You betcha I got an ultrasound on my mish.
... not that kind.
haha..
So These last 8 weeks, I have been quite ill to say the least. They discovered a very large amount of bacteria in my body, and found out that my kidneys are bleeding.
so fun, right?
Turns out.. that mice poop is the cause of it..
...stop laughing.
On Tuesday, we were sitting in district meeting- and I felt this CRAZY sharp pain in my chest. I turned to banks and said "this isn't right, this doesn't feel right".. so we went into the bathroom and I started sweating and things got blurry- I laid down... ha
We called the members that we live with (cuz he's a doctor) and he said that he would be home in about an hour if we could last that long.. so in came our district leader-and zone leaders. they immediately said "let's give her a blessing" sooo cool!! After the blessing, we went back home and waited for Bro Jarstad to arrive. He came upstairs and checked my vitals.. my heart rate was super low and I had a temp of 102. He knew that it was cuz of my kidneys and that the bacteria must still be in them, and that it may have started spreading around.
So he called in a few prescriptions and gave me another blessing. That night- I slept like a baby thanks to all the modern day medicines (haha)
I woke up- went to the hosp and had blood drawn and all that. Then they gave me an IV full of some antibiotic- well that IV made me suuuuuper loopy and quite tired.
Banks and I spent the next 3 days at home- watching movies that were put out by the church (I now have the movies: Legacy, The Testaments, and all of the D&C videos memorized) nooo joke.
On friday- I went to a specialist and she did an ultrasound of my kidneys. They are inflamed and pushing on my other organs (that's why I had a pain in my chest) They are also still bleeding. She put me on ANOTHER antibiotic and said that I should start feeling better soon.
It's been like 3 days, and I am starting to improve. There is still a lot of pain- but through blessings and prayers, I have been able to bear it throughout the day.
She also said that my body has been so full of bacteria for the past 8 weeks, that it has affected my digestive system- so she feels that my case of celiacs may go away if they can kill the bacteria. but she said I have to keep being Gluten Free until that happens- dang it! haha
Then- friday night we went over to the Parrets house and we had a great lesson with them and even asked michael to commit to baptism- he wouldn't, but he said he would think about it.
Saturday- we went over there at night and the mother had "a few too many drinks" and it was a wreck. A complete wreck. it was so devestating seeing this in the family. It was heartbreaking to see the kids witness their mom like that. I started to cry and Michael asked why- I told him that I loved his family so much, and that I just wanted the best for them.. and clearly the mom didn't understand that.
Sunday- we woke up, gathered all our crazy investigators and headed to church. The parett family came, and the mother seemed fine. she apologized and said it would never happen again. Sister Lopez (1st counselor in Relief Society) made us easter baskets! so fun!!! they were full of cool games and treats. THEN we went over to the Cahans (the RS pres) and she had us over for their Easter Dinner- I have pics- she also bought us a shirt and waterbottle from BYU-I ... It hurts me to say, but I did wear the shirt. eeeeeek!!!! UofU is still the best. no worries.
THEN we went and ate another late dinner at the Flores home. it was delicious. THEN we went over to the parrett home and they surprised us with Easter Baskets PACKED full of candy! it was great!!!
we then had a lesson and I literally told Michael that it is his duty to become a worthy priesthood holder, and that is only capable through baptism. I told him that he needed to be baptized, he needed to give up his softball playing on sunday, and get baptized. It was kinda scary how blunt I was- But I love that family a lot, and so it's not rude to be bold, cuz i love them. haha
later that evening we got a text...
...michael is going to be baptized.
:)
Best. Easter. Gift. EVER.
I love you all- I appreciate all the prayers that have gone out in my behalf, I feel them- they give me the support and courage that I need every day.
love you!
-ames
Monday, May 7, 2012
Pictures
The lady in the white skirt is Sister Cahan- the asian is Steve (their foreign exchange student) and the girl in the yellow shirt is Karey, Sister Cahans daughter.
The elders are Elder Welch (the short one)... I don't care for him much (i'll tell that story later) and the tall one is Elder Jensen- we went to high school and middle school together! so cool!
