29 July 2013

Week 28 "WE FOUND JESUS"

Week 28 
July 29, 2013

FAMILIA! 
Well, there were quite a few funny things that happened to me and Hermana Healey this past week.

I guess one of the most exciting things that happened was..... WE FOUND JESUS. Well, if you really want to get technical, his name is more like the Spanish Jesus....
Last friday night Sister Healey and I were directed to this area to go and do some work. We've been able to find Spanish there before so we decided to go and check it out. Well, first we meet this older lady sitting on her porch and talk to her a while, then her daughter comes out and starts talking to us. She had been taking the lessons years ago and she still remembers the names of the sister missionaries who taught her! It was super cool that we were able to find her again. It was an English contact so we will see if we decide to go back and do anything with it or not. I remember saying to my companion, "I wonder if the missionaries who taught her originally were praying that missionaries would find her again..." WELL then the next door we decide to knock on is a house where we have seen hispanics go in before (yeah we are pretty creepy like that) and guess what? It was that awkward-you-are-knocking-on-their-door-and-then-a-car-pulls-into-the-driveway-and-you-are-standing-on-their-porch-and-they-are-like-"whoarethosewhitegirlsstandingonmyporch?maybeifIspeakspanishtothemtheywontknowwhattodoandthentheywillleave..." Well, did we fool him! We are some white girls that speak some broken Spanish! haha But we started talking to him and he speaks English as well and his name is Jesus and he is from Mexico. After we said hi and everything he asked us what we had to teach him.  He said that he had been taught by missionaries before and that they made a big impression on him. Well, Jesus seems like a pretty golden investigator. He is looking for the truth and he knows he is missing something in his life. Man, we sure hope that we can continue to teach him and that he will be able to recognize that we were specifically sent to him again. We were teaching him again last night and he told us that he thinks a lot about the Elders who first taught him. He hopes that they are still serving God and that they are doing well raising their family... then he told us he hopes the same for us. It was really cool. Jesus is definitely prepared and I know that the Gospel is everything that he needs and is looking for in his life right now, it is just a matter of if he wants to change or not. 

Sister Healey and I have been talking a lot about the people we come in contact to. I have faith that the people we meet have been prepared in some way to receive missionaries. It has been disappointing that a lot of them are able to come to know for themselves that it is true, or that they believe it is true, but they don't want to change at all. We work with quite a few less actives who are like that too, they just don't want to change. They don't want to quite smoking. They don't want to stop working on Sunday. They aren't ready to put God first. I wonder a lot about why I was sent to this area if I'm not seeing anyone become converted and really make those steps to 

One of the things that I love about my mission call is that we meet so many people who love Jesus. The people in the South LOVE JESUS. And most Hispanics with their Catholic background LOVE JESUS. They love God, they recognize that He is the most important thing in their life and that He has done everything for them. I think that is one of the reasons I was called to "preach to the Lamanites" in the Tennessee Nashville Mission. I was supposed to learn something from these people who love God and love Jesus so much. I'm grateful for my mission because it is teaching me that we really do need to put God first in front of everything else. One of the biggest things that has brought me to my knees on my mission is making sure that I am doing what is most pleasing to God. Sometimes (a lot of the time) it feels like other missionaries are driven my numbers and they are so number oriented. I know that God counts numbers, but I also know that He is the first person I should be reporting to.

On Saturday Sister Healey and I met our first Jehovah's Witnesses. We hear a lot about them and somehow they always find the Spanish houses before we do. Not going to lie, there have been a few times where me and my companion discover some JW material on the porch of an investigators house and we sneak it into our bag... 

Back to Saturday: Well, it was kind of funny because Sister Healey and I already looked like little school girls in our skirts and blouses eating ice cream (we found the ice cream man... ) and then we saw them walking back to their car. They were the cutest little hispanic family dressed up in their 

Oh, another story I'll have to tell yall about when I get home. We were visiting our neighbor Bonnie trying to use our time effectively before 9:00 when we needed to be in. Bonnie is a super Christian and we asked her to pray for us before we left. She prayed for about 10 minutes super passionately and then went off into speaking in tongues. When Sister Healey and I got into our house we just looked at each other like... "uhhh... did that just happen? Yeah, that happened."

Another funny story to lighten the mood:
So, Hermana Healey and I were driving out to our ward mission leaders home out in the corn fields of Kentucky (soooooo pretty) and we were jamming out to your EFY 2008 Cd when.... I start quoting Nacho Libre.... you know "Git that corn outta my face!" and I look over to enjoy the beautiful Kentucky corn field scenery then almost run into a ditch.... I freak out and swerve back onto the road and my companion just sits there cracking up. It was one of those brilliant moments where the Nacho Libre quote couldn't have fit more beautifully. 

We also had 14 people in attendance at our Spanish FHE this week! Which was awesome because our "Mission Mom" (Sister Andersen) was there in attendance. The Spanish speaking members are really starting to pick things up. At the end of the FHE they were like "So who is bringing the treats next week? "Who is teaching the lesson next week?" It was really awesome. I think one of the most rewarding things is when MEMBERS take the lead in teaching situations. Missionary work goes so much more smoothly when members are leading. I hope that I can apply that when I get home from my mission. I hope I can always be a missionary when I get released. The Lord is really hastening and we get to see so much more of that when we are out on the Lord's errand. 

Well, I should probably peace out soon. I love you. I hope you are all doing well. Good luck with all of life's endeavors and remember the lessons that I have learned from the people here in the South to just keep putting the Lord first and everything else will fall into place. 

Con Amor,

Hermana Rich

"Let Jesus in your boat, he will calm your troubled waters"
"You can't alter the past so leave the past at the alter"
"The best ability is dependability"
"Believe in Jesus. Just do it."

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