26 August 2013

Family!

I miss you all and I have read all of your letters! I’m not sure if I’ll have time to respond to everything in this email, so if I don't get to you, that means you’ll be getting a real letter from me in the mail, because I want to talk to all of you!

So first, UPDATE!!!!

I CAN NOT BELIEVE it has only been a week since I got here, so much has happened!!!!  My first missionary experience was in the Detroit airport, where we had a 30 minute layover. I was in the line at Taco Bell because we were starving, and we started talking to this man from Brazil, whose family was in America to go to Disney Land.  The line was so short, and before I had a chance to talk about the church, my companion was walking away!  But the further away we got, the more I knew I had to go back and talk to him, so we did.  We asked if he'd ever heard of us before, and he said yes, and he said that they were flying to the SLC airport on their way to California.  Immediately I remembered the signs there that advertised a free shuttle to the temple and back, and I told him they should go there during their layover.  He said he would like to, and I gave him a mormon.org card and told him to look it up.  It had my contact information on it, too.  I walked away, then, because we had to board our flight, but I felt really good that I had gone back and done what I needed to do. I have no idea what will happen with him and his family, but I hope they will look up that address!

My mission president and his wife are SO GREAT!  And I love my new companion, Sister Zarbock. (Dad, she is your former bishop’s granddaughter.  I asked her!) We have been having some AMAZING experiences already here. We opened a new area in North Carolina, where there haven't been sister missionaries in at least 25 years. The ward is SO excited to have us, and the sisters are signing up everywhere to come out on splits with us!  And we've been getting lots of dinner appointments and teaching referrals and everything.   The bishop is VERY missionary-work focused, and he hopes to divide the ward into two wards by the time he's done.  We are definitely happy to help him with that, and he has been very good at explaining to the members that we are here to help them teach their family and friends.  I absolutely love the ward!  The people have been so welcoming!  They furnished our apartment, gave us everything we could possibly need and more, and I don't know how we'll ever eat all the food they've given us!  They live, for the most part, in very humble living situations. I have really recognized as I've gone into people’s homes here that we are SO blessed. A lot of the places we tract in are tiny trailer homes with barely any wiggle room, literally!  Some of the families sleep in the main room because it's the only place to put a bed. And a lot of the poorer areas are dirty and falling apart.  WE ARE SO BLESSED!  We are also so spoiled in our family with the gospel. These are such good people, and I love them so much already!!!

You won't believe what has been happening with us this week. First of all, we got caught in a HUGE rainstorm!  We were trying to find the address of a recent convert, and we couldn't find it because it had been written wrong.  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and we were DRENCHED. We decided that there might be someone prepared near where we were, so we started knocking on some doors, and got two families to say we could come back, both of them Hispanic.  (XXX and XXXXX).

We went back the next day to see XXX, with a member of our ward named Sister XXXX.  We thought she could help explain some of the words they didn't understand in English.  But when we got there, we realized that they understood far less English than we had believed. And so at first we were really relying on Sister XXXX to translate for us, and I was thinking, this is never going to work!  But then I had the thought to just try teaching him really simply in the Spanish that I knew.  And I couldn't believe what came out of my mouth! I TAUGHT ALMOST THE ENTIRE RESTORATION LESSON IN SPANISH!!!   And they understood it!   The spirit was SO strong, and I was using religious vocabulary that I didn't even know I'd ever learned!  XXX and his wife said that they would like a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon, and we are referring them to the Spanish-speaking missionaries in our zone.

We’ve definitely been seeing how the Lord has been guiding us. We pray before we plan in the evenings for the next day, and I’ve been able to feel and see how we are being guided and our mouths are being filled, and I know that it is because we’re preparing, being obedient, and working hard.

We received a referral from the elders for a woman named XXXXXXX. When we got to her home, she insisted that she had never met any of us before, but she let us in, and we taught her about the Restoration.   She was SO ready to hear this message.  She believes that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and she eagerly took the Book of Mormon to read with her little girl.  We just went back yesterday and taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she says that it makes so much sense, and when I asked her, she committed to be baptized! 

Actually, four people we taught made commitments to be baptized yesterday. It has been MIRACULOUS. Sister Zarbock and I were visiting the home of a less active family, and a little boy across the street yelled "Where are the boys?" We realized that he was talking about the elders, so we went over and talked to him.  He lived nearby and he told us that he wanted us to come to his house and teach his mom.  He's 9 years old!  We took down the address and went over yesterday, and both his mother, XXXX, as well as her friend XXXXX both committed to baptism! 

