I do have some sad news though. My camera is broken... And I'm not quite sure how. I can look at pictures and everything, but when I go to take a picture, it says there is a lens error and it can't open and it shuts down. So I'm guessing the lens is somehow broken. I've looked at it and I can't figure out what it is, and we can't go in town this week to have somebody look at it.... yeah, I'm pretty bummed. I love my camera! Especially since its a pretty awesome blue one. And how am I supposed to take pictures and document my mission without it? I cannot. Sad day :(
Tuesday: So, we weren't able to go to Sean's house (our referral) but we did call him and set up an appointment for Friday, when we'd be in Somerville anyway. He seemed pretty stoked when we talked with him on the phone!
We were supposed to do service at Dan and Margaret's, but Dan didn't feel like it... so we ended up just reading scriptures with them and eating dinner.
Wednesday: We had a member present lesson with Marsha!! Can I just say that member present lessons are the best??? Because they are. Its so much easier to teach with members there. Anyways, we still don't have a baptismal date for her. It just didn't feel right. But we taught her the commandments, and everything made sense to her. She does have a bit of an issue with tithing though. Not that she doesn't understand it but... She already pays about 12% of what she makes to two charities that mean a lot to her- the Wounded Warrior Project and Still Creek. She doesn't want to have to give that up, but she can't afford to pay 22% of what she makes. She said that she'll pray about it and see what God tells her to do. I'm confident that Heavenly Father will help her figure it out.
After that, we stopped by Jenn's house so Sister Rainsdon could do some laundry that desperately needed to do. Then, we headed to Mary's for dinner. That was yummy as always. Mary read us a few things out of a book that she's already read twice. I think its called Everyday Missionary or something like that. Anyways, I loved it because its all about how you can be a missionary... without having the nametag. What she read was pretty inspiring. So, I'm recommending it to all of y'all without having actually read it first myself. Pretty gutsy, I know.
We were going to try and heart attack Whitney's door, but when we drove by all the lights were on and everybody was up. And its no fun heart attacking someone's door if you're just gonna get caught. So we're gonna try and catch her unawares this week! Mwa ha ha ha!
Thursday: Weekly planning! It was a good and productive planning session for us. After that, we did some mormon.org time. Then, we visited Whitney. She seemed to be doing pretty well, and I think she appreciated that we were able to stop by. We talked with her for a while, and asked her if she'd be willing to sit in on lessons with Bill. She agreed, and seemed pretty excited about it. I'm just glad that she's so willing to help out! She's awesome.
After that, we went to the Mitchell's for dinner. We got in a pretty good object lesson with them, and the kids actually paid attention! Halleluyer! It was about individual worth, and about how each of us is like a piece of the puzzle. Without even just one of us, the puzzle isn't complete. We put together a small puzzle, all except for one piece. Then we started talking about how each of us is special. Then Thomas said "Hey, um, missionaries.. you're missing a piece!" Then all the other kids chimed in and pointed it out and we asked why missing a piece was such a big deal. "Because it isn't finished!!" So then we put in the piece, and I think they all understood. They really liked it anyway.
Then, we left the Mitchell's early because it was super cold and freezing, and sleeting on the roads. We drove very carefully home and called it a night because the roads were slick, and they hadn't salted everything yet. We called our District Leader and asked him to move back our District Meeting by an hour the next day so that we could get there safely, and he agreed.
Friday: We woke up and got a text from President Pingree saying that everything, all meetings, were cancelled for the day, and to only go out if we absolutely had to. So apparently missionaries get snow days too! So, we studied as usual, got everything done. Sister Paddock tried to skate around on the ice that was outside. And there was snow covering the rooftops and our stairs and parts of the grass and it was glorious! Miracles happen, people.
