Hey Loved Ones,
Long letter, feel free to read just one story(color). Or nothing at all, I just like writing.
Missionary life is not what I expected. It's a million times better in every way. And there are so many things I never thought would happen, that have. I never thought I would:
- Love my companion so much. I love being around her 24/7, and having a built-in best friend! I love being joined at the hip and staying up late at night just talking. It's probably my favorite part.
- Teach a first contact law of chastity lesson. Next on my list: First contact Word of Wisdom lesson. ("Hey you, with the cigarette--put that down! Do we have a message for you!")
- Teach a former bounty hunter. Yes, you read that right. Super nice guy, and keeps each commitment we give him, but he's still having trouble feeling worthy to come to church.
- Get this advice from the Senior Sister Missionaries in the ward: "White Handbook? The rulebook? We threw that thing out first day. We don't have any rules. We do what we want, whenever we want, because we want!"
- Have so much love for people I've never met, or hardly know. God's love is real.
These past six weeks especially I feel like I've learned a lot about God's hand in His work. I don't get to see every miracle come "full circle" so to speak. Trent and Yolanda stopped answering the door, Patricia up and moved out of mission boundaries literally overnight, and Kay has had so many health problems she hasn't come to church since. But there are time that I do, and it's amazing.
Like Erin. She is the less active daughter of our Relief Society President. Has not had an interest since she was in her early teens, if ever. We got close enough to her where she agreed to have a lesson with us, but then changed her mind. We were having dinner at her sister's house, and Kelsey mentioned she invited Erin over, and that Erin said she would only come over after we were gone. Ouch. She ended up coming just as we were giving the after-dinner lesson. We invited Kelsey and her husband to meet with some investigators, and on a tangent started talking about Josh and Melinda, investigators I mentioned last week. Erin chimed in. "Does she live on Dowden? I know her! We took CNA classes together and were great friends! Can I come to her lesson?" Not only does she want to participate in lessons now, but she wants to fellowship a new investigator.
And like the Jacksons. I mentioned how by a crazy coincidence we met a family with two less active boys, Nicholas and Logan, while we were teaching the Wilkerson family. We had knocked on their door several times and they never answered. We assumed they were avoiding us. But we decided to give it one more shot. Their dad Mike answered, and immediately invited us in. He told us they had been wanting to come back to church, and wanted us to give their boys and niece lessons so they could be baptized! He said the time was now, and he knew he couldn't wait any longer to start coming back. They also want to come to lessons with the Wilkersons!
There was also Terri. She has been so golden since she got baptized. She never misses church, she never lets her illness be an excuse, and she makes it a priority to teach her daughter Mikayla the Gospel and go to the temple. But she is very shy, and feels she doesn't have very many friends in the ward. Before she was even baptized, Sister Gregerson and I had been praying on how to help Terri receive fellowship. We felt prompted to call a sister in the law who seemed to us to be less active, and ask her if she would just sit by Terri in second hour (which she never came to). Weeks went by, and it didn't seem like they hit it off; they didn't have much in common. Meanwhile. Mikayla, Terri's daughter, at school had very severe behavioral issues. She has a police officer assigned to her at school and she has two counselors that come to help them at home. They literally wrote an article in the paper about how bad Mikayla's behavior was. Small town. Terri said church is the only place Mikayla feels like she has friends, and since coming she has improved so much. But unbeknownst to the missionaries, there were some problems in primary where she would really act up, and it was seeming like it could be dangerous to other kids. That's when this Sister stepped in. She is able to calm down Mikayla like no other. Her kids are best friends, and they have her over all the time. She makes Mikayla feel loved and like the good girl she really is. Also, she was able to be friends with Terri and this past weekended up uncovering a situation that could have been very dangerous to both Terri and Mikayla, both spiritually and temporally, and that is probably causing her problems at school. As missionaries, we would have never been able to know or even handle it if we did know about this dangerous scenario. Because she was a friend, she was able to help them in a way almost equal to saving their lives. I can't say what this situation was, because it is sensitive, but both are safe thanks to this sister.
Moral of the story: Once again, members are more vital to the work of saving souls than the missionaries.
Love you, but Jesus love ya best,
Sister Pugmire
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