Feb 5. 🍊🌅🔸️🌋🥭🍞🧃

We had a member meal and a lesson with the family's son's girlfriend. She was adorable we talked about the Book of Mormon, once we left she told them she had been reading the book of Mormon to her little sister so that was super wholesome. 

Tuesday we went to the hope center and helped In the kitchen. We cut lettuce and tomatoes for a salad and then peeled eggs for deviled eggs which didn't work bc they were all double yokes so the lady ended up doing potatoe salad or something instead. It was fun but I enjoy the food pantry a bit more. We did some stop bys and knocking and then went to dinner at a members house. They were so funny, we played a game w them and it involved cognitive thinking skills which I don't have lol. But it was fun. The family was adorable. 

Next day we did a ton of knocking and stop bys. Then we went to a members house for dinner, well she gave us food to go but had us sit and talk for a while. She's a funny lady. 

Thursday we had zone conference. It was wack tho bc sister Heieie and I didn't know a ton of the missionaries down here. The trainings and talks were all way good tho and exactly what I needed. I took a ton of notes. Soo good. 

Friday we had weekly planning then went to the food pantry in the afternoon. Loved it so much. They switched jobs at the busiest moment possible so I was stressing for a minute bc instructions were not clear but once I got it figured out we were vibing. Instead of taking a few items off the shelf and handing them to people I was to get a box off 1 of 3 different isles depending on how many people are in the household, and bring it to the front and tell how many to the other people in charge of meat and dairy and stuff when I bring the box up to them. Some boxes were on the top shelf, above my head obviously, they were heavy but the hardest part was reaching lol. 

Then we went knocking for a while before dinner with a member at bostons. Then went to English class. The same people are still coming so they've got to enjoy it right? We can't be doing that awful of a job.

Saturday we knocked all morning, and all afternoon. Which wasn't awful bc the sun was out, but it was super cold still, especially in the shade. Most people didn't answer or weren't interested. We met a lady who opened the door with a cigarette I'm her hand and she saw us and her eyes got huge, and she blew smoke out the side of her mouth. We told her our purpose and she said she's having a bad week, multiple funerals and stuff, and we asked if we could come back another time, next week? He said next week was crazy too, and so we asked about the following week and she said yes I'd love that. She was super cute made my day. 

Then we knocked on another door and mans was like "I've actually met with a lot of people from your church." Okay so next thing is going to be good or bad... "i feel bad for you girls." You dont need to. "I hope you find the truth. The doctrine the Mormon church teaches is false. I really hope you leave this neighborhood and get good with God." We bore testimony and he tried arguing, "Oh but ive prayed about it, and I've received a different answer, and so have many other people" and that's fine, we all have agency. But yeah anyways I quite enjoyed that experience actually, bc I could very confidently testify of truth without a shadow of a doubt, and in doing so it strengthened my testimony instead of shaking it. The spirit was definitely not in that apartment, or even conversation but I felt it so strong within my own own heart and in the words that I spoke. 

We then had a really good lesson with our friend Lisa. We're really pushing her and this week, we taught about fasting. we are fasting from sugar (more so sweets and desserts) and she's fasting from cigarettes. She loves joking and making people laugh and make jokes which is an amazing quality, but we were doing all we can continually bring the spirit back bc there's a right time and place. It was a really good lesson tho. We played peace in christ and prayed kneeling, used the scriptures, testified, had member in lesson, etc. Did all we could. She's adorable we love her so much. Every time I said "so Lisa" she's say "oh girls! You're already pushing me so much" but she also at some point said that "God was like 'get those girls out of here and bring these ones in, they'll get the job done' those other girls were fun, you girls are too but you're a lot more pushy. Which is good I need pushy." So actually that made me really happy. She's also been reading the BoM and explaining what she likes about it. 

Sunday we had ward council, church, all that jazz. We stayed for mission prep, went home for lunch and personal study, did some contacting, comp study, knocking, and sync up calls with the STLs and SMLs. Then we went to dinner with a family and it was great. They had a HUGE map up on the wall and had us show them where we're from. The kids are all in show choir and at the very end the kids all showed us one of their performances. It was actually amazing, made us laugh, the way my jaw dropped. 

Also social media work is poppin off. DO SOCIAL MEDIA WORK MISSIONARIES. Facebook is very wack about who it allows me to add, there's this one lady I've tried adding a few times and it hasn't let me but all of a sudden it did, and ya'll timing was perfect. Her family is going through it rn, and she was so thankful i reached out. Hopefully i can bring her to the gospel. I took some screenshots and put it in the photo album. I was so happy. 

I am thankful for the sunshine, slightly warmer weather, BYUdevos, general conference, and smoothies. 

We have a pretty busy pday today again so sorry if I can't respond! Love you all! 🫶

Be praying for Lisa, Misha, and for Aubrey and her brother. 🙏

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5VyZpR3SFYRL8Tiz6

Feb 12 🥫⚓️📲💡

How's everything going? 

Here's pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5VyZpR3SFYRL8Tiz6

Last pday we did a little zone activity, had a cute little brunch thing. stls made pancakes, it was super cute. Hermana gonzolaz painted the sister's nails, we played a game, then we went to the store. We had a lesson with our friend karly. Taught her about the gospel. 

