My dearest family and friends!
I JUST LOVE PROVIDENCE! The weather has been gorgeous this week (in the upper 60s) and we set 2 baptismal dates!!! And I think Sister Klecker really enjoyed her first Sunday in our branch. I don't blame her. :) I just love these people so much! They are so selfless and faithful and sometimes a little dash of crazy, but I LOVE IT! I commented to Sister Klecker that I feel like I've learned in the smallest degree what parents feel like when they love their first child so much that they can't imagine what it feels like to love another child. That's how I feel about Cambridge and Providence. :)
So the most exciting news! We have been teaching Thelma Cooper and her daughters. Thelma is from Liberia and is reactivating and her daughters are not members, so we set baptismal dates for May 4th with the 17 year old, Lydia and the 11 year old, Arthurlyn. The 7 year old, Joyce will turn 8 in June! :) We are so excited! They came to church on Sunday and the ward was so good to them. The young woman we took with us (Natalia) to the lesson took the girls straight to class with her and after church, Lydia was already signing up for the youth trip to Palmyra this weekend. This branch is seriously so great for fellowshipping! #promisedland
LONG PARAGRAPH: We had interviews with President this week and my interview went so well. President Packard doesn't usually ask us questions; he lets us control the whole interview and just ask him/counsel with him on anything. It is so great! But I feel like I usually go in to the interview and for some reason I just don't have good enough questions or something. Or maybe it's that I haven't had a lot of experience in the field and so I don't have a lot to talk about. Or I think it really might be that I always feel like I have to act like everything's alright and I've got it under control, and so I don't open up to him as much as I could. But for whatever reason, Thursday's interview was so perfect. I talked to him about my feelings about Sister Watts, asked him how I can be better at receiving correction and not falling apart, and asked him how I can develop a more personal relationship with my Savior. That last question has been on my mind for quite some time. I feel like I understand who my Savior is factually, but for some reason it doesn't feel. His identity makes sense in my head, but I want to feel a deeper and more personal relationship with Him. I wonder if it's because I haven't really had difficult things happen to me? (Elder Bednar's talk had such a good point about how the Atonement doesn't just cover the difficulties in our lives. I will be reviewing this!) President counseled me to seek to better understand the Atonement and how it applies to me personally in my life and as I do so, I will feel more gratitude and love for my Savior. President also told me that I can't force an egg to hatch (I love all his Southern phrases! :) He also says "Finer than frog's hair" and "More than you can say grace over!") He also told me to study 1 John 1-5. It was such a wonderful interview! I love President Packard so much! I know I've said it before, but I KNOW I was meant to come to this mission at this time. I couldn't have done it with any other mission president and wife. I would follow them to the ends of the earth! :)
I am loving being with Sister Klecker. She has already taught me so much about being compassionate, lightening up (President told me that she would help me with this! :) Sometimes I am too "business, business, business"), and being bold. As I've been pondering more after my interview with President on the Atonement and how it applies to me and I've been wondering why the Lord hasn't given me many difficult trials in my life like others (which I feel gives them a better understanding of the Atonement) and I realized while I was listening to Sister Klecker tell me about her story and struggles that maybe the reason I don't have a lot of struggles is so that I can have the emotional/mental/spiritual space to help bear others' burdens. Just a thought.
Along those same lines, we had a great meeting on Saturday to help the over-stressed YW's President plan New Beginnings. We were grateful to be able to help lighten her load! It really is nice to be a missionary and have all the time in the world to help others. She vented to us that she gets frustrated when she spends all this time planning for the girls and then they don't show up. She was like, "I'm NOT doing this for me!" and I wanted to be like, "Welcome to being a missionary." Which really is probably best translated into "Welcome to being a parent." :) Every day of my mission I find some very obvious parallel to mission life and dating/marriage/parenthood. :)
For fun, here is a short bio of Sister Klecker:
Vice: she litters. shamelessly. :)
Things she's taught me: The Boston creep (this is where you are trying to make a left turn across both lanes, so you just slowing inch out into the road until one lane has no choice but to stop and let you turn. "You just don't give them a choice!" It is a dirty trick!) :)
Favorite phrase: "Fresh to death!"
Musical skills: plays the uke
Secret weapon: the pinky promise
Strengths: bold and loving/down to earth (Did I mention that she taught an amazing Restoration lesson to Carol Brickel?! I felt like I was witnessing a miracle!) She is so funny and all the youth love her. Beneath the humor, she has a lot she's gone through that makes her good at listening and understanding and being compassionate.
Wow this email is long and I feel like I'm still missing some things...
Also, funny story about Kalyn and Mychelle- we finally tracked them down to schedule something with them and they were hiding behind a car. Sometimes teaching 14-year-old girls is a bit ridiculous...
We had an amazing musical fireside on Friday. I had such a headache from how powerful it was. It was all about Christ and I feel like I gained more insights/understanding. Sister Batschi (one of the sisters in my zone) bore such powerful testimony of how the Atonement frees us. I wish I could replicate it.
Alright, we need to run! I love you all so very much! I am so grateful for each and every one of you.
Much love!
Sister Wheeler Jr.
Please pray for!
Thelma Cooper and her daughters Lydia, Arthurlyn, and Joyce
Aaron Washington
Kalyn Waite
Mychelle Briggs
Sherri and Chantel Newton
Maya Johnson
Sara Maroto
Amanda Rezendes
Angela Packard (President Packard's daughter who is really sick!)
P.S. Happy 1 Year Anniversary to the Providence 2nd Branch today! :)
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