June 29, 2015 Email

No, I can't believe it's almost July!! Time is just flying by. Yup, I hit my 8 month mark this week.....wow!

Yeah, meeting with our investigators has been tough lately. We don't know what's going on with A. We try to call her house...no answer. We text F (her mom's bf)...no answer. Repeat. We're gonna try to make cookies or something and bring them over. 

To answer your question about gates, I'm not sure why everyone has gates here. Partly I think it's to keep their 5+ dogs in. Partly it's because they don't want to be bothered. It is strange & makes it difficult to do missionary work.

This week was a bit better as far as lessons went. We were able to have a lesson with M on Wednesday. We talked about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, prayer & receiving answers to prayers by the Holy Ghost. We started the lesson by singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer". Sister Wagner can sing & so we sing all the time now :))) Then we watched the Restoration video & asked her what she thought about it. She said she's kind of in the same boat as Joseph was...trying to find what is right. We committed her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true. And we also committed her to baptism! She said "I don't see why not" & set a date for July 25! Unfortunately, she wasn't at church this week, but one COOL thing is that when we told Sister H about M coming to church, she said "maybe I should go with her".  Let me remind you, the Hs haven't been to church in 2+ years due to being offended. This is a BIG DEAL. Well, Sister H didn't come yesterday either, BUT we visited them last night and she asked "Did M come to church today? Next week I'll go with her. I can imagine it being hard going to church by yourself."  This. Is. Happening. I have faith that it will!! 

Another cool thing happened this week. Background:  When I first got to Phelan, like the 2nd day, we tried to find a less active family, the Burns. We couldn't find them after trying a few times throughout the next 3 months. This week we were trying a different less active family & came to a familiar street. "Hmm I've never been here before. Valle Vista ct....THE BURNS LIVE HERE!" Yup, we accidentally found the Burns house & Bro. Burns was outside! They love the missionaries and want to feed us, so yay. 

Saturday we decided to start something new called the 'Saturday Special'. This week we chose to go to Stater Bros parking lot & contact! We prepared ourselves spiritually & mentally to "FEAR NO MAN". We got to Stater Bros & fear started to creep in...  Nevertheless, we got out & talked to a guy who was putting groceries in his car. He was super chilllllllll...so chill he had a Bob Marley tattoo on his shoulder. He not only accepted our card, he said "oh you know it!" hahaha. So we had planned 1 hr for our Saturday Special & ended up being there for just 10 minutes....and then we went tracting! 

We chose a neighborhood & knocked each door, about 5 houses down. Nobody was home until we knocked the next one & a lady answered the door. As I was giving the door contact, she seemed like she just wanted to argue. She asked a few questions like "is the book of Mormon mentioned in the Bible?" & others I can't seem to think of right now. I answered all her questions, solely thanks to the Holy Ghost. I had no idea what I was saying; I just opened my mouth & words came out. That's the miracle of missionary work! She accepted a Book of Mormon & said she'll read & pray. What I thought was at first someone who just wanted to argue actually was interested in our message! Way cool. 

Saturday night we had dinner with Sammie & Josh A. Josh's nonmember brother, A, was there. During dinner he was asking a few questions about what we do as missionaries. After dinner we watched "His Grace" about a guy who grew up in the church, went on a mission, and after awhile lost his way because he stopped reading the scriptures, praying, going to church etc. Eventually he knew that everything he tried to do, such as partying & other worldly things, to replace a void he had in his life never worked. He thought back to how he felt on his mission & while reading the scriptures & knew he had to change. We had a really great discussion about the video afterward & A was telling us how he drinks socially with his friends trying to be happy, but it never works. I bore testimony that the thing that's missing in his life is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I've met so many people who just aren't happy. There's something missing in their life & they don't know what it is. I've never had this feeling in my life. I grew up with the gospel in my life & I can fully attribute that to my lack of having that missing piece in my life. I know that the gospel is the key to filling the void in everyone's lives. 

A is moving in with Sammie & Josh, so hopefully as we go & visit them weekly he will sit in on the lessons & feel the Spirit touch him & fill the hole that is missing. 

That's about it for this week! I love you & thanks for always writing me! Emails from others have been scarce lately.... 

xoxo Sister Viraldo