Week 9

This was such a good week. We had transfer breakfast on Friday and then afterwards we had such a busy day planned out. We went to Hiram college and just contacted people and we got two potentials in no time at all! We are hoping to set up a booth there but can't seem to get in touch with anyone who can help us. But I almost think that simply contacting people walking by is better because as a student I avoided booths like the plague. So maybe it's better this way. But we met one girl named Alyssa, she's a freshman who plays volleyball there and we caught her while she was waiting on a bench for her appointment with the doctor because she apparently has something wrong with her head that they can't figure out. She was so cute though, and she said maybe this was a message. Maybe her day would be better. So we got her number and are going to call her hopefully today. Contacting can be weird sometimes because you just walk up to random people and talk about the gospel, but if you try to get to know them then they will listen much better. It's also so important to be excited about it because it's something exciting that we take part in as members of the church, and it's something that needs to be shared! But we made it a goal that day to have at least 7 gospel conversations with people, and we reached that goal by the end of the day! It was so great! We went to see Rafael the bread man after that. I've never met him, but he owns a bread store in Nelson and apparently missionaries used to go by all the time and hang out there on P day. We don't really know his story though so we were going to go find out, but he wasn't there. Instead his 20-year-old adorable neighbor named Katee was helping out while he delivered lamb to someone (I know...???). So we talked to her and she wants to have bible study with us. We told her a little about what we do as missionaries, and she said "oh I'm so excited! We have so much to talk about." So we got her number and texted her and she didn't text back. So we were praying and praying every day that she would, and she texted us today!! We are so dang excited because both Katee and Alyssa are both people we could easily just be friends with whether we were missionaries or not :) They are going to be LDS someday.THEN we had dinner/spiritual thought with the Stamms!! Remember them? Yeah, they're back in the picture. We never felt right about pushing the lessons on them, but we know they will be interested someday. So we let them kind of get to know the members, had the game night, then when we met with them we would just share spiritual thoughts. And their hearts were softened so much since the first lesson Sister Johnson had with them! They are watching conference with us at a member's home!!! We could not be happier about that day. It was awesome.

So then Saturday we biked and it was awful. If you have ever seen the area we live in in Ohio you know how up and down the roads are. It goes like this ^^^^^^^^^^^ and we went over 20 miles UP and DOWN hill after hill after hill. My legs were SCREAMING. We were supposed to meet with this guy in Mantua and when we got there he was in his garage screaming profanities at another guy and pushing him like they were about to get in a fight. Needless to say we didn't approach that and decided it was probably best to not see him today. So we biked all the way back and talked to as many people as we could on the way so that it wouldn't be a wasted trip. I am thoroughly convinced that we talked to at least one person whose life will be different because of that biking trip. So my legs didn't turn to jello in vain :) 

We also had a pretty crazy experience Sunday night. I don't remember if I mentioned Teresa before or not, but Sister Johnson found her name written on a piece of paper in her scriptures about a month ago with a note that said "call in September". She had no memory of writing it, and she had no idea when it was written or anything, but it was her handwriting. So we called the number and said "hey it's the missionaries" and she told us sorry and thank you for being so patient with her, and that she would be able to meet in a couple weeks so to call her then. So we waited a couple weeks and called her and couldn't get a hold of her. So we stopped by the address on her teaching record which we later found, meaning she was a former investigator (or so we thought). The address was wrong, so we called her and asked if she still lived there and she said "goodness no, I've never lived there!" So then she gave us her correct address and we couldn't get a hold of her for another week or so,so we decided to stop by the new address Sunday night. We actually hadn't even planned for that, but we had some miles left to use so Sister Johnson said "I feel like we should go see Teresa. I think she's important." So we drove out to her house at 8:00 at night and she was home with her family so we were finally able to talk to her! And lo and behold...Teresa is a MEMBER who hasn't been to church in years. She was married in the temple, used to be Relief Society president, and still reads the Book of Mormon. But she said that was a "past life". However, she also said we were welcome to come by Sunday nights and teach lessons! Yeah. Whoa. We had no words when we walked out of there, considering the miracle it was that we even were lead to her! Being a missionary is SO COOL. Heavenly Father directs EVERYTHING you do.

Anyways I learned a few things this week. At our sites training meeting on Friday we had our departing sisters give their testimonies, then our sites director Elder Sorensen spoke. He talked about the word "expedient". He said it was "the short, narrow way to the Lord". And I thought about my mission, and how it truly has been expedient for me. I know sometimes we lose motivation to do the things we are supposed to, and the world seems like it would be more fun and exciting to live in, but I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which we should build our lives. And as I have done so I have realized that the wicked things of the world have no appeal to me anymore. It has brought me the most happiness I have ever felt, and I don't know if I would have been strong enough or learned what I needed to learn if I hadn't gone on a mission. And the saddest thing is that I wouldn't even know what I was missing out on. I realize that I have the rest of my mission ahead of me, but I know that the experiences I am having now and the ones that will happen to me in the future are the short and narrow way to the Lord that will bring me happiness for the rest of my life. 

I love you all and wish the best for you! Thank you for letters and emails :) 

Tayler