Monday, June 30, 2014

Life's a dance you learn as you go

Today I learned that my hope comes from stories. Scriptures, family history, memories, books, pictures: stories. (I feel this would be an effective 2 voice poem ;) ahhh those were the days. Soyoung is from Korea. She and her fiancee came to church yesterday, and it was miraculous. They enjoyed it. She took notes in her korean book of mormon during the entire meeting. It was wonderful. Kenneth is from here, and he never wanted to come back ever again, because people here can be straight up racist. (False traditions of their fathers) So, when we approached him and he was at his lowest low, he felt like Heavenly Father sent him angels. Angels outside the library in Dunn, NC. Pretty neat. I love the people of North Carolina. I feel my perspective morphing into a strange, versatile thing. I have a harder time defining my experiences, and the people I meet and talk with. Life isn't what I thought it was. There is more to it than I even now know. When I talk with strangers, I like to think about how much Heavenly Father loves them, and wants them to be successful, and wants them to find joy in this life. Satan works pretty hard. I don't feel bad for him. He knows exactly what he's doing, and he is evil. We were driving along the country roads, and I was singing in my head the John Denver song, and Miss Dot was driving and telling us about how Erwin and Dunn have changed since she was little. And I looked out the window at these strange green plants; I had been noticing that field after field of these strange green plants were speeding by, and I didn't know what plant it was, so I asked Miss Dot, and she says "Haven't you ever seen a tobacco field, Sister?" Wow. Culture shock. So, I feel I am becoming more educated (: We were told before we came out that swimming would be forbidden. On the contrary, we sweat so much, I feel that swimming is all we do out here. Yummmmy humidity. Feels like walking through a fluffy pillow (: Well, I love you all. Scripture of the week has been Mosiah 7:33. The Lord's timing is... not my favorite. BUT I am trying to bend my will, and hoping it will become my favorite soon (: Love, Sister B

Monday, June 23, 2014

Malolelei

It's been another great week in Dunn, NC! We are tremendously blessed when we are obedient to the Lord. The week started with a whirlwind: packing, cleaning and preparing for our new sister. I was bent and determined to vacuum the car before she got here, so getting that done a bit was a relief (: Tuesday morning, we left at 7am for Raleigh, and I got to learn about how to be a good example (inspired instruction). Right before we met our new sisters, President Bernhisel mentioned that she pronounces her name: Oh-LEE-veh, and I had to laugh. I said "well, we're two peas in a pod." It's nice to have a companion whose name is harder to pronounce than mine is hehe. It's actually spelled: Olive. So we have an olive and a butcher, nearly a round meal. We have gotten along great since the get go. Sister Olive comes from San Francisco, and she's Tongan, so she teaches me a lot about how to be pc and relax and go with the flow. It's very good, since I tend to stress out about being a good missionary etc. and she knows just what to say to put things in perspective. I am looking forward to this week, since she will be cooking me some tongan food (: I feel Zac should be jealous about this... Brother Pipkin had a very spiritual experience with us when we taught about patriarchal blessings. He changes every time we see him, he is becoming more peaceful and confident in the Lord's plan for him. We are excited for the changes he is making! He has gone almost a full week without smoking, and we fasted with him to help him curb his addiction. I think we often underestimate the power of fasting and prayer. We had a great experience this week with finding. We made a commitment to be early to every appointment on Friday, and to leave on time. When we arrived at our first appointment 5 minutes early, and were making a few calls, a neighbor of the less active woman walked out of her trailer, and over to her truck. She climbed in the truck to get something out of the bed, and tripped and fell. We quickly pulled up, and went over to help her. When we got over there, she looked relieved; she stopped calling for help, and began speaking with us. We introduced ourselves, offered assistance, and then explained to her that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We taught about the Book of Mormon and read with her. She eagerly accepted an invitation to read it, and meet with us again this week! We are amazed at the blessing Heavenly Father provided as we sought to be exactly obedient. There is NO WAY we will ever again let ourselves be late!! Funny how the Lord is really targeting my weaknesses, and helping me become strong. I am grateful for the atonement. Ether 12:27. Love, Sister B

Monday, June 9, 2014

Desires

"Wherefore if ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work." D&C 4:5

It is always a joy to see your desires being realized. One very obvious lesson learned over the past few months is that the Lord's ways are not my ways. 

