Welcome to Mesa, Arizona, where prepared investigators just fall out of the sky and land on your front door.
I'm
serious....it's unreal. This has never, ever, EVER happened to me ONCE
in my ENTIRE mission. Yeah, okay, I've seen it happen to a few other
people...a FEW others, not a lot. Maybe like...twice. But something's
weird in Mesa, guys. Weird...but super awesome.
I LOVE ARIZONA. It's pretty schlikin'.
It
is seriously UNREAL. Do you remember the investigator and boyfriend
that I was talking about last week? Well, she's on date. TWO DATES! One
to get married (October 10th) and the next to be baptized (October 11th.)
I GET TO PLAN A WEDDING, GUYS!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! These two are the
best. She's the one who has had a pretty rough past, but went through
her repentance process and is now ready to be baptized! And her
boyfriend is still super awesome. He wasn't quite ready to commit to the
baptismal date, but he had nothing against being married on the 10th.
He is just a super happy person! They both are. Oh man, we are so
excited. Hermana Homer and I got into the car last night after our
lesson with them and just started squealing like girls. WE GET TO PLAN A
WEDDING!!!!!!!! We are hoping so badly that Hermana Homer wont get
switched out in a few weeks (it's more likely that she will leave than
me) because we want to do all this together! AGH WE ARE SO EXCITED. I am
stoked.
Also...remember
the other investigator I mentioned? Actually, I said that she was a
referral that we hadn't met yet...well...SHE'S ON DATE TOO! She is quite
a character, I'm not really sure how to explain her. She's just a
really different person! But super nice, super friendly! Our first
lesson with her, she asked when was the soonest that she could be
baptized. We told her the 20th, and she said that she wanted to meet
with us every day until them so that she could be prepared as fast as
possible. Like...when has that every happened ever?!? The Lord is
blessing us SO MUCH right now. Unfortunately, her husband is pretty
uninterested in anything, but he is at least being supportive by driving
her to church and to lessons...we'll work on it!
We
are working with quite a few other people, as well, but those two have a
date and we are SO EXCITED! I turned to Hermana Homer and just said
"what the heck is going on?? Why do people just pop out of nowhere in
this Zone?" (Because this is not an uncommon thing in Mesa, apparently.)
Hermana Homer just shrugged and said, "I think Mesa is where
missionaries come to heal."
Regardless
of the "why", the point is that we are being SO BLESSED. I'm not going
to lie, I have always wanted to be one of those missionaries that sees a
miracle baptism like that...but I didn't think it would happen! I'm
just super stoked. Miracles are real.
So,
this is a bit of a different letter. I started with the investigators
first. That was weird, I have never done that in the last 13 months I've
been out here. I just...thought I'd change it up. Plus I was just super
excited to share!!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH IT'S UNBELIEVABLE.
So
right now we are in the middle of a flash-flood! IT'S THE BOMB. AND I'M
WEARING BOOTS FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE TALCA. I guess you could call me
an Arizonan now--it hits the high 80's and I'm bundling up like it's a
blizzard. We woke up at 6:30
to the sound of pounding rain on the roof, so what did we do? We ran
outside in bare feet and pajamas. (I'm going to get sick.) But the water
came up over my ankles! Then on our way to email the road was like a
river! I'll send a video. It was so cool. Arizona is the bomb.
Last
Tuesday was Zone Meeting, so Hermana Homer and I had to do part of the
Zone Training, and it was so fun! We pretty much taught the zone about
developing Christ-like attributes. It was so fun. I love training. It
made me miss being an actual trainer! But right after we had exchanges,
and I got to go with the lovely Sister Vea in our area. Sister Vea is a
brand-new English-speaking missionary, but she's actually just waiting
for her visa so that she can go to Australia! It was so fun to go around
with her, talk about goals, get to know her...we had a lot of fun! And
that was actually the day that we first met Georgette...at one point, I
had no idea how to respond to a question that Georgette had, and I just
sat there wracking my brain for something to say, when Sister Vea (who
had been silent up until this point) just started testifying of the
power of faith. And I just sat back and listened, and it was so amazing,
and at the end, Georgette said that she had goosebumps and that she
would finally ask God to know if the church was true! IT WAS SO AWESOME.
#greeniemiraclesRreal
Hermana Homer got really sick, so we had to go home early on Thursday night. We arrived home at about 7:30 pm,
and Hermana Homer spent the rest of the night throwing up or sleeping,
so it was up to me to plan. Sister Barnes just bought a massage chair,
so I was like, heck yes, I am sitting in that thing for three hours and
watching Bible videos after I plan. (I AM SUCH A MISSIONARY.) So I went
over, sat in the chair, and started planning for the next day. Well, I
finished ten minutes later, put my iPad down, closed my eyes, tried to
relax...
Nope.
I sat there for maybe ten seconds, opened my eyes, and was like, "I
gotta do something." Then I was like...nah. Take a nap. So I closed my
eyes again, and then they opened, and I felt super restless, and I was
like, "gotta do something!!" So I turn off the chair, stand up, and
start walking around. Then I see some clothes I hadn't hung up yet, so I
do that...then some things on the bathroom counter, so I put them
away...then my books out of order, so I order them...then before you
know it I have spent an HOUR AND A HALF JUST CLEANING THINGS. Then I'm
like, what now. Everything is clean. So I go into Sister Barnes' sewing
room and read a bunch of her family history books, then I go look for
Sugar for like a half hour (she hides when Sister Barnes isn't home) and
then it's TEN THIRTY AND TIME TO GO TO BED.
I
AM NOT GOING TO ADJUST WELL TO NOT HAVING A STRICT SCHEDULE, GUYS. This
was the first time I have had some down time in a year (that's the last
time that one of my companions has been sick) and I couldn't sit down
for two minutes! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!
Some quotes from the week:
"I literally think I am having a baby right now." --Hermana Homer
"This is good but it tastes like B.O." --Hermana Homer
"Oh I loved being sick in middle school it was the BEST." --Elder Norwick (District Leader)
This
week we also contacted a lady who was supposed to be a great referral.
But when we got to her house, she firmly said that she did not have time
to listen to us, because of how much she works and cleans and generally
has to do in a day--everyday. We get told this a lot, actually, but
this time it was different, I don't know why. It was...sadder. She was
so firmly stating how little she cared to meet with us. We left her with
our number, and lovingly promised her that if she made time for God, He
would make sure she always had time to get what she needed to do done.
She waved us off and said, "yes, yes, I know that, I know that. It's
true. But as for now...I need to work more."
We
got in the car, drove to the next street, parked, and just had a really
good discussion about how sad it is when people do not make time for
God. How people don't get it! It just made us both sick to our tummies.
MAKE TIME FOR GOD! He will bless you! Do you trust Him?
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. KEEP PRAYING AND BEING GOOD PEOPLE AND ALL THAT JAZZ. Just be awesome.
Lots of love from the good AZ, Hermana Thomas
No comments:
Post a Comment