Hey y'all!
This week has been go go go, we have been SO busy! So many miracles have happened this week! SO - without further ado...
First - my new companion, Sister Ostvig, is AMAZING! We served in the same district for 2 transfers while I was in Memorial Springs. And - she has already served in Fairfield! For 5 transfers! She started her mission here, left to the Klein stake for a bit, and now she's back. The ward is super excited to see her again, and she has SO much knowledge about the area - it is great. So I have the knowledge of the investigators we're currently working with, and we've been able to get back in with all the investigators she was working with 6 months ago, so basically our teaching pool is HUGE right now. We don't even have time to breathe. It is CRAZY!! I LOVE it!
A little about Sister Ostvig - she's from Minnesota, was originally called to serve in Brazil but after 9 months of waiting for her visa she decided to be permanently reassigned to the Texas Houston Mission. She did a year of school at BYU before coming on her mission and is not sure what she wants to major in yet. She's a lot of fun to be with, and she's an awesome missionary, and I think the two of us will make an awesome team. :)
Second - ALICE WAS BAPTIZED!!!! :D :D :D She is absolutely amazing, and I love her so much!!! She is quite the trooper too - she's 79 years old, and on the day of her baptism she woke up with super bad back pain... but when we talked to her about it she said "there's no way I'm missing this!" The baptismal service was amazing - even though there were 3 other major events that members of the ward were involved in that night, we still had a good turnout. It really touched Alice, who was expecting maybe 5 people to come. This ward is awesome! A few of her friends in the ward spoke, and I sang a solo... accapella... I think I would have been more nervous for it if I had had time to really prepare... but as it was, Alice asked me to sing, and I was only singing for her and it didn't matter what anyone else thought. :) But it ended up being just fine. :)
And then - yesterday, the day of her confirmation, Alice called us while she was on the way to church saying she had really bad hip pain... I'm telling you - Satan was doing everything he could to stop her from becoming a member of this church... but it didn't matter, because Alice is SO strong! We had her home teachers give her a blessing of healing before sacrament meeting started, and then she was confirmed, and she ended up staying for all of sacrament meeting. As we walked her out to her car she leaned over to me and said, "Jesus suffered a lot for me; I can suffer a little for Him!" She is incredible - a HUGE example to me. I am so honored and humbled that I am able to play a part in her conversion!
(While we're on the topic of baptism... I found out that Maria, one of my investigators from my last area, was baptized! :D I'm sad I didn't get to go, but Sister Walker said she'd email me a picture. :) )
Third - with Sister Ostvig's return to Fairfield, we were able to get in with a part member family that I've only met with once! This family had a HUGE connection with Sister Ostvig, and when she left the missionaries lost contact with them... but now that she's back, Tommy (the non member husband) and his 10 year old son Devon have agreed to take the missionary lessons! We were supposed to meet with them tonight, but we just found out that Jennifer (the member wife) has been in the hospital for the past few days... so pray for them - Sister Ostvig says this happened last time when Tommy agreed to take the lessons... So we just need Satan to stop with all the physical health problems.
Fourth - We are also meeting consistently with another part member family - I've met with these folks a few times, but now we're really trying for twice a week. Because John (the non member husband) says he needs consistency for him to get his answer. Well, he asked for it. ;) We had a SUPER spiritual lesson on the Plan of Salvation last night, and John said he'd pray about November 29th as the day he should be baptized. It's going to happen. :) His biggest concern is his extended family, who are all very involved in the Church of Samoa, but he told us that he's starting to realize that his family will love and respect him no matter what decision he makes. He is SO close!
Fifth - Have I told you about the Dongarkars? They're a new to the ward, as in they just moved in. The wife, Lauren, is active, the husband, Amol, (who is from India) is not. Anyway, we went over to their house this week for dinner - DELICIOUS Indian food. Ok, so my mouth was burning, but it was still good. ;) I've definitely grown more tolerant of spicy foods during my stay here in Texas! And then - Amol came with his family to church yesterday! He really wants to have a church that they go to as a family (he has gone back to being Catholic), and Lauren wants that too, but she doesn't want to compromise and leave what she knows to be true. So they are trying our ward together, and they're starting to make friends, and it is great.
Sixth - We have been involved all week with "Super Faye Day" - a HUGE fundraiser for Faye (the little girl in the ward with cancer) and her family. Basically it was a yard sale/bake sale/carnival/silent auction... like I said, HUGE. We helped out at the church on Thursday and Friday sorting all the items that had been donated for the yard sale, and then on Saturday we were there from 8am to 1pm helping out with whatever Sister Fantasia (who was in charge of the whole event) needed. Mostly it was a long morning out in the Houston sun. But it was SO cool to see the whole community - not just the ward - pull together for Faye and her family. SO many people gave of their time and energy to make the event a success. They ended up raising over $15,000! And at one point Sister Fantasia announced that Faye was on Skype over by the lemonade stand and ALL the kids in the whole church parking lot stopped what they were doing to run over and say hi to her. It was so cute, and I felt the spirit SO strong throughout the day. It kind of restored my faith in humanity. There are still a lot of good people out there. :)
That's all for the week. Well... not all... but all that I have time to write. Miracles are happening! I love this work! And I love y'all - thanks for everything!
Sister Ririe
1 Corinthians 10:12 (I came across this verse in my studies this week. It goes to show, once again, that content-ion (being content) is of the devil. We MUST make sure that we are standing, and STAYING, on our sure foundation!)
I am SO sorry for the lack of pictures this week... I have so many good ones on my camera, but I left my camera cord at home... so look forward to next week! :)
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