I can't believe I've already been in Texas for one whole transfer! Well, almost. Its crazy! We haven't heard anything about transfers yet. They should begin calling people on Tuesday or even on Wednesday, and then we'll have transfers on Thursday. Still no word on the visa, but that's okay! Montgomery, and Houston in general, is a pretty cool place to be for now! Plus, I was called to be a missionary of the Lord first, and then I was called to Brazil second. So as long as I'm a missionary, its all good.
Congrats to Spence and Brady-Boy! I know that Spencer will be an amazing missionary, and I know Brayden will have so much fun at BYU! Gabi left for school already right? I know that she'll have an amazing time there! Both of my companions went to Utah State and they loved it! The only bad thing Sister Elliott said about it was that her nose hairs would freeze during the winter. Hee hee, thats a funny thing to picture :P
Alright, week rundown!
Tuesday: So our car was making a funny rattling noise, and we were told by our vehicle coordinator to bring it into the dealership so they could look at it. We only heard it when we turned up the AC so we figured it was a problem with the AC. We dropped it off there, then did a day of service at the ranch. SO FUN! Mucking stalls, being around horses, and WEARING JEANS! Some of the elders in our district picked us up from the dealership and drove us there. We also saw the biggest horse on the 65 acre ranch- Big Nat (or maybe its Big Gnat? I can't tell...) I was only as tall as the middle of his belly. My head could fit in his jaw. No joke, he was huge. And what a sweetheart too!! He was my buddy. Kaity, the manager of the ranch who is getting married in October (the best month, not that I'm biased) wrapped her arms and legs around his neck and hung there. It didn't bother him, didn't pull his neck down, and I'm really not sure if he even noticed. Yeah.
That night, we taught Derrick and Brian, and it was awesome. Sister McArthur and her son Taylor, who is 17 (Brian's age) came! Sister McArthur's daughter Kaisha just left for her mission to Ecuador, so she's very attached to us now. They were awesome in the lesson!! Derrick said that he probably wouldn't be coming to church because of some fantasy football draft at a friends house. Brian told us he was coming anyway! At the end of the lesson, I turned to Derrick and asked "What's more important- fantasy football, or eternal salvation and happiness?" He looked really sheepish and said, "The Lord. I'll be there on Sunday."
Oh, and so our car. Yeah, we got done with service at about 1:30 and didn't leave the dealership until about 3:30. They figured out it wasn't a problem with the AC and hadn't looked at it since. We were told by our vehicle coordinator to keep driving it and just trade it in during transfers. So that's the plan!
Wednesday: We went to see the Calderon family! Lisa showed us pictures of her first ultrasound (well, first for her 9th child- but they combined two families, so I think this is only her 4th time being pregnant? I dunno....) We also talked to her son Derrick, who was so excited that we were over. Which is awesome, and he said he would come to church on Sunday to hear me talk. He's 12, and feels a bit uncomfortable at church, so I was so glad that he decided to come!
Later we tried to find a referral, but no luck. Instead we found a less active member, Krissy, and her kids! She has social anxiety, and we're pretty sure that's the reason she doesn't come to church. She is a super awesome, super sweet lady and she's a great mommy. After that, we fed ourselves and taught the Rivera family (a part member family) a bit.
Thursday: Weekly Planning! Woohoo!! My favorite thing! Honestly, its pretty boring. But completely necessary. Plus, our power went out in the middle of it!! So of course, we all ran and got our flashlights and took pictures in the dark bedroom. It was hilarious. Anyways. We saw Rena after that, and she seemed a little... off.. Like maybe she was on something. I don't understand why she won't leave her drug selling/using boyfriend, especially when he's not very nice to her. Especially for her kids. But, it will all work out. Hopefully the church will help her. It already has a lot, and she's got her mother interested in the Book of Mormon now as well!
We were also supposed to teach Randi that night, but her boyfriend's parents were in town and so she had to work at their store late. We set up an appointment for Tuesday (tomorrow) night, so that's exciting!
We also went to the McArthur's to plan our next lesson for Derrick and Brian so that Taylor could help teach more. That kid is gonna be an awesome missionary one day!
Friday: We had a district meeting, which was super fun. We all made quesadillas after, then we left and visited a sister who's in the hospital named Barbara. She's so sweet. We prayed with her and sang "I Love to See the Temple" including a new verse that Sister Elliott made up!
Needless to say, Barbara loved it. After that, we taught a 10 year old named Cheyenne. She was ALL over the place, and kept talking about super heroes and couldn't decide if she wanted to be a "she-hulk" or "spider woman" more. That was a pretty fun lesson.
Derrick asked us to move our lesson to Saturday, so we did. We ate pizza with the McArthurs and told them the change in plans. They couldn't go on Saturday :(
Then, we got home and it was MAIL TIME!!! BEST DAY EVER! I GOT FOUR, F-O-U-R, 4, FOUR LETTERS!! I hit the back of the seat when I saw that my very own brother had written me!! Haha, anyways. Moving along!
