March 28, 2012

FAMILY!

Thank you so much for the family picture! Before I go to bed at night I just grab those pictures of the family and stare at them for a minute. My companion thinks I am psycho, because I will grab it suddenly, and then hold it 5 inches from my face and just 'stare at it lovingly while not moving a muscle' (her words not mine :) It freaks her out a little bit, but sometimes I just get those family yearnin's and I can't control them! :) We have such an incredible family! The scarves are very nice too- I have been making good use out of them :)

This week I had the neatest experience! We went to go teach Tom and Charly, who are an older couple (in their early 70s) who have been living together as boyfriend/girlfriend for 24 years. They have wanted to get married in the past, but have been unable to because they are living off their social security check and if they get married they will not receive that money. Charly is the sweetest woman, and Tom is hilarious! I have loved them from day one. Tom has that goofy kind of dry humor that I LOVE! We haven't had the opportunity to meet with them very much because Charly has been sick quite a bit, even to the point of being in and out of the hospital. This was about our third lesson with her, and as soon as we came in, Charly had a bunch of questions for us. She wanted to know what exactly made us different from any other church, what we believed about the godhead, and lots of other deep questions I haven't had to answer yet on my mission. Just that morning I had read the sections in Preach My Gospel about listening- just listening without planning out what you will say next and letting them help you know what to say by what they say. It was amazing. She had such a true desire to know what was true, that I felt the spirit was able to bear testimony of the simple truths that we answered her with. Our answers weren't complicated at all, but I felt like they were coming across with power to Charly, just like 2 Nephi 33:1 (I think that is the scripture...) talks about the spirit bringing it to the heart of the recipient. I was also able to feel such love for Charly and Tom! Whenever I have answered people's questions with the Book of Mormon, or extend the promise that they will receive an answer, it has always been an exciting thing. It is so cool that everyone can know FOR THEMSELVES that these things are true- they don't have to rely on anyone else. But this time it was something every particle of my being was longing for her to understand. I wanted her to be relieved from her pain so badly, and I knew that if she could only have the faith to move forward towards Christ He would provide a way. She had the answers there in the Book of Mormon, and it was all I could do to stay sitting on the couch and not get down on my knees and beg her to read it. I knew it would bring her peace. I knew it would bring her comfort. It has done that for me so many times. After the lesson I didn't want to think of anything else, I just wanted to revel in the love and spirit I felt in that lesson. The gospel of Jesus Christ really has the power to bless others because of the Atonement, and I love being able to share that message with others! That probably ranks with one of the most powerful times on my mission so far, and it was just because we were able to step back and let the spirit be the teacher. It is an incredible feeling!!!

So... I learned how to make pepperoni bread. So random. We went to a potential investigator some elders had ran into when they were in our area. He is a man from Peru that owns a bread store. We came in and started talking to him, and it turns out he has met with the missionaries before! Interesting. We hadn't been talking long before some customers came in, so he brought us upstairs and had us measure out dough for him. Then quite a few more people came, so he would come up at intervals and show us the next step for making the pepperoni bread. It was so weird! How many chefs would be comfortable to let two ameutuers go make bread that they are going to sell? He is such a goofball :) But he is very enthusiastic and loves to talk about religion. Hopefully we have a chance to talk with him a little more next time.

Dad, quick question: how did you deal with the towel situation on a mission? Did you really have seven towels, and then wash them all on P-day so you would have a fresh towel everyday? How did you have time for laundry?!

Another neat experience: One morning we were planning lessons during companionship study for our night appointments, and we were not getting ANYTHING accomplished! We were sitting there, trying to think of anything to share with them, and think of what they needed to hear, but every suggestion didn't feel right and we felt like we couldn't think properly. It was frustrating! We didn't know what was going on. We decided to stop wasting so much time, move on, and come back to it later. Well, we didn't end up coming up with anything later because we had to hurry off to an appointment and our day was jam packed with lessons and tours at the JJ farm that we weren't able to have lunch, let alone plan (lunch hasn't been happening these last couple of weeks- it has been crazy! Thankfully our dinners are normally appointments and don't get lost in the crunch :) ) but then, everything fell through that we had planned in the evening, even our back-ups. We thought that was weird, because they were pretty solid plans with back-ups. When we got to our place, we saw that we had someone moving in right above us. We ended up helping her with her stuff, and then got into a 1 1/2 hour conversation about missionary work and about what we do! Her name is Leann, and she is awesome! We came away from talking to her, looked at each other, and we both realized at the same time why things hadn't been working well this morning. The stupor of thought from the morning made a lot more sense, and hopefully next time we are able to recognize how that feels and move on rather than wasting so much time! But it was neat to be reminded how this isn't our mission, it is the Lord's mission, and he will get the message to those he has prepared.

OK, just one more experience! We were in Windham (the ghetto of our area which is the farthest away from us and where almost all of our investigators are) and we were stopping by a potential investigator. Lisa (the mother of the family) came to the door, and tried to flip on the porch light to see who it was, but then the porch light blew out. So she invited us in and said she had been looking for 'church people' because she needed a church! She seemed so perfect! ...until she started going off about all the satanic experiences she has had in her life and poltergist activities she has been having recently. We were trying to steer her away from talking about evil things by reading the intro to the Book of Mormon. She would read a little, but then start straight into another story. At about our seventh attempt to return back to the scriptures, she looked up at us and said, "Ok, I can tell you want to read from this book, but you know what? I already know you are messengers from God, so lets move on with it!" Sister Hatch and I looked at each other, amazed that she would recognize us as messengers from God when we hadn't even shared that much of the gospel with her yet. We let there be a little silence so that the spirit could testify of the truth of what she said to her, then I asked, "How were you able to tell we are messengers from God?" There was a little silence that seemed to last forever, while Sister Hatch and I waited in excited anticipation! She looks up from the Book of Mormon and said, "...well... because the light blew out!' Then she went into another crazy story about her confronting a cloaked demon. So, there you have it. If you ever want to know if someone is a messenger from God, start flipping on the lights around them! It is a sure way to know ;)

These pictures are of our last P-day. We went to a cultural hall in Solon to play basketball.

I love you all! I hope you are all doing well! Stay happy- it is such a blessing that we have the gospel :)

Sister Kimber Mahrt