Hello everyone!!!
What a BEAUTIFUL memorial service for dad!!! It was so nice to be a part of and to virtually see everyone! Goodness, I love my family :) Sister Gustafson's dad sent me TONS of flowers which was really nice and thoughtful. I have been getting a lot of support which has been much needed. I'm so grateful for this gospel and it's ability to bring people close together!!!
This week was kind of a slow one. We visited a lot of less-active members which was grand!! We NEED To find new people to teach here because so many of the people we are currently teaching are not making commitments and it can be terribly frustrating. Our only progressing investigator at the moment is Kameron. We are still working with her and trying to make her feel confident with coming to church. She has received all of the discussions and knows that the Book of Mormon is true. In our last appointment with her, we asked her to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it's true and she just replied saying, "GIRL. I already know it's true!!!" hahaha so golden. She is just struggling with the idea of switching churches because she doesn't like to meet people. I just pray that she has a good experience when she does come to our tiny branch with no one her age.
We have been working with the Lutz and getting them to attend the temple for the first time! Sister Lutz is a little cautious about it and feels as though her deceased mother would be mad at her for doing the work for her. We assured her that her mom is just PLEADING for her to do the work! Brother Lutz has no desire to go to the temple because I just think he doesn't understand the importance of it. We are going over tonight to have dinner with them and show them a video about the temple.
We went over to a less active members home and oh my. It was really uncomfortable and the spirit QUICKLY left that home. We started to read a conference talk with her from the ensign and she just interrupts us mid-sentence and says, "excuse me" then she proceeded to walk to her daughters room and scream at her. They fought for a good 15 minutes straight, using colorful language that I haven't heard in a REALLY LONG TIME. Sister Gustafson and I said a prayer to know what to do and we decided to just leave a note and get out of that house. It's amazing how the spirit can work and how you can really feel it's presence for one second and then have it be completely gone.
We were out tracting near our apartments and came across this preacher. He was super nice and asked us about our missions. He wasn't too interested in what we had to say, but he did give us a referral to go see!!!!! He said his neighbor across the street could use some help with "finding Jesus". We went over to contact the referral and the lady just started to break down in tears when she saw us. She explained that her faith has been shaken and that she just wants to be happy. She has been struggling with money and her husband fights with her all the time. I just gave her a hug and offered to say a prayer with her. She was taken back and wanted us to come back another time to say one with her whole family and teach them. We agreed (obviously) and have been trying to go back, but she no longer answers the door!! uggghhh.
There are 2 less active members who we have been working with to come back to church. They have both expressed their desires to come back to church which was grand!! BUT, then, on sunday, they texted us saying that we needed to come over to their house right after church to explain why they weren't there. They explained to us that they got offended by what one of the church members said and that they will not come back to our church. SO SAD. The gospel is perfect, but the people aren't.
One day, at the library, while sister G. was using the restroom, I was just waiting in the hallway and this other guy was waiting for a ride home. I felt a strong need to talk to him, so I did. I just casually asked him about the weather and then soon after, we just started to talk about how good Jesus is. Everyone loves Jesus in the south. He is unfortunately living in Atlanta right now, but he told me that he has met with the missionaries before and has even gone to church several times. He started to basically preach to me about the Bible and would not stop talking. Finally, I just interrupted him and said, "wow. You really know A LOT about the Bible!! that's amazing!!! Have you ever heard of the Book of Mormon?" he replied "no" and then I just had a shocked look on my face as I said, "REALLY??? YOu would LOVE IT!!!! You should totally study it!!" I then gave him one and shared a verse with him and he just loved it and held it in his hand the whole time. I gave him our number just in case and that was it!!!
I have learned to just open my mouth and talk about the gospel with everyone cause you never know who might be interested.
We were at an icecream place called "Dari Delite" visiting a Less active member who worked there. After we were done talking with her, we noticed a young girl, standing in line who just kept staring at us. We waved to her and asked how she was doing. Her and her mom came over to us and just started to talk. They were super precious! Anna, the young girl, is 13 years old. She told me that her father passed away two weeks ago. I felt a deep empathy for her as I could easily relate to her. I started to talk with her and her mom about the Plan of Salvation. They just soaked it all in and loved knowing that they would see their dad again. So many people here in the South, think that once they die, no one will know anyone and that we will all be singing and praising God. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that we have that there is MORE to life than just "playing on a harp as an angel". God is good.
One thing that I have learned this past week is that sometimes, God wants US to make decisions for ourselves and use our gift of agency. I got frustrated one day when our plans fell through. I especially got frustrated when we said a prayer of what we needed to do and I didn't get an immediate answer. It was then that I realized that God wants us to choose for ourselves sometimes in order to grow.
That is about it for this week!!!! Sorry, nothing too exciting. "Big Money Bill" got baptized!! He had to be dunked 3 times, but he was SO happy when he got out of the water. He kept saying, "I've been waiting for this day for the longest time!" so precious.
This gospel is true. I love y'all so much!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!
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