Dearest family,
What a fabulous week we had! Yesterday was kind of stressful but probably one of the best days of my mission so far!
But before I tell you about that, I'll tell you about the rest of our week.
So we are teaching an 8-year old named Jason. His cousins and aunt are members(his aunt doesn't go though). The missionaries have been teaching him since November but he hasn't been able to be baptized yet because he hasn't been coming to church a whole lot. This week we had a couple of lessons with him and it was kind of funny. As we were leaving the first lesson, his mom started asking us about the Word of Wisdom and so we started explaining it to her. She thought it was weird that we can't drink coffee and tea. When Jason heard this, he started making a big deal about he wasn't going to get baptized now because he likes to drink coffee and tea....HE'S 8!!! I never thought I would have a problem with an 8 year old not wanting to get baptized because of the word of wisdom! So the next lesson we taught him more about the word of wisdom. His aunt was there and told him to stop making such a big deal about it because he didn't even drink coffee and tea that much anyway. So he's still going to get baptized and he's agreed to stop drinking coffee and tea. His mom also said that she wouldn't give it to him. When he was complaining about it, he was saying that he was going to get baptized but he was still going to drink it so his mom said, "No, if you're going to become a Mormon, you're going to follow the rules!" So it was really cool to see his mom support him in it and be willing to help him follow all the rules even when she doesn't necessarily agree with them or want to follow them herself. So that was pretty interesting, having to testify of the word of wisdom to an 8-year old!! :)
Friday was our "zone training" that we have once a month. I really enjoy going to these meetings except for when my companion and I have to instruct! I think teaching other missionaries is more stressful than teaching an investigator! I just don't feel super qualified to tell a bunch of missionaries how to do their job when I even have a hard time knowing how to do it. But I guess that's why they have us instruct. Anyway, the Zone Leaders were instructing and Elder Her just really spoke to me! I know he was speaking by the spirit because what he said helped me so much and I was really grateful that he was listening to the spirit. He was just talking about how we, as missionaries, are truly sent to where we need to go, we are where we need to be, there are certain people that we need to find. They told us how President Shumway decides on transfers and he truly is inspired of God. I know that he will send me wherever Heavenly Father needs and wants me to be. It is amazing how much I continue to love being on a mission. I think this past week has just been great. If the rest of my mission is like this past week, I really won't want to come home.
We are still meeting with Jarrod! He still wants to be baptized. He won't be able to be baptized for about another year but we are still going to meet with him and he'll come to church. This situation is REALLY similar to Bro. Elliott's situation in Nevada. I've heard that Bro. Elliott moved up to Kansas City. I guess one of his daughters died. Pretty sad. But hopefully he'll be able to continue the discussions up there and get baptized someday!
A couple weeks ago, we were in ward council and Bishop Grooms told us to go visit a lady, Sister Alderson, and her grandson. She's less active and her grandson hasn't been baptized. We hadn't been able to go and I felt really bad because we weren't following up on something that the bishop asked us to do. But it was a good thing that we didn't go until we did. We went over on Sunday afternoon. She said that her house was a mess because her mom(an active member) just moved to California and all of her mother's furniture and stuff was in her house. She hasn't wanted company for a while but this week she was able to clean up a bit and now there's actually a place to sit. So I think had we gone over when he first gave us the referral, she wouldn't have invited us in. But yesterday was great, she talked our ear off for about an hour and a half. She is really wanting to come back to church and get her grandson, Ian, baptized. He's got some mental problems so that's why she stopped coming to church a few years ago. She was really embarrassed when he would act up in Sacrament Meeting and she felt like people were judging her when they didn't understand the whole situation. But now that he's a little bit older, she hopes that he'll be able to control himself a little bit more. She's had a hard family life and so we are excited to be able to meet with her and Ian and get to know them a little bit more!!
We also got another referral this past week. Our mission office called us on Wednesday giving us a "baptism referral." Meaning that the referral is ready for baptism. Her name is Christina and she just moved to Muskogee from the Oklahoma City area. She was supposed to be baptized in January but because of health problems she wasn't able to and then she moved here. We've gone over a few times and we've had contact through texting but so far we've only been able to talk to her dad and brother in law a few times. She has a really bad heart condition that makes her tired all the time so we've been over to her house like three times and she's always been sleeping. But we are going over there tomorrow to help them unpack a little bit so hopefully we'll be able to meet her then!
Okay. Now the amazing thing that happened yesterday. Besides the experience with Sis. Alderson, we got a phone call on Saturday night from a lady in Oklahoma City telling us about her niece who lives in Wagoner who needs a blessing. We weren't able to get back to her that night so she called us again on Sunday morning. We called her back and she gave us more of the details about her niece and just said that she was really in need of a blessing. She had brain surgery last week and has about 20 staples in her head right now. She's in a bad marriage and is just really in need of some help. So all day yesterday I was super stressed because we were trying to find someone to go with to give her a blessing(Wagoner is about 30 miles north of Muskogee) AND the aunt was being really pushy and kind of rude about the whole situation so that made me even more stressed out! Finally, we got our Ward Mission Leader to help us figure it out. We were having dinner with him and his wife that night and to get to their house you can go through Wagoner. So when they were bringing us home, we stopped in Wagoner, picked up another member that lives there, and went over to give her a blessing. She is so great! She used to go to church with her dad in the summer and so she can't remember if she's been baptized or not. She called her aunt because she knew she needed something more in her life and her aunt mentioned a blessing. It was a great experience and she is really wanting to come to church! It is amazing to see people accept the gospel so easily! Heavenly Father really works in mysterious ways and he truly answers our prayers. I've been praying a lot that I'll be able to find the people that He sent me here to find, and I feel like she is one that I am here in Muskogee for. I love her already and am excited to get to teach her! She also has a ten year old daughter that is excited to get to go to church, so she'll probably get baptized as well!
Well, I'll write more about her next week!!!
Love you all! Thanks for everything!
See you soon then!
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