We have the funniest ward mission leader. He is an army guy with 7 kids, and a firey testimony. He talks with us a lot about lining our will up with the Lords. A couple Sundays ago, he was teaching in Gospel Principles about Agency, and how the Lord lets us help in His work, even when we can't do much. He compared missionary work to an experience he had with his oldest son, Peyton. When Peyton was 3, he saw his dad working on a car, and wanted to help. He found his little plastic toy hammer and hard hat and eagerly came out to the carport. With great hopes, he asked his dad if he could help. His dad smiled, and nodded, and Peyton commenced tapping the front fender with all the joy and muster he could. 

I often feel like I am doing a great work, when really, I am learning to take part in the great work of the Lord. It is really good to know that our desires are in the right place as we try to line our will up with His. We are finally beginning to see some fruit as the ward joins with us to hasten the work. Members are the only missionaries, as far as I'm concerned.

I got the picture for you all, so hope you enjoy it (: I dreamed last night that I was showing Gram my bike and telling her how great it was (: It really is a comfy ride. I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I can't wait to hear more of your graduating and massaging, and knitting and color guarding and organ playing and world traveling adventures. The greatest adventure is definitely ministering to our brothers and sisters. I'm glad we share those desires. Together, we must do a bit more than tap on the front fender of the work of salvation (:

Love,
Sister B

p.s. chocolate would not be good to send for the next few months. It is SO HOT. and humid sheesh, I didn't know it could be so uncomfortable to wear long sleeves! (: 

Monday, June 2, 2014

The great part about agency:

What a glorious week. Well, let's have any bad news first, I guess.... um... can't think of any (: That's just how wonderful this week has been! We got to bike down to the post office after emailing on Tuesday, to pick up some of Sister Turley's Birthday packages. I was super excited to test out my carrying rack. We bungeed the packages onto the back of my bike, and took off along the 421 back to our little abode. The honks and waves from people were abundant. They loved to see the Sister missionaries with little packages strapped to the back of their bikes. It was so cute. Sister Turley took a picture, but she forgot her camera cord today, so that's a bummer. Next week. 
Wednesday, I rolled down to Clinton to exchange with the trio of spanish-speaking sisters. 2 exciting firsts. I have never been in a trio, nor taught a lesson in Spanish, so off I went! We saw miracles everywhere we went. I guess miracles just seem more apparent on exchange, since you see the area with fresh eyes. One of our miracles was when we went to contact a potential investigator. She was in the shower, but her husband listened to a brief restoration lesson. We could tell he felt something, but he said he didn't want to learn more. We knew that we had been led to that neighborhood for a reason, so we went ahead and knocked on the next door. The lady we met happened to be the sister of the man we had just met. (This happens frequently, since the country folk like to keep their families close. They often live on streets named after their parents or grandparents.) I immediately wondered if she would have her brother's same reaction, but the Spirit knew otherwise. We listened to her talk about her life and her family, and we testified of eternal families. We were wrapping up, but I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized. So I did. We explained that baptism is part of what we have to do to be with our families again, and she said she would like to be baptized!! We prayed with her, and there were tears in her eyes. As soon as we finished praying she stretched her arms out to us, and said, "Can I have a hug?" We couldn't stop smiling. We exchanged hugs and set up a time to come back the next day. It was a fantastic experience! It is so important for us to focus on the Spirit to teach people how the Lord would teach them.
I admit, my experience teaching Maria en espanol was eye-opening. I understood everything she said, even though I have never learned Spanish! I still couldn't speak it, but the Spirit was strong, and I could understand her. Crazy! Sister Page and Sister Driggs both definitely have the gift of tongues. They have only been out for 3 and 10 weeks, yet they speak very well. 
We had an exciting time trying to save on miles, and decided to walk a mile or so down to another former investigator's home. It just so happened to be the most humid and hot day we have had so far this summer, and we were soaked by the time we got there! It was worth every bit. We met Priscilla at the end of the walk, and she let us in! The Hermanas hadn't been able to get up with her for at least a month, so we rejoiced. Another Miracle!
The last great thing I wanted to share was yesterday. Back in Dunn with Sister Turley, we kept finding and teaching and having a great time. Friday, one of our library contacts gave us a call and said he had been reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to come to church! He not only came yesterday, but bore his testimony of Jesus Christ, and asked Brother Lykins how he could become a member of our church. WOW. 
So, the moral of this week is: never doubt the Lord is preparing people for us to teach. Keep going, even when people say no 70x7 times, because there will be ONE who is ready and searching, and you never know when the others will come around. We met Brother Pipkin (the one who came to church) a week and a half ago before we heard from him, so, you never know. That's the great part about agency (:

Love you all! 
Sister B