Another time, we were going past a street on the way home from TRYING to contact a referral, and we both felt like we should stop and go onto that street. We hoped that the woman we were looking for would be there.  She wasn't, but Sister Zarbock saw a young man named XXXXX sitting on the curb and we started talking to him, and gave him a Book of Mormon and said we'd come back the next day (it was late). We came back and talked.  At first it was not going well, until I really felt like I needed to sit down next to him on the porch. (We had been standing over him, and I realized that might not make him feel comfortable.) We all sat down and really got on his level, and he totally opened up to us about what he wanted in a church and that he really wanted God more in his heart.  We taught him the restoration lesson and promised that this would bring him what he was looking for.  We asked if, when he knew that for himself, would he be baptized? And he said yes!  At the end of the lesson, we asked if he would pray, and we had to teach him how because he'd never done it.  Then, when he prayed, it was the sweetest and most sincere prayer I ever heard. 

We have one more investigator who has also committed to be baptized.  She is a friend of Brother XXXXX, and she wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon.  We told her “all right.”  When she came into the house, I initially thought from her tattoos and manner of dress that she might not be interested.  But when we taught her about the restoration of the gospel, she LOVED it, and said she absolutely would pray to know about it and come to church, and once she knew, she would definitely be baptized.   I love her!

Please pray for all of our investigators, because now that they have set dates to be baptized, you know they'll be experiencing some heavy opposition.

We also ran into a man as we were walking to our apartment, and started talking.  When we got on the topic of God, he said he was an atheist. We both had no clue what to say when he berated the idea that there was a god or a spirit or anything like that. But then I just felt really strongly that he needed to hear about the restoration of the fullness of the gospel. I told him about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and that this was the evidence he had been looking for (even though he hadn't said he'd been looking for any). I'm not going to say that he did a complete 180 on us, but something softened, because he took the Book of Mormon and said he would read and pray about it, and we set up an appointment.  :)  I could definitely feel the spirit speaking through me, because I definitely had no idea what I was going to say before I said it. His name is XXXXX.

I finally ran into some (relatives--same surname as Grandmother Pace's maiden name)! They are on the ward roster as inactive members. We went over to their house and met Brother XXXXXXX’s wife.  She is Catholic.  Brother XXXXXXX hasn't been active in church for years.  His sweet wife  seemed uncomfortable, initially, when we talked about church, but she got all smiley when we started talking about her family members, who she dotes on. They were on their way out, but we are going back to see them this week, and I hope we can build on that!!!   Fun to meet distant relatives!

My shoes have been GREAT, I love them, except for the Sister Missionary tan line I'm getting from them.  Haha!! :)

My Preparation Day is on Tuesday next week because of Labor Day, so I can write more then.  And I can load pictures here, but I forgot my connector cord at home, so I promise I will do it next week!!

Dad:  Good luck manicuring the acreage in Missouri.  Sounds like you’re doing good work! Tell everyone there I said hello!!!  I haven't gotten to the sudoku book yet today, but I will later, and in my next email I'll tell you how much I beat you by!!! 

Mom:  I'm so glad that the birthday dinner went well!  I love the quotes.  II laughed out loud and annoyed the person sitting next to me! :) I miss you guys!

Sarah:  Yes.  Typing classes would be a good move for you. Check your inbox.

Emily:  I'm really glad to hear about the awesome service you’ve been doing!  Check your inbox.

Hannah:  You are so awesome with the family history.  You rock!  Someday I hope to rise to your coolness status!  Speaking of “cool,” I'm not allowed to say it anymore.  Or “awesome.” So in your next email I need you all to supply me with some alternatives, because I'm already bored with “neat” and “great.”  Be creative. :)

Ryan:   I love you buddy, and I'm glad you're having fun with friends.  I hope school started off great, and you like your teachers and everything.  Keep me posted on what you are up to!!

Carter: How was the scout campout?  I wanna hear more about it!  How did you hoist yourself into a tree?

Ethan:   That’s great about your new lego set.  How neat! I want to see pictures of your glorious creations.

Chloe:  I miss your beautiful face! How is your hair, do you still like it?  How is school? Send me some more drawings.   I love them!

Abby:  You will love kindergarten.  I'm so excited for you!!! And you've been learning to read?   Read this: I LOVE ABBY!   :)

I love you all and I miss you!  Have a good week.  Talk to you next Tuesday!

Love, Elizabeth