That I Might Bring Them Joy: One Month in the Field

Hello!!!! Crazy to think that I've been in Texas for a whole month now! Weird how time flies.

Monday, I played a bit of volleyball. I only lasted about 1/2 an hour because it was so hot outside! The sand was burning our feet.

Tuesday, WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!! We did not get to see the new temple video, however. One of the elders in our Zone is from Tonga and felt that he would get more out of it if it was in Tongan. Whatever is best for him :) We also taught Derrick and Brian a lesson. We taught them about the Sabbath day and the Law of Chastity. Brian said that he will "try with all my heart" to live the law of chastity. Derrick still needs to quite smoking as well. They are still receptive and accepting all the messages and principles we teach them. We also went to dinner with a family in our ward- the Hookers- and they took us out for ice cream! YUM. Then, we met up for exchanges that night!

Wednesday was my first exchange in the field! Sister Elliott and I left Sister Kyles with Sister Laws, and joined Sister Zamacona and Sister Sheldon. We taught two women named Kate and Kirsten. Kirsten was pretty cool :P They had a cute puppy! But don't worry, not as cute as Scooter. They had some perspectives that made me pretty sad. They don't believe that God is literally our father. They believe that He loves us simply because we are His creations (because they do believe He created our bodies) and they don't believe that everyone is born with the Light of Christ. They believe that we become God's children and obtain the Light of Christ only when we accept Jesus. It just seemed so sad to me! We showed the Mormon Message from Father's day, and they really liked it. We also volunteered at a home for elderly people with alzheimers. Sister Zamacona painted one lady's nails. The elderly woman showed off her nails, told us not to forget to paint our nails for Easter because it was coming up soon and asked if we had seen her purse. She was so adorable :P I also saw an old ma that I'm fairly sure was the prankster of the facility. First, he tried to take off an elderly lady's (who was in a wheelchair) shoe.Reminds me of someone *cough* BRAYDEN *cough* She was yelling and kicking him. Sister Sheldon went over and made him put the lady's shoe back on her foot! Then, he kept pushing open doors and windows so that the alarms would go off. The workers would come over to stop the alarm and he would wait until they were out of site, and then he would do it again. Then, he took one of the cushions from the couch and set it on top of another cushion. I was all like "Ohh, thats smart!" because he's really tall, so he wouldn't have to sink down so far. Then he went and sat in a chair on the opposite side of the room instead :P It was hilarious.

Exchanges were fun, but I was so ready to be back in Montgomery Wednesday night and ready to work on Thursday! Which was weekly planning... Anyways, we also taught our first lesson to Randi on Thursday- the woman we met on our way to dispose of the gross bug. It was so awesome. I feel like she was prepared by the Lord. She is very excited to read the Book of Mormon and can't wait for us to come back. We also visited the Goza family. The wife is a member, less active, and the husband is not. We played Scattegories with them, and her husband actually initiated the prayer before we left this time!

Friday, nothing was really working out appointment wise. So we tracted in an area called Tri Lakes. We talked to at least 7 people, and are planning to try and revisit a few of them. We ate dinner with the Jones family at a place called Kickin' Ash. It had some pretty great barbecue- but tell Brother Wood not to worry, his is still better. We also found out that Brother Jones is a convert who had to quit smoking as well! He said he would gladly fellowship Derrick and help him out.

Saturday, Derrick and Brian were supposed to have their baptismal interview. However, we felt that they weren't ready. So we postponed it. We want their baptismal experience to be special and sacred, and we want them to be as prepared as possible. We had a lesson with them later on Saturday night, and they were glad for the extra time to really work on keeping all of the commandments. We came up with several ideas of things they could do when they are tempted, and they committed to coming to church. Derrick pinky promiesd! Saturday night, we ate dinner with the Christensens. Sister Christensen can't eat a lot of things because of medical reasons, but everything was pretty good. You know how I am with healthy things :P She is also the psychiatrist/psychologist (whatever the title is) for the missionaries. Needless to say, we were all analyzed at dinner. It was interesting.

Sunday, Derrick and Brian didn't come to church. It was Derrick's dad's birthday, and even though he said he would be able to get away for a few hours, he didn't. So we will have to postpone their baptism since they still haven't come to church. Not to worry though! We will get them to come :D Satan knows that they really want to do what's right, and he's working really hard on them. But, we did have a miracle happen yesterday! About half an hour before church started, the bishop's wife called us and told us a woman named Sister Barnes was going to call us and we needed to find her a ride to church, but if we couldn't find her a ride, then she would pick her up. Just as we hung up with Sister Carruth, we got a call from a random number- Sister Barnes! We talked to her, got her address, and nobody could pick her up! So, the Bishop's wife, true to her word, picked her up for church. Sister Barnes has apparently trying to get in contact with us for a while, but the number on lds.org was incorrect. Somehow she found the bishop's number and called him, only to get his wife. They made it to church and we talked to her, and she was so glad she was able to come. She was baptized in 2001 and seems pretty strong. However, she is living with her son (not sure how old he is) and an alcoholic boyfriend who does NOT want her to come to church, and wouldn't let her take the car. She came anyway. She was nearly in tears because she was so glad to be there, and wants to have us over as soon as possible. She told us that she prayed and told the Lord that he better help her find a way to church- and He did.
The Lord will help you when you need it most. I can see that every day.

Happy 11th month mark to Elder Sears, and yay to everyone making it through the first few days of school! Woot woot!

love,

Sister Shell