Hello!
This week was great! Another adventure for Sister Anderson in Eastvale, California!
This week was incredibly hot. It got up to 109 degrees. It's fine I like riding my bike in that heat and being never not sweaty :) We just have to embrace it basically because we don't have a choice. That is how we get into some people's homes though. I'm sure we look so awful and gross so they are forced to let us in for some water :) There is one family, the County family, that we came across tracting one day. They are Christian and just go to a Christian church. We keep stopping in for water and that's how we have our lessons because they won't schedule an actual lesson with us. So we're working on them haha. We also have a great new investigator that is MY first. The other ones we have were all here when I got here, but this girl, Mandy, is one that all three of us found. She is 23? and has a fiancé, smokes, has a little girl, and is in a rough time in her life. We found her doing harvest blessings and she just bawled through the whole thing. Since then we have taught her a couple lessons and she is super open to everything we say and she really seems to be accepting it so far. She has a friend named Jen that will sometimes sit in on the lessons. We have given them both a Book of Mormon and they both love it! I can really see a good turn out with them and see them getting baptized. However, they will take a lot of work, especially with the Word of Wisdom and Chastity, so we are keeping them in our prayers.
On Friday we had our Trainer and Trainee Meeting at the mission home. That was really good and I got to see all of my MTC friends again before the mission split! That was really fun to see them and we all learned a lot from President and Sister Smart. They are definitely inspired people and are perfect for this calling.
This weekend, Eastvale had a "Picnic in the Park" for the Fourth of July. We had a booth there that some of the missionaries worked at. It was SO HOT. Sweat was seriously just dripping down all of our faces. It was pretty miserable, but we had some good chances to talk to people and now have some potential investigators from it! There was one 16 year old boy that tried to bash with us. He had been a member till he was 14 then fell away. He was very knowledgeable about the Bible and about Joseph Smith. There were many times that he thought he had a good point and then someone would say something and he had nothing to say back. All of us were so filled with the spirit that at some point, he got really emotional and told us all that we are being lied to and we are wasting our time doing this. He challenged us to challenge our testimony and to challenge the church to know if what we are doing is right. After that, almost in unison, we all said "We have! That's why we're here!" It was such a great experience because everything he would say we all had a comeback and that just helped my testimony grow so much stronger. That I do know that I'm not wasting my time and that I am doing this for a purpose. It made me so sad that he was so lost but I think we got to him at least a little bit.
Sunday we got a new bishopric which will be good to start fresh with all new people. Even though I didn't have very long to get to know the old bishopric, it was still an emotional and spiritual meeting. Maybe because my emotions have been so high since I've been here. Sacrament meeting made me miss all of you. There was a family that was sitting in front of us that the kids wouldn't leave each other alone and they eventually had to get up and rearrange their seating spots just like we do so the kids aren't by each other :) I was trying not to laugh but then I realized how much I miss everyone. It's okay though! I'll come back soon :)
I love being a missionary and I love being in a trio! My companions are the greatest and I get along with them so well. Seriously Sister Nelson and I are basically the same person and I think we had the same life before our missions too haha. It's kinda weird but we will be friends for life :) Sister Pack is just hilarious and we are always laughing. It's so much fun :)
I'm so glad I have this opportunity to wear this little black badge over my heart everyday. It gives me so much strength and power. I hardly want to take it off when I go to bed! (I wore it to bed at night in the MTC but realized that was weird when I got to California....) I LOVE IT. I love being able to tell multiple people everyday that I am a representative of Jesus Christ and that what we know can bring happiness and peace into their lives. It is such a rush when they say yes and want to learn more. I have this automatic love for everyone I talk to and I just want to help everyone that doesn't have this gospel.
Thank you for all your support and love! I love you all and pray for you every single night. Don't forget about me and ALWAYS know that I love you and love this gospel!
With much love,
Sister Anderson
p.s. If you want your mind blown... Read Moses 1. The Pearl of Great Price is INSANE.
No comments:
Post a Comment