LETTER 6: The one where Tessa knocks three times

Hi friends and family!

Is it already another P-day? The weeks really fly by! Where to begin?

Well I've learned a lot this week...

LESSON ONE

Sometimes, you just really don't want to talk to another person...it's a sad truth. But following little promptings and working hard even when you don't feel like it is how we find people! We had that happen so many times this week. Lots of great people were found, just because we opened our mouths and talked to them. Sounds simple, and it is--but it's still a lot easier said than done haha so I'm constantly improving and having to work on this.

LESSON TWO

So for me, the mission has seemed to bring out allllllll of my flaws and I haven't quite known how to deal with that. I've felt like I've been drowning in things I need to improve on, and every day I feel like I fail at getting better. So yes, it's been discouraging!

BUT

I had a moment of revelation and learned that I need to bravely face my flaws and trust in the Lord. I need to love myself and trust that He loves me no matter what. When my confidence is in God, I will be able to face my flaws and insecurities without feeling worthless. If I don't have faith in Him, I will never be able to change. But I can change, and I will. Because I know God loves me. I can bravely face my flaws because no matter what they are, my God is my support and He thinks I'm the best thing ever! Satan has been making me feel like I can't pray when I've been angry or messed up, but duh, that's when I need to most! I've felt many times undeserving of love or blessings because I'm so flawed, but I do deserve it. God loves me. Satan doesn't. I am not my mistakes. God loves me perfectly with a love I can't comprehend, and that's all I need to know. His love and the atonement will transform me, and I will change.

Needless to say, this lesson has been hard learned and I'm still working on it. But bottom line is, God loves me no matter what. I'm trusting in Him and giving myself over to Him, because I so desperately need His help!

  

STORIES

--I GOT IN A CAR ACCIDENT!!!! Ok, it really wasn't that serious. But a car accident nonetheless. We were in the parking lot and a lady backed into us! It hit right next to Sister Rhoades on the passenger side, and now the passenger door doesn't open. So I get to cheauffer Sister Rhoades around while she's in the back seat haha.

--We went to visit a lady who was found knocking a while ago. As we're walking up to her door, I have a distinct feeling, "knock three times." Uhh what? So we knock once, wait....nothing. Knock again, wait....nothing. Usually we leave about then, so Sister Rhoades starts walking away. But again I think, "knock three times." So I knock again....wait....keep waiting....and finally someone answers! It was her son, Edward. We talk and he's like, "I've always wondered what you guys are always about!" So long story short, we've gone back multiple times and have been teaching him. NEW INVESTIGATOR! He's the best ever too, he has the best questions and really listens to what we have to say. I could teach him all day, I love it so much.
So another cool story! Just the smallest little thing, inspiration to knock three times. If we had left after the second knock, he wouldn't have come to the door, and wouldn't have had a chance to come closer to Christ. WOW.

--We asked Glen all the baptismal interview questions yesterday, and he passed the test with flying colors!! I started tearing up big time. I just can not believe how far he's come, and how much he's grown! He surprises me everytime we talk with him, his faith and growth is astounding! He is truly the biggest miracle, he's so prepared. It makes me completely joyous. His baptism is Sunday! Ahhh! I'm going to be a crying mess haha. Can't wait.

THE LAUGHS

--We got a text from an unknown number saying:
Him: Hey is this Bishop?
Me: Nope it's the missionaries! (:
Him: So it's not Sister Bishop?
Me: Oh wait, yes it is!

Haha it was pretty funny. This last name of mine causes for a lot of jokes and misunderstandings! Proud to be a Bishop though (:

Well a couple of texts later, we found out who it was--a guy we talked to on the street a couple weeks ago. He goes on to ask me on a date to the Dodger's game...
uhh.

No can do! haha

So I tell him sorry, this part of my life is dedicated to the Lord and we don't date, yada yada. He says, "You could just call it a day off!"

Nice try. Haha guess that's what happens when you're really nice and talk to everyone and give out your number!

--This week, Glen was super sweet and made me and Sister Rhoades a lunch to take home! He's said, "I want you to have a real meal, no more eating a cheese stick with a napkin soaked in milk!" haha what? We still have no idea what he was talking about...just smile and nod...one of those moments.

--While out knocking, we come to one door and this guys answers and tells us enthusiastically, "I'm a modern day Prophet! I'm getting baptised today!" Haha he was the funniest thing ever. We keep talking, one thing leads to another, and he just starts singing us this song, just belting it out for probably three solid minutes. We just stare at him, smiling while he sings his heart out. It made my day! He was quite the character. A memorable door contact for sure.