Despite President's advice, we had to go out because we had an appointment with Sean that we just couldn't miss! So, in the afternoon when everything was melted and safer, we headed out. We pulled up to this strange yellow house where the paint was peeling off, the windows were all covered up and things were in the yard. So, we prayed and got out of the car. We got up to the porch and didn't even have to knock- he opened the door, smiled and told us to come in. Nice guy, mid thirties, beard starting to grow. He, Sean, told us that he's known mormons for years in Arizona and something on the history channel sparked his memory the other day- they were discussing how Native American Indians are probably descendants of Jews. He remembered that his mormon friends believed that, and got on mormon.org and referred himself. Then we called him the next day! He told us that up until about three weeks ago, he'd been an atheist but had recently started believing. We taught him the Restoration lesson, and he just ate it up. He really loved what I said about God being our loving Heavenly Father, especially the scripture I shared with him in Proverbs 8, I believe. I shared the scripture and talked about how Heavenly Father knows who we are as individuals, and loves us as individuals. How Heavenly Father knows us personally. Sean really liked that, and told us that. He got a little teary eyed even. It was just a really great lesson, and he committed to reading the Book of Mormon and praying about it. We also invited him to church. Sean doesn't have a car though, so we told him we'd find him a ride.
We had dinner with Bill, and read the Book of Mormon with him at the restaurant. That was pretty awesome :)
Saturday: There was a Sheri Dew broadcast for the stakes here in Houston, so we went to that at 10 in the morning. That was fabulous. She spoke about many things, including how to receive revelation and how to share what we know. It was really good. I just loved it. I wish I had my notes with me, but I don't right now. One thing she pointed out, that she also pointed out when she spoke to us at the CTM, is that we should ask Heavenly Father to teach us how we hear the Spirit. To teach us the language of the Spirit, if that makes sense. It was really good.
After that, Sister Rainsdon was feeling pretty sick and wanted to take a nap. So we went back to the apartment. But before she did that, I felt like we should check our air filter thingy. So we did, and it was nasty. Thats probably why we've been getting sick so easily. So, we ran to Walmart and got a new filter and some things to clean it. Sister Paddock cleaned it out, because Sister Rainsdon and I didn't know what to do. Thank goodness for Sister Paddock! Well, it took her three hours and I'm sure we all looked hilarious with our scarves tied around our faces to keep the fumes out of our lungs.
Sunday: We went to church, and taught the youth a pretty good lesson about how to share what we know about Heavenly Father with people. It went pretty well I think. Oh, and...
SEAN CAME TO CHURCH! We got the Binghams on it, and they didn't hesitate. They agreed immediately and picked him up! AND Sean loved church. He fit right in and liked everything we talked about.
HALLELUYER!!!
Then, we got home, ate lunch and finished our studies. After that, we went to Paige Mitchell's "Its Great to Be 8!" thing. That was cute. Sister Foster was talking about how on the day Paige gets baptized, she'll be the most perfect person in our branch- even more perfect than (branch) President Foster! Then, Paige's sister Allie piped up and said, "Yeah, like Sister Shell!" That was pretty funny. I don't know where she got the idea that I'm perfect, but it made me feel good. Even if it isn't true. It was sweet. Later, Jenn asked Allie "Is Sister Shell perfect?" and Allie nodded and said, "Yes!!" So, clearly I have a lot of work to do to not let that adorable little 6 year old down.
After that, we went and visited Conny. (And I thought she spelled it Connie but apparently not..) That was fun. We had a nice visit, a good prayer, and went to drop stuff off at the Crawford's before we went home. They got an adorable puppy! Their oldest son got it free at Walmart and brought it home. She currently chews on everything, and they named her Otis... ? Not quite sure what's going on there, but she's really cute. Then we went home and reported numbers.
This upcoming week is going to be busy because we've got training/interviews and temple! I'm super excited.
Moral of the story for this week is no matter how weird or messed up you think you are, somewhere out there is a six year old who thinks you're perfect, and you better not let her down!
Miracles happen daily people. When you learn to recognize them, that's when life truly becomes joyful.
com amor,
Sister Shell
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| So, every time we go to Somerville, we pass Mater!! Its like "Ta-mater, but without da 'ta'!" |
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