Hope you all had an awesome week!
Monday-- We had dinner at the Haney's and they have a couple children who are grown that are also in the ward and they came too! One of the son's girlfriend's is not a member and we taught the Restoration lesson to her and it went really well! She seemed super interested, but she is super busy with school and work, so we aren't sure when we would be able to teach her again. She didn't seem to committed to anything yet, so we shall see!
Tuesday-- We went on exchanges with Sister Nemrow and Sister Larsen! They are such sweet sisters and I love them dearly! I went with Sister Nemrow and we taught a lesson to Teagyn at the church with 2 young women and it was great! Teagyn is doing so awesome. We met with her everyday this week to get her prepared for her baptismal interview this weekend and her baptism on the 8th!
Love love love Sister Nemrow!!
That night we went to the church to meet up with everyone to go on splits with the ward members and visit some people, but not enough sisters came out so Sister Nemrow and I just went and contacted some families that they needed us to see! We didn't have much success at the first home, but we were able to sit down and visit with the next one we went to. A quick background snippet to fill in some gaps--- Brother Haney served his mission here when he was younger, and ended up moving to Bakersfield after he went home! He taught and baptized, a now less active family in the ward, the Mayfields.--- So we went and knocked on the Mayfields door and they were SO nice! They invited us in and apparently the elders were starting to teach them the lessons again to help them come back to church and refresh on everything! They just loved us! We got to know Brother Mayfield and then he called in his 18 year old granddaughter that is about to move in with them. Her name is Samantha and she is so awesome! We immediately connected with her and she was sharing some awesome experiences she has recently had in her life that have built her faith in Christ! She isn't a member of our church, but she told us that when she was younger, probably 10 years ago, the missionaries taught her and she wanted to be baptized. Her mom had told her she couldn't so she never really tried again after that. We asked her if she wanted to be baptized now that she is older and she said YES! :) We taught her the restoration and Brother Mayfield bore his testimony about how he knows the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. It was such a good lesson, the spirit was so strong and we were so happy afterwards. I totally did a happy dance when we got to the car. :) Samantha is so prepared! Also super cool part of this is that Brother Haney offered to pay for her college tuition if she went to BYU-Idaho! She's decided to go there and is super pumped about it! :)
Wednesday-- We went out with Sister Shimmins and nothing was working out. After not know who else to contact, she said, "why don't we go meet my friends down the street?" So we totally met her friends and taught them the restoration! They weren't interested at all but it was the coolest experience to have a member invite us to go see their friends! She has known them for 15 years or so and has a really good relationship with them. Even though they weren't interested, they were so kind and appreciative of us coming by. It was amazing to see her exercise her faith and give her friends the opportunity to learn!
That evening we had a lesson for Teagyn at the Martin's home. We talked about the Sabbath Day and watched some Mormon Messages, because that is what our family would do on Sundays. :) The spirit was so strong and some of the Martin's are converts as well, so they were able to share their experiences with Teagyn! It was amazing! :)
Thursday-- We had dinner with Teagyn and her grandma, Sister Nowak! Teagyn had decorated a table and made it super special. She is the sweetest girl ever. :) Then that night we had a lesson with the Perry's! They are a less active older couple in the ward, and Sister Perry has been reading the Book of Mormon again as of late. She is progressing really well! We had a really spiritual lesson with them and watched a Mormon Message from the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, about daring to stand alone, to stand up for what we believe in. :) It was perfect and they said that it was exactly what they needed!
Dinner at the Nowak's!
Friday--We had a District Meeting with the other missionaries and we all committed to, "keep our line in the water" until 9 pm every night and record the miracles we see! To explain this here is a snippet from Preach My Gospel---
"'None of us should be like the fisherman who thinks he has been fishing all day when in reality he has spent most of his time getting to and from the water, eating lunch, and fussing with his equipment. Fishing success is related to how long you have your line in the water, not to how long you are away from the apartment. Some fishermen are away from home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for ten hours. Other fishermen are away from the home for twelve hours and have their line in the water for only two hours. This last type may wonder why they do not have the same success as others. The same principle applies to missionaries, whom the Master called 'fishers of men.' A missionary's line, should drop into the fishing water the moment he or she leaves the apartment.' (Dallin H. Oaks,)"
We had a shorter exchange in some sisters' area that night and tried to help them find some new investigators! It was good. I went with Sister Fifita from Tonga. Love her! :)
Saturday--
We got a call from the Mission President's wife, Sister Wilson that morning telling us that she needed us to role play at Mission Leadership Council this upcoming Wednesday in front of everyone a new, creative way to contact people at the door... We are going to have to sing a primary song, Families can be Together Forever, in front of everyone! and connect it to doing family history! And so my initial reaction was not so enthusiastic.. BUT we decided we should probably practice doing this in real life before we demonstrate it.
That night, it was 8:45 pm and our plans had not worked out and we weren't sure where to go next. We were trying our best to "keep our line in the water", so we decided to walk to the mailboxes at the end of the street and see if we could catch people walking to get their mail. We saw a lady walking with her baby stroller and said hi to her and shared a brief summary about prophets and the restoration, but she wasn't looking interested at all. So, Sister Long asked her if we could sing her a song about our beliefs! She said sure, and we began singing I am a Child of God and the lady's countenance changed and you could tell her heart was softened. She didn't invite us over to learn more or anything like that, but I hope we made her night a little better and a little brighter than it was! We were able to see a blessing from keeping our commitment to working hard and also using Sister Wilson's idea! :)
Sunday-- Church was great! Sister Perry came!!! :) Happy day! We walked with Teagyn and it was a good time with her. She ended up having her baptismal interview afterwards and she passed! She is so excited to get baptized! :)
Samantha Mayfield didn't end up going, so we stopped by that evening and we were able to talk to her briefly and set up a time for us to help her move her things into her grandparents house this week! She is really excited to learn more and I'm excited for the opportunity teach her!
The Lord truly blesses us when we humble ourselves and follow His commandments and guidance! I love this work and I love being a missionary.
Love you all so much!
Hope you have a good one!
Love,
Sister Loar
xoxo
Sister Long wanted grilled cheese before bed.
We do service at the Senior Center every week! It's Great!!
We are actually going to be teaching one of the lunch ladies there!! :)
Sister Long and Sister Loar
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