Tuesday was wack. Our appointments all fell through, our stop bys weren't home, and we knocked. We went to some apartments, there were upstairs and downstairs. We knocked on the downstairs and went to the next level. While we we at the top one of the downstairs doors opened and the guy went and stood at the bottom of the stairs in front of the building. Weird vibes, did not like that. We went to leave to keep knocking and the dude was like "hey soliciting isn't allowed." We were like okay, thank you but we aren't solicitors. He scoffed and was like "well it depends on your definition of soliciting." Well the spirit was gone at this point so we left and tried knocking elsewhere. No success. 

Next day we had STL visits, I stayed in marrysville with sister hipps. We did a lot of knocking and street contacting. It was a really nice day, the weather was amazing. Lots of sunshine. We also put Lisa on date for baptism! Planning on March 2nd, be praying for her! 🌊🙏 I asked if she had tried using cinnamon gum to help with quitting smoking and she looked at me funny, "sweetie I don't have teeth" right. I forget that sometimes lol. Then asked about cinnamon altoids or cinnamon mouthwash. We met some cool people but none of them want to meet again, they all dropped us. 

We had interviews on Thursday. They were super good, love president and his wife. We ran to Walmart to get Lisa some cinnamon mouthwash and grape juice, and also picked up some stuff for pickleball. We went to sister Welch's home to have a lesson with Lisa. We taught her the first half of Psal. We read in 2 nephi 2 and she learned a lot. She really enjoyed it. Then we went to dinner and then to the church and played pickleball with some of the members. Trying really hard to build those relationships with the ward. Which worked out bc the people who were there talked to us on Sunday. I still don't know the rules but it was way fun. Afterwards I remembered Sister Hoyt loves pickleball and we almost played it in the MTC. 

Super funny story about the food pantry this week. So there's some guys in the front who help take bags out to the car, I figured out this week they're doing community service bc they're in jail. Well there was a guy there this week that wasn't there the past few weeks. He was like "you both look like you could be in high school" no were 19 and 20, and explained our purpose as missionaries. He was like oh so you're my age. We talked a but about the general missionary questions, where we're from, how long we've been out, where we've been, etc. And then the doors opened so we started. I was doing boxes again which I enjoy now thay I've got it figured out, I just don't like when people tell me contradicting things... but anyways we had a little break and the guy comes up to me with half a Twix bar, and asked if I wanted some. I'm like Mm no I'm okay thank you. He asked if i was sure. Persistence ig. I'm like yeah, we're taking a break from desserts and stuff this week. Then he went back to his spot and all the rest of the guys laughed. As I was moving the boxes to the front at one point the guy came and was like "I can help you're struggling I can tell" I was like, no I'm fine I'm really not struggling. He still tried and one of the people in charge got after him and told him to do his own job. When things slow down the guys in the front move the boxes down the isle, and when they did it today one of the other guys was like "I'm sorry my friend is harassing you" and he laughs. How should one react to that? 😂 anyway then sister Heieie started flipping a water bottle on the table and the guy comes up and does it too and talks to us some more. At the end of the day, we're wrapping things up and the guy was like "hang on let me say bye to the sisters" ope. So he's like "well. It's my last day. I get out on Thursday. Never coming back. You're never gonna see me again." I was like oh that's good right? Bc he's getting out of jail. They left and we left and we walked past them again and then the other guys were like "he the digits" I was confused. And then realized what was happening I was like uhh I don't have a phone number. And the other guys were like thats a lie you have a phone in your hand. So we had to explain everything. We ended up giving him our card and she said he was gonna pull up to church when he gets out. So that was really funny.

Then we went to the English class but nobody showed up so we went to the ward valentines day party, it was super cute the decorations were off the charts, they had a photo booth, it was adorable. Snacks and games, we think Lisa really liked it. 

Saturday we spent knocking and saw some cool miracles. There was a street sister Heieie has had the prompting to knock the past couple of days so we went and met a really cool lady named Karen. She was on the phone and in a hurry but she said she really wanted to talk to us, she knew who we were. She had a Bible, the kind that looks like a BoM and there might've been a pamphlet in it from us. We gave her 2 cards, and she gave us her phone number and we kept knocking. We met a few other people who are maybe interested. When we got done knocking we saw a text from Karen. She said "Thanks for coming and knocking my door. I didn't want to sound rude I just was in a hurry. A couple weeks ago I started having this need to understand more about Jesus and his love. And today I read something at the Bible and I asked him for help to understand better and hours later two missionaries knock my door. I felt it's like a sign. I'll keep in touch. Karen." Ahhh it was so cool. She couldn't come to church bc she was working. 

I love my personal study time and this week I studied a lot about virtue. I read something by Jeffrey R Holland it was super powerful. I also read some conference talks and devotionals. It went perfectly with my study in the BoM bc 2 Nephi 2 is all about agency and repentance. 

Let Virtue Garnish Thy Thoughts Unceasingly

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2007/10/let-virtue-garnish-thy-thoughts-unceasingly?lang=eng