FAM!
It's been a lovely week. And it included a snowstorm that made me realize that New Englanders are total wusses when it comes to snow. It snowed about a foot and everything shut down (school was cancelled- I used to PRAY we would have a snow day! They are so hard to come by in Idaho!) and we were "red dotted" (for non-missionaries, that means we had to stay in), so we weekly planned and I cleaned like a madwoman. I realized that I really like cleaning because it's fairly immediate in terms of success. Knowing how well you're doing when you're planning lessons or working with investigators is sometimes less concrete and more dependent on others' agency, so it's nice to feel successful.
But anyway, yesterday was a fantastic Sunday! Despite the snowstorm, we were able to have some wonderful visits with members this week (17 member visits- that is an all time record for me- SO GLAD TO HAVE A CAR!), including some less actives who haven't been to church in a while and who ended up coming yesterday. Two of our investigators, Sherri and Chantel Newton, came as well and the Spirit was so strong in testimony meeting. I felt like the theme ended up being on covenants, which was exactly what I had been reflecting on, so I felt prompted to share my testimony. I was grateful for the chance. When I was preparing to leave on my mission, I was scared to make more covenants in the temple. Scared of the unknown and scared of the added responsibility. But I understand now that as we make covenants with God, we have no need to fear. Yes, there is added responsibility, but we are unlocking His power to bless us. We are opening the door to a higher level of living and a higher level of happiness in our lives. And that's exactly what our Heavenly Father wants for us. My testimony of the power of covenants has grown as I've been able to help William and especially Caty make covenants. Caty's faith that God will always keep His promises is so powerful.
I feel so much love for the people in this branch. As I stood up at the pulpit and looked at them all, I was so overwhelmed with love for them. They feel like family and I know I feel so close to them so quickly because I am serving them full-time. That has been an amazing lesson as a missionary. If I am ever struggling to love someone, I will now know that serving them is the key to loving them.
But yes, Sherri (daughter) and Chantel (mother) Newton came to church yesterday and it was so perfect! Chantel spent most of the time with Sherri's son Arias, but she wanted it that way because she wanted Sherri to have a good experience. We've been able to meet with Sherri more often this week and we've invited her to be baptized (she's thinking about it), and she really enjoyed church. She even came to a baptism (Leoynker Sarmie- she's 8ish and from Liberia) afterwards and was really excited to be there. She is so in tune with the Spirit and has noticed it stronger when we kneel in prayer. And she even helped us teach Chantel this week- she was whipping out her Restoration pamphlet and everything to read definitions. SO AWESOME! And Chantel's Catholic boyfriend, Kyle, sat in on that lesson and you could tell that it TOTALLY made sense to him. I LOVE TEACHING PEOPLE ABOUT THE GOSPEL! :)
Also, last night we went to the Washingtons (Sister Washington is a member and her husband is not - she is so cool!!! And she knits like a fiend. We adore her. They call us the sishonaries.) and visited and shared a scripture and had a family prayer with them and her husband participated in the prayer. And he was so friendly to us- we are praying his heart is softening and he will be willing to hear the missionary discussions soon! They've been married for about 10 years and have a 17 year old son and 7 year old son. I want so badly for them to be an eternal family!
Alright, there's always more to tell you, but I will leave it at that. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! And I love being a missionary. It is so amazing to be able to help others better understand their divine nature and potential and to help them build a relationship with their Savior and their Heavenly Father.
LOVE!
Sister Wheeler Jr.
P.S. You should all use my mission address if you don't know my current address. (Sister Hyoung has been forwarding me stuff that's getting sent to Brighton - IS STEPH PARKER ENGAGED?! She said there was a wedding looking announcement from them!!!)
Mission address is: 182 W. Central St. Ste 203, Natick, MA 01760.
Current address is : 57 Petteys Ave, Providence, RI 02909
I know you're all so excited to send me birthday presents... jk. #butnotjk :)
P.P.S. Funny story- Sister Bud and I went to knock on a door the other night and the door of the neighbor's was hanging open and it was all dark and decrepit looking (it looked like that last time we came in the daytime- pretty sure bums live there... or zombies. It looked exactly like a scene out of "I Am Legend".). I couldn't tell if the Spirit was telling me we weren't safe or if I was just feeling creeped out, but we finally turned to leave and Sister Bud just started running back to the car. This was the same time of the week that the blizzard happened and the heating in our car stopped working, so I yelled, "Are you running because you're cold or because you're freaked out?!" and she yelled back, "BOTH!" It was pretty funny. :)
P.P.P.S. We helped a lady down the street shovel her walk. She told us that she keeps feral cats in her backyard. SO FUNNY! Her name is Donna. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment