This has been one of the most interesting weeks of my life for sure.
Between being insanely sick, New Years celebrations, and my lanyard of
shame, I am surprised I am not dead yet!
Now that I
am not sick, I will inform you, Mother, that I was very sick for two
weeks. It started just after Sister Pendleton left. I blame her :) No,
but really, I'm not sick anymore. I finally got in with the doctor, who
gave me ten days worth of antibiotics for free. Also, I don't know why,
but I am weird about asking for blessings. So I am very convinced that I
only got better because I humbled myself enough to ask the elders for a
sick blessing. Because it was just going going going until then. But
hey, I'm better now! :)
New Years celebrations
killed the work this week. I am not kidding when I say we had a third of
the normal amount of lessons. We had about six lessons over a span of
four days, until Friday when I finally turned to Sister Stucki and said,
"Sister Stucki, enough is enough. This is ridiculous. It isn't about
the numbers, but today it is. We are getting a ton of lessons today and I
don't care what we need to do in order to achieve that goal." So that
day we doubled our lessons for the week. I feel a bit better about that
:) Now I know for next year, though, that New Years celebrations are not
the best week for proselyting, so I will come up with other awesome
things to do.
Soooo.... It did NOT help my week
at all that Alabama lost. And my District Leader, Elder Peck, is an
Oregon fan. So in accordance with part of our bet about who wins to who,
I am now wearing an Oregon lanyard until the championship game. My
lanyard of shame. *facepalm* BUT he is wearing an Alabama wristband
until we know whether or not Oregon wins the championship, so that is
comforting. I'll have a lot of repenting to do when I finally take this
lanyard off :)
Also, another funny story, we
were driving around Santa Ana, when I see this STRANGE thing happening
on the sidewalk next to us. I screamed to Sister Stucki to look and what
do we see? A man is sitting on a skateboard, holding two leashes, which
are attached to two huskies who are running at full speed. That man
wins at life. I will send pics of that.
So miracles of the week:
The
South Sisters (my companionship and those who were in this area before
me) have been teaching Cliff for a very long time. Talk about an eternal
investigator. He is living all the laws and commandments. He reads the
Book of Mormon and helps teach his wife about it. He practically teaches
Sunday School. He prays. He goes to church. He married his wife so she
could follow the Law of Chastity so she could get baptized. He follows
the Word of Wisdom now. Really the only thing he was missing was
baptism. But for the life of everyone ever, he wouldn't accept!! So
finally, Sister Stucki and I decided we needed to really decide about
what to do. We prayed and received an answer that we should pass him to
the elders. And you know what? After all these years and all these
lessons, the elders had one lesson with Cliff and he accepted baptism.
Why didn't we pass him before? Good question. But he is getting
baptized!!!!!!!!!!
Another miracle. My homegirl
Ashley Figueroa. We are always working with her family to get them
active again. I think I'm practically part of that family now, because
of how often I am over there. Ashley, Adriana, and Alisa are your
typical teenage punks. But goodness, how I love them. They are warming
up more and more to me, and I am flabbergasted. Ashley is the oldest,
18, and she just wants to be done with school. Sister Stucki and I went
over to her house and, after chatting with a family friend for a while,
went over to the couch and sat with her. That was one of the most
adult-like conversations I have ever had with her. She was very honest
and sincere. I almost didn't think she could have a conversation like
that! But it was amazing to see how much she wants to go have an amazing
life, even if she never shows her desire on a normal basis. At the end
of the chat, we asked if we could say a prayer with her and that she
could pick who said it. Now, on a normal basis, she would be like,
"Nooooo I don't want prayers, ewww." Or if she would actually accept a
prayer, she would make us do it. But instead of all this, she says, "I
will say it!" WHAT. I thought I had died. This doesn't happen on Earth.
But it did. She said the prayer. Here's how it went down. A friend walks
in the room, and normally when she is there she turns everyone into a
major punk. Ashley starts her prayer with that expected attitude, "DEAR
heavenly FATHER...... THANK you FOR.... BRAT... and CURLY FRY." (note: I
am Brat, and Sister Stucki is Curly Fry. Apparently, when she calls
people brat it really is a term of endearment. I'll take it.) But then
she sobers. She continues her prayer in genuine thanks for the sisters
coming and helping her with achieving her dreams of having a better
life, and so on. I don't think any missionaries ever have seen her pray
so sincerely. After the prayer she starts joking with her friend again,
but then she shocks me again by saying, "I am straight up with these
girls. I am exactly honest with them. I show them my real self." I
almost cried. To think she trusted me that much. I am honored to know I
am among the smallest circle of people ever to have her trust so much as
to show her real self. No, this wasn't a baptism. No, this wasn't
something that would make a General Conference talk. But for me, and for
the Lord, this was a miracle of miracles. And I am so grateful for that
tender mercy the Lord gave me in this.
I love you all! Hope you have a great week! May the Lord's spirit be with you!
Sister Smyly Crawford \|,,|