The lady with short hair that banks and i are holding baskets next to- is sister lopez!
The elders are Elder Welch (the short one)... I don't care for him much (i'll tell that story later) and the tall one is Elder Jensen- we went to high school and middle school together! so cool!
Kissin snails and watching Conference
Heyo!
Here is a summary of my week:
Monday- it was P-day (therfore awesomeness occured) like naps, food shopping (which sucks now cuz i have to be Gluten Free) and emailing (yahoo!)
Tuesday- I went to the doctor and found out my kidneys are still bleeding, just not as bad now (haha) the bacteria is starting to clear up. apparently whatever was in that mice poop was really strong because the hospitals strongest antibiotics are taking a long time to kill it! I was able to go to the hospital and get 2 IV's and have them try and kill it quicker. Then later that night we got a call from the spanish sisters saying that their car was towed and they needed a ride. Well we went to the tow place (in the ghetto) and the hermanas (spanish sisters) were too chicken to ask if they could not have to pay the fine- so I (using the gospel, of course) charmed my way out of the 300$ fine..... ok I may or may not have flirted a little with a 400lb bald man.
sometimes ya just have to, ok?
Wednesday- Sister Banks went to a training meeting, so I went on exchanges with a girl named Sister Morgan. she is really sweet, super quiet, but really sweet. She is from texas so she said "yall" like 2196851321 times.
Thursday- I woke up early in the morning and was COVERED in a cold sweat. it was gross, I had a temp of 103 and I started seeing spots... haha it was great. so we stayed in and watched church movies all day- then at about 6pm we decided to go downstairs to make juice- and we found a ton of MICE POOP in our cupboard! ahhhhh!!! so we then went looking around the house and found like 15 mouse traps. we decided to be big girls and set the traps ourselves and put peanut butter on them- HOLY SMOKES it is hard to set a mouse trap!!!!! my fingernails are blue because they got smashed so many times! Later that night (at like 1020) we heard a creepy noise, we went down and a mouse had been caught! I will send the video next week- it was so funny!
Firday- woke up to another dead mouse in the trap! success!!!! but SO gross. then banks had training again, so i went on exchanges up to the University of Washington (they call it Udub) it was AWESOME! it is known for "red square" which is like this red square.. obviously. but it's huge and it's where all the college kids walk on to get to their classes. so we tracted in there- it was crazy!!!!! I wasn't too useful cuz I blended in and I got asked out 5x haha The other sisters that are there are asian- and from china- so they don't blend in as well. Elder Keung (who is from New Zealand) took me under his wing and made me stay by him haha. Later, A tour group asked if they could take a picture with Elder Keung and I! it was SO funny!
Saturday- CONFERENCE!!!!!! wooohooooo!!!! It was awesome cuz we finally got to watch TV! granted it was at the stke center, in the chapel... but hey, it's still TV.
I totally left my notes at home- so I'll summarize all of conference together in this paragraph. I LOVED Uchtdorfs talk!! STOP IT!!! it was awesome! I also really enjoyed Eyrings talk (it reminded me of my friend Jenna, I bawled throughout it!) I loved the guy that talked about his grandson Paxton. I also loved Elder Hollands- ahhh ok I loved them all! I'll give more details when I have my notes on me next time!
Sunday- Conference again- I'll write notes on that next time. but after conference Banks and I decided to go see a few people, we were walking in an apartment complex- and I saw a snail! so naturally.. i picked it up- but then it was too slimey to hold, so i put it on a stick. well I was joking around with banks- and i stuck my tongue out as she was about to take a picture- well aparently my tongue is longer than i thought, cuz i LICKED it!!! ahhhhh so so so gross!
what is it with me and animals?!
anywho- as far as our investigators.... John, Lisa, Teta & D all dumped us! I was so sad. But I know that all in all, the seed was planted- and they will hopefully see the light soon!