--We were in an apartment building and saw a guy in the laundry room, so being the creepers missionaries are, we go up and talk to him. We walk in and see he has a parrot on his shoulder! Was definitely easy to find a conversation starter with that one haha. So we mention the parrot and he just looks at us like duh, doesn't everyone do laundry with a parrot? I guess it was a normal thing in his world!

Well that's about it for this week. Loving it here, growing and getting better each day. This gospel is amazing and my appreciation for it has grown so much deeper. I can't even begin to imagine NOT being on a mission, even though it's only been a month and a half! This is definitely where I need to be, and the things I'm learning here are priceless. Most importantly though, I get to bring people to the gospel!! What better thing is there to do? I love you all, thanks for the support. Stay tuned for next week's adventures (:

xoxo

Sister Bishop

Elders parking crazy, blocking us in. Happens every time!

Our poor car...

After a long day and in our PJ's! This is Sister Rhoades "tired face" I guess haha

This guy in our ward rides this bike to church every Sunday! Coolest thing ever:

Letter 5: The one where Tessa eats a whole fish

Another great week, more miracles, and stories! Are you ready? 

Well, a majority of this week has been spent teaching Glen, so I'll just dedicate a little portion to Glen and his progress:

·  On Monday, we set a baptism date!! September first is the day, less than two weeks! How great is that?? When we were talking about the date, and I started asking him the whole official question, "Glen, will you follow Christ and prepare yourself to be bapti--" But he cut me off mid-sentence with an enthusiastic "Yes!!" So great. 

·  We were having a lesson about the fundamentals, CPR: Church, Pray, Read. We do a whole object lesson where you build up cups as your foundation, the investigator is on top, and then you take one cup away and everything falls down. We had him take the cup away, and of course, it all tumbles down. He's like, "Are you threatening me??" Hahah we were laughing so hard.

·  At church Sunday, the gospel principles class was on the Word of Wisdom, which we haven't taught him yet! We were way nervous with how he'd take it, but he's just like "Yeah, makes perfect sense! Our bodies are temples and we gotta take care of them, they are the vehicles for our spirits!" Biiiig sigh of relief. Such a breeze!

·  He called us Sunday night...
Glen: "Hi sisters! So I can't drink coffee anymore?"
Me: "Yeah, sorry Glen! We'll talk about it more on Wednesday when we come over."
Glen: ""Oh no, it's fine. I'll stop drinking it right now, just wanted to double check. Goodnight!"
Uhh...who does that? He called to ask us about a commandment...and then just obeyed, no questions asked. He's golden.

·  He asked for advice on how to plan his days out, so we went to target and bought a 'to-do list' and then wrote Pray and Read Scriptures on the top of every single sheet. Haha we're so sneaky (:

·  We went to teach him and he had Jehovah's Witness flyers on his door...so we just stuffed them in our bags...he doesn't need those right? haha

·  We were talking about how the spirit fills you with light, and he's like, "I can see that! It looks so good on you!" So sweet.

Glen really is the best. Some other note-worthy stories though!

People have been refreshingly kind to us this week...just out of no where! But hey, no complaints (: We taught a less-active member, she hasn't been active since her teen years and now her and her family are strong in another faith. We went over and she had fruit all ready for us, gathered her girls to listen to the restoration, brought out homemade cookies for us, and then as we were leaving, she gave us a pan of lasagna to take home! Say what? They were the most Christ-like people, I might have learned more from them than they learned from us. They are experts on the Bible pretty much so we were way nervous that it would turn to Bible bashing, but they listened to our message, were so kind, and just Christ-like. Such great examples, I was blown away with their kindness. There are many others too where we just knocked on their door and they let us teach them. It's the best!

One time we got locked in to someone's house...hahah a lot of people up in the hills (the richer area) have gates on their driveways. Someone let us in their gate and we talked to him at his door, but then the gate closed behind us and we were locked in. We knocked on his door a whole bunch and he wouldn't answer! "We know you're in there! Open the gate!" haha it was the weirdest thing. So we were locked into his front yard for 5-10 minutes. That's a first!

Thursday we celebrated Sister Rhoades' and Sister Scrivner's one year mark! We made s'mores and it was lovely. Also, Saturday was my one month mark! Not as monumental, but it is to me (: Can hardly believe that a month has gone by, 1 down 17 to go! 

Each Friday down the street from us, around 20 food trucks park up and down the street. They come from alllll over, and so do the people! It's quite the event. So we went to go street contact, but it was wayyy crowded and no one wanted to stop and listen to us. So we went home discouraged around 8:30, but we decided to go outside our apartment and street contact for the last 25 minutes of the night. We went out and talked to the first guy we came in contact with, and he really opened up to us! He was so interested in learning more. It was really incredible, because we were so discouraged from the food trucks, but decided to keep trying even though we easily could've just stayed in our apartment and called it a night. But the Lord blessed us for our obedience and persistence, and now we have a potential new investigator. Way cool!

While talking to someone in his front yard: "You guys are so happy and bubbly, I'd give you drugs or alcohol if I had some!"
Uhhh....still not sure what he meant by that hahah but no thanks!

Saturday we did a service project with a member, her husband has to be put in a wheel chair, so we helped clean up her house and rearrange things so a wheel chair could fit through places. Well her husband was with LA PD for 30 years, so we went through boxes and just found tons and tons of cool things from his police days! I loved it. Except for when we had to go shred pictures...he worked in the child abuse department, so there were a lot of sad pictures ): Cool experience though hearing his stories and helping them out. That night we had dinner with a member, and we had fish...but like, a whole fish--head, tail, eyes, and all! I've never eaten a fish like that. So we skinned them, pulled out all the bones...it grossed me out at first, but then I thought it was really cool. And yummy (:

Sunday we had church and it was amazing! In all honesty though, church is really stressful when you're bringing investigators...I'm so nervous about what the speakers/teachers will say next, if they'll mention things the investigators don't know about yet, if it's too confusing for them...yeah. It's a little stressful. 

Fun fact, the gospel doctrine teacher is the director of Napolean Dynamite. Cool huh? And the actor who played Napolean Dynamite is in one of the wards in my mission. Some missionaries in my district have been in that area and can say that Napolean Dynamite passed them the sacrament haha. What do I have to do to get transferred there? (;

This week I've been working on being spiritually present at lessons. I feel pretty capable when it comes to teaching, but that's not what matters most. What matters is listening to the investigator, and using the spirit to discern their needs. Focusing on the spirit the whole time and on the investigator makes all the difference! When I'm focused on what I'm going to say next, I'm not teaching the person, I'm teaching a lesson and just getting the information out there. When you're teaching a person, you are helping them from where they're at on their journey. You address their needs, their concerns, their spirit. It's so much better that way!!

Again, I'm learning to be happy through adversity. Missions are hard and Heavenly Father knows how to push all your buttons. Haha but it really is for my good, it's making me better. I love this gospel so much. If you're thinking about going on a mission, GO. It is so amazing and worth it in every aspect.

Thanks for reading my novel about my week, things are going well! Missionary work is the best. Thank you again for all the love, support, and prayers! Keep writing me (:

xoxo
Sister Bishop

The whole fish:

The street where the bike flying scene in ET was filmed:

The sisters in the street where the bike flying scene of ET was filmed.

Letter 4: The one where Tessa rolls down the window

Hello everybody! (:

I swear I can't start off a letter without saying thank you. I'm overwhelmed each p-day as I get to read all of your letters/emails, and I appreciate them more than you know. Keep them coming! I've felt your prayers working, there's been ups and downs, but things are really looking up! THANK YOU (:

So much has happened this past week. We've had quite a few meetings, so that's kept us busy--zone meeting, district meeting, new missionary training meeting...the list goes on. Haha but each one I learn so much and I love it. At the new missionary training, Sister Hall (mission president's wife) said something I love and am trying to work on! "We don't need missionaries who beat themselves up for not being perfect. We need missionaries who laugh, shake it off, and turn to the Lord for help." AMEN. That's my motto for this week. President Hall also said that his favorite scripture used to be 3 Nephi 12:48--"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." But he's adapted so his new favorite scripture is Moroni 10:32--"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him..." It is ONLY through Christ that we can overcome our weaknesses. We try our best, and He makes up the rest. It's really helped me out, helped me realize that the adversary wants us to think that we are on our own, trying to be perfect. When we have that view though, our weaknesses will overwhelm us and leave us feeling helpless. However, when we rely on Christ we are never alone, and all things are possible.

Well, first off I'll share some of my favorite quotes from this week:

In our goodnight prayer (for lack of a better name...) Sister Rhoades was praying and said "May we rest in peace...oh wait, we don't want to die!"

Sister Rhoades-- "I really need to go to over-eaters anonymous."

Sister Rhoades-- "Wait, are Shamu and Free Willy related?!" Yes, she was dead serious. I died laughing.

Denny (investigator)-- "Dear Heavenly Father, please changes the rules so that I can hug my girls." 

Hahah so speaking of Denny, we taught him a couple of lessons this last week, but tomorrow we have to hand him over to the other elders (sad day!!!). But he is a crack up, he ALWAYS tries to hug us. It is so hard for him not to. So he prays that we'll be able to hug him. He just does not understand that rule. Also, he gets off topic so easily. We're talking about prayer, and he'll say "Wait, do you guys believe in exorcisms? What about angels, I've heard that they're like giants?!" Bless his heart. It's always a struggle trying to keep on track haha.

Soo the bed bugs have hit!! I got a bed-bug bite!! Ahh. So we had to go through this whoooole process trying to de-bug our beds. It was awful, I was so freaked out. And I have dreams that things are crawling on me. Haha all those years saying "don't let the bed bugs bite!" Now that phrase is dead serious. So appreciate your clean beds (:

I got to baking this week! We made pumpkin chocolate chips cookies twice, which reminded me so much of BYU and our pumpkin-kick last fall when we used that recipe a billion times haha. I love baking though, and it was great to take cookies to investigators and ward members! They really appreciated it. Also, we made postcards and sent them to ward council members. We're working hard to become the wards favorite missionaries and get them excited and involved in missionary work!

We found out at one of our meetings that our area is being split at the next transfer!! In 4 short weeks, we're getting elders!!! BUT we have to find housing for them...so we went around apartment shopping, and have discovered that there's only one apartment complex in their area. And that apartment has one room possibly available...haha so we're praying hard it will work out! Once the elders come, I'm going onBIKE! Woo! I'm actually way excited about it. Hopefully it won't be as hot in 4 weeks...but I'm ready to embrace the helmet hair everyday and build up some nice calf muscles (; Bring it on.

Are you ready for a great story? We had a MIRACLE!!!  Wednesday night, we had been driving around...stalking people, trying to find them, chasing down people on the streets, knocking...haha and it wasn't going so hot! We were sitting in our car and I was a little bummed. Sister Rhoades was typing in an address on the GPS. A guy was walking his dog on the sidewalk towards us...I hesitated...but I rolled down the window and said hi. Why not get rejected one more time, right? Wrong. He was super nice!! So we got out and just talked with him, talked about his dog, his family, etc. Eventually it turned to church talk, and we set up an appointment for the next day. He said to us that he felt "excited, or something weird!" inside of him. The spirit, duh! 

So we went back Thursday. He is like a clean slate! He received the restoration so well. Oh, his name is Glen. He's in his 60's, and stays home and takes care of his mother who is pretty sick. Anyways, the lesson went great! We taught him about prayer, and he prayed for us and started crying during it. He said "I'm ready to accept all of you God, I want you in my life." He is GOLDEN I'm tellin ya! We went back Saturday and taught Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong and all of the sudden I found myself inviting him to be baptised. "If you come to know these things are true, would you prepare yourself to follow Christ and be baptised by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God?" And he says, "Well, yes!" AHhhhhh happy day. There's still a long ways to go, and he needs to have certain experiences and keep growing in order to have that testimony, but he is well on his way! He came to church yesterday, ALL 3 HOURS. Who does that? Haha but he loved it, and we're going back tomorrow to teach more.

WHAT IF I DIDN'T ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW??

That is the question. It has been a learning experience, that's for sure. Heavenly Father sends a lot of unprepared people to see what I'll do with them, before he'll trust me enough to send me a prepared person...aka GLEN. So I'm overwhelmingly grateful that He trusted me enough to send Glen my way, and I'm glad I had the faith the roll down the window and open my mouth.

I beg you with my whole heart to please pray for Glen, that he will continue to grow and have faith. That's all I ask of you! Please and thank you (:

Well, that's about all for this week. Things are looking up. I'm doing so well, and working my hardest. It's encouraging to see my work paying off. I love developing relationships with the ward members, they're all so great. I love representing Christ and just being nice to people! Even if that means a lot of people just stare at me like I'm crazy. I'm learning to realize that I'm a good interruption in people's lives. I'm trying to get over feeling like I bug everyone, but instead thinking "when else will they get to talk to a representative of Christ?"

Love you all, thanks again for the support, prayers, and letters. 

xoxo Sister Bishop

With their investigator, Denny (the hugger):

The wicked bed bug bite:

Tessa and Sister Cottrell, Sister Rhoades, and Sister Scrivner:

The Plan of Salvation kit she bought before her mission:

Celebrating their miracle investigator with pumpkin choco chip cookies and ice cream:

Sister Rhoades taking a closer look at Tessa:

The mission office parking lot. Everyone parks crazy and tries to block the others in.

Zone Ultimate Frisbee:

With Sister Cotrell:

A house with an expansive figurine collection: