Sorry that you had to wait a whole week and one day instead of the usual week to hear from me, but I do have a really good excuse! A general authority (person in the world wide leadership of the church who works directly with the prophet) came and visited our mission yesterday and talked to us for a total of 6 hours :) It was great. His name is Elder Hamula. He spoke in General Conference in 2014 :) His talk is rad. Here's the link if you'd like :) https://www.lds.org/
But before I get into the AMAZING event, let me tell you some stuff. We picked up the Mecias family... and they're all on date to be baptized on February 9th! That's technically next transfer, so we may move it to the 7th, which is the last day of the transfer, so we can guarantee that we'll be there. They. Are. Incredible. We've taught them as a family twice so far. We taught the Restoration, and their reaction was "Well, this makes SO much sense! But it's so different from what we've been taught... but it's all prophesied in the Bible! But weird... but it feels good!". It was adorable :) They take notes every time we teach them! They have SUCH a thirst for the knowledge. They came to church and asked so many questions and it was just... ahh. It was incredible. Amy, their 16 year old daughter wanted to meet with us one on one. We made sure it was okay with her parents and met with her. She asked us question after question after question. At the end, she said "I am so happy. This makes so much sense and feels so good. I want my mom to know that this is the truth too". Not even kidding. She is INCREDIBLE. She is so close to the Spirit and Heavenly Father has really guided them in their lives. It's like everything in their lives has led up to us teaching them. We taught them the Plan of Salvation on Sunday, and I almost cried like 5 times because the Spirit was so so so so strong. I realllllly hope everything goes smoothly, I can't even tell you. The past 3 people we've put on date for baptism have fallen through, so I'm a tiny bit jaded about it. We pray for the Mecias family every day. <3 I love them so much.
We went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders (like a District Leader, but female). Sister Turner went to Moval and I stayed in Hemet with Hermana Cramer. Every we had planned for that day fell through. Every. Single. Thing. Not even kidding. I was SO frustrated. But at the end of the day, we went back to the apartment because I had a very full bladder. I looked at the whiteboard with all of the names of people we've talked to on it, and said "What the heck, lets go see Fred". So, we went and saw Fred. See, the thing about Fred is that he talks a LOT. Like... a LOT. But he's a pretty rad guy. He loves all religion and loves learning. So we went to teach him the Restoration and it went SO well. He is so excited to read the Book of Mormon and we picked him up as an official investigator :) We're teaching him tomorrow as well. Even though I was incredibly frustrated and wanted to punch a pillow, the Lord was mindful and humbled me. As He always does. It was great. :)
We also picked up another investigator! Her name is Tuila (pronounced Too-why-lah). We met her when we were out walking and talking to people. She is awesome. She's so sweet. She just moved to our area. We went back and taught her and she is SO rad. I loveeeee her. She is SO sweet to us. Her house is full of native american stuff. And get this... she used to have a first edition Book of Mormon!!!!!! But some people came to her house and threatened her, so she sold it for a LOT of money, which was exactly what her family needed at the time because they fell on hard times. It was a gift from her Mother in Law, who died and gave it to her. It was really hard for her to sell it, and she totally cried when she was talking about it. So, we gave her a new copy. We said "It's not a first edition, but it's still a Book of Mormon..." She cried. She was SO excited. She said "You don't know how much you've just done for me. Thank you." We're headed back this week to teach her some more. :)
We've also received about 7 referrals in the past couple of days! It's amazing! We had a dry spell when we had to drop our investigators (stop teaching them for different reasons) and there just wasn't much going on. I started praying that our area would be fruitful... and now we have people coming out of our ears! It's been crazy! But amazing! Sister Turner and I are LOVING it. There's so much opportunity and it warms my heart. I love teaching. That's what I love most so far about being a missionary. I LOVE TEACHING. Every time, I just feel the Spirit confirm to my heart that I'm right where Heavenly Father needs me. What a blessing!
Well, El Nino has started! The past week we've gotten SO much rain and there was some flooding. My rain boots are coming in handy :) But since the weather is so crazy, we have to go tracting (knock on doors) now! It's... interesting. I kind of like it, but I'm not sure. XD We haven't gotten any mean people or doors slammed on our face, so I'm counting myself lucky.
Okay... the moment you've all been waiting for... Elder Hamula! It was AMAZING! He and his wife both spoke to us. I walked away knowing the things I need to work on (which is a lot, by the way). I definitely need to work on being more submissive. I'm not good at that. But we know that Christ wants us to be submissive, like a little child. Elder Hamula talked about repentance and everything. Statistically, our mission is one of the best in California and one of the best in the US. :) Which is AWESOME. But... we still have so much work to do. They did a survey last week before Elder Hamula came, and apparently, about 40% of our mission isn't getting up on time. 40%!!!!!!! (I would like to point out that I'm in the 60%. Thank you very much). But that was the most glaring problem in our mission, so I guess it's not too bad.... At the end, we got to have a question and answer session with him! We could ask him ANYTHING. One sister asked about the reasoning behind Polygamy (from the Old Testament to the Restoration), and a few others asked some hard questions. I thought "This is my chance... this is the one time I'll get to ask a General Authority a question face to face..." So I went for it. I asked "Why do sisters only get to serve for 18 months whereas Elders get to serve for 24?". Want to know his answer?... "I don't know. But I can tell you that there has been a LOT of talk about that very question at Church Headquarters". So... I am making the prediction now that Sisters will soon have the opportunity to serve for a full two years. :) If it happens while I'm on my mission, I will most likely get the chance to choose to go home at my scheduled time in May, or to extend to November. I'm not sure what I'd choose... I'll just try not to think about it too much :) Anyways, it's was incredible. The best opportunity ever and I'm SO honored that I could be there.
I love you all so much! Be good! Read John 15:16 :) It's awesome. Same with Doctrine and Covenants 6:7-8.
Stay amazing!
Love,
Sister Roberts
I forgot to write about the Earthquake! We woke up to an earthquake this week. Sister Turner lost her mind, but I thought it was pretty cool. I rolled out of bed out of fear of the bunk bed coming down on me. XD It only lasted about 30 seconds, but I can now officially say that I've been in an earthquake. :)
Fanciest dessert I've ever eaten at a members home. Everything is organic. Delicioussssss.
We all tried on orange lipstick... this is how it went. :) By the way, Sister Willis is on the far left. She's a brand new missionary! I'm not the baby anymore! She's in a different area, but we get to hang out on Pday. Sister McGuire is on the far right :) She's my spirit animal!
**hint... hint... Sister Turner averages 2 letters a week... want to know what I average a week? Zero. The answer is zero.**
No comments:
Post a Comment