What
a wonderful week it's been here in CA! We've been working lots with the members
here, going out knocking, and just living the life! Missionary work is the
beeeeest. Loving that it's November and I rarely ever have to wear a jacket
(:
STORIES
--Remember the man I
mentioned last week, Steve? Well we've talked with him many times, and finally
got to teach him! At the end of the first lesson, he says, "Oh yeah, I was
going to a Mormon church in Idaho a long time ago. I think I got
baptized!" Haha say whaaat? That threw us off. So we
figured out his story, and it turns out, yes--he was baptized a while ago, and
he doesn't remember anything about the gospel. So we are re-teaching him the
lessons, and he is crazy prepared to come back to church! We had multiple
lessons, and he came to church yesterday (: He reminds me a lot of Glenn, which
I love. It's incredible to see how God has reached out to Steve again, at the
perfect moment when he is ready to come back. I love it!!
--Ok this was pretty
crazy, but I have to tell a back-story first. A week or two ago, we ran out of
toilet paper so we went to the grocery store to buy some, and the cashier guy
was teasing us that we were probably going toilet-papering. Haha so we joked
with him how we were going to get his house, and "he better watch
out!" Well, this last week we went out finding and had a name and an
address of a guy named Nick that missionaries had talked to a while ago. We
knock on the door, and guess who opens? Yep--the cashier guy! Hahah we were so
shocked. Then we could not stop laughing, joking with him "we told you
we'd find you!!" We totally seem like the biggest stalkers, and I think
he's legit worried now that we're going to toilet paper his house haha. Super
funny.
--Happy
Halloween!!! We dressed up as missionaries, super creative, I
know. (; Haha it was a good Halloween, not much happened aside from weekly
planning and going out contacting! It was fun to mix things up when we were out
knocking, the Halloween decorations were a good conversation starter. "You
realize you have a dead body on your porch, right?" Yes, we used that. (:
--Friday I went on my
first exchange as a Sister Training Leader! As a STL, we switch companions for
24 hours with another set of missionaries. We do this for training purposes,
etc. I went to Canyon Country with Sister Wensel! It was super fun. I was
nervous, but it went really well and we both learned a lot. Had some great
experiences and definitely saw miracles!
FUNNIES
--Talking with Bri,
one of our investigators: "He was like a Jesus Power-Ranger!!" hahah
she was talking about a previous Elder who taught her who, apparently, was very
enthusiastic about the gospel!!
--We knocked on a door
and waited for a minute, then a teenage kid opens the door and sees us and just
screams, "ahh!!!" hahah he didn't hear us knock, so he was
just leaving his house and we really startled him. Super funny. Surprise!
(:
--Friday afternoon
there was a baptism for another set of missionaries. We have the chapel keys,
so we went to open up the baptismal font for them. Buuut we didn't have keys to
the side door that leads to the font, so I had to jump over the glass and drop
down into the font to open the door from the inside. Hahah if you've ever seen
one of our baptismal fonts, you'll know how much skill that took, especially in
a skirt. (; It was an adventure.
--Elder Larman and
Elder Chandler came to give us some clothes they needed mended, and we gave
them a plate of cookies. Elder Larman is like, "If you eat one cookie,
I'll eat the rest!" Uhh...ok? So he literally ate a plate full of cookies
just for me to eat one. Haha silly elders.
LESSONS LEARNED
--Communication. End
of story.
Ok, not really the
end--basically though, I've learned tons about how to effectively communicate.
Especially when it comes to the companionship. Learning how to express what I'm
feeling and to listen to what she's feeling and then work together to come to a
mutual understanding and agreement takes a lot of work! I'm learning tons
though and am soooo grateful for the knowledge I've gained, and the patience of
Sister Naylor helping me learn how to talk (:
--I just can't get
over how blessed I am to be sharing this gospel. Honestly--this IS God's church
on the earth. The same exact gospel that has been preached since the beginning.
The same one that Jesus Christ taught and organized when He was on the earth.
We are so lucky to have it restored to the earth again, and to have a
modern-day prophet. There is more to this Church than getting wrapped up in the
frivolities and organization of it all. I think that we tend to forget just how
amazing the basic, simple, profound truths of the gospel are. This is God's
gospel. It's centered around our Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. The
knowledge we have through the Bible, Book of Mormon, and modern-day prophets is
priceless. They bring us lasting joy, peace, and happiness
that will continue through this life and the next. God has so much in store for
all of us, and has provided a way for us to be happy and return to Him--the
gospel! It is real, it is truly a gem, and I'm overjoyed I get to share it with
anyone and everyone I meet. My testimony has just been strengthened over and
over again. I love the knowledge I'm gaining, and I don't have words to express
just how much I have learned and just how much I love it all with my whole
heart!! It is seeping into every detail of my life, and I can feel it blessing
me in countless ways.
Thank you for all your
support and love <3 Until next week,
Sister Bishop
Sister Naylor pushed
me around in this as I preached from the Book of Mormon. Just kidding...that
didn't happen. I wish! Haha
Elder Larman and Elder
Chandler--basically the best Zone leaders ever and some of my best friends.
Looks like we're doing
a little jig haha. After the jump!
Just me getting
smacked in the face by Elder Chandler (; so many things to love about this
picture.
Being
a dork and showing off a cool tree we found...(:
Sister Naylor didn't
want to take a Haloween picture with me...haha that didn't stop me!
Trying and failing at
opening a can of tuna for dinner... final score-- Can: 1 Sister Bishop: 0
Sister Wensel cut her
finger open, too! Haha really had to put a lot of work into dinner that night,
it was kind of ridiculous.
Just some random
California scenery. (: "I'm in love, I'm in love, and I don't care who
knows it!!"