Remember the Parrett family? the step dad (michael) isn't a member... well- we got him to go to the priesthood session- and he LOVED it!!! he is still skepticall of joining the church cuz he doesn't want to become inactive (like his wife and step kids have) so he wants to make sure he is fully committed. BUT he has to quit softball league first cuz they have games on sunday!
anywho- he is making wonderful progress, and their family still loves us.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful week!
love you all!!!
xoxoxo
-ames
Here is a summary of my week:
Monday- it was P-day (therfore awesomeness occured) like naps, food shopping (which sucks now cuz i have to be Gluten Free) and emailing (yahoo!)
Tuesday- I went to the doctor and found out my kidneys are still bleeding, just not as bad now (haha) the bacteria is starting to clear up. apparently whatever was in that mice poop was really strong because the hospitals strongest antibiotics are taking a long time to kill it! I was able to go to the hospital and get 2 IV's and have them try and kill it quicker. Then later that night we got a call from the spanish sisters saying that their car was towed and they needed a ride. Well we went to the tow place (in the ghetto) and the hermanas (spanish sisters) were too chicken to ask if they could not have to pay the fine- so I (using the gospel, of course) charmed my way out of the 300$ fine..... ok I may or may not have flirted a little with a 400lb bald man.
sometimes ya just have to, ok?
Wednesday- Sister Banks went to a training meeting, so I went on exchanges with a girl named Sister Morgan. she is really sweet, super quiet, but really sweet. She is from texas so she said "yall" like 2196851321 times.
Thursday- I woke up early in the morning and was COVERED in a cold sweat. it was gross, I had a temp of 103 and I started seeing spots... haha it was great. so we stayed in and watched church movies all day- then at about 6pm we decided to go downstairs to make juice- and we found a ton of MICE POOP in our cupboard! ahhhhh!!! so we then went looking around the house and found like 15 mouse traps. we decided to be big girls and set the traps ourselves and put peanut butter on them- HOLY SMOKES it is hard to set a mouse trap!!!!! my fingernails are blue because they got smashed so many times! Later that night (at like 1020) we heard a creepy noise, we went down and a mouse had been caught! I will send the video next week- it was so funny!
Firday- woke up to another dead mouse in the trap! success!!!! but SO gross. then banks had training again, so i went on exchanges up to the University of Washington (they call it Udub) it was AWESOME! it is known for "red square" which is like this red square.. obviously. but it's huge and it's where all the college kids walk on to get to their classes. so we tracted in there- it was crazy!!!!! I wasn't too useful cuz I blended in and I got asked out 5x haha The other sisters that are there are asian- and from china- so they don't blend in as well. Elder Keung (who is from New Zealand) took me under his wing and made me stay by him haha. Later, A tour group asked if they could take a picture with Elder Keung and I! it was SO funny!
Saturday- CONFERENCE!!!!!! wooohooooo!!!! It was awesome cuz we finally got to watch TV! granted it was at the stke center, in the chapel... but hey, it's still TV.
I totally left my notes at home- so I'll summarize all of conference together in this paragraph. I LOVED Uchtdorfs talk!! STOP IT!!! it was awesome! I also really enjoyed Eyrings talk (it reminded me of my friend Jenna, I bawled throughout it!) I loved the guy that talked about his grandson Paxton. I also loved Elder Hollands- ahhh ok I loved them all! I'll give more details when I have my notes on me next time!
Sunday- Conference again- I'll write notes on that next time. but after conference Banks and I decided to go see a few people, we were walking in an apartment complex- and I saw a snail! so naturally.. i picked it up- but then it was too slimey to hold, so i put it on a stick. well I was joking around with banks- and i stuck my tongue out as she was about to take a picture- well aparently my tongue is longer than i thought, cuz i LICKED it!!! ahhhhh so so so gross!
what is it with me and animals?!
anywho- as far as our investigators.... John, Lisa, Teta & D all dumped us! I was so sad. But I know that all in all, the seed was planted- and they will hopefully see the light soon!
Remember the Parrett family? the step dad (michael) isn't a member... well- we got him to go to the priesthood session- and he LOVED it!!! he is still skepticall of joining the church cuz he doesn't want to become inactive (like his wife and step kids have) so he wants to make sure he is fully committed. BUT he has to quit softball league first cuz they have games on sunday!
anywho- he is making wonderful progress, and their family still loves us.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful week!
love you all!!!
xoxoxo
-ames
Friday, April 6, 2012
Weekly!
