Hola. Had a great week! So we had zone training on Tuesday. As an entire mission for 2013, we had 356 baptisms. And the mission goal for 2014 is..............drum roll please........................
Our mission president has asked us to teach members the missionary lessons to keep the doctrine fresh on their minds, and to give us practice. We had a lesson with a sweet, sweet girl in my ward named Camille. And it was one of the most spirit filled lessons I've ever had on my entire mission. We taught her what we call the Book of Mormon Breakdown, where we go over the introduction and go over what the Book of Mormon is and how to go about studying and reading it. I love that lesson. At the end, I was testifying about how it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ and how one WILL feel the love of God when they read it. I felt prompted to share a story about Brendan. It was the first time that he decided to read the Book of Mormon all the way through by himself. I remember that he announced how far he had read every single day-and he was reading it so FAST! I remember talking to Mom and saying, "Why is he reading so fast? He won't remember anything he reads!" But Mom said something like, "Well, he's reading. So he's keeping a commandment. He'll still feel the spirit!" As I told Camille this story, I got really emotional, because I always cry when I think of Brendan...haha. But I finally understood! Brendan was acting on faith and reading the Book of Mormon and he was blessed for it. I'm grateful for his great example to me. I love the Book of Mormon. Like, I really love it. I never want to stop reading it. It truly is the word of God, written specifically for our day. I wish everyone in the world would read it and come to understand more about Jesus Christ and the great love that our Heavenly Father has for them.
Thursday night, we had pupusas for dinner. I don't know if that's how you spell it. But it's an El Salvadorian food and it is YUMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY. Oh my. Our less active's mom made them for us. I wanted to eat the whole pan! It's so cool that even though I didn't leave the country on my mission, I still get the cultural side of things. I love it!
About our investigator, Chad. He is an interesting man. I'm still trying to figure out why Heavenly Father wanted me to be his missionary. Well actually I know why, I need patience apparently. Haha. It's true. We have to break up EVERY lesson that we try to teach him. Which is fine. It's not like we HAVE to get through an entire lesson in one sitting...but it's just going really slow. And I'm just a little over excited about moving things forward. I always need to remind myself that it's not about my timing.... Oh Chad... It's not that he's slow, but he just has lots of questions and issues that he needs clearing up. But he really is sincere and wants to know why the members of our church are the nicest, most Christian people that he knows if he's heard so many bad things about them.. He's reading the Book of Mormon every day and is praying to know from God and not man whether or not this is true. So he is progressing! :) After every lesson, I feel like I've just ran a spiritual marathon. It takes me a while to get into the grove of things after his lessons. I wish missionaries could take naps! His lessons are exhausting!!!!!!!!!!! haha!
Last night we had a miracle!!! We were going to check on a member of our ward who's mother passed away last May. She's still really struggling. She says that sacrament meetings remind her of her mom, so she REALLY struggles at church. We decided last minute to stop by her house, but she wasn't home. So we checked on another member that was near her house. We walked up to the door, and we heard the clang of utensils and dishes and two women talking and laughing. Sister Hansen suddenly clammed up and didn't want to knock because she didn't want to interrupt dinner, but I was like, "Oh well. Whatever. We can always set up a return appointment!" Hahahhahaa. I gave a loud knock, and our member opened the door and invited us right in! She was just chatting with her NON MEMBER FRIEND who was visiting for the evening. We walked in, and our member's friend was TOTALLY closed off to us. Like her legs were crossed and she was scrolling on her phone, probably posting on Facebook about how the missionaries barged in on her evening....hahaha. But after we just talked and got to know her, she really opened up. She started asking questions and participating in the conversation! (I've gotten pretty good at reading body language) I asked if I could share a message about Jesus Christ. So I opened to Alma 7:11-13 about the atonement. I know that everyone feels the love of God when they read the Book of Mormon, so I KNOW that she felt something as I read and bore testimony. We didn't get a return appointment or anything, but that's okay! We planted a really great seed last night. If anything, she knows that Mission Mormonaries are normal and that we testify of Jesus Christ!!!!! :) I love this work so much.
HAHA okay. Here's a creeper story. We go to the public library to use the computers. And one time when we were doing Facebook missionary work, a homeless man came up behind us and said that Sister Hansen and I had really pretty hair. A few minutes later he came back again to tell us that we had pretty eyes and lashes. About ten minutes later, he came back AGAIN to tell us we were pretty. The third time around, he actually saw our name tags. (ABOUT TIME) and asked if we were Witnesses. I'm pretty sure he confused us with Jehovah's Witnesses. Easy to do, I guess. I tried to explain that we were missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ. It didn't really get through to him. He went on to say that we were the prettiest witnesses that he's ever seen. It was SO CREEPY. Since Sis Hansen and I were on Facebook, I messaged her and said LETS GET OUT OF HERE. And we quickly left. It was so awkward! Hahahahaha. Whyyyyy do the creepers talk to me?!?!?!?! I can't wait to find some normal people who actually want to talk to me...about the GOSPEL! :)
We're going to try to go to the Arlington cemetery today if we have time. I hope we do! I've wanted to go for a while now!
Talk to you next week! Miracles are happening! And I get to be a part of them! Woo!!!!
Love you all,
Sister Anderson
ps. On our way to email this morning, Sister Hansen and I realized that we didn't take any pictures this week. So to make sure that our moms were happy, we took a quick picture outside of our favorite Preparation Day restaurant: Taco Bell. <3
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| Julie in front of Taco Bell! |
I love your blog. Keep up the good work.
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