Investing mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually!

Kind of a crazy and hard week and I don't have a lot of time to e-mail, so sorry if this letter is kind of lame! 

 

Tuesday was district meeting which takes most of our day being on the bus and all.  This district meeting we talked a lot about diligence.  You have to be really diligent to be a good missionary, and it is really hard sometimes.  I wish I could share with you the exact quote that our district leader shared from Brigham Young, but it was something along the lines of how if you don't feel like your heart isn't in it, give everything you have until it is.  I think that is really true.  And I think that is one reason that missions are so hard.  It's because for 18 months of my life I literally invest everything that I have mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.  So when things get hard, it affects you in all of those areas too. And I think that is kind of how I felt this week.  But I do have faith that even though it can be really hard, when things are going good and you recognize the blessings and miracles, it affects you in all of those areas for good!  Sorry if that didn't make any sense, haha.  But it was a really good district meeting and I left feeling super motivated to be a more diligent missionary.

 

Wednesday was a really good day.  We brought our investigator Tubree to the family history center and got her started on her family history.  She was so excited!  It was really cool to be able to help her with that.  I sure have learned a lot about family history on my mission and I am so excited to be able to do more of it when I get home and to do the temple work for all of them too!  After we helped her with her family history, we had a lesson with her about baptism.  We talked about what exactly it means when we are baptized and the covenants that we make when we are baptized.  It was a really good lesson and Tubree is excited to be baptized in the coming weeks!

 

Thursday is our weekly planning day.  Sister Silva and I prayerfully went through every single former investigator in our area book and made a list of the people that we want to go and visit this coming week.  So hopefully we will be able to see some miracles with that.

 

Friday was a pretty cool day.  There was a girl named Nadia that goes to the spanish branch in our area that wanted to go out with the missionaries, so she came out with us on Friday!  She is such a sweetheart!  We took her to a couple different lessons with us and she was able to bear her testimony which really added to the lessons that we taught.  It was cool because we ran into a guy on the street that only spoke spanish and she was able to teach him a lesson!  It was really neat to be going out with someone who is thinking about going on a mission because it reminds me of me before I came out here!  I had no idea what I was really getting myself into haha.  I had no idea that experiences that were ahead of me.  Although everyday this is the hardest thing I have ever done, every day it continues to be the best decision that I ever made.  So that was cool to get to reflect back on how far I have come. 

Oh- also!  I saw a firefly for the first time ever on Friday!  haha

 

Saturday we had a crazy experience!  We had to go down into kind of a scary part of town to visit a member.  As we were walking to the bus stop we saw sirens and cops everywhere.  Apparently there was this huge Puerto Rican fest going on or something that everyone was running around waving Puerto Rican flags and everyone was hanging out the windows of cars and riding on top of the cars and they were all speeding and running red lights and stop signs as all the cop cars chased them.  IT WAS MADNESS!  haha Sis. Silva and I didn't know what to do.  We sat there waiting at the bus stop and all these drunk people came up to us and were asking us for Bibles and stuff.  haha.  We were just praying that our bus would come soon.  We looked down the street and saw that the cops had blocked off part of the street, so we were wondering how our bus was going to get to our bus stop.  Then we looked to the other side and saw that the bus had skipped our block and bus stop to get around where the cops had blocked the road and was headed down the road.  We watched as our escape out the the chaos drove off.  We found refuge in this little diner up the street and called the Lenhard's to come pick us up.  haha they are great.  I am so grateful that we were kept safe though! 

 

So this week was crazy, but I am still so very grateful that I get to be a missionary.  Thank you so much for your love and support!  It means the world to me!  Love you!

 

Sister King

CRAZY weather!

