Things I Never Thought Would Happen as a Missionary:
#20: Get a new little sister. (And no, my mom's not pregnant.) There is a 2 year old girl in the ward named Emma. She was running down the hall at church saying, "My sisters, my sisters!" At first we thought she was asking for scissors, because she calls scissors "sisters." Her mom said, "That's what I thought too, but all this week she tried to pick up my phone and call her Sisters." D'aww. 
#21: Found out just how important corn is in Indiana. We volunteered at the Special Olympics this week, moderating the Corn Hole, as it is called in Indiana. 
"Don't mess up, because this is the midwest and we take Corn Hole seriously!" 
Also, I found out I would definitely not make the Corn Hole team for the Special Olympics.
#22: Meet a college professor who never graduated high school. That's Yihqun for you. When he was 14 he decided high school would be a waste of time, so he went straight to college. "He weighed 48 pounds as a freshman," Evenlyn told us. "I still need to go back and get my GED, eventually. I couldn't even work at McDonalds," he said.
Speaking of those two, they have accepted a baptismal date! It is for the 20th of October! That was a huge miracle. We walked out of that lesson asking, "Did that just happen?" It was the best lesson we have had yet. Talking about how the Holy Spirit speaks to each of us is still a big thing...for them, they have voiced concerns that even if they felt the Spirit testifying to them that these things are true, and this Church is the true one, they would not think it a reliable as communication from God because "lots of people have warm fuzzy feelings, even about bad things." I think this is preventing them from seeing how the Book of Mormon and Bible support each other. We talked about repenting and that it's a change of mind when it comes down to it, and it could enlighten the perspective. They asked what commandments there were to repent of, and we talked Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity in two minutes flat. Totally not awkward, it was funny how prepared they were. "Yeah, I've never drank coffee. And we were just about to give those boxes of tea in the hallway to family, we never drink it."
We also met with an investigator who had been avoiding missioanries lately, Michael. He and his wife Rahema are from the Congo and have six kids! Both of us were nervous because Sister Sorensen had not met with him more than once in the three months she's been here, and apparently he has some strong opinions, and the other missionaries said there were tons of distractions. But we prayed we could have the Spirit there. We got there and he was so welcoming! He gathered his whole family to meet us and shake hands, and they all sat in for the lesson. Literally, I've never witnesssed such polite kids in my life. They all stopped playing and listened the whole time and read along with us. You can tell their family is so important and they teach them to follow Christ. He does have some concerns, the principle one being that he does not believe that women should "preach in church." Very fixated on 1 Corinthians 14:35. "The other missionaries told me there would be women at the pulpit. I don't think that can be the true church!" Very awkward that he is talking to two ordained ministers who happen to be girls, but we won't mention that for now. 
But he and his family are so sweet. When he prayed at the close of our meeting, he prayed for SO many blessings for US, and I think it was the most sincere prayer I have ever heard.
Recently I've been reflecting on how amazing it is that the Lord answers our prayers, even the unspoken ones, and also anticipates our needs and gives us at times those things we didn't even know we needed. I can't even remember everything I prayed about this morning! But He does, and he answers. Luke 18:1-8. I decided yesterday in my journal to record ways I have seen prayers answered that day. Yesterday was a cool one. A sister in the ward asked us to pray during the week her husband could come to church, as he never has Sundays off. The day before she told us, "Yeah, it won't happen. He got called in last minute." But on Sunday morning we saw him! The Lord made a way. He cares about everything we pray for, and commands us to. Alma 34:18-27. It's filled me with a sense of grattitute to see in black and white just how much He answers.
And I love ya, but Jesus loves ya BEST,
Sister Pugmire
No comments:
Post a Comment