Hey, I need you today. I have been looking forward to emailing like all week! This was a hard week too. Still though, it was good.
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| Sister Webb and Sister Park |
Soooo last Tuesday was good! Training meeting was really good. We talked about why it’s so important to have vision. The concept of vision is so necessary. It gives us something to work towards. It keeps us united. We read in Luke 11:34 and it basically says that when your eye is single, your body is full of light. We have to be united as a companionship, as sisters at sites, as missionaries in general because we can’t have vision if we don’t have that LIGHT. Cool.
So we had district meeting too. So good! We talked about keeping the Sabbath day holy. I LOVE SUNDAYS WITH ALL MY HEART. During the week, life is busy and crazy and our vision gets hazy sometimes because of the things of the world. But Sunday is that weekly opportunity to clear our vision and refocus on Jesus Christ and how we can become more like Him. Every week we have a chance to be better…..church is a point of rededication. I need that. I need that every Sunday in my mission and I need that every Sunday in my life.
H’okayyyyy let me tell you about the creeper letter that I got on Wednesday! So, pretty much no mail comes to my apartment because I had you change the address on my blog and everyone knows to write me at sites. So it was weird when I pulled a letter for me out of our apartment mailbox. It was addressed to Sister Webb and said it was from Elder Whitlock in Pocatello, ID. So I’m completely racking my brain like…Do I know an Elder Whitlock? I was pretty sure I didn’t. So I opened the letter and the first thing I see says “P.S. We still haven’t gotten ahold of James Jump. He’s ALWASE busy!” And I’m like…James Jump- Pocatello, Idaho….NO.
But yes, some elder that I called from sites to talk about a referral- James Jump- found out the Cleveland mission address and wrote me a letter! CREEEEEPERRRRRRR!!!!!! I talked to him for like 3 minutes on the phone about James Jump! Ew. Don’t worry, I will not be writing him back.
On Thursday, we weekly planned in the morning and then we made this little sticky note calendar for Kia that went until the end of October. It had a scripture for each day and we centered it kind of around lesson 3: faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure to the end plus we added some other applicable scrips in there. We took it to her and she said she would read it every day but she’s still struggling right now. I can’t figure out exactly what it is she needs. Next time we see her, we’re going to play a game and just have fun. I think maybe we are supposed to teach Kia and her mom, Rose, at the same time but I’m not sure yet. I’m still bouncing that idea around in my head.
We were able to contact a referral that we received a little while ago from Temple Square for David & Maria Davies. Maria was so nice! She opened the door and she was like “Oh, hello Sisters!” She and her husband took a trip out west and saw the Grand Canyon and Temple Square and some other things. She’s got an accent so I think she’s from somewhere else originally but she’s way nice. So then, we were going to stop by J.D. that awesome guy that I told you about last week! Wellllllllllllll we went to his address…..it’s definitely on the part of Superior Rd. that is NOT in our area. Sooo we had to give him to East Cleveland. Boo! We had dinner with the Bjarnason’s that night. I really like that family.
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| Tractor crossing! |
After dinner though, we had an appointment with Harvey. Remember him? He’s the Princess Bride inconceivable guy. We got Sister Warner, this single RM woman in our ward to come with us so we could teach him inside his house. He has all these issues and just couldn’t grasp the importance of the Book of Mormon and God and all this stuff. Plus, he told us that when he was a little kid, he had to be in the hospital and he had to stay overnight. His uncle, who was the doctor, was supposed to tell him that his parents were going home to sleep but that they would be back in the morning but he forgot to tell little 4 year old Harvey. He said that he freaked out and thought that he was abandoned and it affected him so deeply that it affected his ability to speak, even after his parents came back the next morning. Now, his wife just died a year ago so he said that pretty much he wakes up every morning feeling abandoned again.
So, after a while of us addressing his questions, I was SUPER BOLD with him! Earlier I had asked him what he had to lose from reading the book and he said his peace and serenity with his way of thinking now. So, I was just like “Let me tell you what you have to gain: the knowledge that you are truly God’s son, that He loves you more than you can ever imagine, and that he will NEVER, EVER abandon you, and more peace, serenity, and happiness than you have ever experienced before in your entire life.” BAM! The Spirit was so strong! It was crazy. It was like coursing through my body from my fingertips to my toes. It was honestly one of the most intense and amazing experiences of my mission thus far.
On Friday, I decided to ask for a blessing from Elder Butterfield. It had been on my mind for about a week but I hadn’t done it yet soooo I did. It was good. It was SO good. I needed it.
