This week was pretty wonderful! I feel super scatter-brained and everything.. probably because I'm so excited to Skype my family on Christmas, but... I will try to make this email seem somewhat coherent. :)
On Monday we went on base for a Family Home Evening activity where we made a super cute vinyl nativity.. it was wonderful and it is super cute, so that's awesome! We have it up in our house. Maybe I'll attach a picture so you can all see it. :)
On Tuesday we found ourselves with only enough time in the afternoon before our dinner appointment to contact one person, so we decided to go stop by a family that we hadn't been to in a while because the husband wasn't very interested. Anyway.. we felt prompted to stop by, and when we got there, it looked like no one was home... BUT! We decided to go knock on the door anyway, because we were already there and everything, and the man's wife, Eva, answered the door. We introduced ourselves and told her that her husband had said that we could stop by some other time to see his wife, and she was like, "Oh, wonderful! Come on in!" Literally I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped, because that like never happens.... BUT! We went in, got to know her a little bit, and then transitioned into talking about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the Gospel. Apparently she has met with missionaries in the past and was going to get baptized, but then her husband didn't agree, so she didn't... but, their best friends are LDS, and an LDS family that we were trying to go visit who moved used to live in their house and that's how we found them... So basically, she thought that Joseph Smith's friend or something wrote The Book of Mormon, and she was confused about that... but then we talked to her and told her about how The Book of Mormon was actually written in 600BC, and she was like, "So.. do you have a copy?" SO.. needless to say, we're super excited to keep teaching her. :)
We also finally got the MTC materials for learning Sign Language this week, and so we can study for real now.. we keep trying to stop by and teach them, but no one is ever home.. so maybe Heavenly Father was just waiting for us to have the material so we can actually learn something coherent before we go over there and they're home to teach. Hopefully, anyway. :)
We went to go visit Ron this week and get him to go to ARP (Addiction Recovery Program) so he can start the process of quitting smoking again, and it was super awkward because they said they weren't going to go, but we really knew they needed to, so we went over to their house and taught them a quick lesson and we just so happened to end exactly at 7:18 (ARP starts at 7:30 - for sure not a coincidence), and I was like, "Hey! No way! Ron and Shannon.. did you know that if we were to leave your house right now we would get to the church on time for ARP to start!?" They looked at each other and were like, "Okay, fine, we'll go." It was awesome, and they had an amazing lesson on experiencing a change of heart, so it was perfect!! I love how the Lord works!!
I had exchanges this week with Sister Worthen (she came out a transfer after me) and the whole beginning of the day was just going really poorly. Every one we went to visit just didn't want to hear it, wouldn't answer their door, or something... BUT! Then we said a prayer and decided to go to an area to visit an Investigator who we thought probably wasn't home, but we decided to follow the prompting anyway.. Then we saw this man walking with his hood up and decided to talk to him and it turns out it was one of our Less-Active members and we asked him if we could come over and see him and his wife and he said yes! So we went over and taught them, and had a super nice lesson with them and found out that this man, Brother Dack, needs to get baptized! SO.. basically we found a new investigator! So neat how the Lord continually places people in our paths to bless and to help. I just love it! Then we went and saw the person we were originally there to see, Greg. He still insists on getting baptized before his surgery, but he isn't looking so great, so hopefully he'll change his mind and have his heart surgery so he can even get baptized. Then we went to a dinner appointment and they gave us a name of someone we could go visit, and we went to Janette's house (our 80 yr old investigator), and had a heart to heart with her. We have been telling her for months that the only way she is going to get an answer to weather or not the Church is true is to read The Book of Mormon. We always commit her to read and she never does. So, that night, I just got super sad that we have been telling her and telling her and she just hasn't been doing it, and I ended up starting to cry while I bore my testimony to her, and it was crazy. We're taught as missionaries to be devastated when people don't keep their commitments, and this was the first time I think that I genuinely have been.. it was such a tender experience. She set a game plan to read the Book of Mormon finally, and so that was super neat. :)
In other news, we've gotten a lot of snow this week, and so one day we carved into a bush "A Savior is Born" and took pictures with it. Hopefully someone felt happy about that when they saw it. That video is amazing!!!! If you haven't seen it yet, go and watch it.. That's the best option! :)
christmas.mormon.org ! :) Kids talking about Christ and Christmas.. Heart melter for sure! :) Also, we were leaving for a dinner appointment and I totally biffed it for the first time this season on the snow, so that was fun! It may have been more icy than I had originally anticipated. We also got our car stuck in the snow, so that was awesome! Luckily there were some really nice fellows that came out and helped us get out of the snow! We're going to make them cookies so that will be a good time, :)
Then we went to a dinner appointment and the members' five little kids were crawling all over us, and it's so hard to not be able to hold them and play with them! :) ..that's probably the hardest part of missionary work.. seriously.. not the people yelling at us and slamming doors, but just the fact that I can't hug and hold little kids, haha..
Also, Stephanie finally came back from Montana!!.. we felt like we should stop by, even though we had already been there in the morning and she wasn't home yet, but we went back and she was there!! We did some service for her, and then taught her a lesson. It was the happiest of days! :) ALSO!!! MIRACLE!!! She was going to move at the end of this month, but the way things are working out, she won't be moving until the end of January! It's the best because that means that we can teach her more!! :)
Well, friends, family, loved ones, I hope that you each have the merriest Christmas! :) I am so grateful for the blessing of being able to be a missionary and to have the blessing of being able to tell everyone that we see each day about the real reason for the Christmas season! It's the best feeling. Being able to remind people that He is the Reason and that without Him, we wouldn't have anything that we do. What a marvelous knowledge that is! I know that this Church is true. I know that we have the ability to overcome anything that the adversary tries to place in our lives, and any trials that we have to go through in this life. It was never a requirement to have to experience everything alone. When times are hard, we need to turn to Him who made it all possible, and know that through his Birth that we celebrate, His life that we remember, His atoning sacrifice that makes change possible, and His death and resurrection that give us hope for our futures, we will be able to overcome all things - because He overcame them first.
Well, I love you all! Merry Christmas! Have a glorious week! :)
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