8-31-15

We're not emailing at our normal location, so I'm a little flustered & on a time limit... Although I have my planner sitting in front of me, I remember next to nothing about this whole last week. I will do my very best!

Yes, this is the last week of the transfer. I don't know what's happening, but I'll find out Saturday & let you know on Monday! ACTUALLY that reminds me...the libraries will be closed on Monday for Labor Day, so I'll be emailing on Tuesday!!

Tuesday we did some tracting. We picked a street on our map the night before & decided to knock some doors. We didn't have any luck, but one funny thing happened...

We walked up to a gate that appeared locked, so we put our card in it & started to walk away...as I noticed the lock wasn't actually locked! We opened the gate & cautiously walked in to ensure the dog was friendly. A lady came to the door and said "How the (heck) did you get on my property??" We said, "we opened the gate". "Well, never do that again." This was the first experience I've had with someone swearing at us (I think). BUT the story doesn't end there. Later that night we had a missed call & voicemail from a private number. & guess who it was! That lady that yelled at us earlier that day. & no she didn't call to yell at us more, but to apologize for "snapping" at us! That's unheard of. That must've taken a lot of courage & humility. Pretty neat.

Sorry, I'm going to skip ahead to Saturday...

Saturday we were on exchanges! Sister Wagner stayed in Phelan & Sister Prows came with her. I went to Hesperia with Sister Ostlund & their temporary companion, Sister Brentlinger. It was a GREAT day! I learned soo much from both of them! My goal for the exchange was to testify more often & to be more bold & assertive rather than sit back & not say much because it's not "my area". It's really easy to let the sister whose area it is to do all of the talking, but I didn't want to do that anymore. No matter what area you are serving, you're still a missionary, set apart with the same authority, therefore you have the right to exercise the same power as if it was your own proselyting area.

We did service with their ward in the morning and then went home for studies. Later we visited a less active couple. The lady got REALLY excited when I told her I'm from Michigan. She went to Mackinac Island like 30 some yrs ago & still thinks it's the best vacation she's ever been on. 

We did some tracting as well & met some really cool people. That morning for companion study we sang "Did You Think to Pray" all 3 of us doing different parts & it sounded SO GOOOD. So we decided to use that throughout the day. We ended up singing it twice with people we met. It's so amazing to be able to use music to bring the spirit into the message we share.

One of the most impactful things I learned while on exchanges was asking questions & NOT being a robot. It's so easy to get into a rote door approach, but that's not what people are going to connect to. They connect to real people. I'm learning (slowly) how to talk with people & make connections with them. It's so cool because that's a skill I won't just use on my mission, but throughout my life. 

Sunday we had Stake Conference. Since there's too many people in our stake to fit into the stake center, a couple wards broadcast it & Phelan was one of them. Besides the few technical glitches, it was such a great conference! Maybe I'm biased though because the first 2 speakers were our mission president & his wife, President & Sister Hobbs! I never get tired of hearing their inspiring messages. The main topic I got out of the meeting was the importance & BLESSING of having a living prophet on the earth! A prophet is one of the way Heavenly Father shows His love to His children. It truly shows that He is the same yesterday, today & forever. His words have not ceased with the Bible, or even with the Book of Mormon, but He continues to speak to His prophets today for the benefit of the world we live in. What a huge blessing that is! I'm so grateful there is a living prophet today who speaks for God & that I still have the opportunity to receive PERSONAL revelation & inspiration for myself. 

This week I've had sort of a theme for my studies & that is the word BECOME. It is such a powerful word. Think about it: why are we here on earth? What is our purpose? It is to BECOME like our Savior, Jesus Christ. To BECOME the person Heavenly Father knows we can. There's such a difference between doing & BECOMING. Going on a mission & BECOMING a missionary. As we learn of Christ & His teaching & apply them into our life, we begin to BECOME like Him & what a joy that is! :)

I love this gospel. I know it's true & everyone can know that too. There is absolute truth here on earth & God wants us to seek it out & ask Him.

Thanks for your love & prayers!!

xoxo Sister Viraldo