This week was pretty busy and absolutely flew by!  Can you believe that this is going to be the last week of June?  Super weird.  But, I love being busy :)

 

Tuesday-  We had district meeting and I really learned a lot.  We talked about "understanding".  The reason that we are willing to go to church and read our scriptures and pray every day is because we understand why it is important and we understand the blessings that come from it.  Our investigators and people that we are teaching don't understand that yet!  So when we help them understand by teaching them to their individual needs, it will lead them to act.  Nothing happens until our investigators act!  I really learned a lot that district meeting.  Tuesday night we had a lesson with Sarah.  She told us that she got to go visiting teaching for the first time this week!  Can you believe it??  Sarah is a visiting teacher now!  it is so exciting and I am so proud of her.  Also- she had her interview to get her patriachal blessing!!  So many good things are happening I can hardly even believe it!

 

Wednesday we had crazy weather.  In fact, this whole week has been CRAZY weather.  Like super crazy bad thunder and lightning storms.  Between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning there were 3200 strikes of lightning in Milwaukee.  Isn't that crazy?  Lightning was striking seriously ever couple of seconds.  The power went out in our apartment and there were trees everywhere in town that had been knocked down.  It was nuts! but we were kept safe. :) 

this past week, we haven't just experience crazy weather, but we have met some pretty crazy people too.  Wednesday afternoon we went to go contact a headquarter referral that we received for a lady named Happy Holiday.  The second we saw the name, we knew we were in for a treat.  we went to her house and she told us that she was a member of the church, but had stopped coming and was looking to "re-investgate."  so we started trying to get to know her a little better and asked her what made her want to start coming back to church.  Here is the kicker- she looks up at me and says, "I am Jesus Christ reincarnated in a woman's body."  Yeah, i know.  Sis. Silva and I could hardly keep it together.  We got out of there real quick.  hahahahahaha everytime I think about it I still laugh out loud.  but, that is west allis for ya!

 

Thursday-  You'll never believe it.  We got to meet Jesus again!  But this time it was a black lady.  We were waiting at a bus stop and I sat down to talk to this lady and introduced myself as Sister King.  she asked why I went by sister.  In my head I was thinking, "Yes!  This is great!  A perfect opportunity to teach her about the gospel and she is the one that brought it up!"  So I explained to her that we believe that God is our loving Heavenly Father and we are all of his children.  Because of that, it makes all of us brothers and sisters.  she looks at me and says, "NO.  God is not your Father.  He only has one son.  and that's me.  I am Jesus Christ."  hahahaha  Sis. Silva turned to look at me but I knew I couldn't look at her or else I wouldn't be able to keep it together.  this lady was seriously crazy.  She kind of reminds me of that one lady in that youtube video that's like, "ain't nobody got time for that!"  But anyways, after she said that there was this really awkward silence.  So I tried to fill it by getting to know her a little bit better.  I asked, "so, are you originally from Wisconsin."  She looks at me and says, "No!  i was born in Bethlehem!"  Duh, courtney.  Jesus was born in Bethlehem! hahahaha.  Yeah so those are the types of people that we meet on the bus here in Milwaukee.  I don't know what Sis. Silva and I are doing to deserve getting to meet Jesus twice, but we must be doing something right to deserve these blessings!  :)

Sis. Silva with our rent certificate!

Thursday  was also interviews with President Cutler.  I remember being so nervous for them last time, but I was actually really excited this time.  I love getting to talk to and learn from President Cutler.  This time, we were asked to come prepared to interviews having studied the Atonement from PMG.  I loved being able to study the Atonement.  It is my favorite thing to teach people.  My favorite quote (or one of my favorites) from Preach My Gospel says, "Everything that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ."  I love teaching others about Christ's Atonement, but because on my mission I have been so focused on others, lots of times I forget that the Atonement applies to me too.  I always expect a lot from myself and sometimes I feel inadequate even for Christ's Atonement, which I know is silly.  I just want to make sure that I am doing all that I possibly can be doing!  I shared some of these thoughts with President Cutler.  He told me that sometimes we think that we are saved by grace after all we can do.  But the Atonement has to time frame.  It is infinite!  Christ's Atonement helps us through things and helps us to become better as we face things.  He said a lot of other things that blew my mind that I really wish I could remember.  But the one thing that I do remember is that the Spirit was so strong and I know without a doubt that Christ's Atonement was for me!  And it is for all of the people that I am here to touch in Wisconsin as well.  So pretty much I left that interview feeling on top of the world, which is exactly what I needed.  The rest of the day we spent weekly planning.  And our apartment complex had a picnic!  So Sis. Silva and I went to get to know our neighbors a little more.  They had a raffle to give away a certificate for $500 dollars off your rent, and Sis. Silva and I won!  haha that was cool.

