On Monday we went with the Bartlett sisters and participated in
some much needed retail therapy. I forgot all my jewelry, so we went to the
mall and all spent some time (and money) at Charming Charlie's. I got several
pairs of earrings and my new sunglasses, which I will include a selfie of. It
was super fun just hanging out and relaxing. I love malls and I love the other
sisters! That night we had dinner with the J. family; they have the five kids,
three girls and two boys, all under the age of 12! They are a super great
family, and they gave us a referral for their neighbor, who we will be seeing
this week.
Tuesday our Sister Training Leaders came down and went on splits
with us. It was a really good day, I spent it with Sister F., who I really
enjoy. She is going home next transfer, but it was really good getting to know
her better. We focused mostly on less actives and recent converts, and visited
both Sister W. and Sister G. Crazily enough, Sister G. now has the shingles
too!:(Teaching with Sister F. was great, she is ultra-good at listening to the Spirit
and allowing it to guide her to the exact thing that the person needs to hear.
I really admire her closeness to the Spirit and it has really driven me to try
and develop that ability.
The next day was not as good of a day. We stayed up too late the
night before because the sister training leaders stayed with us and we were
talking. We were also irresponsible and didn't really plan for the next day, so
Wednesday was a bunch of random knocked doors and basically no lessons. We did
have lunch with the G. family though, and it was interesting. Sister G. is a
super intense lady. It was cool to eat with her, because she has a lot of
connections to Liberty Mississippi, and we know a lot of the same people there.
This day really reminded me of the importance of working hard and being
organized. It doesn't feel good to spend an entire day doing nothing of real
worth or purpose.
Thursday was a much, much better day. We met with a guy named C.
who had met with the elders previously. We were able to help him with the
concept of living prophets and schedule another appointment! He is a really
cool guy, and he is super interested in religion, but he works every Sunday,
and that is probably going to be an obstacle. We also saw Sister G. and her son
G., and this visit was the real miracle of the day! First of all, G. who is
really really shy, and hasn't ever been willing to talk to missionaries, has
totally been opening up to us lately. He and my companion Sister M. have
connected over Anime, and he and I have been able to discuss Cosplay, so now
every single time we go over there to visit he comes down and talks with us for
a while. We invited him to come to a family home evening with The S’s & J.
our investigator, and he told us he would be willing to go! Anyway, on Thursday
we went over there and he came down and asked us if he could draw us a picture.
Of course we said yes, and I am so excited to see what he makes for us. THEN,
we read Jacob chapter 3 with Sister G., who as y'all know, likes to be
difficult and doesn't really have a testimony of the BoM or Joseph Smith. I was
worried about this chapter, because while I think it is an amazing chapter of
scripture, there are many opportunities to ask difficult questions.
Thankfully, however, that is not what happened. Sister G. loved the chapter.
She gave spiritual thoughts on the scripture, agreed with what we taught her,
and the Spirit was SO STRONG. It was a breakthrough. I am just so thankful for
my Heavenly Father and his ability to soften hearts. He makes the work easy and
my burdens light.
The one bad thing that happened this day though was that we have to
drop A. & D. as investigators. :( They missed our appointment again this
week, and we went over there every day, and they were never home! Then, on
Thursday we got a call from a woman who had seen our number on their door. She
was looking for D. because he had sold her a stolen car! So I think they may
have skipped town. I'm really sad, but maybe someday they will be more prepared
to hear the word.
Friday was maybe the most spiritually edifying day of my mission so
far. We all headed to Little Rock at 6:00 am and had a six hour instruction from
Elder Kopischke of the 70. He structured it like one of Elder Bednar's question
& answer sessions, and it was so amazing. He invited us all at the
beginning of the meeting to write down questions we needed answers to, and
promised us that even if we didn't mention those questions the whole meeting,
that we would receive answers. I wrote down multiple questions and received
answers to all of them. Heavenly Father is so good at using every situation to
teach us personally and powerfully. As I listened to Elder Kopischke's words I
was testified to over and over again that I need to be here right now, and that
my mission is exactly what I need to be doing right now. Then, on the bus ride
home, a couple of missionaries began talking to our bus driver about the
gospel. Then we sang hymns and had a testimony meeting, and by the end of the
bus ride we had committed our bus driver, Brother Jones, to baptism!! He set a
date for July 25th. It was such a miracle. We
didn't get back to our area until almost 8:30, so we just went and got dinner with the
Bartlett sisters and spent the night at their apartment.
Saturday we visited with Sister W. again and I brought her some tea
that I thought might be this African tea she used to drink a lot, but couldn't
find anymore. I don't know if it was the tea she was looking for, but she loved
it anyway! I left the whole canister with her. (Side Note- this tea was Word of
Wisdom approved, I promise!) We talked to her for a long time, she has a short
surgery on the 30th because she has a collapsed vocal cord. This is a same day
surgery that is not very intensive, but if it doesn't work she will have to go
in and have a more serious procedure done, so please continue to pray for her,
and pray specifically that her surgery on the 30th will go well. She really
appreciates the prayers. Saturday night was the only time this month
we did not have an appointment with a member for dinner, so we decided to party
it up and went to this crazy sushi buffet with nine million kinds of sushi and
tons of tempura and this super good miso soup and a bunch of different
desserts. We stuffed ourselves, and I was feeling it all night, hahahaha. How
ironic, the southern food hasn't contributed to weight gain at all, but if I
keep eating sushi like that I'll gain my mission 40 in no time! We spent the
rest of the night contacting less actives and it went okay, there is a lot of
reactivation work to be done in this ward.
Sunday we went to church and I got to participate in my first ward
council as a missionary! It was cool to be able to discuss how to better help
our investigators on so many different fronts. After church we went with the priesthood
to bring Sister W. the sacrament since she is still in too much pain to come to
church. Man that woman has a powerful Spirit. Spending time with her makes you
so appreciative of the gifts of the Spirit, while at the same time, so ashamed
of how lightly you have been taking your blessings. After we finished the
sacrament she started crying and told us how much love she felt from the ward
and that the treatment she was receiving from everyone was better than she
could have ever imagined. She is such a blessing to know.
Sunday night we were with The N’s again,
and I love those crazy kids!! She made Navajo tacos and they were AMAZING, and
a really nice throw back to home. Being over there is always a blast, and
Sister M. is the best, she has ordained herself my mission mom.
Over all this was a good week. I was spiritually edified and grew a
lot as a child of God, however, we did not work nearly as hard as we could
have, and I am very disappointed in myself. There are too many children of God
who have not heard the word yet for me to have this kind of a week. I am
dedicating myself to working as hard as I can, as much as I can, this next week
and I am writing this so that you all can hold me accountable come next Monday.
Please pray for me, and I continue to pray for all of you. I have
the best life filled with the best people and the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am unimaginably lucky, and I thank you all for being such a huge part of why
I have the best life ever.
Sister Hannah
Thomas
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