We had exchanges again this week! I went with Sister MacNeil to the Stead area. SIster MacNeil is in the last transfer of her mission and I spent the night with her and her companion my first night in the mission field! It's so crazy to think how long ago that was. We had so much fun and I got to meet so many great people in that area :) and then, a miracle happened...I had Steak n Shake! Ok, maybe that's not really a miracle but I was pretty pumped about it. As far as I know there is only one Steak n Shake in Nevada and it's not super far from where I am. I was so excited! :) haha
This week I learned how to fix bikes! We do service at this Kiwanis place once or twice a week and usually we help make dolls for children in the hospital. This week they didn't have that much for us to do so they asked if we wanted to help with bikes. So we went out and changed the tire tubes on this bike and fixed the chain. I was pretty proud of myself considering I did all that in a skirt :) haha it was a great learning experience! Hopefully next time we go we can do the same thing so that I can learn how to fix my bike all on my own!
This week we taught this amazing family a few times! We have been teaching their 12 year old son, Ashton, and preparing him to be baptized. We teach him with his 6 or so brothers and sisters and his parents. We've been struggling to get them to church but other than that they have been accepting everything we've been teaching pretty well!
We also taught this family this week that has been working on returning to church. The mom hadn't come to church in forever and recently prayed that a stressful situation in her life would be resolved. She ended up receiving her answer and recognizing that God was answering her prayers. In gratitude she committed herself and her family to come to church every week from then on! It's been great to see them there and to have them feel of the Spirit that is there.
Another family that we've been teaching came to church yesterday as well! They are all members except for the daughter, Jess, who is 15. We have been teaching her and she recenlty has been praying more and more to know that God is there. Though she doesn't feel that she has received her answer yet, I know that as she continues to show God she's working for her answer by praying and going to church that she will receive answers.
Yesterday Sister Muhlestein and I had a pretty crazy experience with the Spirit. We have been struggling so much to find new investigators. Yesterday we were praying to be able to know who to go and visit and as Sister Muhlestein was praying I thought of this girl that we had tried a few days earlier. This girl was very nice but had told us she was atheist and not super interested in changing that. I thought it was weird that I had thought of her so I didn't say anything but then after we finished praying Sister Muhlestein said that she thought we should go see her. We both thought it was crazy that we both thought of her but knew that meant that it was the Spirit! Then as we were driving towards her house I realized we didn't really have a reason to explain to her why we were coming by again so soon. As I sat and thought I looked at my water bottle and thought to myself that we should dump out our water bottles and go and ask her to fill them up for us. I didn't say anything and then as we pulled up to the house Sister Muhlestein mentioned that we needed to think of a reason to come by and see her. Suddenly she looked down at her water bottle and voiced the same idea that I had thought a few moments earlier. As we parked along the side of the road we dumped our water bottles outside of the car (I should add that this was right after dinner and they had just filled our water bottles with mostly ice so our water was perfect for this boiling hot day. We weren't even sure that this girl was home but here we were pouring out our water, depending completely on faith that God would bless us.). When she opened the door she agreed to letting us in to fill up our water bottles and we ended up staying for half an hour and getting to know her and her boyfriend. She still isn't super interested but seems to be opening up to us more. Though no new investigators came out of it, God at least knows that we're willing to act on the promptings He gives us whether it be big or whether it be to dump out our water bottles :)
Here's a list of my recent life accomplishments:
-I ate a whole plate of spaghetti, green beans, and garlic bread.
-I fixed a bike
-I held a snake...and it was terrifying
-We went to a pizza buffet and I not only got pizza, but salad as well 😮
Love and miss you all!
Sister Ashley Gootee :)
No comments:
Post a Comment