Well hello!!!
This week has been just lovely, transfers were last week and luckily I nor my companion were moved! woot woot! So I am still in Federal Way- and I still live in a mansion- and my comp is still Banks, although she has promised to not feed me mice poop this transfer :)
Remember that lady we chased down the street? the one who had just lost her husband? well we met with her last week, and it was soooo sad! Her neighbor (who is an ex mormon) saw her talking to us and so he went and told her all this anti mormon stuff. so when she met with us, she had all this anti in her head and didn't want to even hear what we ahd to say! ahhh it was so frustrating. we hope that she will come around soon, we have been praying a lot for her, so we will see.
The Parrett family (the one i sent pics of, with the lady that makes her own cigs) they are doing great. since banks and I have been coming over they have started to clean their house, declutter, and paint, and make an effort in trying to have the spirit in their home! It's so neat! They have completely changed and grown since we started coming. They come to church and the girls go to the YW activities. We are still working on getting the dad baptized- he just doesn't want to give up his softball on sundays- haha. men.
we went tracting on friday and neither Banks nor I wanted to- we were both tired and starving, but we knew we had to. We said a prayer before we started and we prayed that we would find a miracle- on our 3rd door we did!!!! His name is AJ and he's 26- he had met with the missionaries a few years ago but said that he just was not ready to get baptized then. He told us though that he knew the book of mormon was true! so cool!! we then put him on date for baptism for april 21! so cool!!
then we knocked on his neighbors door and she started swearing and screaming at us... oh missionary work is great.
The weather was so amazing on saturday- it was super sunny and we even rolled the windows down. it was grand!
I got Megs package!!! Thanks SO much!!!! it was so awesome! and I screamed when I saw the pocky!!! haha that journal is so cute and the I love Jesus scrapbook thing is hilarious. my district is way jealous of it.
ps- if Sheridan, Cheyenne, Laurin, Kristin, Krista, Markell, Mckelle, Lachelle, or any other of my NY/CT peeps read this- WRITE ME!!! punks! you are all in major trouble when I get home!
hopefully I will get new scrips this week! all these doc appts are getting so annoying and so hopeully I will have time to get them from the store!
ps- can someone send me a pic of kade? I talk about him all the time, I would LOVE a pic!
anywho- I love you all!
until next week
xoxox-ames
This week has been just lovely, transfers were last week and luckily I nor my companion were moved! woot woot! So I am still in Federal Way- and I still live in a mansion- and my comp is still Banks, although she has promised to not feed me mice poop this transfer :)
Remember that lady we chased down the street? the one who had just lost her husband? well we met with her last week, and it was soooo sad! Her neighbor (who is an ex mormon) saw her talking to us and so he went and told her all this anti mormon stuff. so when she met with us, she had all this anti in her head and didn't want to even hear what we ahd to say! ahhh it was so frustrating. we hope that she will come around soon, we have been praying a lot for her, so we will see.
The Parrett family (the one i sent pics of, with the lady that makes her own cigs) they are doing great. since banks and I have been coming over they have started to clean their house, declutter, and paint, and make an effort in trying to have the spirit in their home! It's so neat! They have completely changed and grown since we started coming. They come to church and the girls go to the YW activities. We are still working on getting the dad baptized- he just doesn't want to give up his softball on sundays- haha. men.
we went tracting on friday and neither Banks nor I wanted to- we were both tired and starving, but we knew we had to. We said a prayer before we started and we prayed that we would find a miracle- on our 3rd door we did!!!! His name is AJ and he's 26- he had met with the missionaries a few years ago but said that he just was not ready to get baptized then. He told us though that he knew the book of mormon was true! so cool!! we then put him on date for baptism for april 21! so cool!!
then we knocked on his neighbors door and she started swearing and screaming at us... oh missionary work is great.
The weather was so amazing on saturday- it was super sunny and we even rolled the windows down. it was grand!
