Last week, our Bishop gave us a list of names of people he wanted us to make contact with. We have been out every day since. I am finally experiencing what it feels like to be a missionary. It's also an eye opener to see how people live, and learn more about them and their situations. It's sad to meet people who haven't had any contact from the Church, and not because they didn't want contact. We met a girl who is 30 years old and is dying of terminal cancer. She is in a nursing home on hospice. She is the sweetest, most humble person we have met. She has accepted her condition, and is willing to accept the Lord's will in her life. I just pray that she doesn't have to suffer long. She has a roommate who was happy to meet us and when she found out we were from the same Church her roommate was from she got excited. She said she has been looking for a Church for the past 40+ years. We invited her to go to Church with us. She gladly accepted. Yesterday, we went and picked her up and took her to Church with us. She is in a wheel chair. We were surprised that she stayed for the whole block. But she loved it. The day we met her I was wearing my favorite dress(jumper)with short sleeve shirt. She couldn't quit saying how beautiful my dress was. So when we went to pick her up for Church, I took along my jumper and shirt and gave it to her to wear. (I actually gave it to her to keep)!!! She was so thrilled!! The Sister Missionaries are going to visit with her this coming Thursday. It will be their 3rd meeting with her. Yesterday, Sunday, we took dinner to a sister who had just had a baby. She wasn't home....but her husband was. We found out he wasn't a member. But he was one of the nicest people we've met He told us because of his work schedule, he wasn't able to go to Church, but that would be changing in about a month, and then he would start going. He expressed his desire to get baptized. It will be interesting to see what happens Today, we took dinner to a Sister from Argentina. She has a husband and 3 children....but they are all less active They were very active in Church until she got a job that required her to work Sundays. Because she was the strong one in the family, the rest of them quit going. She has cancer for the 3rd time. She has had breast cancer..ovarian cancer....and now she has breast cancer again. Glenn gave her a blessing. Her mother was visiting her. We see her mother at Church every Sunday. A cute little story. Her mother has a Cocker Spaniel When Glenn was giving the daughter a blessing, the dog laid on the floor with it's legs stretched forward with his hit down on his legs. When Glenn was done, her mother explained that every time she prays, her dog always gets in that position. This sweet sister had a biopsy last week, and she will find out this week what the results are. She has decided to have a 2nd Mastectomy because she doesn't want to go through breast cancer again She is such a sweet humble person. Just like her mother.
We went to visit a man who was the only member. He was in the bedroom asleep.. As we were leaving, his wife came home, and proceeded to tell us that he had been in a motorcycle accident 4 years earlier and suffered from traumatic brain injuries. She said he hasn't been the same since. She and his son have tried to take him to Church, but she said he suffers with depression. She invited us back. So we are looking forward to going back and meeting him. We also visited some homes that were so filthy. It's so hard to believe that people live like that. I know that if these people believed that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them....it might change their situations. We have also been to see a sister 3 times. We know she is home because she is disabled and she looked out the blinds, and then wouldn't answer the door!! I told Elder Tefteller that next time we went I was going to take cookies. So we went back yesterday and I was holding a bag of cookies. Same thing, she wouldn't answer the door. There are alot of Polynesians in this area. They are the most humble and genuinely nice people we've encountered.
It's a wonderful feeling for me to bear my testimony to these people, and to let them know of their Heavenly Father's love for them. I have the best companion!! He always knows the right things to say! I'm a little more shy, in that I want to get to know them, before I start encouraging them to go back to Church. But my Bold Missionary always invites them to come back right off the bat!!! One day I'll be just like him!! I love this Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the Lord's Church has been restored in these Latter days and I am so thrilled to be a part of it I am so grateful to be here with my sweetheart serving together. I've decided that side from serving others, especially the less active, I am going to be doing a lot of cooking and baking. I am glad that is something I love to do. I really never thought before I came out here that that is something I would be doing a lot of! I told Glenn I think our Mission budget is going up:):) Until next time...read your scriptures!!!!
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