FAM!
How are you all doing? It has been an amazing week here in Boston!
President Packard gave us all permission to be out and watch the fireworks (we actually saw him there.) :) It was so fun! I reminded me a lot of the fireworks in Idaho Falls- everyone was sitting along the banks of the Charles River and there was music by the Boston Pops playing along with it. I will say, Melaleuca puts on a pretty comparable fireworks show in Idaho Falls, but it was pretty unreal to have the Boston skyline right there behind it all. (Although, the Idaho Falls temple as the skyline beats that any day.) :) I did not cry as I expected- but I did get ash in my eye, so I think that counts... :) It was great! I still can't believe I got to watch fireworks in such a historic part of our country.
We haven't been able to get a hold of Ramona this week, so that's kind of a bummer. Still working on it though. Allison, on the other hand, came with us to Institute again (she loves it and is planning to go all summer), and enjoyed it and was able to meet a few people there. We met with her again on Friday and it was kind of rough. Not detrimental, but we realized as we were talking with her that she is really not wanting to read the Book of Mormon because she's worried that if it's not true, she will have put false scripture in her head and will get mixed up with what she already believes. It was interesting because I felt very calm while we listened to her concerns and tried to give her answers, but Sister Hollan was getting pretty ticked. We just have to be patient as we teach these people! It's a big change we're asking them to make and I don't think we realize that. We can't force them to believe what we're teaching. We simply invite and listen to the Spirit as he guides us to teach them what the Lord would have us teach, which we can't do when we're upset or impatient with our investigators. It was just so interesting how we reacted differently- Sister Hollan was fuming when we left and I was actually feeling quite happy. Weird! I'm not sure why I felt so upbeat, but it's a challenge to teach Allison and as she asks questions, it helps me grow as I study more deeply the principles she's struggling with and then I feel happy because my testimony grows and I realize how much peace I have as a result of having a testimony of the restored gospel. And then I want her to have it! And everyone else I run into! I was seriously so cheerful on the T after Allison's lesson and wanted to talk to everyone. Sister Hollan needed the next hour or two to cool down. :) Don't get me wrong- I love Sister Hollan! She has such a strong testimony and would give up everything to defend it. That's why she was so heated when Allison was suggesting that the Book of Mormon is not of God.
We had a great ward council on Sunday- Bishop Matt Christensen feels so much love for the ward! We and the Elders in our ward feel like the member missionary work is going to pick up from here. We're stoked!
Fast and Testimony meeting was fantastic! We've been working with a less-active sister, Sharlynn, who actually got onmormon.org and requested the missionaries come visit. She's all set to come back to the church and wants her husband, Pedro, and son, Pedro Jr., to join. They came to a ward activity Saturday night and met a lot of people, including the Bishop, and then they all came to testimony meeting, so we think things are looking up!
Some members, the Welch family, invited us to dinner yesterday. It was so sweet of them! Bro. Welch just walked right up to us after church and was like, "Sisters, do you have a dinner appointment tonight?" and when we said no, he was like, "What?! The Sisters should ALWAYS have a dinner appointment on Fast Sunday. You're coming to our house!" I felt like crying because I felt so loved and taken care of. They are HYSTERICAL! Bro. Welch made mashed potatoes with boiled/mashed carrots mixed in (and he added an entire stick of butter, which he didn't realize was a lot!). Sister Welch was on Divine Comedy at BYU and she did the CES program, so she teaches EFY, so basically she is hysterical and is still a teenager and she's the cutest thing ever. And get this- they have 3 kids and their son's name is Porter Rock. That's right. Porter Rock Welch. They are THAT cool. I just want to be like them when I grow up. It was so fun to watch how they all interacted- such a fun family! And it's alway so refreshing to feel the Spirit in a members' home. :)
A couple of things I forgot to mention:
- Brag time: Our mission is the COOLEST! But seriously. We're the first digital mission. Clayton Christensen has already had it going on for a while (so when they announced digital missionary work taking off at the Broadcast, we were all like, "Well, yeah! We're already doing it!"). It's genius! We have Elders called here that work to create these blogs and members can get involved by writing posts for the blogs- the rule is that they have to have two non-member friends "proof-read" it first. BINGO! Member missionary work. I've been helping some of the Elders on blog design, so that's fun. They need some Sisters working in the digital mission! :)
- I may get to start teaching in FRENCH! There's a Haitian family in our ward who has one aunt who just moved here and wants a calling and everything, but she's not a member and she only speaks French and Creole! SWEET! I may need a mini-Preach My Gospel in French and a Book of Mormon in French... not sure if I should request that from the fam or if the mission can get me copies...?
BTW- Next P-day isn't until the Wednesday the 17th, just FYI. Transfers are the 18th! CRAZY! I've already been here a transfer?!
Alright, I think that's it. I love you all so very much and am so grateful for all you do for me.
Love,
Sister Wheeler
P.S. Will someone email me Jord's snail-mailing address? :)
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