 

Friday was exchanges and guess what!  I got to be with Sister Tanner for the day in West Allis again!!!!!!!  What a tender mercy that was.  I didn't even realize how much I missed her until I got to be companions with her again! When we started teaching together again, it was almost as if she had never left.  we were able to have a lesson with Sarah that night and it was so fun to be reunited with the 3 of us again.  we all grew so close as we helped Sarah on her journey.  Getting to be with Sister Tanner again also helped me to see how far I have come since she left. 

Sister Tanner and I with Sis. Rebarchik.  She is an amazing blessing to the missionaries in West Allis.

So good to be with Sister Tanner again!

Saturday we got to go and visit a couple of less actives that Sister Tanner and I worked with a lot when she was here.  That was cool because I think she sparked a fire under one that she had a really good relationship with.  we were also able to meet with Tubree and this time she brought her son Josiah and we set a baptismal date with both of them!  Miracles happen on exchanges.  But then it came time for Sister Tanner to head back to Kenosha :(.  I was really sad to see her go, but also happy to have Sis. Silva back with me.  On Saturday night, Sister Stewart in our ward had all 6 of the missionaries in our ward over to her house for dinner.  One of the Elders was giving the spiritual thought at the end of the lesson from a conference talk that sounded really familiar, but I couldn't remember just which one it was.  He commited everyone to be better member missionaries, and then for his promised blessing he said, "If you to this, you will find joy.  Just like this family!"  He whips up the Ensign that he had been reading from and there was the picture of our family in the Ensign back in 2009. hahahaha it was super funny.  I guess he had just happened to read that Ensign earlier in the day and came across our picture. 

 

Sunday church was exactly what I needed to hear.  funny how it usually works out that way.  We got to go to the Dominguez's for dinner!  Love them.  But the world cup was on and that was a super big temptation for me.  but don't worry, I withstood.  All I know is I better get a lot of blessings for missing it!  haha

 

So this week was pretty awesome!  I am praying for you all!  Thanks so much for being the best family ever!  love you!!!

Busy, Stressful, Fun, Amazing!

Out for ice cream with Sarah and Elizabeth!

#missionarymeal

Tuesday- We had our Zone Training Meeting so that pretty much took most the day.  I also got a super bad migraine which was weird.  I had never really had one before.  I was just super sensitive to light and sound.  So I didn't really get much out of the training meeting because I just couldn't focus which I was super bummed about because I usually learn a lot.  Oh well, there is always next month. Haha.  That night we went to a family's home for dinner that I had never been to before!  Weird, I thought that I pretty much knew the whole ward.  But this family was totally awesome and is one of my new favorite families.  As we were about to leave one of the boys said, "Can the missionaries come back real soon, Mom??"  Oh my heart just melted.  I love getting to know the amazing members in this ward.  It is really interesting because the majority of people in this ward are converts to the church which is pretty much opposite of my ward back home.  I love it because all of them are so strong and have such amazing stories.  I learn so much from them and I really have come to love West Allis so much!  So it was a good day.

At McCarty Park with some members in our ward

Reppin my Alaska shirt from you Mom and Dad!

Wednesday we had really weird weather.  It was like misty/foggy/rainy.  Like there was just liquid all over in the air.  It was weird and it made contacting people hard.  So that was kind of a bummer.  But we did get to meet with Sarah and teach her a lesson.  We have decided to go through the Book of Mormon stories with her starting from the beginning.  So this week we talked about Nephi and how much faith he had and how he would do whatever it took to be obedient to the Lord's commandments and how much he was blessed for it.  It was awesome.  The Spirit is always so strong when we discuss what we learn from the Book of Mormon.  It was so fun because now instead of teaching Sarah lessons, it is pretty much a discussion.  In fact, she teaches me a lot now too!  It was amazing to see the changes in her from when we first started teaching her to her baptism.  But it has been even more amazing to see the change in her from he baptism to now!  Her testimony grows so much everyday!  She truly has embraced the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for her.

