Monday, February 4, 2013

bob!

thank you for the email :)

it always makes me so happy to hear from you. i can always hear your voice in your letters! hahaha :) thank you!

so yes i do remember jeremy. that is very funny that you talked to him! we tried and tried to set up a return appointment with him but he insisted that we would be wasting our time because he isnt religious and he never got into the whole "god thing". well. we will definitely be going back now :) eh eh eh.

this week had its ups and downs! definitely one of the best and without a doubt the hardest week so far!

one miracle we saw this week happened on tuesday. we went to visit a less active member of the ward. he didnt answer the door, so we tracted around his house for a short time. we were about to get into our car and drive to the next destination when s caffall decided we needed to knock on one more door. so we did. a woman opened up the door. through the screen door she asked what we wanted. we asked if we could share a message with her. she replied with a quick "no thanks" and slammed the door. it had snowed the night before and the snow on her drive way was still untouched. so we retrieved our shovels from the car and shoveled her drive way. it didnt take long and we enjoyed it. as we were walking back to the car, we heard her yell from her house- "girls?.... come here." we walked back. she asked if we were with the latter day saints. we replied with a yes. "come in!" she happily said. after we went in, she immediately gave us raspberry lemon-aid and raspberry cheese cake and explained that she thought we were jehova's witnesses, but when she saw us shoveling, she knew we werent. hahahahahaha oh that made us laugh. turns out this woman, named nancy lynch, had parents who joined the church a few years back. (they have both gone the way of all the earth now.) she told us that she was considering joining the church and that us coming must be "divine intervention". wow! we agreed! this was a wonderful day. needless to say, she is now a new investigator.

on friday, ines (jackie's mom) cancelled our appointment to teach her that day. not only that, but she said she didnt want to have any lessons from us any more! we were crushed. she then texted us that jackie "may not be baptized tomorrow, she needs more time." we called jackie who told us that her mom showed her some bible verses that "disprove" joseph smith. her mom also is now denying that she got an answer to the bom and that joseph smith saw what he saw. now jackie is confused. thats all we heard from them. we tried to talk to them over the phone and in person but ines wouldnt let it happen. jackies phone got turned off. we didnt really know what was going on and we were left in the dark about it. we were petty crushed. we had to call off the baptism.

saturday was tough at first, but then we started to receive many blessings. we were able to help an investigator paint her house for a couple hours. that helped get our minds off it. then we were able to help a sick investigator. then we came home for about 15 minutes. when we came home, there was a package from dave. i wasnt expecting it. it really helped a lot. there is stuff for me in there and also a present and a note for s caffall. it was perfect timing really.

also there was a letter from you, bob. it was so great to read and it came with a picture of christ consoling a little girl. you must be in tune with the spirit mom. it was perfect timing and just what i needed. thank you so much bob. it was a huge blessing for me. thank you. i wish i could tell you how much you mean to me!

that night we were able to get in touch with a woman we have been really trying to meet with. she ended up letting us in and really opening up. she is having a really hard time and she is in a terrible situation. we talked to her about how the gospel can help and she seemed really interested. her name is also jackie. this was a tender mercy from heavenly father. this woman, without knowing it, really helped us have a better perspective and she helped us think outside of ourselves. we were able to make a return appointment with her and she is now a new investigator.

i felt a lot better that night because i know that god has not forgotten about jackie duran.  (the younger jackie who was going to get baptized.) turns out ines got anti ed by her pastor. then ines shared it with jackie. jackie has relatives who are lds. things will get better and she will be able to make the covenant of baptism eventually. jackie texted us at 1 am sunday morning telling us that we can still meet with her :).  things will turn out for jackie. i know this because heavenly father has not forgotten her. definitely a bitter-sweet week.

i hope this hasnt been too confusing. i am no good at being coherent, especially when i cant re read what a typed.

anyway.

i love this work and it is going well. today at 8 we are doing exchanges. i am going to be with sister davis, who came out to the field only 4 weeks ago. that means i will have to be the senior companion for the day! yikes! we wont be with our companions for  24 + 13 hours. whatever that equals! i hope i do a good job! sounds like a bad idea but it will be good i am sure :)

well bob, thank you again for all that you do. thank you for the love and support!

love you bye