Things are just hard! I don’t know how to help Kia, my area is like dead….we have 1 progressing investigator and we’re having a hard time getting others to progress and I feel like I’m doing everything still! When we plan, Sister Law just like sits there. There’s a reason you’re in companionships! You can’t do it all by yourself! And then I was bashing on myself which never helps when you already are down in the dumps….so no bueno.
But the blessing helped. And this week these scrips from the missionary chapters in Alma have spoken to my SOUL.
“Be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me and I will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the salvation of many souls.”
Alma 26:27
“Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: “Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and BEAR WITH PATIENCE THINE AFFLICTIONS AND I WILL GIVE UNTO YOU SUCCESS.”
Love.
On Saturday we raked leaves for Sister Jankowski. My arms were so sore yesterday! Ha. I actually did the raking. Sister Law just used a blower….which seems to be about 10 times more efficient than what I was doing but oh well. We also taught Harvey again and guess what. He not only read 2 chapters more than we committed him to but we got him to PRAY! He said he felt silly because he doesn’t even know about God and we were like ‘Yeah, that’s why you need to ask Him if He’s there, if He cares about you, if He’s listening!” and HE DID IT RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF US! It was a small miracle, for sure. We committed him to pray once a day until we saw him again, which will be tomorrow. I’m excited! We’re taking the Stacey’s with us and I think that Brother Stacey and him will really be able to relate.
Um, later that day we stopped by Megan Parson, another HQ referral who requested a Bible on mormon.org. So, we went over and met her…….her house reeked of animals and I could see quite a few cats in there. Then she volunteered the fact that they had a lot so I asked how many….19. NINETEEN CATS! Sickkk. And then that night when we were planning, I realized that she’s not in our area. Oops. But tender mercy that I don’t have to go back into a house that wants to kill me because of my cat allergy.
Yesterday we had stake conference. It was so good! All the missionaries in the Kirtland zone sang the Ohio Cleveland mission song and Called to Serve. Powerful! As I thought on the lyrics of Called to Serve, I realized how great my calling truly is:
Called to serve Him, Heav’nly King of glory
God our strength will be
Press forward – ever called to serve our King!
Conference was really good. You know how they say to prepare for General Conference by getting questions ready that you have and listen for them to be answered? Well, the other day I was thinking about it and I was like why would that not apply for every Sunday? It should! So I tried it out. TOTALLY WORKS! Do it this next week and see what magic it works in your life, mkay?
After conference was tracted for 2 and half hours. It was long, and no one really listened BUT we completely tracted into a less active in the ward. SWEET. I think he’s my miracle of the day. His name is Kevin. He was so nice and offered to let us come in and it threw me off…and then I remember that there was an LA on that street so I was like, Wait, what’s your name? And he told me and I was like Are you a member of the church? and he said yes. And then he’s like “I thought that’s why you were here- to check up on those that haven’t been to church recently. Hahaha NO. We knocked this entire street buddy. But I’m so glad that we met him!
He has been divorced for a couple of years, and is still single. He’s got 3 kids- ages 7, 9, and 12 or something like that. He’s got joint-custody of them and they aren’t members because their mom is Baptist. She only takes them to church occasionally though. OH MY GOSH I WANT TO REACTIVATE HIM SO BAD AND BAPTIZE HIS CHILDREN! He was SOOOOOO nice and I just felt that it was time for him to come back. He needs the gospel in his life right now, you can just tell. So we asked if we could bring by some cookies later this week for him and his kids. Obviously he said yes. Who turns away a plate of cookies?! For all of our stop-bys at night, when we can’t tract or anything because it’s after dark, we are going to be delivering cookies to less actives this week and trying to get to know them better. Anyway, I really like him and want to be able to teach him.
Other than that, nothing too exciting has happened. This week Sister Law and I were talking. Really, companions talking, imagine that right? Anyway, apparently Sister Devenport, her trainee (who came out with me) always told her “Don’t go back!” like to the person she was before. I decided that I am going to make a “Don’t Go Back” journal. I don’t want to go back to the same person that I was before my mission. It’s easy to see things clearly out here when you’re not distracted by really any cares of the world. I’m going to write them down now so that when I am back in the real world, my mind is already made up.
Okay so today, we were in Target and apparently there is a new Taylor Swift CD and my heart LONGED for the world for a minute! I LOVE TAYLOR SWIFT! Someone…Sonhee? Meggles? Natalie? Stacha? Aly? SOMEONE tell me if it’s good okay?!?! Then, I’ll have something to look forward to next Christmas.
Ummm other than that, I have p-day on Wednesday next week because we had to trade with Solon for something sooo don’t be alarmed when there’s no email on Monday. I’ve got to go now. I love you so so much! Please keep praying for me. This is a growing period and it’s hard but I’m pressing forward and trying to keep myself focused on the Savior.
Love love,
Sister Webb
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