Hi Family!!
Oh my gosh, so this week has been and is going to be AWESOME! First off yesterday we were in the "batcave" aka computers teaching people, calling referrals on the phones. You know, the usual Temple Square missionary stuff. We were supposed to do service from 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. but it was canceled since the weatherman predicted a huge was storm approaching. BUT then at 2 p.m. we were all paged that we needed to leave the Square immediately since the storm coming was a huge blizzard with winds up to 50 mph. I guess it is the biggest storm in 20 years. Anyway so we all were sent home! We were all excited and I felt a little bad for being so happy not to be working and talking to people. But I got over it really quick... until we got home and I realized that I had nothing to do. I love Jesus the Christ and all (no seriously, I do) but after an hour I don't know what else to do. So I took a nap and then decided to try my hand at making bread. It was my first time attempting this on my own and, if I do say so myself, it was comparable to the Lion House. So back to the storm - I guess we were expecting a lot more since we were sent home but it was still a storm. There was a ton of snow and the wind was blowing. The temperature dropped from the 40s to just 5 degrees within a few hours. So that happened yesterday; today is p-day, and tomorrow we are having Thanksgiving festivities!!! So basically this added up to be the best three days ever!
Ok, onto more spiritual matters and less apostate thoughts, as the Sisters here would call it. We worked super hard this week and managed to exceed our zone's goals for new investigators, progressing investigators and IRCs (which is where the people meet with missionaries and have a second appointment). Our district leader was very proud of us and asked Sister Belleza and me to role play our companionship study during district meeting - because apparently we are doing something right. I said sure and then Sister Belleza looked at me like I had just sentenced her to death - she hates getting up in front of people. Oh well, we do what we are asked. But hopefully we can keep up the faith and diligence to do better this next week.
So amazing story: We planned to talk to a man by the flagpole at 10 a.m. (That is how we plan.) and so we walk over there the next morning and see a man in a running outfit reading all of the quotes behind the flagpole. We start talking to him - long story short this man was a branch president where two of our investigators live! We told him all about them and he then proceeded to call both the missionaries and check up on when they were meeting these investigators (since our investigators hadn't been visited yet). I asked, "Can we do this?" It seemed like we were cheating. He responded, "You obey the rules and I will go by the spirit" so he got those missionaries to visit our people sooner! It was meant to be! Afterwards we talked about how the Lord puts us in the path of others so that everything works out. Funny thing is he was on his morning run, suddenly he got really tired and decided to take a 10 minute break at Temple Square and then we found him. He was visiting for Thanksgiving. We were meant to find him! Scary yet cool to think that as much control as I think I have over my life we are prompted to do things and we don't know why - or we don't even feel prompted to do things and it ends up we were where we were supposed to be! So just keep being obedient and the Lord will put us where he wants us. Easier said than done, right? Haha.
Anyway we met a family that just moved to Utah from California. As we showed them around Temple Square they opened up and told us that ever since they have moved here they and their children have been shunned by their neighbors because they aren't members. They asked us if our religion preaches that in church. I nearly died. We took them to the Humanitarian/ Good Samaritan section and explained what the core foundation of our Church is based on: Love and Service. They ended up referring for missionaries! We honestly don't know why but we are not complaining. We are teaching them until the missionaries come. It was just so sad to hear their experiences. They had their Grandma with them and she came up to me after and said, "I see this section and this quote says that we seek to love and help one another, but that is so different to what they have been experiencing. I know that your church must be good and that their neighbors are not living the way they should be." She wants missionaries too. We really worked on pauses this week - letting the spirit speak. We got word from the 1st Presidency that missionaries (everywhere) are horrible teachers: we talk too much and explain more than we need to and smother the spirit. So we have applied this to our lessons and tours and the Spirit testifies and we don't have to work as hard! I can get used to this! Anyway I obviously have not applied being concise in my letters so I will end now and leave you to ponder the message I have shared (that's what we say to our investigators). Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots and watch football for me!
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