hello one & all!
This week has been really good. Things
are going SUPER well with M, our Chinese investigator. She is
GOLDEN! She's progressing so stinkin' fast. Her baptism is scheduled
for Saturday, March 14. She wants her son to be baptized as
well, but he doesn't know English much so tonight we're going over
with the Chinese elders so they can teach him. She's been to church
twice now & doesn't look like she'll be slowing down anytime
soon. She's one of us now ;)
Last Monday we had zone activity. We
played "indian ball" which is pretty much just ultimate
frisbee but with a football. It was super fun, especially because it
started raining! After a while we all went inside & I played
"around the world" with some of the elders. You should see
me, I'm better than some (sometimes all) of the elders. I'm pretty
good at shooting; they're all surprised, haha. Then we had dinner at
home with mama B & E. E made some delicious enchiladas :)
Tuesday we had a lesson with M in
the morning. It was awesome. Then we had district meeting where I had
to give a training on chapter 2 in Preach My Gospel, "live what you learn"
and "studying and teaching" or something like that. I guess
it was good, idk. Then we went home and had to finish weekly planning
that we were supposed to finish on Friday. We had to do more this
week because we had to update all of our less actives and put new
information about them. It took FOREVER. But it's really, really super
duper important to have an updated Area Book so you remember what you
have done/who you have seen & so other missionaries will know
that too.
We had dinner at the K's!! DELICIOUS food. she's an
amazing cook! I love them! Then we were supposed to have a lesson
with C at the church, but of course he didn't show up. We haven't
seen him in so long! Sister K hasn't even met him, so that goes
to show how long it's been. (over 9 weeks). Then we went to visit a
less active in our ward, Sister L, who recently broke her foot,
so we've been going over to visit about twice a week. She's a very
pessimistic & cynical person, so we try to brighten her day and
help her be more positive by telling her the miracles that we have
seen that day & asking what miracles she's seen. We've already
seen a change in her!
Wednesday we had another lesson with
M. We taught her the Plan of Salvation. She absorbed it really
well. AMAZING THING: that night her son couldn't sleep and asked her
to tell him a story & so she told him the Plan of Salvation!!!
How incredible is that?! He was asking a bunch of silly questions she
said, but it's all SO new to him he doesn't know! Then we had a great
lesson with J. She's progressing really well. Since her &
her bf have broken up, she's been at church a lot more & looks
different. Better. We put a bunch of sticky notes on her door
reminding her to pray and to read her scriptures. Then we had to
finish our planning........tell me about it.
Then we went to see the Bs. Mama
B & Sister B have been hanging out a bit & she told her she
wants to find Jesus. We're going to try to ask her if she wants to
take the lessons. We're not sure if she's ready yet, but we'll see. We had dinner at the H's and then we went to try people.
There's a less active/part member family, where she is a
member, her husband is not, they have 2 sons age 3 & 1 1/2. We
hadn't been able to meet them for a few weeks, but they pulled into
their driveway right when we got there. We ended up talking with them
for about 30 minutes out in their driveway. It was amazing because
the husband I saw was wearing a Detroit Tigers hat so we
were able to connect on that and talk about the Tigers, Red Wings,
and a little about UofM and MSU. His dad is from Detroit, so he's a
big Detroit sports fan. It was awesome!! They're an incredible
family. Hopefully we'll be able to meet with them this week &
start teaching them :)
Thursday we did service at the thrift
store then had a lesson with M and her daughter S. We taught them
about hope & faith & how they take action. We did a little
activity with S. We had a basketball & said we hope that it
gets in the hoop, but in order for that to happen, we need to take
some action in getting it there. It was really cool because she tried
to shoot it, but kept missing, so I showed her another way to throw
it (granny shot) and she made it first try! It was cool to relate
that to the hope & faith we need to have in Jesus Christ. Then we
went home and had lunch then went to the library for mormon.org.
We were supposed to have dinner at the C's but Sister C
had the amazing opportunity to go see Elder Jeffrey R. Holland speak
at a nearby college. I was SO JEALOUS. He's my favorite! But she made
us dinner & we picked it up & ate it at home :)
Friday we got to weekly plan AGAIN! It
took forever again....mainly because we had so much planning to do
for M & what we need to do to reach her baptismal date of
March 14th. We were pretty much inside all day, then went to see
people. We met a less active, 18yr old, J. She's super friendly.
Her neighbor is one of our investigators, so we stopped in to see her
& she pretty much unloaded on us about the troubles she's having
with her husband. She is having trust issues, because he's been lying
to her. We helped her as much as we could, pretty much just telling
her to pray. He ended up coming home when we were there. It wasn't
too awkward though. She introduced us to him & told him that she
really wants to meet with us and learn more. They're coming on a
church tour tomorrow. We decided to just have dinner at 8 because we
were eating at home anyway, so we got home at 8 had dinner, then
planned at 9 & went to bed.
Saturday we went into the canyon &
tried potentials. It was a weird Saturday. Most Saturdays people are
home & we get a lot of doors to open, but this Saturday was
different. Barely any doors opened. At 2 we had a lesson with M.
teaching her tithing & fast offerings.
Then we went to see Sister
L again. We shared with her the Christlike attribute of
charity/love. We gave her an activity to do. It's like a self
evaluation of how charitable & loving you are, along with each
question, there's a scripture. It's in Preach My Gospel, but you can
find it online. After her, we went to see the Bs. They're a very
sweet, old couple. Sister B spoils us! She's given us money to buy
shoes & skirts. We're not really supposed to take it, but she
insisted. She wouldn't allow us not to take the money.
They're less active too. But really the only reason they don't come
to church is because it's been a long time since they've been &
she's simply scared. she's scared of people's reactions. It's sad
really, because as a ward council we talk about them & how
everyone would LOVE to see them back at church. We keep telling her
that, but she's still scared. They also say they'll try to make it,
but haven't yet. hopefully before I get transferred they will.
Fast and testimony Sunday was amazing. The Spirit was so strong with the testimonies that were borne. The
H family (she just had a baby and they have another son; the ones who speak Italian & spanish to their boys)
blessed the baby, and her mom bore her testimony in Spanish.
I got maybe 40% of what she was saying, but it was still so
spiritual. We ate dinner at the B's & then had ward
coordilation.
I got a priesthood blessing by Brother H & it
was amazing. I've been concerned and worried about whether I'm doing
what I'm supposed to be doing, MEANING am I going to the right areas? am I
visiting the right people at the right times? for some reason it's
been harder than usual, but in my blessing it said, "have the
assurance that you are doing what you're supposed to be doing, when
you are doing it, and where you are doing it" it was amazing.
Something that I've been thinking about lately is making sure to
follow every prophetic counsel, even if it seems impossible. With
sacrifice comes blessings. Lately I've become addicted to watching
General Conference. I watch it every chance I get hahaha. love you
all so much. I'm praying for you.
xoxo Sister Viraldo
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