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Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Hot and Broken

Hello!! :) Happy Monday! :) 

Last Monday was superb!  We did the basic necessities and then relaxed until it was time to be busy again :) Dinner was delicious! Pulled pork on rolls with some yummy sides and ice cream for dessert! Then we witnessed miracle after miracle. Of every house we went to, usually nobody is home when we check on them, but every single door opened that night! It was so successful! We ended the evening with a less active member who wants to return. It will take baby steps, but we are happy to help! :) 

Tuesday morning I ran... Ready for it... 4 miles!  Usually I run 3 every morning, but I felt like I could have ran at least 6! But time wouldn't permit; It was awesome :) so was the rest of our day! We had a lesson with a member and before hand I felt prompted to text and ask if there was anything specific she was needing to discuss, and there was! :) the spirit is the coolest. So we talked about the Book of Mormon, and it was great. A member brought us dinner that day but it was awesome because we got to create our own salad. It was delicious!! 

        After dinner we had a lesson with a recent convert who had requested a lesson on the priesthood. I don't even know a ton about the details of it, so we learned together! And it was awesome! :)  (How many times have I said awesome already?? :P)



We wrote on the chalk board to list out the responsibilities and duties of elders, priests, etc. too fun :) We ended the evening with T and her neighbor who is in need of the gospel, so we made a return appointment for Friday! T'was a good day :) 

On Wednesday after zone training, we exchanged! I stayed in Alexandria while sister Jones went to different ward boundaries; it was fun! 

Guess what I learned??
President Huntsman rocks my socks!
  1. When it comes to music, we are allowed to listen to anything that we feel is uplifting and that will bring the spirit-- this now includes Disney!! It doesn't even have to be Christian music. So like Rascal Flatts "He ain't the leaving kind" is totally A-okay! Also Carrie Underwood sings some good uplifting ones, too, so feel free to send some new music my way ;)
  2. We can write letters in our down time, even if it's not P-day!
  3. The NATS baseball game on is a GO! My entire mission, along with the DC North mission, is getting tickets for the game :) Basically, I'm PUMPED! :) 
President Huntsman has full confidence/faith/trust in us. So did President Riggs :) but it's nice to see someone so new with so much responsibility let us be responsible. It reminds me so much of how my parents raised me! I had a lot of freedom as long as I was obedient and respectful to their wishes (such as being home on time). Strict rules didn't really come unless I did something that broke the trust bond, which never really happened because I like my freedom ;) It's the same with President Huntsman! And I am so grateful. He put a strong focus on

"Enjoying to the End" vs. "Enduring to the End" 
Missions are hard, that's a given, but they are meant to be enjoyed! Heavenly fathers plan is a plan of HAPPINESS! So he really wants us to remember to live in the moment and enjoy every second of it :) That's what I've learned about him so far.

Picture taken by Yours Truly :)
But anyway, the sisters we live with went to AFAC with us all afternoon for service, and then later my sister training leader and I met at a members home because she took us and a recent convert (who is less active) to the Temple Visitors Center! Oh how peaceful that was. We walked around the temple, and the weather was perfect!! Sallieu, the less active with us, kept thanking us for bringing him. He thoroughly enjoyed the peace :) Then we went in the visitors center and walked around. The model of the DC temple is there and shows the interior of it.
It even has little tiny people on the outside! Super cool :) I can't express how peaceful that evening was. Sooo needed for everyone involved! I am grateful for the temple :) I LOVE the temple! I hope you make it a priority in your lives to attend as frequently as possible :) If not, repentance is real ;) 
  

Hmmm, not a whole lot happened on Thursday
  • We exchanged back in the afternoon and had a lesson with another recent convert. In the evening we had dinner with a member at Chipotle! Yumm :) The weather has been beautiful. The humidity hasn't been bad at all, and it almost felt like a warm fall... Until Thursday. Now it's super hot! 
  • The evening was uneventful after that, until we were walking up the steps to our apartment and passed a woman sitting on them smoking. We said hello and, "it's a nice night to be out, isn't it?! :)" and boom. This lady tells us her life story, mentioning that she wants to know her purpose in life, and then throws in the fact that she is 50 (which shocked us because she looked 37). But it was so fun talking to her! We told her what we did and what we taught about, and then she asked if we could exchange numbers. So we did :) She's fun :) 
  • Right after that we were walking down the hall to our apartment and ran into a man that always calls us "Elderetts" :) He mentioned that he'd been to seminary and shunned us for believing in polygamy, and then asked why we were on a mission because he thought we were supposed to be married :) After correcting the polygamy comment, we explained the age change and our desire to serve the lord. He softened up a lot and by the end we were friends :) In the beginning we asked for his name and he said, "Oh I'm a Gentile, you don't want to talk to me". But when we left he said, "I'm M-, and it was a pleasure talking with you sisters :)" 
Heavenly Father places certain people in our path for a reason. 
There is always some good to be done, seeds to plant, and lessons to learn. 