Saturday: We were going to go to the KOA to work out, since its right across the street, but saw that we had a flat tire! So we just went to the gym in our complex. Later in the day, we went out to try and change it and a couple saw us trying to do it in our skirts and did it for us. They were so nice! It was a donut, though, so not very stable... We had Sister Williamson take us to a big lunch that a guy named Mike had. He is used to cooking for the offshore crew, so he cooked a LOT of food. Gumbo, mac and cheese, roast beef, yummy veggies, ice cream. It was so much. Oh wait! Okay, so with Sister Williamson, before we went to the lunch, we went to Walmart, and helped her buy some school supplies for a family in need. It was super fun! We also saw somebody we needed to visit, and told them we'd be stopping by with cookies! They seemed pretty stoked about that. Anyways, after lunch we took over the school supplies and a bunch of leftover food. It was really fun- the kids were so grateful! The parents weren't home when we first got there, and they were a little suprised to see people in their house.
After that, we went to Discount Tire! While we were there, this guy came and sat down by us, and because we are stellar missionaries, we of course started up a conversation. He was in his 20s, chewing tobacco (which is just gross) and clearly thought he was hot stuff. He kept trying to flirt and wink with us. It was pretty entertaining. He asked us to go dancing at a bar ("Y'all don't have to drink!") and we told him that we don't do those things, and told him a bit about what we do as missionaries. He kept flirting. And showing us pictures of his life and talking about what his job is. Then, towards the end of our conversation, this older guy with greasy hair showed up and asked "Can I sit THERE?" and pointed to a seat in between us and the guy we were talking to.. So we were like "Yeah, sure!" .... As soon as he sat down, he stared the three of us down and said "Do any of y'all know Jesus?" And you could just tell that he wanted to start something. We all told him yes, and Sister Kyles started talking with *cough* listening to him *cough* and he started asking her about what God had told her today, and told her that God showed him the next 20 years, etc. Aaron, the dude we'd been talking to before, kept talking to Sister Elliott and I and made the "he's crazy" sign. Then, a worker came over and said, "Chevy malibu?" and we all jumped up and were like "YES!" So we finished our conversations. Aaron had us write down his name and number and told us to call him. We were just like...................................................... okay...... The last thing Aaron did was say, "You should add me on facebook- I'm the muscular guy" and then he winked. It was hilarious. I was just like "Ohhh, he REALLY doesn't get the whole missionary thing does he??" Then, we left and Sister Kyles, because she's so stellar, gave the greasy haired guy a pass along card with the Elders' number on it. Tee hee!
We then went and taught Derrick and Brian with the Bishop! At first that made Derrick nervous, but at the end he said that Bishop was cool.
Sunday, I wrote my talk out during personal studies and then at church, I GAVE MY FIRST TALK ON MY MISSION! Pretty exciting stuff. It was on becoming a true disciple of Christ. I'll send it home in a letter I think. Derrick couldn't come to church because his sister came in town the last minute and so yeah..But Brian came anyway!!! Oh man, you should have seen my grin when I saw him walk in! He made his mom drive him- Chera! And she stayed through sacrament! Apparently she asked if she could clap after my talk. I suppose thats a good thing, right? Anyways, she left after sacrament but Brian stayed because the amazing Sister Williamson offered to drive him home! Taylor was his buddy at church and took him to all of the classes. It was awesome. Besides that, Taylor's family brought a nonmember friend with them and one of the youth brought his nonmember girlfriend! Tori is her name, and she came up to us after and told us she wanted to meet with us!!!
We went home from church with the Zaradas. THAT was exciting. So, as we're driving on this four lane road, this huge truck almost hit us trying to merge into our lane. Sister Zarada honked at him and slammed on the brakes, and he swerved back out of our lane. But he overcompensated and went into the OTHER lane, with traffic coming from the opposite direction! Then he almost hit us again, and then the 4 lanes went down to 2. He kept going from riding the grass to doing into the other lane, with the opposite traffic. He was drunk. And it was so obvious. Sister Zarada kept honking her horn at him, to try and help him not hit people and to warn people about him. We called 911 and they basically told us they already got some reports on him and hung up. So we called back with the license plate number and gave it to them, and followed him into a neighborhood- the Zarada's neighborhood! People kept having to swerve out of the way. We eventually decided it was safer to stop following him. But later we found out that the police were at his house.
Sister Kyles said that she was really scared, but I knew nothing would happen. Angels were protecting us, and I knew it. I said a prayer, and I knew that everyone on that road would be safe. And if there was a fender bender, I knew that Heavenly Father would help me to help those involved. I knew that we would be fine because the Lord protects His missionaries, especially when they are trying their best to be obedient. It was a testimony builder to me. The Lord really watches out for us.
Alright, picture time!!! Ahhh, gotta hurry!
Sister Shell
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