It has been another long week and I'm exhausted! I think the
real reason the Lord give us companions is that he knows his missionaries
wouldn't get up at 6:30 if they didn't have a companion telling them to. :) Oh
and the other reason he gives us companions is that we can have off the hook
companionship 4th of July parties. It looks like we'll probably have to be in
early on the 4th, so sister Turley and I are going to have a party, and let me
tell you, this party is going to be like no other! We're talking red and blue
pancakes and bacon, dollar store decorations, and 3 hours of watching The
District missionary training... :)
We had our first exchanges this
week. I stayed in Oak Harbor, and at first I was a little bit nervous because
that meant that I was mainly in charge of planning the day, teaching, and
driving the STL and I everywhere. I developed a new appreciation for how hard
it must have been for Sister Turley to up and start training after being out
only six weeks! I surprised myself and actually did pretty well though. I knew
my way around the area at least. :)
On Tuesday President Wilson
decided to have a last minute training meeting just for the sisters, so we
drove to Everett for that. There are about 40 sisters in the mission right now.
There are 2 more coming in this next transfer, then 17 more coming in in
August.
I realized that I haven't really
told you much about the area I'm in! I've given up on making my letters sound
organized or even fluid, so hopefully you can get used to just reading whatever
comes to my mind next. Which results in me writing a novel. Anyway, Oak Harbor
is mainly older retired couples with lots of money that are happy with their
life and Navy personnel- this makes things tricky because lots of people we
have met either are moving out and the transition time is very short, or being
in the military have caused them to have a stigma against religion- they tell
us that religion is just a way for people to judge each other and start wars.
Which in some ways I can understand their viewpoint, but it's still sad to me
that they feel that way. The other thing about Washington is that it's the second
least church-going state in the Nation. I can't tell you how many atheists
we've met. And for how conscientious everyone is about the environment here,
it's interesting that when it comes to smoking nobody could care less about
their own bodies. It's true what they say about Washington being a very liberal
state. The good thing about that is sometimes we'll meet someone who is super
open to experimenting and learning new things, so we've had a few times that
we've gone back and taught a first lesson just because people are curious. The
spirit will be very strong, then without fail they'll either drop us or they'll
purposely set up a second appointment where they won't be there. It's always
when someone feels the spirit and they realize what that means and they start
to get scared and they immediately back out.
The strawberries here are sooooo
yummy! We have strawberry shortcake at members houses after dinner all the
time, it's the best! Poor Sister Turley doesn't like strawberries. But that
just means more strawberries for me! :) There are huge planes that fly over the
island all the time, and when they do the sound is absolutely deafening- it's
so loud that everyone has to stop talking and you can feel that rumbling in
your chest. I think of you every time, dad!
Even though we're still struggling
to find progressing investigators, we did have a few awesome lessons this week!
We finally had another lesson with
Bennett H.!!! I'm not sure if you remember but I think I told you about him in
the first letter I sent. Sister Turley and I planned to teach about the Plan of
Salvation this lesson, but I'm afraid we didn't get around to much teaching
because Bennett is so outgoing and talks so much. That's ok though, because we
learned things about Bennett that absolutely amazed me and helped us understand
him a lot more. When we came to visit Bennett told us about how he had an older
brother, Bobby, who died about 10 years ago from cancer. The night that Bobby
died, Bennett had a dream where Bobby appeared to him. He said that in the
dream he couldn't quite hear the words that Bobby was telling him, but he could
understand what he was saying. Bobby told Bennett that he was safe and happy
and that the transition to where he was now was almost instantaneous and he shouldn't
worry about him. Then Bobby pulled out a pad of paper and told him,
"They're teaching me so much here. I have to go learn some more" then
he left. I wanted so badly to just tell Bennett all about the spirit world
right then and there! Bennett shared with us that he's had numerous dreams in
the past where loved ones who have passed on have come and he's had
conversations with them. Bennett's wife Verna, who joined us for part of the
lesson, told us that sometimes he'll wake up laughing and tell her that Bobby
came again and he told him something funny. Bennett also told us how his dad
used to casually say, "I'm gone" when he was walking out the door to
work. When Bennett was in the Navy he was walking across the deck of a boat and
out of nowhere a very strong feeling came across Bennett and the words
"I'm gone" came very clearly to his mind. Later that day he was
called to talk to one of his supervisors, and before the supervisor said
anything Bennett asked, "My dad died, didn't he?" He said that the
supervisor was so stunned and beside himself that Bennett somehow already knew.
Listening to Bennett tell us these
experiences he's had gave me chills. He has been so prepared to receive the
gospel. Not only that, but I know that his ancestors have been preparing him!!!
I get the feeling that Bennett's conversion process might take longer than we
think, but I want this for him and Verna so bad! I get along so well with
Bennett, he is absolutely hilarious. In some ways he reminds me of grandpa Les,
and I can't quite pick out why that is. But I wish Grandpa Les was here so that
we could have a member present lesson with him! As always, keep Bennett and
Verna in your prayers.
We had a first lesson with another
African American man named Shannon, who is in his 40's. We found him tracting
as well. We took Brother Bullock, our ward mission leader, to the lesson and
all sat out on the front porch. During our first lesson he told us a lot about
his struggles ever since his wife and daughter left him and how he's struggled
with his self worth in the past few years but he is trying really hard to
become a person who he can love so that if he can love himself, other people
will love him too. We had a very powerful conversation about Jesus Christ, and
after the lesson Shannon told us "I feel so blessed that you guys came. I
feel happy. Not in a hyper way, but in a calm way." Wow! And that,
brothers and sisters, is what we call the spirit! Shannon will be in New York
for the next two weeks, so we're looking forward to having another lesson with
him after that.
We had a second lesson with Chuck
Q. He told us, "I don't want a world based on faith." I think deep
down he knows it's true, he's just scared to take that leap. Right now might
not be the time for Chuck, but we are still hopeful for him and his family. If
anything softens his heart, it will be his beautiful baby boy, and his little
4-year-old girl who changes into a skirt and jewelry when we come over and
says, "Look, I'm a missionary like you!" and his wife who is one of
the strongest converts I have ever met and is preparing to go to the temple.
Then there's Sandra. She never
called this week like she said she would. Both Sister Turley and I feel
strongly that we shouldn't give up on her yet. Nobody really knows what
happened that turned things around for her so quickly. We tried stopping by her
house a few times this last week, but she was never there. She could use lots
of prayers too.
Well I'm sure I missed something,
but I guess those things will have to wait for a future date when I come home.
Until then, I love you all a huge heap!
Can't wait to hear from you and learn about all of the
missionary work you are doing! It makes my week!
Love, Sister Slade
No comments:
Post a Comment