So this week went by fast!
I feel as though I haven't done nearly enough yet! Thank goodness we are kept busy; otherwise the
mission would be much more challenging.
So last Monday for P-day our zone played soda golf! Let me preface this by saying that I was
never meant to play golf, but nevertheless I wasn't going to let my inadequate
skills stop me from participating! So I
got a cheap pack of soda from Wal-Mart and the Zone Leaders brought golf clubs. To make it even more interesting, we shook
all the cans before yelling 'FOUR'! I
hit the first one and it sprayed all over me!
The second one was a completely different story. I must've swung at least 15 times before I finally
moved it about an inch. Then I gave up
trying to pretend that I had Tiger Woods skills and just hit it where it stood. By the time the game was over I was covered
in soda and went home later that night scrubbing all the sugar off me in the
shower. But it was a lot of fun! Next time I'll just bring a baseball bat. Good thing Dad used to play baseball with us
when we were younger; at least I have a tendency to hit with my head. Ha-ha!
Better than nothing right?
On Tuesday I had a 3 week checkup -- a.k.a. 'Greenie Training' in Caldwell. It was great!
President Cannon taught a 2 hour lesson and it included another small
lesson by the Assistants to the President -- they had us role play! They treated it as if I haven't done it about
a MILLION times before, ha-ha! But you
know what they say -- practice makes perfect.
So, surprise about our investigators Patricia and Alfredo. When we went to visit, Patricia's sister
opened up and told us that Patricia and Alfredo had left the previous day!! They had left without telling us and others! Her phone had also been deactivated and there
is no way we can get hold of her -- even her family has no idea how to contact
her. This was really sad and frustrating! Patricia had a baptism date that we needed to
push back because she decided that she wants to get married to Alfredo (after
only a short while of dating) and plans on getting married next year. This took us by surprise at the doorstep, so
we decided that since the door was already open that we would come in and talk
to Patricia’s sister and her boyfriend Eddy.
She is an inactive member and he is agnostic. We set up a return appointment with him for
tomorrow and we are anxious to get to know him better. It was sad to realize that we had lost
Patricia, but the Lord has blessed us with 4 more investigators who are headed
for baptism later this month! It's neat
to see how the Lord works in mysterious ways, isn't it?
Friday night was a lot of fun! Our Branch President hosted a BBQ fiesta at
his ranch/paintball field (which we almost got lost finding because it was out
in the middle of nowhere) to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was a rockin' good party! We invited everyone we had appointments with
and each of our investigators to come -- and most of them did! We ate carne asada, chips, fruit salad, and
all sorts of desserts! There was also a
zip line and a cow box cart pulled by the president’s tractor. All of our investigators’ kids absolutely
loved it!
Saturday morning we headed out to the library to help
Carolyn with her insurance claim. (We
met Carolyn from tracting the week before.) Oh man, I hate dealing with insurance agencies! These ones seemed like money hungry
Gaddianton Robbers!!!! Speaking of
mysterious ways and frustrations, Saturday night was one of those hard days. They don't happen very often, but they do happen
occasionally. We visited and/or knocked
on at least 10 doors and not a single person answered. Those were all of our references and people
we had planned to visit, and our backups too!
At the time I hadn't fully appreciated how frustrating it was, but as I
relive the moment now for this email, I realize that it was a rough experience. O well, tis' the life of a missionary! We did get home at 9:00 though, which is a
first! Ha-ha!
During the weekends we always go to visit a recent convert
named Daniel. You may remember me
mentioning him from some of my earlier emails. Anyway, he has a grape tree in his backyard
that looked absolutely dead the last time I saw it. I laughed so hard when he said it would have
grapes by August. Hermana Guti said that
I should have more patience and faith in Daniel's little dead tree. I shrugged it off thinking nothing of it. Then when we visited him, we went to the
backyard and his little tree had leaves on it!!
I was really surprised and realized that there’s a lesson here for me. I saw this experience as a testimony of
having real faith. So often missionaries
think that as soon as they get a glimpse of an investigator who doesn't seem
golden, they don't have as much faith in the power and influence that comes
from knowing about the Savior's atonement.
They may shrug these people off and not work as hard because they can’t
see the green leaves that can sprout from simple faith. This made me want to believe in every single
person and never give up on them because if they are important to Heavenly
Father, they should be just as important to us as missionaries.
Sunday night (Mother’s Day) was my favorite because I got to
Facetime with my family at home! It was
great talking to y'all! Time just flew
by and it felt like 10 minutes instead of 45!
I can’t wait to call home for Christmas!
I will have everything that I want to say written out and I promise to
be more organized next time, ha-ha!
Have a good week everyone and Feliz Cinco de Mayo and Dia de
las Madres!
Hermana Moss :)
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