Well its another great week here in Souderton. Kinda cool to find out that you and Dad had been to Doylestown before, we still go there since the chapel is there. So itll be fun to think about you being there before!
Well this week was fun. We had Zone Training, which is where all of the missionaries in the zone come together and the Zone Leaders and the Sister Training Leaders train on what we discussed at Mission Leadership Council the week before. Well we did not have MLC last week because of Elder Andersen coming to do a mission tour and wanting to do MLC with us, so we instead got the subject via conference call 2 days before zone training. Which is fine, but the Zone Leaders do the bulk of the training and so we got our subject the day before.
So that was fun. We were up until 11 planning our portion of the training and then we were up early and on the road to arrive to the meeting early. So it was a lot of sacrifice, but it was so neat because the Lord truly does bless us.
The training went SO well! We were able to base our portion which was: the motivation behind goal setting- love! Off of a quote Sister Carrigan emailed to me last week that really was powerful and I was thinking about for a few days.
"Some people I have had the privilege of working with over the years have had a hard time reconciling the fact that healing requires suffering and yet is a gift from our Savior. How is it that a loving God would allow us to suffer? I have come to realize that my Savior cares more about my growth than He does about my comfort. One evidence of His love is that He does not spare me from the suffering I need for my development and progression, even when I get mad at Him. As a client once told me, “I used to feel guilty for getting mad at God. Then I realized He can handle it.” - Jonathan G. Sandberg, Healing = Courage + Action + Grace"
I love the line that says: the Savior cares more about my growth than He does about my comfort. Because that is what I am called to do as a missionary. I am called to help people grow, to help them get out of their comfort zone and realize that they need to be there in order to achieve all that God has in store for them. But being bold and loving is a great balance, one that every missionary learns.
But it is one that gets good use. For example, we were visiting a family in the ward we are working with. They are making HUGE progress through baby steps, it has been really neat to watch them. But we found out through our conversation that they were drinking de-cafe coffee.... because the elders told them that caffeine was against the word of wisdom.
*Sigh*
Why are there so many things taught incorrectly? Its ridiculous really.
There was that awkward time where Sister Sagers and I were trying to figure out if we address it now, or if we plan it out and address it later, but coordinating this without talking of course because we are in the lesson... well the only thing holding us back was the fear of how they would react, and the spirit told me to start talking, so I did.
So we completely changed our lesson plan and were able to explain that cafeine is not agains the word of wisdom... I had enjoyed a Dr. Pepper that day in fact! But that coffee was, then we were able to talk about the wisdom of God v.s. the wisdom of man. We used the example of smoking cigarettes previously being a perscription from doctors to loose weight, but if we follow Gods commandments we are protected, even before the world understands.
And committed them to stop drinking coffee, that was the scary part. But she responded with: "sisters dont worry, I can stop drinking coffee, that is the least of my worries right now."
So listening to the spirit and caring more about peoples growth than about peoples comfort helps us to show them how much we truly love them. Even when its hard.
This week we also had a cool experience when we were using wifi at the laundry mat to download videos we were wanting to teach with. A woman walked past us a few times before stopping and asking: are you mormons?
GOLDEN QUESTION!
We asked her how she knew the mormons and she launched into her story. Turns out she was living in Arizona and meeting with missionaries there, working towards a baptismal date but then ended up moving out here suddenly and has been looking for the mormons for over a month.
Coincidence?
I think not!
Tender Mercy! It was neat. We exchanged info and decided we would set up a time to meet next week at church. So we text her on Saturday to make sure she is coming, yup! She is.
Then Sunday morning comes, and we get a text that her car battery is dead. DANG YOU SATAN. So we grab the ward mission leader and we both start calling members to see who could pick up her and her daughter, then she text us and says she got it jumped. So we tell her to come to church, we can jump to get her home. So she is running late, we get through sacrament meeting and see we have a missed call from her. We call her and she is only minutes away and asked if it was okay that she brought her friends daughter with her. During sacrament meeting her friend had been checked into the hospital and she was watching her daughter for her.
So she fought to come to church and got there in time for Sunday School to start. And boy did she need church yesterday! She had awesome questions and you could tell that the things that were shared really had touched her.
So all in all, she is a miracle! We are so excited. We had a quick lesson with her last night and then we are seeing her again tonight. She is so ready for this gospel! She is in a rough situation though, so we are doing what we can to help her.
She needs this, and it has just been so cool to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways. Everything is panning out how it needs to for her at the right times. What more could you ask for?!
Man. Life is good!
Then Sunday after church, we went and were drawing with sidewalk chalk in a park. We have been trying to figure out different ways to find people instead of just knocking doors. So we thought if we went to a park and started drawing with sidewalk chalk about mormon.org, or temples, or familes etc. then people could read it after we left, but we would probably get some kids that wanted to draw with us, which would give us an opportunity to talk to some parents :) And it WORKED!
We had a cute little girl come over and draw with us. We were able to talk to her dad, explain a little about who we were, what we were doing out here and what we believed. He ended up taking a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet. He lives out of our area, but as he was walking away he said "Ive been looking for some enlightenment recently."
It makes you feel good to know that you are in the right place at the right time, helping people find the truth and deepen their understanding of the Role of their Savior in their lives.
This is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.
And well, my iPad is acting up so I need to email everyone from the library today, and we have to run soon. But I Love you all! Thank you for your emails, letters, love and support. I love and appreciate you all! Your prayers are felt all the way over here!
LOVE YOU!
Love, Sister Wilson
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