August 20, 2012
We have lots of birthdays in our
family this coming week! Tell everyone Happy Birthday from me! Any fun plans?
It's so great to hear from y'all!
I'm glad that St. George was fun, and that you were able to rest and relax for
a few days. You guys should do that more often. :)
To answer a few of your
questions....
I'm doing great! It's cooling off a
titch this week, but still humid. :) Last week it was really hot and humid so
we are going to be grateful for the drop in temperature. My health is good. All I can say is that it is a pure miracle that I am here with the strength I
have to serve. It just shows me that the Lord really needs me here. Most
mornings I wake up feeling like I just fell asleep, but luckily I have the
energy to push through the day. I was grateful for the testimony I've gained
through this 'trial' of being sick on my mission as I bore my testimony to
an in-active sister about the enabling power of the Atonement and how it's
changed every aspect of my life as I've been out here serving. She was only
baptized a year ago and now is to tired and sore to get up out of bed on Sundays to go to church. We are going to get her to church! With Christs grace
nothing can stand in the way.
There is another family we have been
working with since Sister Draeger and I opened this area who is in-active. The
husband (a member his whole life) has struggled with addictions to
medications, and the wife (baptized 6 years ago) wants to come to church, but
struggles to get her 4 kids up and ready by herself. So every time we had gone
over there the dad never came out even though we tried to invite him. I had
only seen him once or twice, but this past week when we came he was in the
lesson! Without us even asking. We talked to them about the importance of
reading scriptures as a family, and setting the example for their kids. He bore
a sweet testimony of the importance of coming to church to show his son
(Billy-9 years old) that it is a commandment of God. We invited them to read
and pray together in their home, and prepare on Saturday to come to church. We
also talked to them about having Billy be baptized. The dad lit up and said he
really wants him to. So we are now helping this family to come back to church,
and prepare their son to be baptized next month! Keep them in your prayers! Oh!
And when we told the ward council about the miracle we saw with him coming out and
sitting in the lesson they said that really was a HUGE miracle because anytime
anyone in the ward went over, he would never come out. He knows the changes he
needs to make to help his family. I'm excited for them.
As for Marlon....... :( We have stopped
by, called, texted, left notes, and no response for about a week. Well this
morning we got a text from him telling us, "sorry I lost my phone. I'll be
at school all week." So we don't know exactly what to do for him besides
pray for him. I'll keep you updated.
It's so sad and so hard emotionally
to prepare someone for baptism and get soooo close to them making those
promises with God and then have something like this happen. But all things will
happen in Gods timing.
2 funny stories! haha Oh man, I love
my companion. We have our differences like every companion I've had, but Sister
Morano and I just laugh so much together even though a lot of times we don't
know what each other are talking about.
So this past week we went to visit
Goldie May Johnson, she is a less active sister in the ward who is 98 years
old, but you'd never guess it if you saw her! She is a feisty one, and she
always gets her way. She offers us cookies and lemonade every time we've been
over there and if you don't take more when she offers she slaps her hand down
on the table and says, "TAKE IT!" Haha.....
Anyways, so this week when we went
over there she didn't have cookies to offer us so she offered us her Ensure
drinks that the doctor told her to drink. And with me knowing better than not
to accept the drink we accepted it. She hands one to me, then to my companion
and as she is sitting down she turns to Sister Moreno and says, "You don't
need this kind of drink cause you're already pretty stout, but drink it by
Jesus' Grace." :/ I was trying so hard to hold it in. I don't know if
Sister Moreno understood what she said, but man Goldie is so blunt!
That same day we were invited to go
to dinner at Noo's house with the Senior Sister missionaries that serve in our
ward. Noo dishes up all our plates for us whenever we go over there. When she
dishes up Sister Moreno's plate the food was piled 3 inches high off the plate,
and the more she kept dishing Sister Morenos eyes got wider and wider. I
seriously couldn't hold it in, and the senior sisters were laughing under their
breath. She tried to switch plates with me, but I didn't let that happen. :)
Anyways, I wish you could have been there to see it happen. It ended up that I
ate half of her food. Good thing Noo cooks healthy!
Last night we were able to go to an
investigator fireside and there was a new senior couple that came into the
mission. The first thing they asked me when they found out I was from Utah was,
"how much longer till you go home? We have a son that lives in Provo...."
I was like, " I still have a year left!" :) Luckily! ;) The senior
sisters asked me the same thing as we were at dinner with them at Noo's, and
Noo keeps trying to get me to "have a night off" so I can meet her
son. WHAT DO I DO?! I don't think I want to ever leave being a missionary. I'm
glad I still have time here!
Another reason I want to stay being
a missionary is because we went to visit an inactive sister this week who had
served a mission in Spain 12 years ago. She told us for an hour all of her amazing
experiences, and then at the end explained (kinda with a guilty look of her
face) that she had gone inactive because of something that had happened in an
old ward she was in..... I left there scared because I don't ever want to be
like that. I, like her, have had amazing experiences that have changed my life
on my mission and I will not go home and lose all that the Lord has allowed me
to gain. We did get her to come to sacrament yesterday, but she needs to work
towards getting to the temple again.
As soon as we got in the car after
leaving I turned to Sister Moreno and pinky promised her that I'd never be like
that. So I'm promising y'all the same now. Hold me accountable!
(Oh! Mom and Dad. I think you know
her mission president.... Shallenburger? He lives in Provo or Orem. )
Well I've got to go write president,
but I wanted to share a quick story that happened this week. We met a girl out
on the street this week who was in her 20's and we got talking to her. She grew
up in Texas and her next door neighbors were members. She told us that
"you've got something right in your church cause every family I've ever
met in that church is so strong." That really hit me hard, and made me
realize how important our families are. Not only to learn together more about
the gospel of Christ, but also to set an example for those who aren't members.
They do notice the things we do! Make sure they are noticing things that Christ
would have us do. :)
I love you all soo much and I'm
grateful for your love and support! You are amazing!
Erianne
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