January 5, 2015

Hey mama! 

 

I'm glad you had a good new year! Mine was awesome too! I can't believe I got my year mark. This is going by way crazy fast! We had an amazing week! We went to an appointment with one of our investigators and lo and behold, she brought a friend! We were able to teach her friend the restoration and it completely clicked with her! Not only did she begin to believe, but it also helped our investigator as she bore her testimony of prayer and the Book of Mormon. We have been trying to figure out ways to help members feel comfortable inviting their friends to activities and also help their friends feel comfortable. So we decided to do volleyball! Which is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. It was so much fun! I know myself really well, so I was nervous that I was going to get too competitive during it, so I prayed real hard all day that I would be a good sport and have a lot of fun, and it worked! I didn't get mad at myself or my teammates! It was a New Years miracle! We had so many non members there and we were able to become great friends with them. My knees are super bruised from it because even though I didn't get too competitive, I still went all out. It was awesome and everyone wants us to do it again, so we will.

For New Year's Eve we went to the home of a less active member of our Ward who is an artist. He is so funny. He drew a picture of each of us and then told us our strengths. He told me that I should become a news caster... Mom that's what you've always wanted me to be! So now I'm thinking about that one a little more. He's hilarious and I love spending time with him. We had a cool miracle after MLC. We talked a lot about talking to everyone and opening our mouths, and I really wanted to make that a goal of mine. So when we got home we saw our neighbor getting his mail. I had already gotten ours that day, but I figured pretending to get our mail would be a more natural way of talking to him. We got to talking about Christmas and New Years and I asked him if he had set any resolutions and he said that he wanted to quit drinking and find Jesus. Best. Answer. Ever. We told him that what we do is help people find Jesus and he asked if we could come over and teach him and if he could come to church with us. BOOYAH! It was awesome. I was so grateful that we opened our mouths and talked to him, or we might never have known that he was being prepared!

Okay, now let me tell you, I have been kissed more on my mission than I had in my 19 years of premish life. This week I was kissed 3 times. 3. Either by random people on the street, old ladies in the ward, or sweet grandpas in retirement homes. We were singing in a retirement home this week and this old man grabbed my hand and kissed it. I thought, Awh that was cute. Turns out, he was a real trendsetter. After him another old grandpa kissed my hand, but he kissed it for two whole verses of "there is sunshine in my soul today." His grip was so strong. After him this oldish lady who is always leaned a little to the left came and kissed my lips. MY LIPS! I just don't understand. It was so funny. I just love this mission. This week Elder Ballard is coming to our mission, probably to visit his son, but I get to learn from him in 5 different meetings. I'm so excited. I love you all! Have a great week!