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-
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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