Once again - the email was worth the wait - even though I had to wait until 3:32 to get it! :-) Melissa was in rare form today - which is good because it means she's happy!
Hello to you, one and all!
In case you haven't heard, this week we celebrate Independence Day. It lands on the 4th of July nearly every year. Well, this year, unlike every other, I am living in what's known as "the birthplace of American heritage and history and patriotism and everyone should love America". I may have made that up, but it's an appropriate nickname for Massachusetts if you ask me.
Well, in case you can't tell from my extraordinarily unfocused opening paragraph, I'm in a really good mood. We had a wonderful week! We had some hard times (seriously, days when NO ONE lets us in all day and I hear the phrase, "We're all set" approximately four hundred thousand times are NOT my favorite) but we had some really GOOD times, too! I'll tell you some miracle stories.
1) The miracle of the move: It was a long day. It was the "I'm all set" kind of day. NONE of the people we had planned to drop by were home, and our only lesson cancelled on us. Also it was rainy in the morning and then hot and humid in the afternoon. We prayed that SOMEONE could just let us in. We explained, in our prayer, that we were really working hard and that we were becoming a bit discouraged and we would really love to just be able to testify to someone before they closed the door on us. We were in Dudley and wanted to stop by a potential investigator, K*, that a previous companionship had street contacted into, and there hadn't been any follow up in a few months. When we knocked on her door, a man answered and we found out that K* had moved. The man LET US IN (*miracle alert*) and we got to talk to him and his two (adorable) little girls. Then about 15 minutes into the conversation, his wife walked in and was SO nice and they invited us to come back next week after their vacation! Woohooo!
2) The miracle of the man who knows the church is true but doesn't know that he knows: G* is an amazing man. I don't know if I've told you about him before, but he's just a gem. He's 62 and works 14 hours a day, 6 days a week, so he can pay for his girlfriend's (he's a widower) medical bills AND build a new house while he lets his late wife's sister's family LIVE IN HIS HOME. He is so generous. And since he works so much, we only get to see him about once a month. But we had a really powerful lesson and got to testify to him, and he told us that he just wants to do what God wants for him. He just wants to serve and, basically, be an instrument in the Lord's hands! When he realizes that he knows the church is true (and he already kind of does) it will be a huge day. So cool.
3) The miracle of getting two new investigators in one day: One day, we got two new investigators in one day. That never happens. They were both just potentials that we've been trying to contact for a long time, but when we knocked on their door on this magical day, they both let us in, and we got to have 2 sweet lessons, and got return appointments with them. They are both fairly solid as far as being honest seekers of truth. Go truth!!
4) The miracle of the greatest ever response to the Restoration DVD: J*, our YSA investigator, watched the Restoration DVD that we left him. When we met for our lesson the next day he said casually, "yeah, and I FREAKED out at that video." Uh oh. Not what we wanted to hear. Nope, actually it was EXACTLY what we wanted to hear because he freaked out in a GOOD way! He said he could relate to Joseph Smith in that he couldn't understand how there could be so many different sects, he just wants to do what's right, find the truth, etc., and that he had an experience when he was 16 where he got a very specific and unique answer to a prayer in the woods. Talk about meant for this church! It was fantastic. He is praying for a baptismal date now, so hopefully I will still be here to see that one through. But if not (to quote myself (because I'm apparently a severe narcissist)) "it doesn't matter". :)
This week we also had Zone Meeting in Ludlow. It's a 40 mile drive (not great for mileage) out there, but it was fun. This Zone is much different from the Dirty South. The Cambridge South zone is the smallest in the mission in terms of both number of missionaries AND geographical area. The Springfield Zone is the LARGEST in terms of area, and one of the largest (if not THE largest) in terms of missionary companionships. So it's a big difference! But our Zone Leaders are wonderful and we have a SENIOR COUPLE in our Zone. They call themselves "Elder and Sister Corbin" because Corbin is their last name, and they're missionaries. They are from ENGLAND and when they talk I feel like I'm in England. I may or may not have closed my eyes while they were talking and pretended I was hiding under an invisibility cloak, eavesdropping on their conversation in Three Broomsticks.
Yesterday, one of our members came up to me and said, "I'm sure you get this ALL the time, but you remind me of Harper from Wizards of Waverly Place!! Do you think so??" First I had to act not shocked because she is a mother of teenagers and probably shouldn't be watching Disney Chanel (let's not put that line on the blog) but then I told her that I've never seen it. So. Please do some research (including, if necessary, watching a clip of that show on YouTube) and tell me if I am indeed like Harper. I don't know why this is suddenly so important for me to know but I feel that it is urgent.
Next, feel free to send me a blue ribbon or some balloons or an edible arrangements fruit basket because we WON our miles competition. That's right. We drove 1278 miles last month. That is more than 450 miles fewer than last month. Therefore we earned a pizzar. Go us.
I got a few videos of Brother D*. He is a riot. I don't know when I'll be sending an SD card next, but hopefully soon. You should be excited.
This week I finished the Book of Mormon. Oh man. That was sad but also happy because I got to start 1 Nephi again! I'm such a Sister Missionary. Look at the things that thrill me. :) Anyway I had a really cool experience as I read Moroni 10 because it talks all about spiritual gifts. So i went through my Patriarchal blessing and identified and wrote out the spiritual gifts/attributes listed in there. It was very interesting and I was surprised by how many things were mentioned - I never knew it was so focused on spiritual gifts! I recommend that process (pray, read Moroni 10, cry, pray, read patriarchal blessing, cry, identify gifts listed, cry, pray) to everyone. I learned a lot just from the beginning of the BoM too. Just in 1 Nephi 1:1, even! I love that word "nevertheless" because it proves that "having seen many afflictions" and "having been highly favored of the Lord" are not contradictory statements! It's so true that "whom the lord loveth, he chasteneth" (or something like that). I also loved what i learned in 1 Ne 2:12 that the reason Laman and Lemuel murmured so much was because they "knew not the dealings of that God who had created them." I learned that the better I come to understand God and his reasonings, the less I will complain about my trials.
One last update and I'll call it good for now. This update is called,
Wildlife in New EnglandThe "Holy cow - BUGS" Story
There are a lot of bugs that live out here that I was not actually aware lived out here. Also, there are more of them than I ever anticipated. Also, sometimes I wonder if I was ACTUALLY called to Africar, not Massachusetts because some of these beetles look like they belong on sarcophagus. I'm not complaining, I'm just letting you know. Call me Steve Irwin, if you want, because my greatest desire at the moment is to spread my knowledge about critters in an exaggerated Australian accent. There are lots of beetles (I keep typing "Beatles" haha). Some of them are gold. Some of them are brown. Some of them are black. Some of them are little. Some of them are 3/4 the size of my palm. I'm pretty sure all of them fly. One of them (of the HUGE and BLACK and ANTLERED variety) is laying on the sidewalk where we run every morning and is being devoured by ants. That makes me happy every time I see it. And then I get scared on account of, "what if he was a member of a gang and the other members of his gang fly out to Oxford in a giant tornado storm of beetles to avenge their brother's death?". Then I remember that that is not likely. You should also know that one time sister Jordan accidentally stepped on one and orange frosting squirted out of it. Yeah, ask me if I ever want to eat frosting again.
Well, I just love you all. Your prayers are working because I'm having a really happy week! I am enjoying the journey, and not so focused on the destination(s). I hope things are going well in Utahr, and that you can survive the heat and avoid the wild fires.
Love,
Sister "our mission president said we could stay out late to watch fireworks if we want" Broekhuijsen
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