Week 36

Hello, Everyone!!!!

My oh my, it has been an amazing week! Warning: long mail!!

First of all, when we have a missed call or a text message on our phone we are usually like: " Oh I just knew it! Ten people want to be baptized right now!"  Yeah right! :P What is this, Brazil?? Ha. But this morning we ACTUALLY, in fact, received such a text message from a former investigator saying she wants to meet up to discuss getting baptized!!!!! But actually. This really happened!!!! #tearsofjoy. :P 

It has been funny to hear about these returned missionaries, though. Benjamin, who served in Korea told us that since people like to grab things in Korea, they would just hold out a Book of Mormon and people would walk up to them and grab it. No way!!!! :PP If only that happened here, haha! And Jared, who served in Brazil, never really had to knock on doors. He just clapped his hands and people would open the door and invite them in. Ridiculous! :P People opened the door only twice my whole mission and the first time we were like: "Wait. Do you even know who we are??" :P  

OK. So. This week, a serious of funny, but unfortunate events happened. Hold on, cause this one is SCANDALOUS. So we were teaching Sister Lowery. She has two young kids, Charm, who is 2, and Isaiah who is 1. Well, so there I was, standing, talking to Sister Lowery, when out of nowhere I feel a bit of wind on the back of my legs. Breezy. And then a shriek of "NO!" I barely felt anything, but little Charm had totally lifted up the back of my skirt enough for Sister Lowery to see my whole butt, haha!!!! #justgotcharmed #aintnothingbutagthing. It was kind of a long skirt so that's why I didnt really notice. :P AND THEN. Oh no, this embarrassing story didn't end there. I was putting my shoes on and Isaiah totally grabs my butt! No joke. Like a full-on stroke and a pinch. This kid is one and he's copping a feel! Oh man, we were dying laughing. xD Apparently these kids have a butt fettish! I suppose I should feel honored that mine was the chosen one. :P 

One of the most useful things I've learned on my mission so far (and am continuing to learn more and more especially now that winter is here!) is found in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." It's kind of funny because Sister Wilson says this about everything: "All things through Christ!" I've definitely learned that I am able to do things I never thought I would be able to do. This is something that keeps getting tested over and over again, often in kind of funny situations. :P So we actually had a very spooky cleaning experience on Halloween. We were helping one of our ward missionaries clean up an apartment that her son didn't clean up before he moved out. Anyway, we had very meager cleaning supplies (just a few dirty rags and some windex) and it was one of the nastiest experiences of my life! I won't go into much detail but one of our tasks was wiping out the spilled-mystery-sludge-filled fridge and freezer. Oh MAN. #vomitusmaximus!!!! I was like "don't think about the germs, don't think about the germs, all things through Christ" over and over, haha!  :P  Remember, all things through Christ! 

We also had  a pretty fun Halloween. We made cupcakes and cute bat candy bags for our less-active friends and investigators and dropped them off. We also got to surprise-decorate Sister Moffitt's door, hehehe. :P 

So this week was great for many reasons. One of them was that we got to have Zone Conference!! Actually, it was extra great because the Sheboygan sisters, Sister Osmond and Sister Milligan (who was both Sister Wilson's and Sister Peterson's companion and she is hilarious!!!) slept over with us at our apartment!! We had such a party! Any by party, I mean we went to bed by 10:30 and played a few rounds of the Ghost Blitz (i.e. Holy Ghost) game. But hey. That's how missionaries party. It was a blast! And I make pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. You know me, the breakfast committee! :)) 

I played the cello at Zone Conference and it went pretty darn well, I think! President and Sister Cutler enjoyed it. I played "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" which fit right in with our Atonement theme. (Isn't that always the theme? Pretty much :))

At Zone Conference we heard an amazing message from Elder Uchtdorf. He told us that overbearance is just boldness without love. But if people can feel the love we have for them ,then we will never be too bold. I loved that! Also, he told a story about two missionaries. One, whose name was Elder Strong, often referred to 3 Nephi 5:13 and his motto was: "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I fear no man!!" And he didn't. He talked to everyone, all the time!  He was always either teaching or seeking out someone to teach. Anyway, I was inspired and feel like learning to overcome my fears is something I'm meant to learn while I'm out here.  On a related note, here is another scripture that I have come to love: Jeremiah 20:9: "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay." Isn't it awesome? :) 

I have some more gigs set up this week. Sister Moffitt and I have acquired the music we need to play "Come Thou Fount" in sacrament meeting. We will play with Jared, who plays the piano. Also, we, Jared, Sister Wilson and the Elders are doing a hymn performance at Sister Moffitt's high-rise fancy dining room. I'm really excited! We might even obtain some more people to teach from doing this. :D

As far as my studies go, I've been greatly enjoying reading King Benjamin's speech (see Mosiah 2-5). It is always such a humbling experience to read this part. It is one of my favorites! Reading the Book of Mormon is always great. One brief thing I'll share is that I love how the Book of Mormon is intended for us to "learn with joy" about our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and their plan of happiness for us to succeed in life (Jacob 4:3). It is very joyful indeed! 

We have lots of great lessons set up for this week. I honestly can say that I've never been happier in my life. I love that I get to wake up every morning with a purpose and with people to love and serve. I love being busy all the time doing productive things and being immersed in the Gospel. That doesn't mean it's easy and everything is always peachy. No way! But I do know, with all I've got, that the things I'm sharing with people are absolutely true and that makes me happy. :) 

And that concludes one super long email! :) Thanks for all your letters, love, and prayers! I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Lacey