Hello everyone! The days and weeks just seem to be flying by even faster these days. I hope everyone had a great week because I know I did! The Lord is just blessing us left and right here in Twin Falls and I am loving it! So I guess I better give you the juicy details! :)
So this week I got really sick. And I mean really sick. I haven't been that sick in a long time. I felt so terrible and everything hurt. I had a fever, aches, congestion, headaches, and everything! And then I woke up with pink eye on Tuesday morning in both eyes. #ewwwww. So I called the mission doctor and made an appointment to go see him. He told me I had the flu caused by bacteria. So much for the flu shot they made me get. haha. So he prescribed me antibiotics and some eye drops for the pink eye. He told me that if I didn't need to be anywhere, that I shouldn't because I was super contagious. So basically it sucked because I had to stay home. We had appointments at night that I didn't want to miss, but during the day I slept and Sister Ramsey did whatever. I felt so guilty for not working, I kept feeling the need to repent haha. I was driving Sister Ramsey crazy because I kept telling her how guilty I felt for sleeping all day and she was like "Dude! You have permission to sleep, take advantage of it!" It is crazy how a mission changes your mindset. But I am doing a lot better now and feeling much better! I was so ready to get out of the apartment and get back to work. Being sick on a mission sucks big time, but I am happy to be back to work:)
Other than being sick, this week was great! We had a lot of appointments and taught a lot of people. Every Sunday when we have the missionary correlation meeting, everyone is always just so impressed with all the work we are doing! At the moment we have 6 progressing investigators which is a lot! We get tons of referrals as well and are working with a lot of less actives. We (meaning the Spirit) have already gotten one whole less active family back to church and really involved! It is so great! I just love all the people that we are working with. So let me tell you more about them.
So the woman that we set the baptism date with, her name is Kellie and she is seriously so funny!!!! So we set her baptism date for March 15th!!! We are so excited and she is even more excited and I can't wait for my first baptism! This week we were teaching her and the Sacrament got brought up. And she was like, "Oh the bread and water mean something? I just thought that was a snack? Isn't that why they call it the snackrament?" Hahaha it was so funny. So on Sunday we were sitting with her and her little boy was being loud and she goes, "Shhhh, it's time for the snackrament." I guess whatever floats her boat haha. But she is awesome. And what is even more awesome is that we are the first missionaries to ever teach her! So we didn't just come in and pick up where other missionaries left off, but we were the first! I know she has been prepared for so long and her excitement and enthusiasm for the Gospel inspires me. I cannot wait for her baptism day! It is going to the pretty special and something I will remember for the rest of my life.
The other people we are teaching are making progress, just slowly. Nancy was all set to come to church this week and she didn't and it was heartbreaking! I feel like I got stood up by a date or something. See again, missions change the way you think. But Nancy is making progress! She is so nervous to pray, so she has started writing her prayers down everyday in her journal which is huge! But anyways, we invited Amanda to be baptized and she wants to, but she is just uncomfortable with the idea and doesn't feel ready yet, so we will continue teaching her. Rene is working on his smoking and we are working toward marriage for him and his girlfriend so that he can get baptized. We started teaching a 10 year old girl named Ryanne whos parents are less actives, and she is wanting to get baptized so that is exciting! Cody has been to church the last few weeks and loves it! He made a comment to someone in the ward about getting baptized so we are excited to see where that goes! Jolene, the less active woman who I just adore, tore up her knee so we are going over there in a little bit with some Priesthood to give her a blessing. We visit so many people I wouldn't have time to talk about them all, but that is basically what happened this week as far as investigators go. We tracted a lot on Friday because we didn't have any appointments and that was fun! We met this really crazy lady who was all, "I'd rather listen to Jehovah's Witnesses than you crazy people." Haha. People are funny sometimes. But it was a good experience! This mission is not a tracting mission, but we do it every once in awhile if things are slow.
