Sisters conference was really good! We drove up Monday afternoon. It took about 3 hours to drive up to Virginia. Then Sister Stratford and I stayed with the Hermana Sisters in Virginia Beach. It was kind of awkward as they didn't really talk to us and they talked in Spanish.. that's when i wish i could talk in Spanish! haha but that's okay. No mom. I don't drive. Sister Stratford drives and here in Washington the traffic isn't too bad. When we drove with the elders to zone conference this week though we almost got in a car accident. Sister Stratford was so scared and thought she was going to die.. hahaha It was funny now that I think about it. So back to Sisters Conference. We carpooled up with some other sisters and drove back with them too so Sister Stratford and I got to sleep in the back! yay! While Sister Stratford drives I have to stay awake and be the second driver. The first day when I got here, I was so tired and told her I was going to to sleep and she sad, "Umm.. well the missionary rule is that you have to watch and be the second driver." haha I was so bummed. Oh well. So at Sisters Conference we had Sister Bennion speak I don't have my notes with me but it was a great talk! She talked about confidence and the Ap's spoke about teaching with Boldness with the spirit and when the spirit directs us to be bold. Bold but Sweet they say (: Some sisters sang and then we had lunch. Sisters conference is with all the sisters in our whole mission. It was pretty fun. We had a clothes exchange where sisters brought clothes they didn't like and then we just switch. I didn't bring any but I picked some up that I liked.. only like one cardigan worked though.. haha.
Then President Baker and Sister Baker spoke. It was really good.
Yes, so Sister Downey is amazing! She is doing so much work and they just found out that her husband Gary has cancer all over now. He was given 2 months to live but Sister Downey doesn't think he will even make it to Thanksgiving. The sad thing is that he is not a member and has had missionary lessons but won't be baptized. She is very sad that she will not be sealed to him in the temple on the earth. Sister Stratford and I went over the other night and Sister Stratford sang I know that My Redeemer Lives. Brother Downey had his brother and his brothers wife and children there (they are baptist) and they could feel the spirit so strong as well as the rest of us. It was sad but brought their family closer together. Sister Downey said that is her favorite song and later told us that she was thankful for the song that Sister Stratford sang because Brother Downey's Brother and his family think that we believe Joseph Smith is our Lord and Christ was a prophet. It is crazy what people think and how they don't try to figure it out for themselves. They have believed that for 20 years because Sister Downey was forbidden to ever talk about her religion with his family. Sister Downey came up to me at church yesterday and handed me a picture of Brandt and his wife and baby and told me that Brandt was a wonderful missionary and that Brother Downey would always cook them ribs and steak or something like that and that Brother Downey loved Brandt and his companion. What a small world it is! It is exciting to know that someone I know was here though haha
It sounds like you all had a fun halloween.. as for us it was alright. We went to the church and Sister Stratford and I switched name tags since we couldn't dress up. Then we had to switch them right back as people that we didn't knew kept coming in haha. It was a great missionary opportunity though! The kids would come to our trunk and get candy and then come back and get more and did that until their bags were full. Greedy little children haha jk. It was alright. I felt sick because of the candy I ate.. even though I didn't eat a ton!
Mom.. laundry.. well we don't have a washer or dryer yet.. hopefully soon.. so we have done laundry at some of the members home.. but it takes all our p-day to do it so today we went to the laundry mat and got it all done at once. It was nice.. but spending the money wasn't fun. As for cooking.. well we don't have any spices or anything to really cook and we only have a certain amount of money each month.. so we try and buy things that are fast to make.. salads, sandwiches, yogurt, apples, soup. Most nights we have dinner with the members so its not that bad. As for ironing.. I tried that once and it made my skirt different colors.. umm.. i don't know what i did wrong.. for the most part though i don't need to iron because it is pretty humid out here. It is starting to get cold and all i have are my sheets and the Green flower blanket grandma made me one year for Christmas. so we are going to ask members if they have extra blankets. I almost bought one today at Walmart but i wanted to ask around first. Grocery shopping is the worst... Sister Stratford gets really stressed and I feel like she is mad at me.. We are trying a new thing actually. Instead of having companionship inventory every week.. we have that every week still but every night we are going to have a little companionship inventory to see what we can work on and what bugged us but more in a positive way. Going and noticing our mistakes and what we did to upset the other person instead of just blaming our companion. We tried it once last night and will continue to do it so that our feelings don't build up and then explode during the weekly companionship inventory.
Sister Currie didn't drink coffee or wine for 3 days! We pushed her baptism date back to November 15 at 6 pm. we were so excited for her! She came to church yesterday and everyone knows she is getting baptized. Saturday when we went over she told us her throat was hurting and that she bought a brand new bottle of wine.. so we tried to figure out what she could do to not drink it. She really wanted it bad! I then had the idea to ask her if I could take it back to the store and get her money back and maybe buy her cough drops or herbal tea. She decided that would be okay. So we went to the grocery store and returned her wine. Can you imagine us Sister Missionaries carrying wine into the grocery store hahaha anyways.. I guess its a law here in North Carolina that you can't return wine.. But the owner or boss guy knew about sister currie and her circumstances and told us he would do it just this once. We then bought her some cough drops and lemon herbal tea and bought honey for her to put in it. She was excited about it. Then this morning we called her to see how she is doing and she told us she went to Pat's house this morning (her friend). She said Pat had already made her coffee and made it the way she likes it and drank it!!!! UGGGHHHH!!! Sister CURRIE! we were so disappointed! We told her to keep trying since she was doing so good and that God will bless her for her righteous decisions. She said she wants to be baptized and will try. She has dementia and forgets everything.. She has been an investigator for years and is progressing, even though it is slow she is still trying.
We dropped Loretta and Tabby. Well not formally but we kept going over to see her and she would be home because we could hear her but then she wouldn't answer her door. So we left a note saying that we were sad that she didn't want to see us and to call us when she wanted to meet again. She has been lying to us about everything. We saw a guy go up to her door to sell drugs.. She tells us what we want to hear. Man.. It was hard to see her choose the wrong path.
We have been getting referrals but the members won't help us to meet with their referrals. We got 4 ward missionaries though! We have Sister Cole, Sister Kukahiko, Sister Downey, and Sister Baldwin. We want Sister Keech and Sister Obrien to also be missionaries because then we would have 2 in each area that we could work with. 2 in Williamston, 2 in Bath, and 2 in Washington.
This week I have been working on consecrating myself to the Lord and being the 4th missionary. The first missionary is the one who goes home early. The second one is the missionary who stays in the field but does what he wants and doesn't really care about a mission and the work. the 3rd missionary is the one who cares and works hard and does all he can but his mind and heart aren't in it. the 4th missionary has his heart, might, mind and strength in it and not just his might and strength. at times I will find that I am the 3rd missionary but I am continually striving to be the 4th missionary.
Read your Book of Mormon everyday! Prayer Everyday! Share the Gospel! Fast! Go to Church! Pay your tithing and fast offering! Serve Others! Be Christ-like! Be the best you can be! I just read in the Book of Mormon about Abinidi and how he preaches to King Noah and his people and tells them that they are wicked and they are going to be destroyed. Then he is killed because he won't deny what he has said. We should share the gospel with everyone no matter how they react! I know this gospel is true and I know there are people in your pathway that you can share this gospel with. Don't let your knowledge go to waste. Help others come unto Christ. They are our brothers and sisters!!! This work is fun! Let it be in your heart and mind and just do it! WE CAN DO HARD THINGS (:
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