessons to people who want to get baptized 2 to 3 times a week and if he just wanted stuff in the Book of Mormon explained to him we could maybe direct him to a member who could help him. He was vaguely upset and confused and we just said, "Look man. Call us in a week. We'll explain better." Our brains hurt so bad. It was one of the hardest conversations to follow. Next time we'll go over missionary expectations and keeping commitments and also just tell him to pray about it. Whew, it was a trip. Then later that day we visited Sister C and did Mormon.org time, during which I started practicing my Spanish. I have this sneaking suspicion that one day I will be an hermana. We'll see. Then we went finding with Sister C. We found a couple potentials and met a less-active named K who has low immunity so she can't come to church with all the sicky kids. BUT she has this MASSIVE BEAUTIFUL DOG called a malimut. He is beautiful. His name is Kai. He looks like if you mixed a bear with a husky. And I love him. And I need one.
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| At the ward activity |
Saturday we were on our way to V's when we were stopped at a light and saw this couple making out. I then proceeded to say the subject of today's email. I thought it was a pretty well-timed movie quote if I'm being honest. V was sweet as ever. Her garments should arrive in a couple days. This is very exciting. After we went to see V we went to the ward activity, which is where, my dear parents, you received that photo of me. Sister E the Relief Society president sent it. The activity was field day at her house and OH MY GOSH THEIR HOUSE IS SO PRETTY. They low key still live on a plantation, but without the slaves. They have 600 acres. It is beautiful. Also, at the ward activity, Sister Kniffen and I ended up just playing games with the kids the whole time. I'm pretty sure we've passed Babysitting Level 5, which is the highest level you can pass before you enter the Parenthood level. Also, something that made my heart kinda happy: Brother S, who is awesome, told his daughter K while I was getting her a drink that when she goes on a mission, he hopes she is exactly like me. :') I really needed to hear that! As a missionary, I feel like I am good, but I always have a hard time seeing the difference I make. It was good to know that I at least had an effect on someone in the ward. Later that night we went to visit the Ws, this old cute couple with health issues. It was fun.
Yesterday was one of the most spiritual Sabbath days I have ever had. The sacrament was so meaningful for me. I was fasting for a lot of personal things and I ended up having just such a great experience. Also Sister Kniffen and I got to teach gospel principles. R came and actually ended up getting offended (not by us) and telling us not to come over, even though we had planned to do so. Sister Kniffen and I prayed about it. We sat there after we prayed for a minute, and then the clearest thought entered my head: "R needs you." So we showed up anyways. I don't know that I have ever been so afraid in my
life than when I saw R come outside with his hands in his pockets. He asked, "So, your phone doesn't work?" And we said, "No, it does." And he said, "Then why are you here?" And we said, "Because God told us that you needed us." And he just started to cry. I have never felt like I have saved a life before. But I think we may have with R last night.
My beloved friends and family, I hope you know that when you turn your lives over to God, He can use you to touch other people. And that is honestly the greatest experience of all of mortality. If you can bring light to another person, you will be changed forever. I promise you. If you're a member, do what you're supposed to do. Read the Book of Mormon. Pray for missionaries and for missionary experiences. Go out with the full-time missionaries. Attend all your church meetings and participate. Have joy. If you aren't a member, please, what I am about to tell you WILL change your life if you let it. Open your heart. Find yourself a copy of the Book of Mormon (or Book of Mormon); missionaries and church members give them away for free. Read a little bit every day. And pray about it. If you really want to know that it's true, God will tell you. I promise you that I have seen this knowledge take the most broken and imperfect and terrified individuals and turn them into someone confident and sure in Christ. I have seen it do that for my investigators, but more importantly, I have seen it do that for me.
I love y'all!
Don't let the muggles get you down!
-Sister Pew
A list that you can share with missionary moms, especially missionary moms for sister missionaries serving stateside!
Things that are helpful to send in packages:
-Toiletries (perfume, makeup, shampoo & conditioner, deodorant)
-Clothing (dresses & skirts especially)
-Accessories (jewelry, hair bows, etc. just be sure they're vaguely conservative and not huge and bulky or anything)
-CDs, and for musically inclined people sheet music as well
-office supplies (staples, pens, stationery, paper)
-art & craft supplies (finger paints, coloring books, craft scissors, etc)
-healthy snacks (granola bars, chex mix, nuts & dried fruits, triscuits, etc)
-apartment decorations
-gift cards to places like Walmart and Target
-anything that can be used to help another person :)
-funny pictures/memes
-positive/uplifting quotes
-things to decorate with
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