I got Megs package!!! Thanks SO much!!!! it was so awesome! and I screamed when I saw the pocky!!! haha that journal is so cute and the I love Jesus scrapbook thing is hilarious. my district is way jealous of it.
ps- if Sheridan, Cheyenne, Laurin, Kristin, Krista, Markell, Mckelle, Lachelle, or any other of my NY/CT peeps read this- WRITE ME!!! punks! you are all in major trouble when I get home!
hopefully I will get new scrips this week! all these doc appts are getting so annoying and so hopeully I will have time to get them from the store!
ps- can someone send me a pic of kade? I talk about him all the time, I would LOVE a pic!
anywho- I love you all!
until next week
xoxox-ames
St. Patty's Day!
ahhhhh!
I can't believe I have another nephew!!!!!! Kaden is a STUD!!!!!! i can't wait to meet him!
another week has come and gone- Things around here have slowed down quite a bit, but the work is still great!
There is this family that we met, oh goodness I love them so much, They live in a small little house with 4 dogs- 1 cat- 2 birds- 2 moms(rose and shannon)- 1 dad(michael)- 1 son(daniel)- 2 daughters(jenna and ashlee)- and 1 old man (tommy).
Their name is the Parret/green/ayho/tommy family.
The mum is Shannon
shannon has 2 daughters (ashlee and jenna) and she is married to Michael (the dad)
Rose is Michaels ex-wife.
Daniel is Roses son.
Tommy is Roses ex husbands (not michael) dad.
did ya catch that?
no worries- it took me a whole week to remember.
THey are so funny! Shannon, Jenna, and Ashlee are all members- but they have not gone to church in a long time.
we began going over there last week and they constantly want us to keep coming over, they feed us dessert or dinner every time we go over. They have such big hearts! They take in so many people-and animals (as you can tell)
anywho- we went over to their house on Saturday and Jenna (age 17) was all dressed up, we asked her why and she said "oh I'm going to a mormon dance!' we were shocked haha but she decided to go to a singles ward dance! this is a girl who hadn't wanted anything to do with the church, and here she was deciding to go to a church dance- it's amazing to see what difference sister banks and I have made, it's so worth it! Then we started talking to Mike and Shannon and we said "so you're coming to church tomorrow, right?" they laughed and said "ya ok" ... banks and I sat there and we were like "wait, what??! serious?!"
sure enough.. Shannon and michael came to church on Sunday- it was awesome! Shannon hadn't been to church in Years and michael had only been once or twice before that.
It was amazing to see them back at church!
Anywho- here are a lot of pics
Some are of when our car got broken into- the one with the lady and her cigarettes, that's shannon! she makes her own cigarettes cuz it's cheaper... hahahaha.
Then there are some of Banks and I tracting, at the temple
The group one of us at the temple (with elders) that is our district! We just had transfers today, and so I will get a new district tomorrow (same companion and area though, i didn't get transferred! yay!!!)
and the others... I kinda forgot.. but ya!
I love you all!!!
xoxoxo
ames
I can't believe I have another nephew!!!!!! Kaden is a STUD!!!!!! i can't wait to meet him!
another week has come and gone- Things around here have slowed down quite a bit, but the work is still great!
There is this family that we met, oh goodness I love them so much, They live in a small little house with 4 dogs- 1 cat- 2 birds- 2 moms(rose and shannon)- 1 dad(michael)- 1 son(daniel)- 2 daughters(jenna and ashlee)- and 1 old man (tommy).
Their name is the Parret/green/ayho/tommy family.
The mum is Shannon
shannon has 2 daughters (ashlee and jenna) and she is married to Michael (the dad)
Rose is Michaels ex-wife.
Daniel is Roses son.
Tommy is Roses ex husbands (not michael) dad.
did ya catch that?
no worries- it took me a whole week to remember.
