Expect Miracles or "Okay, so when does y'all pastor baptize?": Week 38
(I know it’s a long one)
THE
MOST CRAZY WEEK OF MY WHOLE LIFE! Wowza. I said buckle down the other week. I
mean it, seriously, now. I just have to go day by day.
But
really this is going to be a good one, so if you skip through my emails
regularly- I encourage you to read through this one if you want some solid
stories.
MONDAY-P-Day. We went to beach, after we went to the church the Elders
convinced me to play ultimate dodge ball, I loved every minute of it. We had
dinner, we were supposed to have FHE but it canceled so we went tracting in the
dark while the bugs ate me alive.
TUESDAY- Woke up sore (because ultimate dodge ball). We had to drive
out to Orlando to pick up Sister Schomaker's bike with the Bunnell sisters. I4
is the worst highway in the United States I'm told - and it proves itself every
time I drive it. So a 1 1/2 hour drive to Orlando turned into 3 hours, 1 huge rainstorm,
1 giant accident by the side of the road and 1 semi truck completely flipped in
a ditch. Scary.
That night
we had a couple of lessons. One with this lady we met last week from Jamaica.
She opens the door and she's just “chillin” in a bra with an unbuttoned
t-shirt. Doesn't bother to change her attire the whole lesson. She really
struggles with reading so she's listening to the Book of Mormon. At the end of
the lesson we asked if there was anything we can do to help her and she just
wraps Sister Schomaker and I in her arms and starts yelling "GIVE ME YOUR
BRAIN!" And we were laughing so hard.
WEDNESDAY- ZTM (Zone training meeting) awesome as always. We focused on
talking about finding. Later that day we had a lesson with our less active -
trying to get him back to church. He's stubborn, we're persistent. We had Ward
Coordination that night. And we were supposed to have a lesson with a lady in
our ward, a nurse’s aid - but she wasn't home. She lives in the Elders area but
because she's YSA age and a girl, we teach her. Anyway we just started
talking to her neighbor and picked her up as an investigator.
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| I think it's pretty cool that our zone has more sister than elders. |
THURSDAY- Watched some raccoons fight in a tree while we did service,
ha-ha. Next UGH. J. dropped us. (Stab to the heart) We knocked on the door -
went inside. First thing she says is "I decided I'm not going to convert,
I'm sticking to my own church." She let us sit down and talk through it.
But she was very closed off. Hardly would make eye contact. She said she talked
to her pastor.. then things changed.
She
told us she loves us but she doesn't like the church. We told her we know this
message is true, we know how much it means to God, but he gave her a wonderful
gift of agency and we will respect that she used it, but that we don't feel
she's made a true effort. When we left, I was half hurt and half hopeful.
Disappointed but not discouraged- that's my motto.
And
truly I felt - instantly the spirit confirm to me, "The field is
white." I repeated that to my trainee in her disappointment. God has
someone more prepared for us to teach right now, we did our best. Now let's go
find them!
FRIDAY- We met with the Elders to plan a church tour/talent show
night. Then the elders surprised us with a pass off lesson - new investigator
they found for us. She intends on being the next president. She's a cute young
girl looking for more direction so we're excited to see where it goes.
After
that - weeeeeeeeeekkkkkkklyyyyy plannnnnning.
We
were supposed to have a Ward party that night, well it got moved.
So we
went out looking for old media referrals. We went around knocking to see if
anyone knew one. And we met L.
She
let us in, said she didn't have much time because she was on a phone call but
wanted to set a return appointment. We told her what we do and she asked if we
were Mormons and she said she had heard a lot of things.. but only believes the
good things.
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| I Want This House It's so funky and I'm in love with it! |
SATURDAY- Finding all day.
