Awkward and Onward
We started our week off in an interesting way.
On Monday night we went over to give a less-active member a priesthood blessing. We were in the sketchier part of town and were a few minutes early, but we didn’t want to stand outside in the dark and the cold while we waited for Tim and Bro Perry so show up to give the blessing. So, Sis Taylor and I parked a little ways down the street (we also didn’t want them to see or hear us coming, because they have a habit of seeing us out the window and not answering the door) and turned off all the lights. We just sat in the dark watching their house for about 5 minutes. We didn’t feel like creepy stalkers at all… hehe. I have to say that missionary life is not what I thought it would be like at all.
On Tuesday we got to help some members of the ward paint their new house. They just moved in so they don’t even have carpet yet and they’re living out of boxes. We painted their baseboards and door jambs. It was exciting stuff, as you can probably imagine. We then had a lesson with one of our investigators named Inabeth and we brought a recent convert named Jason with us. He is super awesome and probably one of the most prepared people I have seen in my life. He knows so much about the church and his testimony is so deep, even though he’s only been a member for less than a month. The Spirit was really strong as he was talking to Ina about how he felt when he was baptized. She finally started to get why being baptized with someone holding the priesthood authority of God was so important. Jason used to be a Baptist minister before he became LDS, and Ina is a Baptist so it was really cool to have him testify to her about Christ’s restored gospel. Tuesday night we also got to spend time with Bro and Sister Sturgeon (the cutest old couple I’ve ever seen) and spend time studying the New Testament with them. I love them so much and it was really cool to talk about Christ and his life with them.
Wednesday we went over to the Chandler’s to help them sand some things they 3D printed for the interfaith nativity night that we’re doing in a few weeks. We’re just so popular! Serving the members is one of my favorite things to do because it makes me feel useful and we get to know the ward members better.
Friday was zone conference! President and Sister Layton came over to Ridgecrest and talked to us about members and missionaries working together. It was pretty awesome and got us all excited about working with members. One of my favorite parts was when President wanted someone to read a quote by Thomas S Monson (the president and prophet of the church) in their best Thomas S Monson impression and one of the elders nailed it! He sounded like the guy that did the “apostles and peanut butter cups” video (if you don’t know what that is you can look it up on YouTube). President was so impressed he asked him to do it again. After zone conference we had interviews with President, which is when he checks in with us to see how we are doing. I cried in my interview with him and he told me that I was going to give him a bad rep when everyone saw that I’d been crying. It was a really good interview and helped me feel so much peace and comfort about being a trainer in my second transfer. He is so in tune with the Spirit and I know that he was called of God. We then jetted over to our ward party and spent most of the time setting stuff up and cleaning. Amy was so appreciative of us because she is pregnant and had to be on her feet for so long and we made the process go much faster. It felt good.
Saturday and Sunday was stake conference and we had a member of the Seventy come (Elder Acosta). President and Sister Layton also got to speak and I was so proud that they were my mission leaders. All of the talks were awesome and I really felt the Spirit.
That’s all I have for this week. We’ll be doing a lot of tracting this upcoming week so my next email will either be really exciting or really boring (just like missionary life).
Ciao
Sister Schroeder
Photos:
Sis Taylor and I with our reindeer antlers (it was a struggle to keep that piece of candy in my mouth):
Sis Parcell and I climbing at the Pinnacles:
Our Sister Missionary picture (the one without our hair in our faces– it was really windy):
Me and my adorable companion:
