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| Package from a nice mom |
Hola,
16 months ago
today I was dropped off by Katie at the Provo MTC to begin my service
as a missionary for the Lord. Time had flown by so fast I can't even
believe it. Every Sunday night I think about how I am going to talk to
my family again and I can't believe that another week has already gone
by. This week was a great week. Lots of moving forward and lifting up
and committing to do more and be better and follow the will of the Lord
for me and for my life!
So last
Monday evening was amazing.
We went to our appointment, a little late, and started teaching Sandra
again. We had taught her 1 lesson before and she asked us to come back
in September. We came back and she let us in. She didn't have much time
so we watched Because of Him and it really touch her and her daughter.
She really wants her kids to know more about Jesus Christ. We talked
more about the atonement and invited her to church! Then she tried to
make our appointment [for next month] and I thought " We aren't your visiting teachers!
We are here to teach you!" So, luckily she made an appointment for this
week. We won't have to wait until October! We went to an
appointment for a house blessing with a woman named Belen. It means
Bethlehem in spanish. We talked to her son and she came out to meet us.
Within seconds she was crying and she asked how we knew that she needed
help. We tried to tell her that the Lord takes care of us. She has been
having some family problems. We are not sure exactly what they are, but
we said a prayer with her and her 2 children and they were really
grateful and they felt the Spirit. She told us that she had never let
anyone into her house even those from her own religion, but she let us
in! It was really amazing. She definitely could feel the Spirit. It
was powerful to give someone exactly the comfort they needed from our
Heavenly Father!
Tuesday we had another miracle.
We went by to see Juliana. We have been trying to make daily contact
with her, because she had kind of seemed odd when we have seen her in
the past and she wasn't letting us come in or making appointments with
us. We stopped by on Tuesday after having seen her a few days in row
to see how she was doing AND SHE LET US IN! It was awesome. The lesson
we had with her before we had brought Sister Southwick. Then 2 weeks ago
Sister Southwick said hi to her in Taco Bell and that really impressed
Juliana and her Husband. She told us more of how it was so nice to have
someone say hi and be so nice to her and her family. We told her
that the Southwicks are moving to be the new temple president. Then
we talked about temples and it just automatically lead to talking about
the plan of salvation. It was just a great lesson! WE were so happy that
she let us come in again and we have an appointment for this week!
Wednesday we had interviews with President and Sister Alba. It is
always nice to have just a few minutes one on one with our " Mission
Parents". I do my interviews with President Alba in spanish and it
really seemed to flow this time. I like how it felt that I had
improved. It was my last regular interview with the Alba's. I will
still have my exit interview, but that is it. It is funny how I am
starting to get to all of the lasts. Then I went on exchanges with
Sister Murphy. She is a great big ball of excitement and yet a little
slow moving when it comes to getting out there and working! It was a fun
exchange. I was in the [English] Sister's area and so there aren't too many
people you would recognize.
On
Thursday morning we went a
saw a less-active from Fort Bragg who is in the hospital here. He is
paralized on his left side and is also not an active member of the
Church, but he accepted our visits. I have seen him a few times and it
was wonderful to see his emotional and physical progress. I love that we
can find home, even in desperate times! Then we had lunch with the
Bishop's wife. We asked the Bishop what we could do for him and he said, "take my wife out to lunch". The wonderful part is that we benefitted
more even though we were "giving" the service. She is a woman full of
wisdom and willing to share it. We talked about the work and
investigators and marriage and they were all just wonderful discussions
on the struggles and expectations of it all. She is an amazing woman and
I am grateful to know her! We decided we should make these lunches a
regular thing. We will see what happens. We were still on
exchanges and we were at the family history booth at the farmer's
market. We always meet such interesting people and help them get
connected to their ancestors so they can feel the spirit, it is fun!
Friday we did our planning and went to dinner to one of the
investigators of the {English] Sisters. His name is Rob. He lives at a member's
home. He is an ex-convict. He has been in jail multiple times and now is
on parole so he can't get baptized until next year, but he is awesome.
He has truly changed and repented and now it is just a matter of waiting,
but in the time he is continuing to change and grow. It is awesome
to see. He is basically a member already, it just isn't official yet! We
ended up being their for quite a while because he just kept talking
about his life and the experiences he has had and lots of funny and
crazy stories for a couple of Mormon girls like us. It was really nice to
just hear him out and understand him even more!
Saturday we helped with a memorial service. We helped set up the
luncheon and then we sang in the service. I played the piano, which was
fun because I don't get to do that very often because Hermana Hooton is a
superior pianist. She always gets asked, but I offered since
it was just a missionary number. We sang I Am a Child of God. We were
just going to do it straight from the Children's Song Book. We just
kept adding and changing and it turned really good. I recorded it, but
didn't bring my i-pad to e-mail so I will have to send it next week. You can all anticipate my wonderful piano playing. Thank you Mom
for making me practice and stick with it so that I not only could have
that skill but bless the lives of others also! It was a lovely service
and we were happy to be the support. The cool thing is that the daughter
of the woman that died, who isn't a member, is very interested in
temples and eternal families. She just loves the idea of being sealed to
her mother and her son that died as a child for time and all eternity!
She lives in Santa Rosa. We are getting her connected with the
missionaries down there. We are excited!
Sunday was a
crazy day. Jose, the less-active, came to church. SO I translated for
him! Though I am not perfect I am glad to make some sense. Then Hermana
Hooton played the piano in Primary for a little bit. Then we went out to
find Jose and we looked in all the priesthood meetings and then we
called him and he had gone home. SO we had hopped from place to place and
still ended up in Relief Society! Then I passed off my investigator
online to have her go meet with the missionaries in her area! SO
I am hopeful for her! We went around trying to see people with
little success. We ended our night very happily and I am just
trying to finish strong and happy, because it is much better than
anything else.
I hope you had all an amazing week and another one to come! I love you so much!
Love,
Hermana Cornwall
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