This week was absolutely AMAZING!! I love being a missionary SO MUCH!!! :D :D :D :D We've had so many miracles and awesome experiences, I don't know exactly how my Heavenly Father keeps finding more blessings to send down on us here in Memorial Springs. But they keep coming, and I am so grateful and so happy. :)
First of all - Wes and Kelly. We thought they had dropped us, because Kelly wasn't returning any of our calls or texts, and they wouldn't answer their door, and we even walked by one time when Wes was outside mowing the lawn and stopped to talk to him but he waved and then went inside... usually that's not a good sign. But last Monday, after our dinner appointment, Sister Walker and I really felt the need to visit another less active that lives just down the street from them. We didn't actually get to see them, because when we turned the corner we saw Wes and Kelly outside, with a police officer. Wes was talking to the cop, but Kelly waved to us and we stopped to talk. Turns out Wes's truck had been broken into, so they were trying to get all that figured out. And that was on top of everything else bad that has happened in his their lives recently - Kelly just started a new job that is really stressful, Wes got called in to work out of town so he had been gone for the last week and a half, AND he found out right before that trip that one of his best friends had passed away. A LOT of negativity, right there, and they had been trying to sort it all out and have been super stressed, and just haven't had time for us really. But Kelly invited us in for a drink of water while Wes finished talking to the police officer, and she told us that he's not ready yet - he's confused because what we're teaching is so very different from what he grew up learning. But they still want us to come over and read and pray with them and teach them, which is good. And as bad as this sounds, I think it was divine that Wes's truck was broken into... nothing was stolen, and his insurance covered all the damages, and I'm positive that that's the reunion that we needed to have with them - not someone pounding on their door that just won't go away, but a casual interaction where they could tell that we really cared for them as we got down on our hands and knees to look for the missing piece of metal. Just goes to show that Heavenly Father really is mindful of what everyone needs, and he has a master plan that will all work out in the end. :)
Now, on to the less actives that live down the street: The Tann family. We didn't get to meet with them on Monday night, but we did see them on Saturday. Sister Tann is really friendly to us missionaries, but up to this point her husband had kind of shied away from us. He was baptized a year or so ago, but fell back into his drinking habits and hasn't come out to church in a while. But when we dropped in on Saturday, we were able to have a good, friendly conversation with him, which was huge, because he hasn't even talked to missionaries in 6 or so months. He didn't stay downstairs when we prayed or shared our message, but someday. Someday soon. :) And Sister Tann and their daughter Emily both came to church on Sunday! And they loved it! Sister Tann thanked us for getting her out there, and said she felt like she really needed to be there. She also told us that it's easier for her to come when she has a responsibility, so we'll work with the ward council on getting her a calling. :)
This week Sister Walker really focused on finding. In our zone, when we report our numbers each week, we report the regular key indicators found in Preach My Gospel but we also report ITLs, or Invitations to Learn - basically how many people we talk to and invite to do something, usually asking them if we can share a scripture or come back and teach more or read the Book of Mormon, something like that. And each area has its own dynamic, and in our area it's really hard to talk to people because no one is ever outside because it's super hot and we don't have any indoor public places in our area that we can contact in, so basically all of our ITLs come from tracting. Usually we get between 50 and 75 each week, but this week we decided to stretch ourselves and get 100. It was really hard, and basically our days were filled with knocking on doors. (side note - summer sales is ruining our tracting... no one answers their door anymore unless they are expecting someone because all the sales people are always on the prowl. It's lame. Anyway...) We reached our goal! We ended the week with 103 ITLs, which is huge for our area. And Sister Walker and I have really worked on stepping out of our comfort zone and talking with everyone and their dog. And it's starting to pay off!
We had one day this week where we had no set appointments, so all we did was tract. It was a frustrating day... we talked to and invited a lot of people, but no one really let us share a message or invited us in or wanted to learn more. Needless to say, we were a little bit discouraged. The next day we had appointments in the afternoon, and so we didn't start tracting until after dinner. We weren't the most excited to start, after what had happened the previous day, but we said a little prayer and just got to it. The very first door we knocked on a woman named Marilyn answered. She not only invited us in to share our message, but we were able to teach the whole Restoration! She was studying the Bible herself when we knocked on the door. :) Unfortunately the King James version is her least favorite... she prefers the NIV translation... but we'll work on that later. :) She invited us back for lunch this week, so we're excited to see her again.
The best part of the week was Tuesday, and not just because it was my birthday. ;) Although I think there was no better way to spend a birthday than being a missionary - I would have loved to spend it with family, but since I can't exactly do that right now... birthdays on the mission are definitely amazing. :) And I'm pretty sure Sister Walker was even more excited than I was - she's a sweetheart! We had studies and such and ate our birthday muffins, and then we headed off to the Temple for our extra special specialized training. It was basically the best thing ever. We went through a session with President and Sister Pingree and after meeting in the Celestial Room we moved into a study room and had a specialized training with President and Sister Pingree and President and Sister Crane (the temple president and his wife). It was amazing, and I learned so much, and I can't even begin to explain all the things I learned. But we talked a lot about who we are and our divine natures and the different responsibilities we have here on Earth, and about the Atonement and how we can use it in our lives, and how we can "offer sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God" (See scripture at the end). It was so cool, and I learned so much. I love the temple, I love the gospel, I love being a missionary. :) And I love the Pingrees - It was great to be able to share this last specialized training with them. I'm excited to meet the Mortensens - they got here today, and we'll get to meet them this Friday - it will be great. :)
Well there you have it - the highlights from a week full of miracles in the life of Sister Ririe. :) I can't believe I've been out for a year this week... It's crazy, and it's hard, and it's frustrating, and it's exhausting... but I can honestly say that the decision to serve a mission is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I love my life out here so much, and I'm so glad I've been privileged to spend the last year of my life in the service of my God. I love Him so much, and He has blessed me so much for being out here serving Him. There's nothing better I could be doing right now! I love y'all so much! Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I hope you have the best of weeks!
Sister Ririe
D&C 138:12-14
Some pictures of the birthday missionary and a photo of Megan and Sister Walker at the Houston temple on her birthday as well. ;) The two pictures at the bottom are at The Peruch family's house - they made a special birthday dinner and celebration for Megan on her birthday as well - so grateful for families who love her so!!
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