Thursday we met with a former investigator named Diana.  She just really likes missionaries but has never been interesting in learning about the church at all.  Last time we met with her we invited her to read from the Book of Mormon.  I know this is probably bad, but when we went back to follow up on her reading I had pretty much already decided in my head that she hadn't read.  But when we got there, I was shocked to find that she had been reading!  And she asked us for a spanish copy to make it easier for her.  What??  It was so cool.  Don't worry, I repented for not having faith.  I am excited to continue to work with her.  We also had another lesson with Matt (the Lutheran).  We brought the Lenhard's with us this time which was really awesome.  They told him about their own conversion stories and why they decided to join the church.  It was really cool.  Matt is progressing slowly but surely.

Working at the booth at the Polish Fest with Sis. Silva

The booth at Polish Fest

Chillin at the Polish Fest!

Our Friday morning appointments fell through... :(  But then Sarah called us and asked if we could have another lesson!  haha Isn't she just the cutest.  She wanted another lesson... haha.  So we went to the park so that Elizabeth could run around and play and we continued to teach her about Nephi.  This time we talked more about the Tree of Life.  This is a story that has really touched Sarah in her life so it was cool to get to talk to her about it again and why it had had such a big impact on her.  Then, for the rest of the afternoon, we got to go to the Polish Fest in Downtown Milwaukee!  There are a lot of Polish people here in Wisconsin so basically it is just this HUGE festival where all of the polish people get together to celebrate being polish I guess.  They have these huge festival grounds in Milwaukee.  It's actually really cool.  The Church decided to set up a family history booth there to teach people about familysearch.org and tell them about the family history centers that we have.  The Polish people were all over that!  haha.  So Sister Silva and I got to go over and work at the booth teaching people how to use the website and stuff.  It was way cool!  People got to see our nametags and stuff so that was good.  We technically weren't allowed to "proselyte" and teach people about the gospel.  But, if people asked us questions then we were allowed to answer!  Plus, I would say about 1 in every 3 people that I talked to asked me why family history is so important to our church, so I got to bear my testimony about eternal families and the Plan of Salvation.  It was way cool and we did get a decent amount of referrals of people that want to learn more!  Also- they gave the volunteers that worked there tokens to go and try some of the polish food there.  That was way yummy!  So we worked the Polish Fest all afternoon and evening.  Towards the evening, everyone was just really drunk though haha.  Every single person was walking around with a beer in their hand.  And the beer there cost $6 a cup!  It was ridiculous!  But also kind of funny... haha.  But Polish Fest was way cool.

 

Saturday-  When I woke up in the morning Sis. Silva told me that I had been talking in my sleep and had taught her all about how familysearch.org is the world's largets collection of family history and geneology resources available for free online.  Haha I literally taught her about family history in my sleep.  I am definitely a missionary.  We spent a good chunk of the afternoon visiting less actives.  But then on Saturday night we had to take Sis. Silva to the Urgent Care because she had a really bad double ear infection.  When we got to the doctor he stuck the thing in her ear and was like, "it looks like you are in a lot of pain"  and Sis. Silva was like, "well I know that!"  hahahahaha But according to the doctor she got a double ear infection from the wind or something.  Who would have thought?    But she got some prescription ear drops and is doing better now.

We worked at Polish Fest all day on Sunday.  That was way fun!  I loved getting to be at Polish Fest and just talk to everybody and we kind of got to explore the Polish Fest too.  It really was a neat experience.  The Spirit of Elijah is now alive in the Polish people of Wisconsin! 

Also- Sunday was my 5 month mark.  FIVE MONTHS!!  Weird.  It seems like my 4 month mark was 5 seconds ago.  That month went by way fast.  And can you believe that June is half way over already too?  I am grateful that the time is going by fast because that means that we are busy and having fun. 