I am so thankful for my mission experience! I have met the coolest people out here, filled with ambition, and they are SO close to the fullness of the gospel. You can see that there is something missing just by talking to these people, and they don't know how truly happy they can be! Even if they think they're already as happy as it gets. 

With the restored gospel in their lives, their joy would be WAY more than they knew was possible. I know that because I'm living it! We all want peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, but many of the children of God are, "kept from the truth, because they know not where to find it" (D&C 123:12). That's why I'm on a mission. And I love it :) 

This just reminded me of Kat, an investigator we passed recently. She said she had searched for happiness in every place the world offers it, but it wasn't lasting happiness. The gospel of Jesus Christ fills that void, and provides lasting happiness :) 

Random updates::
  • Remember when my ankle was swollen for like... Ever? Well, now my other ankle is swollen. I just can't catch a break! 
  • The Aspen is holding up well, nothing crazy to report yet. 
  • We haven't taught A- for 3 weeks because of multiple reasons. We are trying though! She came to church on Sunday, so that was good.
  • I'm still pretty excited that we can listen to Disney music!
  • My trainer, Sister Lewis, has less than 6 months left! What?! Time is flying!! I love this woman :) 
 


Weekly planning, one of my top 3 favorite days ever, was Friday :) 
  • We had a couple appointments and things to do in the afternoon though so we didn't finish in one day. Sister Jones and I were jammin' to The Lion King all day, so that was wonderful :)
     
  • Dinner was with a member at this super cute middle eastern restaurant! I can't eat anything too crazy or my stomach gets upset, so I played it safe and went with a salad. BUT!! I learned that the menus for places like this aren't correct. I got a salad but it was not what I ordered, and I guess that's typical! It was kind of funny :) also, it was the last day of the Muslim fast, so everyone in there was dressed in their super nice, gorgeous Muslim attire, eating everything they could get their hands on. It was fun :)
  • Then we went to see L-, T-'s neighbor that we talked to Tuesday. We shared the video, "Because He Lives" and also the Book of Mormon! While Sister Jones mentioned it and read a scripture from Mosiah, L- shook her head like she knew what that was. I asked if she had heard of the Book of Mormon before and she said she used to go to church with her cousin back in El Salvador when she was 11! She watched her cousin get baptized even! What are the odds?! So we invited her to read the book, and pray about it, and go to church :) She said we can come back this Friday :) 
Saturday morning we got to slip into our jeans and help a sister in our ward move out! I love jeans :) When we got home it was lunch/nap time ;) When I woke up we did some weekly planning until dinner with a member. Afterwards we checked on some people and had a lesson with R-, an investigator from Africa :) We helped answer questions and taught him more about the restoration, as well as the Book of Mormon. He kept thanking us for, "providing him with that important information" :) It was sweet and exciting to see that he understood the importance of this glad message! He works on Sunday so he can't come to church, but he is getting a new job soon so hopefully his schedule will allow for it :) 

A- came to church on Sunday!! (as already mentioned above) and it was good :) We will see her again on Wednesday. Also, guess what? We got a new ward mission leader :) Whoop whoop! He is so on top of things, and I am so excited to work with him for the next 3 weeks. 

In the evening our dinner canceled and our kitchen was down right E M P T Y. Luckily, there was a ward party for the purpose of feeding bellies and fellowshipping, so we went. Because we were starving. And we were able to strengthen a lot of relationships with newer members of the ward, so it was good :) We invited investigators and less actives but nobody could make it. 

Today is already P-Day again!! How in the world?! I don't even know. 
I hope everyone had a good week! Choose the right :) Go to the temple :) Pray for my ankle.
Sister Kailey 

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