So anyways, I am definitely adjusting and things are becoming easier. I have officially been out for a month! I really do feel like I just left, it's crazy! Transfers are already halfway over!!!! We have a meeting this week with all of us new missionaries this week to see how everyone is doing so that should be fun to see everyone again. We also have interviews with President this week as well as a Zone meeting so that should be fun! Sister Ramsey and I saw President Curtis earlier today and we begged him not to transfer us or take us apart. He just laughed at us and said, "That's not up to me, that's up to the Lord." We hope we get to stay longer because we are doing so many good things here! Plus we like each other so that doesn't hurt. President told us that he is proud of us and that we will most likely stay here in Twin with each other! He said that there hasn't been a baptism here in months so he said, "If you have been here 3 weeks and are already baptizing, you must be doing something right." So we will pray for it! It is crazy how similar Sister Ramsey and I are, especially in our past experiences. It is so nice to have someone to relate to and to learn from each other. Sister Ramsey is awesome and I am so happy I was blessed with such an amazing trainer. We have started doing this new thing where if someone isn't answering their door, we sing primary songs really really loud. #weareweirdos. But at least we have fun! Everyday is an adventure with Sister Ramsey and I. I love it!
The weather is so nice here! It has been in the 50s all week and so sunny, we are loving it! We haven't even been wearing jackets and it is so nice! We almost wish we could be on bikes now because it is just so nice. I am getting to know my District better and other missionaries. We had to have a little chat with our District this week though about taking things more seriously. District meetings just haven't been very spiritual or uplifting. And this week when I was really sick, I thought maybe a blessing would help, but I honestly didn't know who to ask. And that is super sad if I can't even ask Elders from my own District! So we just told them how we were feeling, and they really stepped up! That is our job as a District is to encourage and to help one another so I am glad that we are all on the same page now! There are some pretty amazing missionaries here and I am grateful that I have the chance to learn from them.
My love for the Book of Mormon has grown so much! I love personal study time! I was kind of worried about that when I first came on my mission because an hour seemed like a really long time to study the scriptures, but it goes by way too fast! I have a 50 day challenge to read the Book of Mormon, so that means 10 pages a day, and I always read more. I love marking them up and writing my thoughts down. When you read it fast, the stories make more sense and everything comes together. Every morning when I read it, it is confirmed that it is true. I know it is without a doubt. Reading it everyday makes teaching about it so much more powerful because I can testify to people that it is the truth. I have never really had a something amazing happen to me that told me the church is true. But as I have come to gain a testimony on my own, it is confirmed to me over and over again very quietly. All I have to do is look around. I am so blessed. If ever there is a doubt, Heavenly Father makes it go away. There is no way I could ever deny this Gospel. I know it is true. The Spirit that I feel when I read the Book of Mormon or when I testify to my investigators of these wonderful truths is incredible. I can't really even put it into words how amazing it is to know without a doubt. I love that my calling is to bear testimony of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. Like it is confirmed to me in my blessing, "The Gospel will bless your life, but it will be an even greater blessing as you share it with those around you. As you let the light of the Gospel shine in your life, you will have the opportunity to bear testimony to those who have not received this wonderful blessing. As you share this testimony and others have the opportunity to receive this testimony, your own life will be enriched and your testimony will grow."
Well it looks like I am almost out of time. I love this. I am going to be honest in saying that some days I have to pray to love this because it is really hard. But I know that Heavenly Father is helping me through every step of this journey. It is so easy to doubt myself and to feel inadequate, but I know by working hard and relying on the Spirit and my Father in Heaven, everything will be okay. I am so grateful to be here. Thank you for all of your support. It means so much to me. Remember that your example is so important and others look up to you. Let the light of the Gospel shine in your life. Be an example and pray for missionary opportunities and I promise that Heavenly Father will bless you with them. I love you all so much! Have a great week. I miss you and I pray for you. Sending my love.
Love, Sister Bigelow
No comments:
Post a Comment