Hey everyone!
Sounds like you've all had a fun week. : )
* * * * *
We left at noon to go do our Preparation Day--it was crazy but
about ten minutes after we'd left it started to pour! (That was pretty
good timing for us. : ) ) We got a lot of stuff done still--we got the
Jeep's oil changed, we deep-cleaned the Sturgis apartment, and while we
were locked out (dealership had the car/apartment keys) we took pictures
with some Indian motorcycles.
Thursday we were
back in Belle Fourche. We actually called to cancel volunteering with
the parrots for the day since We had an awesome lesson with
Caitlin--Syl was able to come, which really really helped. They're
both super good friends for each other. That night we had a SWEET lesson
with Corben. We hadn't really had time to plan for his lesson that
morning, I guess we'd gotten stuck on Caitlin's. Anyway, we only went in
with the vague idea that we'd teach him the Gospel as far as we could
(and a lot of prayers that we could help him understand without having
prepared much). We ended up spending the whole time talking about the
importance of faith and how we can grow it, which was exactly what he
wanted to talk about. Alma 32:26-27 came up, as well as Ether 12:4; "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." Sister
C had an awesome missionary moment when she testified about the
importance of attending Church every week, and they are hoping to come
this next week (they couldn't come this week since they were
out-of-state with family). It's amazing how if an individual will just
read out of the scriptures and pray daily, and attend Church every week,
that's all you really need to stay grounded in the Gospel.
We
had our District Meeting in Sturgis on Friday, so while we were up in
Sturgis we met with Robert to teach him about the law of chastity. It
was funny because we were super prepared to help him want to live it,
but he already did when we explained it to him. I felt like I was
teaching Brother M again--we thought he'd have so many concerns,
but there were none. And Sister C did awesome, once again. She's such an amazing missionary!
During
our planning that afternoon we called Sister S to see if she
wanted to do dinner on Sunday (yep, we're that bold), and she actually
was home from work that day. So, we went over to help clean and in
return she fed us that day too! She did bacon-wrapped, grilled venison,
and it was actually my first time having that (of course, it was
delicious!).
That night we drove up to Sturgis for our first
exchange--it was so hard to say goodbye to Sister C for the day! I
suddenly understand just a little bit more how hard it must be to send a
missionary off. I don't know if I'll be able to do it myself. : I I
guess everyone has survived from it so far... However, I had a lovely
time with Sister M in Rapid City the next day. We actually got to
go to the Black Hills Elders' baptism of Sister A (she's a
super-cute 72-year-old English teacher), which was super fun, and then
we did family history hour at the library. Sister M has never done
that before!
The
Rapid City Sisters have lived in the basement apartment of a member
family for over twenty years. This member has a sweet Japanese truck for
some reason.
So we were at the library doing family
history for my first time in a long time (and Sister M's first
time as a missionary), and the first thing that came up on my
familysearch main page was a link to obituaries. I clicked on it, then
clicked on Grandma J's obituary just to see. And guess what! It
was totally her birthday! That same day, May 30! I'd had no idea! It
was really neat how that worked out.
I put the record onto my camera so I could always
remember that. It was a good reminder that I hardly know anything about
so much of my family--I can't wait to go home and learn about everyone.
My heart felt pretty turned toward my fathers then. The rest of our day
was spent driving around the beautiful black hills trying to find
members from their Ward. We got some good information, but it was nice
to get back to Belle Fourche that night.
While
I'd been gone all Saturday, Sister C and Sister G had discovered
that we were super short on miles for the rest of the month, so they
walked just about everywhere all day. So Sunday morning we walked to
Church at 7:20 in order to have the progress record ready by 7:50. It
was a beautiful morning, and I really enjoyed our walk. It was also Fast
Sunday (since next weekend we have Stake Conference), so we got to sit
an listen to some lovely testimonies, including our District Leader's
last one as a missionary (he goes home this month). After Church we had
set up to meet with Reuben for the first time, and Sister H came
with us. When we got there he wasn't home--his fortunately-friendly dad
said he was still at work. So, we went with Sister H to try to
meet with some people she visits. No one was home, which was sad, but it
was nice to have time getting to know Sister H. We also got to
push her car out of the mud, which was pretty fun. It reminded me of the
time Rachel and I got stuck at the Nan's house, although this time
only our shoes got muddy.
We had a really nice
break-the-fast dinner with the S, and then we went to another
family to share a quick message (we ended up staying for an hour...it
was really hard to leave!). So not a whole lot was done number-wise that
day, but I still felt good about the seeds we'd planted.
* * * * *
This
week we've been focusing on sharing D&c 110:6-7 at dinner--the
Stake Presidency has asked us to study this in preparation for Stake
Conference. With each family we asked how the temple has blessed them in
their lives, and each family shared their gratitude for being sealed
for eternity. I don't know why, but this week it struck me that our
temples really are all about family (and so is God's plan for us--it's
all about the family). I'm so grateful that not only our family here on
Earth but also those who've come before us can be together forever.
Thanks for the emails and prayers!
Love,
Sister F 