Sunday was also Father's Day.  I thought about you a lot Dad.  I really am so grateful for the amazing Father that I have.  I couldn't do it without you!

 

 

Overall, it was a great week!  I am literally exhausted all the time, but I wouldn't have it any other way!  That's pretty much it.  Thanks for being the best family ever!  LOVE YOU!!

 

Sister King

On the way home from the Polish Fest, The Lenhard's drove us through downtown and we got to see the building where the City Branch meets.  Isn't it beautiful??  It was one of the only buildings that the church built during the depression.  I think it was for the German members of the church here in Wisconsin or something like that.

Change is good, but hard

Hello Family!

 

Well this has been a crazy week with a lot of changes! Change is hard, but it is also good.  I have learned so much from all of the changes that a mission brings, so I am grateful for that.

 

Tuesday was Sister Newton's last day of her whole mission!  WEIRD!  I was so excited that I got to be a part of it though.  I love Sister Newton so much!  It was a really interesting experience to be with a missionary who is going home.  But I absolutely loved it.  It was kind of hard because it made me feel like I was going home too, even though I have got quite a ways to go.  But at the same time, it was the most amazing blessing.  I learned so much working with Sister Newton.  Because Sister Newton was such an amazing missionary, I saw first hand what kind of missionary I can become by the end of my mission if I work hard while I am out here.  It also really made me step back and contemplate what exactly it is that I want to accomplish while I am out here and where I want to be by the time it is time for me to be heading home.  And I am not there yet!  Good thing I've got 14 more months to work on it... haha

Last picture with Sis. Newton :(

For her last day we were able to have an amazing lesson with our investigator Tubree.  We brought Sarah to the lesson which was absolutely amazing because she was able to bear really powerful testimony that this gospel really can change lives because it changed hers.  I absolutely love Sarah to death.  I hope you all can meet her someday!  We spent a good chunk of the day packing up all of Sister Newton's stuff and reminiscing about her mission.  She really has had some amazing experiences.  And then the Lenhard's took us out to dinner for Sister Newton's "last supper."  Haha it was a great day! 

 

On Wednesday I killed my Grandma.  Haha that's mission language for "I was companions with my trainer's trainer when she ended her mission."  It was fun because I got to hang out at transfer point again all day with all the other missionaries.  I got to see Sister Osmond!  It was kind of a neat thing because both of our companions were headed home that day so we got to chit chat about what that was like.  Such a tender mercy to have a little piece of home out here with me.  I love Sister Osmond. :)  I also saw Ashley Green at transfer point.  She was in my ward at BYU and lived right across the hall from me and was in my FHE group and stuff.  She just came out this transfer!  So it was fun to see her too.  Oh, and I got to see Sis. Tanner.  She is still one of my favorites.  :)  Before I knew it, they were whisking Sister Newton away from me and Sister Silva arrived here from her previous area in Appleton.  So my new companion is Sister Tammy Silva and she is from Eureka, California and is 22 years old.  She has been out 10 1/2 months and is a really good missionary.  She is an absolute sweetheart!!!  She is a lot different than the past companions that I have had, but I love her to death and I think that we work really well together.  It is going to be a good transfer! 

Check out who I saw at transfer point- Sister Sophia Osmond!

Thursday was a miracle day!  I was super nervous about having another new companion here in West Allis, but we were able to find 4 new investigators within a couple of hours that day!  SO COOL!  We were also able to have a lesson with our investigator, Matt.  He is the one that is super staunch Lutheran, but likes learning about our church.  He always asks super deep doctrine questions and knows the Bible like the back of his hand.  So I was super nervous for this lesson, but it actually ended up going pretty well.  We told him that it doesn't matter what we tell him, he can pray to know for himself that this church is true.  I have so much faith that if he sincerely prays to know the truth that Heavenly Father will answer his prayer. 