Okay
let me lay out this scene. We get a text that someone referred us to visit
their neighbor "Ms. M.” So we go. This tiny woman opens the door and lets
us in. We walk into this open apartment with only a bed a few chairs right in
the living room. We tried to ask her questions to find out who sent us, but she
couldn't hear us very well. In fact pretty much every response ended in a
"WHAT?!" At one point we asked "Ms. M., do you have a faith in
Jesus Christ?" And she yells, "I'm 90 years old yesterday." So
we did the only thing we could think of doing- and we sang to her.... while her
dog barked at us.
She
broke my heart a little talking about how lonely she is. I don't know who sent
us but I suspect some divine intervention made it happen. So we're going to
check up and visit her every once in a while.
While
we were there we realized this less active/recent convert lived up stairs. One
of the Elders in our Ward actually baptized him in another city. Then he moved
back in with is family and stopped coming. They haven't been answering the door
lately- if ever. We used the situation with Ms. M. to be able to chat with
them. And we saw his wife behind the door so we yelled, “HEY WERE THE SISTERS!”
And she got all excited and let us in. Turns out she's not feelin it at her
church, she's going to come feed the homeless with us next week and she said
she's actually been reading the Book of Mormon and she loves it. She's like
"Can y'all come read with me and teach me?" Well yeah.
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| TWINS |
Then... we
go down stairs and decide to knock one door before we leave and we meet C.
C.
swings the door open and shouts "Come on in!" Repeatedly "Y'all
sisters need to pray for me." C. is going through some rough rough times.
She said she wants God to change her life. We told her our purpose as
missionaries and she interrupts us and goes, "Okay, so when does y'all
pastor baptize?" Ha-ha-ha-ha
Okay
side story: Earlier that day I was writing our number on the pamphlets - on the
back it says "Prepare to be baptized on: __________" I say to Sister
Schomaker that it is my mission dream to meet someone - give them the pamphlet
with a baptism date. And well a couple hours later with C. we did. She said she
will meet with us whenever, wherever. And she's like okay I'm coming to church
tomorrow, and runs to her room to show us the dress and everything. We walked
out shell shocked and laughing.
SUNDAY- Church, Church, more church.
First
off, sweet B. Her mom doesn't come to church. She's 9 years old so other
members pick up her and her brother and you could tell she was lonely. So we
had her stand by me and be the greeter and hand out programs, she stuck to us
like glue for the rest of the day.
THEN
C. came to church!!! You know, the lady that wants us to just baptize her.
She
came with her significant other, all dressed up in the outfit she told us
about. Her significant other ran up to one of the speakers after sacrament and
told him he loved his talk.
We're
not totally sure how she felt. It's much different than any church I'm sure
she's ever been to before. But she said she just needs to be patient with
herself. And give it time.
We
had a Ward “Linger Longer” and it was awesome. Everyone brought soooo much food.
Sister Schomaker and I wore "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" tags.
No one got it. They said it was "After their time" There’s Florida.
People brought non-member friends. I had a slight connection to one of them
because she was from Peru so I could lead in by saying my dad went there on his
mission.
THEN.
We
had a lesson with my dear L. We had a member come who we think would be perfect
for her. And the moment she opens the door she lets us in and told us her son
wants to join in as well. We had the most wonderful lesson, they asked amazing
questions. They said they've been searching and searching and they want to
know.
L.
turned to our member who came, and said "These are two very special girls,
God sent them to me, I could just rave and rave about how prepared they are.”
I
prayed all day long that the lesson would go well. And the minute we got home I
went to my closet, fell on my knees and thanked God for letting me be an
instrument in his hands this week.
This
is why I say, “Expect miracles”. Joseph Smith didn't go into the grove of trees
expecting that God WOULDN'T answer him. No. He expected God would. He had the
faith.
This
is Gods work. I didn't doubt that for a minute this week,
I
feel like I was able to live out Book of Mormon stories. We were desiring so
earnestly that God would allow us to bring some soul unto him. He delivers.
I
love being a missionary.
Thanks
for reading
Have
a good week
- Sister Sorensen🌞
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| Art!? |
