Downtown

Oct 4-11th 

Monday we went bowling with the district. And I got super stressed about post mission life. Before my mission I planned out everything exactly how I wanted it to go so this wouldn't happen, but sometimes things don't go as planned. That been a lesson I've learned on my mission- I get reminded of it everyday. 

Tuesday we had district council and we were talking about how to find new investigators. One elder shared that he had heard from a member, when he was on his mission, that they would have one missionary knock on the door of an apartment and ask the person inside if they would be willing to listen to their message if they received a sign from heaven. While the other missionary would be on the floor above and that cue drop down a Book of Mormon into their companions hand. Haha I'm going to have to try it! 

Also one of the Spanish Elders was reading a scripture and pronounced "de-serious" instead of "desirous". Another elder said "its 'desirous'...'Deserious' is the name of one of our investigators down the street". We all busted up laughing because it's so true! Some people have the strangest names! 

Wednesday we went to John's going away party. He got stationed in Wichita, KS. John said that he doesn't know anyone yet and that when I get home I'll be his closest friend. Haha that's sad because Edmond is like 2 hours away and he considers that close! Oh and btw sister Lellis is still looking forward to having BBQ in Oklahoma. His mom made a ton of food for the party which reminded me of all the times we ate at their house last year. Good times.

Afterwards we had ward correlation at the church. We had planned to try some people in the area and felt inspired to walk instead of drive our car. The person we had planned for left just before we came. If we would have driven our car we would have caught her. But on our way back we saw a high school age girl walking. We began talking to her and walking with her home. She knew there was a God out there but wasn't very religious. We talked about Jesus Christ, His role and how God is our loving Heavenly Father. She then told us that she had been very depressed and felt lonely to the point that she decided and planned how she was going to take her life that Friday. But because God placed her in our path she was able to feel the spirit testifying to her of Gods love and she no longer felt like she should take her life. It was a surreal experience. Because we felt prompted to walk we missed the person we had planned for, but because we felt prompted to walk we meet the person that God had planned for. 

Thursday we had to get the oil changed in our car. It took up most of the day because we had to go all the way down to Henderson. When we got there the Zone leaders from Central/Sunrise were there for the same thing. We talked with them for the time being- they are really funny! 

My new favorite thing is Sam's club 99¢ frozen yogurt. Oh my, it hits the spot! And it is super filling! I was so close to finishing my mission without evolving into a hippo but these last two transfers have wrecked that! Haha 

Thursday evening we had a great lesson with a recent convert. You can tell when people are truly converted to the gospel. Every aspect of their life, doesn't necessarily change but, is focused on the eternal perspective and centered on Christ. When I came out of the lesson I couldn't stop smiling! The gospel brings me so much joy and comfort that it has to show through in any way that it can, even by something as simple as a smile! 

Friday morning I went to the temple with sister Lellis and Sister Maughan. The grounds were gorgeous! I think the best time to visit Las Vegas, and especially the temple in Las Vegas, is in October. I'll be real honest this week was super stressful trying to make the necessary decisions about school. I prayed and prayed and felt like I was getting no where. Not even that I was getting no where, but that I was getting more confused about everything that I had previously planned for concerning my life. And now I felt like God wanted me to change my plans but He wasn't telling me how. For someone like me who likes to have control on situations and have every detailed planned, it was frustrating. But that's not the case anymore. The temple was exactly what I needed. I was able to feel such a relief and comfort knowing that Gods plans are bigger and better than mine. I am so grateful that God has blessed us with personal revelation to be able to be individually guided and directed. What a blessing! 

It's going to be super weird going home and not wearing a name tag anymore because people LOVE missionaries! At the temple nearly everyone that passed by said "oh I just love sister missionaries!" or "seeing you sisters make me so happy!" I'll definitely miss that. 

Friday night we found three new YSA investigators in a row! We went to an apartment complex that we don't usually go to and one person right after another were YSA age and interested in the gospel! It was super cool.

Saturday was busy, we had appointments almost every hour and we helped a lady move. Doing service as missionaries is the best because we get to wear pants! 

One cool experience is when we visited an investigator, Michael, he was really shaken up and said that if wasn't a good time to meet with him. (That's not the cool part). He explained that the night before he had been out with his friends and he got a call at 1:30am telling him to come home. When he got home there were a ton of cop cars and ambulances because there was a shooting in the house next door. Thankfully his family was all okay but he wasn't able to get much sleep. (Also not the cool part). We said a prayer with him and invited him to read from the Book of Mormon because we promised it would give him comfort. His face lit up and said "that's exactly what I'm going to do!... I've been reading in the Book of Mormon..." At this point I thought he would have read the introduction which is what we left him to read, to my surprise he continued by saying "I've read about 300 pages already! But I still have a way to go..." My jaw dropped! There's only 531 pages in the Book of Mormon!! He's almost done and it's only been a week! (That's the cool part). 

Sunday was good like always. There was some member of a YSA ward from New Zealand who had come to the States for conference and then came to our sacrament meeting. Because it was fast Sunday we were able to hear their testimonies. It is so wonderful knowing that no matter where you are in the world the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same. It was such a unifying meeting! 

We have been visiting Jamaree everyday for the past week to pray and read with him and help develop his faith further. When we met with him on Sunday he was having a hard time. He was frustrated that he couldn't see God and he didn't feel right believing in or praying to something that he didn't know was actually there. Throughout the week it seemed like his faith was growing little by little but it seemed like Sunday's lesson was a set back. However we were able to testify that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, that God is showing him His love by sending us to him. We testified of how we lived with God before this life and we know him. He couldn't understand why God would allow us to forget Him or why he would chose to come here to earth if it was going to be so hard. We explained how in this life we are meant to be tested but God provided Jesus Christ to be our Savior. Throughout the lesson he was understanding more and more. We were constantly helping him recognize the spirit and how his faith was growing. It was a normal lesson but I felt different. I felt like I had known Jamaree before this life. That when the Grand Council was called and we had to chose plans, Jamaree wasn't sure which plan to follow because we knew it was going to be hard. I envisioned us sitting down at some picnic table up in Heaven, helping him chose to follow God's plan. Just like how last night we were sitting down at some picnic table, helping him chose once again to follow God's plan. 

I wish I could remember everything that happened or at least had the time to write down every detail because even though I write less than when I first came out every little experience is huge to me. I love it.