 

Friday we received 2 Headquarter referrals which was a huge miracle.  Those are always fun to try to contact.  Here in Milwaukee, the HQ referrals are either super legit or they are crazy, old, schizophrenic people.  So that should be interesting.  We got to read some more in the Book of Mormon with Fred.  He is progressing and his testimony is slowly being strengthened, so that is good.  Then, spent the rest of the day weekly planning.

 

Saturday we were able to contact one of the HQ and teach her the Restoration and she became a new investigator!  So that's cool.  It was Sister Silva and my first time teaching the restoration together, and it went very smoothly!  That is a big deal because the restoration is the most important lesson to teach and also the one that we teach the most often, so it is good that Sister Silva and I are able to teach well together.  Also- this referral lived in the boonies and we had to take some busses that I had never taken before.  And they ended up changing the routes because of all of the construction, but I was still able to get us there which was a huge tender mercy.  On Saturday we also met this really cool lady named Denise.  We were just walking down the street which was absolutely DEAD because there was a Brewer's game, and stopped to talk to the only lady in site.  She was this sassy black lady that was wearing cheetah printed EVERYTHING.  haha.  I know this is really bad, but in my head I had already decided that I would just tell her a little bit about the church and then we would be on our way.  But when we started talking to her, before I knew it I had whipped out a Book of Mormon and was bearing testimony to her about how I know that this book can bring people closer to our Savior Jesus Christ than any other book.  It was seriously the weirdest thing.  I can't even explain it.  The words were just coming out of my mouth.  The reason that I didn't really want to tell her is because we talk to ladies like her all the time that just aren't interesting and can be kind of bold about it sometimes... haha.  So that is what I was expecting her reaction to be like.  But it was the COMPLETE opposite!  In fact, she told us that she works at a behavior center at the hospital, and invited us to come teach all of her patients about the Book of Mormon!  It was amazing and the Spirit was so strong!  Unfortunately, the hospital that she works at is outside of our area so we had to pass her off to some other sisters.  But it was still to coolest things ever.  And that was an experience where I KNOW without a doubt that the Spirit was working through me to teach Denise about the Book of Mormon.  So cool!

Hanging out with some Elders at sports on p-day

The Lenhard's!  They are the senior couple that lives in our apartment complex and they are seriously such a blessing.  They are like my grandparents away from home.

Sister Peterson- my sister training leader that I went on exchanges with last week in Kenosha

My new companion, Sister Silva!

Sunday was good.  Tubree came to church!  Yay!  We spent the rest of the day contacting less-actives and such.  Nothing too special.

 

 

Overall, this week was amazing!  I am excited for the weeks to come here in West Allis with Sister Silva!  I am sad because I feel like I will probably be getting transferred out of here next transfer.  So I want to make sure that I am doing everything that I possibly can be doing to make sure that I am accomplishing the work that the Lord wants me to do in West Allis.

 

Please keep me in your prayers!  And keep writing me too!  They both make a huge difference!  Bigger than you think!

 

Love you!

 

Sister Courtney King

Last week with Sister Newton

Love this girl!

Transfers are this Wednesday!!  It is exciting and sad all at the same time.  I will be so beyond sad to see Sis Newton go. :(  But I just found out like 5 seconds ago that my new companion's name is Sis. Silva.  I don't know much about her.  In fact, I don't know anything about her haha.  But I will meet her on Wednesday!  I am super excited.  I feel like a lot of good things are going to happen in West Allis this transfer.  So we will see how it goes.  But didn't this transfer go by so fast??  Like I seriously feel like Sis. Newton got here yesterday.  And can you believe May is already over too???  Weird.  Fun fact- for the month of May I counted how many sirens we heard everyday here in West Allis and the total was 119.  Haha I don't know if that is because it is a busy city or if it is dangerous or probably a mixture of the two.  But we hear sirens going off all the time!  Haha 119 in May.