THey are so funny! Shannon, Jenna, and Ashlee are all members- but they have not gone to church in a long time.
we began going over there last week and they constantly want us to keep coming over, they feed us dessert or dinner every time we go over. They have such big hearts! They take in so many people-and animals (as you can tell)
anywho- we went over to their house on Saturday and Jenna (age 17) was all dressed up, we asked her why and she said "oh I'm going to a mormon dance!' we were shocked haha but she decided to go to a singles ward dance! this is a girl who hadn't wanted anything to do with the church, and here she was deciding to go to a church dance- it's amazing to see what difference sister banks and I have made, it's so worth it! Then we started talking to Mike and Shannon and we said "so you're coming to church tomorrow, right?" they laughed and said "ya ok" ... banks and I sat there and we were like "wait, what??! serious?!"
sure enough.. Shannon and michael came to church on Sunday- it was awesome! Shannon hadn't been to church in Years and michael had only been once or twice before that.
It was amazing to see them back at church!
Anywho- here are a lot of pics
Some are of when our car got broken into- the one with the lady and her cigarettes, that's shannon! she makes her own cigarettes cuz it's cheaper... hahahaha.
Then there are some of Banks and I tracting, at the temple
The group one of us at the temple (with elders) that is our district! We just had transfers today, and so I will get a new district tomorrow (same companion and area though, i didn't get transferred! yay!!!)
and the others... I kinda forgot.. but ya!
I love you all!!!
xoxoxo
ames
Aftermath
Well hello!
So being a missionary without scriptures is kinda hard. haha
our zone leaders were supposed to get me a temporary triple (book of mormon, d&C and Pogp)
but no...
they didn't put the order in.
it's grrrrreat.
haha our windows did get fixed though- yay!
This week was slow, we had many investigators tell us that they are no longer interested. One lady keeps sending us anti-mormon texts.
We go tracting alot because we don't have many appointments (because no one let's us in haha) ...and we get many doors slammed in our faces.
The other night we were tracting for 4 hours straight, not one single home let us in- we were getting so tired and both felt sick cuz it had been raining/snowing all day. We were walking back to our car when we saw this lady walking her dog, banks and I looked at eachother- we kinda hesitated a little bit cuz we were both sooo tired and soo cold- but we decided to go over.
We walked over there, not knowing what we would say.. Banks turns to me and says "you talk, no battle"
...I sat there- we were like 10 feet away from her, she turned and started to cross to the other side of the street. I looked at Banks, grabbed her arm and we followed.
We were trying to keep up with this lady, but she started walking faster and faster!! finally, it was to the point where we were no longer speedwalking- we were jogging after this woman! I yelled "hey stop! we want to talk about God!!!" she turned around and said "what?" and we caught up to her, it was super awkward cuz here we are- we had just CHASED this woman down the street! she looked at me and said "well, you wanted to talk about God didn't you? what do you have to say?"
I then told her that God loves her and that the message that us as missionaries share could enrich her life- and that no matter what trials she may be going through, God is aware of them and he only wants her to be happy and to be comforted during her hard time.
She then started to cry, not just like a few tears.. she started bawling!
....it was so awkward.
but THEN- she explained that her husband had just passed away from a heart attack, and that she was feeling so alone and she felt like she needed guidance in her life.
booya!
We are meeting with her tomorrow, so I will let you know how it goes.
It's amazing- it's amazing how you can have such a hard long day and get sooo many doors slammed in your face, yet one person can make your day 100x better.
That lady made every single door slam worth it, every single horrible comment we had heard that day- none of that mattered anymore.
we knew without a doubt in our minds, that we needed to be there. We knew with assurance that we needed to meet that woman.
Just knowing that you made a difference to one single person- is all worth it.
Every hard day is worth one persons soul and smile. Every single day, a miracle happens. A miracle that makes the hard times worth it.
The gospel is true, I'll say it time and time again.
God is our Heavenly Father, and he loves us. Jesus Christ is our brother and our Savior. Joseph Smith was a prophet, he restored the keys back on the earth. Families can be together for eternity through the sealings of the temple. Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet here on the earth today.
The gospel is so simple- so simple. Yet so vital.
anywho!
