Greetings, everyone!
So this week we came across a few miracles that pretty well made up for all of the dropped investigators from last week. There were three times this week where we showed up to teach some less-active members and they had friends over for us to teach! It was really a miracle, and it really shows how God really does make up for times of trials. You should all look up the Mormon Message titled "Good things to Come." That's really what's been pushing me forward is the knowledge that in the end, God WANTS us to succeed, so he will always prepare a way for that to happen. It's interesting the way the Lord works, too, because the happen-stances behind the situations proves that it was not our doing that brought this new success, but it was the Lord.
I think it's kinda sad any time we meet atheists. Coming out on my mission, I can see God's hand in a very real sense. If I had any doubts about the existence of God before, they're most certainly eradicated now. Sometimes God works in a very subtle way, and sometimes he smacks people upside the face. The only problem is that it's REALLY hard to explain that to a person who is set on denying the existence of any greater being.
Anyway, it's been a week of miracles. I don't really know what else to say. Transfers are coming up this upcoming week, so we've all been playing the guessing game of who's leaving and who's staying. And every member keeps asking us what we think is going to happen, closely followed by, "We hope that none of you are leaving!" Sister Cope thinks she's leaving. I honestly have no clue what's going to happen to me since sometimes it feels like I'll be leaving while other times it feels like I'm staying. It's not like last transfer where I knew that I would be the one leaving Fruita a full week before it happened. I think it's an either/or kind of situation right now. We're all fairly certain that Sister Hancock will remain here in 7th ward. But all in all, no one really knows until the transfer calls come this weekend.
It's kind of an adventure, not knowing what's going to happen. But that's really what missionary life is like all the time. You never know what's for dinner, you never know if someone's going to be golden or mean, you never know where you're going, who you're going to see next, what you're going to say, everything. We really have to rely on the spirit and let you know what's going to happen. It's really like walking blind-folded with someone whispering directions to you, and sometimes it's really hard to hear what the person is saying.
Funny story of the week, Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. I woke up to what I initially thought was someone trying to start a lawnmower in our room. Come to quickly realize that it was one of my companions snoring. Having nothing to throw at her, I climbed down from the bunk bed and poked her foot. No response. I poked her several more times. At last, her breathing softened and I climbed back into bed. No sooner had I hit the pillow when she started snoring again. So I climbed back down and poked her arm. Still no result. After repeating the same thing as last time, she finally stopped snoring. I reached the top of the bunk bed and it started back up again. I just started laughing at the futility of it all, and my laughter woke her up so she stopped snoring. :P We laughed about it for a good couple of minutes before settling back to sleep. That morning, the alarm clock went off, and the same companion shot up straight in bed and exclaimed, "IS THIS REAL LIFE?!" "Yes, yes it is," and then she flopped back down in bed and instantly went back to sleep. It was highly entertaining and we made fun of her for the rest of the day.
Oh, yeah. I wanted to mention one last thing. Earlier this week, we had a meeting between all the missionaries and all the auxiliary leaders of all the wards in our stake. One of the seventy came to speak to us. What he was saying was basically that our job as missionaries is to work for the ward, and not the ward to work for us. What that means is that a lot of times, we as missionaries are having to call the leaders and members of the ward to try to set up appointments, beg for referrals, ask people to come out with us, and we're having to plead with the members to get them to help us. But it's supposed to be opposite. The members are supposed to be the ones calling us to try to get into our schedule. They're supposed to be the ones who call us and say, "I would love to come out with you one of these days. Are you available at..." or "I'm having troubles seeing one of the people on my visiting teaching/home teaching list. Do you think you could help me get in contact with them?" or even "I really want to teach my friend the gospel but I have no idea how to go about doing so. Could you help us?" Really, our job is to help the members, but when the members refuse to take the initiative, that's when we have to pester the members. But it's not our ward. It's the members' ward. We're trying to help the members. Not the other way around. Anyway, it was a great training, and I wanted to shoot you the information in this email. To all you members, the missionaries are at your disposal. Take advantage of that! It's really stressful when all the responsibility for taking care of the ward is on the missionaries, the two young kids who could be leaving in a month or so. It's your responsibility as members to take care of your ward, and if you need help, that's where we come in. That's our job. So, yeah. Always remember that.
I don't really have anything else to talk about for this week. I love you all! Have a great week!!
~Sister Richelle Jones
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