Week 24: And She Walked!

Hello, Hello :)

What a fantastically wonderful week this was! :) I LOVE this gospel!! :)

Sister Morris and I have been beyond blessed this week.

Monday was great! We emailed, filled our fridge, wrote letters, and got out the door right on time to check on more formers and investigators :) A former who actually dropped the sisters a while ago called us and asked us to come back! He said he is ready to change his life for good and he wants to come to church, too :) Heavenly Father is dumping blessings on us like no other! We are so grateful!! We finished the day with a member lesson :)

Tuesday was so great because we spent seven hours with president Riggs learning how to be better missionaries, and learning about WHY we have iPads. I learned so much! I'll share some of my favorite points :)

    . We are dealing with problems in this world that will not go away until the Lord comes again.

    . If it is reasonable, it wouldn't be revelation.

    . They lowered the age for missionaries to save this generation.

    . It is in choosing good that strength will come.

The iPads are wonderful! But it goes far beyond more effective communication, digital area books, and keeping in touch with investigators. The brethren are stressing the importance of this technology use because for many this is the best chance, and for some this is the last chance, to develop righteous technology habits. We have the iPads so we can learn to build a resistance against temptation. It will help us as missionaries to be able to avoid Satan's snares when we get home. Pretty clever, ay? :)

The rest of the day was B.U.S.Y. We had a lesson with a former who believes in reincarnation, then dinner with a member, and a lesson with a recent convert! We were so blessed to be jam packed with people to see and things to do all day :) we literally ran everywhere we went that day! I love being a missionary :)

One of the sisters we live with came up to us that morning and said, "Oh my gosh sisters, we forgot to tell you. The maintenance guy came and fixed your bathroom light like a week ago!" Hahaha! So we have been using the lamp a week longer than we needed to! So funny :)

Wednesday morning we got a text from a member saying, "Sisters!! When can you come to my house to teach J the restoration??" Apparently she is dating a guy who asked for a Book of Mormon and is interested in taking lessons!! Members are THE best! :)

• In district meeting the topic was on working with members. Sister Morris and I were asked to teach and do a practice teach demo on how we work with our members. (We saw 14 this week) It was really good! We got lots of good feedback so that was nice! :) The rest of the day was crazy. 

• The sister who drove the car before I came to the area got in a couple of accidents, so we had to take the car in to get fixed! Therefore, we were told we would be walking everywhere for 3 days! I am so grateful! My body is in dire need of more than 40 min. of exercise a day. The weather even decided to be decent to us on Wednesday, so that was a blessing!! :)

• After we took the car in, we went to the mission office with the sisters we live with because they were our ride and needed to get a new phone. So we were there for a while while they got that taken care of, and then we went to dinner!! With a member :) We had breakfast for dinner; waffles and bacon and such :) Our night was filled with member lessons after that so it was super fun! :) the work is hastening, folks!!

On Thursday we walked to the church in beautiful weather for an hour to an appointment with V, the man from the elevator. We had a member with us which helped, but He doesn't have real intent. We taught about the Book of Mormon more in depth but he's a hard one to teach. He wants to come to church though!

On the way home we talked to everyone we saw, as we should, and a man in a Hispanic accent yelled from his house, "you look so beautiful! I respect you, but you know, that's all I see".... hahah :)

Anyway, we then went home to make cookies to give to our wonderful members as a thank you for being so great and working with us. We didn't have any plans that night so we decided to walk to all the members' homes to give them the cookies, and street contact while we were at it! Two words. SO. FUN. :) Some people acted as if they didn't hear anything when we said hello, and some people were very kind :) my favorite though was on our way home when a short man from Guatemala practically jumps out at us with a happy, "hello!" :) His English isn't great, and my Spanish is slim, but we communicated and he wants to have us teach him!! He's SO cute!! He is missing his top, front 4 teeth, but he is all smiles and so so so prepared because he is humble :) His name is José :)

Friday morning we got a call saying our car was ready to pick up, so at lunch the sisters we live with gave us a ride to get it. It was a blessing, too because it was snowing!? Virginia is so weird.

So we get there, and our good 'ole mechanic friend José (not the one we street contacted) says,
     "What can I do for you ladies?"
     "Well José, we are here to pick up our car!"
     "Why? It's not ready?"
     "Oh.... When will it be?"
      "Not until Tuesday or Wednesday!"
I guess the elder that called us was confused.

Honestly, I'm pumped. I NEED to walk!! I love having a car. It's a massive blessing. But it makes me fat. So we walked to a member lesson and helped frost cookies for a bridal shower!

Then we walked to the church where a member picked us up for dinner. I'm beginning to have an idea of what the pioneers feet felt like... But I'm NOT complaining!! :) we then had a lesson with a less active! She's so awesome!! We taught the atonement and it was so good :) she took us home and we didn't have any troubles sleeping that night :)

Saturday was so fun!! The weather was gorgeous so we street contacted, and sister Morris realized she lost her name tag after a long while, so we back tracked the entire way back home and found it :) While street contacting, another Hispanic old man was like, "Elders?" So we smiled and asked if he had met with Elders before. He spoke Spanglish so I was able to understand; therefore, by being able to respond, he thought I was fluent! That always happens! So I have to whip out my mad Spanish skills to tell them I only speak a little bit :) I love it :) Anyway, without having to ask, he told us he was available on Saturdays and Tuesdays! So we will meet with our good friend, P, on Saturday next week :) Also, we got about 10 creeper looks and even 2 honks while we walked! ;) haha

We then had a lesson with a recent convert on Patriarchal blessings! That was a fun lesson :) Afterward we went home for dinner and walked back to the church to be picked up by the Potomac sisters because we have to pass K over to them; she is in their ward, so we had a pass off lesson. K is a riot :)

José called us two days in a row asking when we were going to call him so we kept reminding him that we would call him Monday (with a member who speaks Spanish). He goes,
"Okay okay okay okay! Monday okay? Okay Monday at 7? Okay! Monday at 7 okay?!" hahaha
I love José! Okay?! ;)

Sunday was the best day I could have ever asked for. It started out with a lesson with J. He is the guy dating a member in our ward and is SO prepared!! He is sincerely seeking the truth and really wants to read the Book of Mormon. This guy has real intent; I'm pumped :)

After church we went to a members home for lunch, and then drove to Centreville because C GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :))))) Let me just express my happiness that evening..... Nope. Words can't express it. Maybe pictures will? :) please pardon the chipmunk cheeks. It's a work in progress

 Anyway, I got to see my Centreville ward family, my favorite companion EVER, and my most wonderful investigator C :) the spirit was overwhelming. I haven't felt the spirit that strong for a while! There was such a special spirit in that room. She was so happy, and the joy in the room was incredible. 

I love this gospel! I love my savior. He lives! :) He loves us. He is so aware of each one of us, and I am so grateful for all that is possible because of Him. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that our loving Father in Heaven has restored His church back on the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith, as well as the power to act in Gods name to perform sacred ordinances properly - like baptism.

C will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday :) All the missionaries were invited to her house afterward for dinner. This was SO FUN because almost my entire district from my first transfer was there! It's so awesome to see each other progress and become our best selves :)

I have a testimony of hard work and diligence. 

I know that God hears and answers our prayers when we have real intent! :)

Walking is awesome. The church is true. 

And I LOVE being a missionary :)

Have a great week!!! :)

Love,

Sister Kailey :)