Burnt hot dogs, fantastic lasagna, Zone Conference, and finding lost members!
Wahoo another great week! For Pday last week we went to Disney Springs which is basically just a shopping place. I'm super cheap so I didn't buy anything but it was a good time! And it was such a beautiful day so I got to be in the sun and walk around a bunch which I loved. Afterwards we went to have a BBQ and the Elders totally burnt the hot dogs and we didn't have any condiments but that's okay! We all had fun haha.
On Tuesday we had Zone Conference!! Love it! I got to see some of my very favorite missionaries who I have missed so much since transfers! Also the Ashcrafts are seriously the most amazing people on this planet so it's always good to see them and learn from them.
We had a bunch of member meals this week which is fun because we get yummy food and we get to know the members better! I seriously love the members of this ward so much. They're all just so nice! And they're great cooks too. I had some of the best tacos, arepas, and lasagna of my entire life this week. Especially the lasagna holy cow.
Also we had another lesson with Liduvi! She's the one from that one time we went knocking and she was the first door and she let us right in. We video called with a member while we were in the lesson and the two of them got along so well and were able to share their testimonies with each other and it was super awesome! I'm very excited for Liduvi.
We also had two kids in the ward get baptized this week! MJ and Nicky! They're both super sweet boys and come from awesome families. MJ is bishop's kid so we know him pretty well (and we have definitely borrowed his nerf guns for pday) so it was awesome to go and support him!
We've done quite a bit of knocking this week, which is fun! I came up with a fun way to track what we're doing and make it all more efficient so I'm pretty excited about that! Also we had a miracle knocking this week! See small plates;)
Another mini miracle we had this week was with a member. We were visiting a sister in the ward to see if she still lives there because the ward records are super out of date. We got there and it ended up not being who we were looking for but their mom/neighbor is also a member and has been having a hard time lately cause her daughter passed away at the beginning of this year. We stopped by the moms house and she just completely opened up to us and wants to come back to church!
Small Plates
The meaning of the word Miracle
This week we went knocking at the same place we found Liduvi. She was such a miracle and every time we go to that apartment complex I can't help but think of how cool that experience was. And of course, some part of me hopes that the first door we knock on will be answered by someone who is as ready to hear the message as she was.
But this day, we knocked for almost two hours and pretty much got rejected the whole time. It was hot and I was getting tired and my feet were hurting from standing on the concrete for so long. We knocked a few doors on the second floor of our second building, and we were about to walk to the next door to try our luck there.
Before we got there, the door opened and a young woman walked out. Her arms were full as she carried a huge box of what appeared to be clothes. We asked her and the man standing in the door if we could help them. They both said no.
She started walking towards the stairs with the box that was clearly too heavy for her to carry. And he closed the door behind her. As she turned away from us, we noticed the tears on her face. Today was clearly not a good day for her. We didn't want to bother her by asking again, so we hesitated to follow her. She walked further away from us but we decided to go over to her one more time. I said "can I just help you carry that down the stairs, and then give you a hug?" She gratefully accepted my offer.
I helped her carry it down the stairs, and it wasn't easy. That box was super heavy, full of what must have been all the clothes she had at what used to be her apartment. There's no way she could have carried it on her own.
We each gave her a hug by her car and just took a minute to tell her we know her Heavenly Father is so aware of her and He has a plan for her. And that everything was going to be okay.
We didn't get her contact information. We didn't even get her name. And she doesn't know ours. But we helped carry her burden. In this case, both literally and spiritually. I helped her carry a box she would have gotten hurt trying to carry alone. And more importantly, we took some of the emotional weight off of her shoulders and promised her she would be okay.
Sometimes miracles look like they did with Liduvi. The spirit tells you exactly where to go and what to say and He leads you to a person who has been perfectly prepared to hear the message of this gospel.
Other times, the miracle looks like it did for us that day. We stayed knocking for a long time in the heat, with little success. I don't know about Hermana Morris, but I was certainly ready to call it quits. But the Spirit kept us there long enough so that we could be there for her. And we knocked at just the right pace, or rather, the doors were shut in our face fast enough that we made it to her door at just the right time.
And for what? So that this sweet girl could know that her Heavenly Father loves her, in a moment where the one person in her life who's love mattered most to her didn't love her back.
Heavenly Father really does love us so much.
And He's so poetic too! I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like he always strengthens my testimony and my gratitude through contrast. He made me grateful for my sight by taking it away for a time (long story). He's made me appreciate joy because of the times in my life where I was most sad.
And he's taught me the meaning of the word Miracle by showing me two totally different kinds of miracles in almost the exact same place.
Some miracles feel like you're living in a movie and it seems there's just no way they're real. They're almost too good to be true. And other miracles come with a lot of hard work. And sometimes you don't recognize them until you sit down to write your weekly email for your mom to read, and it hits you.
God gives us miracles in every moment of every day. Big and small. But every single one is a miracle.
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