Federal Way is lovely! I love you all
ps- SEND ME LETTERS! ya punks! (this goes out to all my NY friends, UT friends, KY friend, and any other people!)
pps- I love you all
ppps- Dear Rodgersons, it is so awesome that you know the Jarstads and the Cahans! They are incredible, I love them and they take VERY good care of me!
ppps- I'm done now.
pppps- I hope Kaden comes soon! please email asap and take lots of pics!
xoxoxoxo
-ames
So being a missionary without scriptures is kinda hard. haha
our zone leaders were supposed to get me a temporary triple (book of mormon, d&C and Pogp)
but no...
they didn't put the order in.
it's grrrrreat.
haha our windows did get fixed though- yay!
This week was slow, we had many investigators tell us that they are no longer interested. One lady keeps sending us anti-mormon texts.
We go tracting alot because we don't have many appointments (because no one let's us in haha) ...and we get many doors slammed in our faces.
The other night we were tracting for 4 hours straight, not one single home let us in- we were getting so tired and both felt sick cuz it had been raining/snowing all day. We were walking back to our car when we saw this lady walking her dog, banks and I looked at eachother- we kinda hesitated a little bit cuz we were both sooo tired and soo cold- but we decided to go over.
We walked over there, not knowing what we would say.. Banks turns to me and says "you talk, no battle"
...I sat there- we were like 10 feet away from her, she turned and started to cross to the other side of the street. I looked at Banks, grabbed her arm and we followed.
We were trying to keep up with this lady, but she started walking faster and faster!! finally, it was to the point where we were no longer speedwalking- we were jogging after this woman! I yelled "hey stop! we want to talk about God!!!" she turned around and said "what?" and we caught up to her, it was super awkward cuz here we are- we had just CHASED this woman down the street! she looked at me and said "well, you wanted to talk about God didn't you? what do you have to say?"
I then told her that God loves her and that the message that us as missionaries share could enrich her life- and that no matter what trials she may be going through, God is aware of them and he only wants her to be happy and to be comforted during her hard time.
She then started to cry, not just like a few tears.. she started bawling!
....it was so awkward.
but THEN- she explained that her husband had just passed away from a heart attack, and that she was feeling so alone and she felt like she needed guidance in her life.
booya!
We are meeting with her tomorrow, so I will let you know how it goes.
It's amazing- it's amazing how you can have such a hard long day and get sooo many doors slammed in your face, yet one person can make your day 100x better.
That lady made every single door slam worth it, every single horrible comment we had heard that day- none of that mattered anymore.
we knew without a doubt in our minds, that we needed to be there. We knew with assurance that we needed to meet that woman.
Just knowing that you made a difference to one single person- is all worth it.
Every hard day is worth one persons soul and smile. Every single day, a miracle happens. A miracle that makes the hard times worth it.
The gospel is true, I'll say it time and time again.
God is our Heavenly Father, and he loves us. Jesus Christ is our brother and our Savior. Joseph Smith was a prophet, he restored the keys back on the earth. Families can be together for eternity through the sealings of the temple. Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet here on the earth today.
The gospel is so simple- so simple. Yet so vital.
anywho!
Federal Way is lovely! I love you all
ps- SEND ME LETTERS! ya punks! (this goes out to all my NY friends, UT friends, KY friend, and any other people!)
pps- I love you all
ppps- Dear Rodgersons, it is so awesome that you know the Jarstads and the Cahans! They are incredible, I love them and they take VERY good care of me!
ppps- I'm done now.
pppps- I hope Kaden comes soon! please email asap and take lots of pics!
xoxoxoxo
-ames
Week!
Monday 2/27/2012
woke up- studied- went to library and wrote emails- went grocery shopping- went and ate dinner with the Grisham Family... on our way back from the Grishams, we decided to stop at Cold Stone and get Ice Cream..
BIG mistake
6:30pm - we skip into cold stone with a huge smile on our face and SO excited to get ice cream.
6.33pm- I debated on whether or not to get sprinkles.
6.33.58 pm- I decided yes on the sprinkles
6.37pm we skipped out of cold stone over to our car..
6.38pm- banks saw that TWO of our windows had been smashed- BOTH of our bags were stolen!!!
ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
They stole my pretty leather bag- my BRAND NEW scriptures- all my lipgloss- all my cash- my ministering certificate- and basically my life hahahaha
banks and i were DEVESTATED!
banks had her camera in her bag and it was sad.
so here we are...
scriptureless..
bagless..
ministering certificateless...
and hopeless..
and so we called our district leader...
who laughed at us.
then we called our vehicle coordinator who is in charge of all the cars in the mission (he is a senior missionary)
...and he got mad at us.
then we called the cops
..who actually helped us
then we called our Ward Mission Leader
...who saved us!
Our ward mission leader took us back to his house and helped us suck up all the glass, and put plastic on both the windows (the front passenger window, and back drivers side window were both shattered)
Banks and I got back in the car only to find that my seatbelt wouldn't work cuz it had glass stuck in it..
so I had to sit in the back seat.
we looked pathetic. hahaha we both started crying cuz we missed our scriptures, and then we were just sad.
We pulled up into our house and both (by habit) went to grab our bags.. only to be disappointed to remember that we no longer had them. hahahha we sat on the driveway and cried.
So far, in the first month of my mission, I have...
-Gotten sick every week.
-Drank Mouse poop
-Had my scriptures and bag stolen
I'm off to such a great start!
haha in good news-
we found 4 new investigators~
John, Lisa, Teta, D.
John is a former drug addict, and is so so so happy to have found the gospel. We are putting him on date for baptism tonight! yay!!!
Lisa has 3 kids, divorced, and is having a hard time paying bills- but she LOVES coming to church and loves how she feels at church.
Teta &D are married and have 4 kids- they are from Africa and are SO knoweledgable in the bible, it's great!
I'll go into more detail next week, I love you all!
xoxoxox
ames
woke up- studied- went to library and wrote emails- went grocery shopping- went and ate dinner with the Grisham Family... on our way back from the Grishams, we decided to stop at Cold Stone and get Ice Cream..
BIG mistake
6:30pm - we skip into cold stone with a huge smile on our face and SO excited to get ice cream.
6.33pm- I debated on whether or not to get sprinkles.
6.33.58 pm- I decided yes on the sprinkles
6.37pm we skipped out of cold stone over to our car..
6.38pm- banks saw that TWO of our windows had been smashed- BOTH of our bags were stolen!!!
ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
They stole my pretty leather bag- my BRAND NEW scriptures- all my lipgloss- all my cash- my ministering certificate- and basically my life hahahaha
banks and i were DEVESTATED!
banks had her camera in her bag and it was sad.
so here we are...
scriptureless..
bagless..
ministering certificateless...
and hopeless..
and so we called our district leader...
who laughed at us.
then we called our vehicle coordinator who is in charge of all the cars in the mission (he is a senior missionary)
...and he got mad at us.
then we called the cops
..who actually helped us
then we called our Ward Mission Leader
...who saved us!
Our ward mission leader took us back to his house and helped us suck up all the glass, and put plastic on both the windows (the front passenger window, and back drivers side window were both shattered)
Banks and I got back in the car only to find that my seatbelt wouldn't work cuz it had glass stuck in it..
so I had to sit in the back seat.
we looked pathetic. hahaha we both started crying cuz we missed our scriptures, and then we were just sad.
We pulled up into our house and both (by habit) went to grab our bags.. only to be disappointed to remember that we no longer had them. hahahha we sat on the driveway and cried.
So far, in the first month of my mission, I have...
-Gotten sick every week.
-Drank Mouse poop
-Had my scriptures and bag stolen
I'm off to such a great start!
haha in good news-
we found 4 new investigators~
John, Lisa, Teta, D.
John is a former drug addict, and is so so so happy to have found the gospel. We are putting him on date for baptism tonight! yay!!!
Lisa has 3 kids, divorced, and is having a hard time paying bills- but she LOVES coming to church and loves how she feels at church.
Teta &D are married and have 4 kids- they are from Africa and are SO knoweledgable in the bible, it's great!
I'll go into more detail next week, I love you all!
xoxoxox
ames
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)