Look for the Good

180.  That's how many mosquito bites I have.  And all but 4 of them are on my legs and feet.  And remember how I'm allergic to them?  Yep, it's terrible.   The one day I forget to put on bug spray... Well, I've learned my lesson.  Hopefully.

This week has been full of ups and downs.  But I guess that's life, right?  You have the bad, but it's always followed by something good. For example:

Bad - almost everyone we had scheduled to visit this week had to cancel on us. 

Good - we were able to set up appointments with a ton of people - people that canceled on us, people that we've been seeing often, people that we haven't seen so often, and people that we've been trying to get in contact with since we got here - for this week, so we will be pretty busy teaching. :)

Bad - One of the less active sisters that we visit with, sister M, wasn't  able to see us this week.

Good - She and her son, who is not a member, came to church for the first time in over 7 years, stayed for the whole 3 hours, and had a great time.  The ward was so welcoming - the relief society president came up to her after church and talked to her for a bit, and said that we were all hoping to see her again next week.  Sister M's response was "oh yes, I've had a great time!"  It's so awesome – one of the reasons she and her family stopped coming to church was because they had some negative experiences in their ward in California that made them not want to go back.  But we have an awesome ward here, and they made them feel at home.  I hope that the good feelings continue!

Bad - R had to cancel on us this week as well.

Good - he asked for homework! so we gave him some scriptures to read, and encouraged him to continue to pray and develop his relationship with Heavenly Father.  And he and his wife M are looking forward to meeting with us this Wednesday.

Bad - Sister Wahlen and I are really struggling to find new investigators to teach.

Good - it's forcing us out of our comfort zone.  We're learning to really rely on the Lord.  We're trying our hardest to be exactly obedient so we can start to see the miracles that are promised to us, as long as we are faithful.  We're still looking for the happy ending, where we find a new investigator a day, but we're working for it. Working hard.

We're trying our best to stay positive and keep finding the good that follows the bad.  And we've realized that you find what you're looking for - if you look for the negative in situations, you will find it. But there is always good to find, too. That just needs to be what you are looking for.

I love you all so much!  Stay happy, and have an awesome week!

Sister Ririe

Psalms 5:11-12