As for the update of the week, not a lot happened because P-day was late last week.  But here you are:

Wednesday we got to play volleyball in the morning with the women of the stake.  It was way fun and Sis. Newton and I could definitely hold our own.  Then we had our last district meeting of the transfer. :( again, bittersweet.  We had a really good district.  We all got along and were friends, but most importantly we all worked really hard.  It really was a good transfer.  Then Kopp's (the famous frozen custard place in Wisconsin) had my favorite flavor that day.  It's called Never Enough Chocolate and it is just as good as it sounds.  So we went out to lunch together.  That night we swapped with the Sister Training Leaders for exchanges.  It was so fun to get to see Sis. Tanner again!  I didn't get to go on the exchange with Sis. Tanner, but hopefully next transfer.  I got to go with Sis. Peterson and I absolutely love her too!  I went with her on my very first exchange and I have definitely grown sooooooo much since then.  So it was really fun.  I got to go to Kenosha on the exchange so that was kind of exciting!  All I have ever known my whole entire mission is West Allis.  So I was excited to get to do something new.  Plus Kenosha is widely known as "the promised land" in this mission because they get a lot of baptisms.  So it was fun to get to go down there.

Last district meeting with these guys

And yes I win for funniest face!

Thursday- my day in Kenosha!  We ended up visiting a lot of less-actives and recent converts.  So that was cool.  The biggest difference for me though is that we had a car!  That was a luxury that I have yet to enjoy on my mission!  haha.  Nothing super exciting happened while we were there.  But we did meet this one guy on the street who told us that he had a vision that he needed to meet Taylor Swift.  So he walked allllll the way down to Chicago from here.  Taylor Swift was set to perform in 9 days.  So we waited 8 days, and then walked home.  hahahaha yeah I know.  It was interesting.  But it was a really good day and I learned a lot from Sis. Peterson.  I forgot to take a picture with her. Sorry!  But she is awesome.  it was so good to be back in good ole Stallis at the end of the day though.  And back with Sis. Newton. 

 

Friday was kinda lame.  We spent a good chunk of time waiting for appointments that never showed.  Oh and the most awkward thing happened hahahaha.  We were out street contacting and I walked up to this lady and asked if I could talk to her about the church and she says, "Um I'm in your ward." hahahahahahaha in my defense she had big sunglasses on and I had never met her before.  Oh well. 

Triple dog dare you to count all the double chins

Sunday was great!  We were fasting for some of our investigators to know what to teach them and I really feel like we got the answers at church.  So that was cool.  Tubree came to church too!  So that is always fun.  After church, we were on the bus on the way to an appointment with a less-active.  We were the only ones on the bus.  Just us and the bus driver.  And it is a bus that we don't normally take very often.  Lots of times if the busses are running ahead of schedule they will pull over and wait at a bus stop until it is time to leave again.  As soon as we got on the bus, this bus driver pulled over to wait.  He turned and looked at me and said, "Can I ask you a question?  How can two people grow up in the same home in the same circumstances, but take two completely different paths?  On path being good and the other being bad?"  Whoa!  What a loaded question!  I was so scared to answer.  I had no idea what to say, but then the Spirit completely took over.  I explained to him about how we are all given agency, but because of Christ's Atonement for us, he can make up for all the bad decisions that we make.  All the mistakes that we make can be made right through Him.  As we continued to talk to him, he completely opened up to us about how his brother had died just 2 weeks earlier.  His brother had made some bad choices that had taken him down a completely different path.  He then asked, "So does my brother still have a chance?"  How grateful I was to be able to explain to him that YES his brother does still have a chance.  He is in a better place now and he still have the opportunity to accept the gospel.  I could tell in the bus driver's countenance that he was feeling the Spirit.  Ya know, that is really cool that we have that knowledge.  I don't know what I would do if I had someone close to me like that make some not so good decision.  I would want them to have another chance.  And because of our Savior, we do!  How amazing is that?  We taught him some more about the Plan of Salvation until our bus stop came along.  I know without a doubt that we were supposed to be on that bus that day.

 

 

Overall, it was a great week.  A great last week with Sis. Newton.  Transfers should be interesting!  Can't wait to talk to you next week!  Love you!

 

Sister King