Week 13

It's getting close to transfers again...that was so fast! But the last few weeks have been the longest of my whole mission. I don't really know why. But I really don't want to leave Hiram. I'm not into change.

 

This week is hard to remember so I'll have to refer back to my journal. I guess the most exciting stuff happened this weekend so I'll skip to that part :)

 

Sister Johnson had a checkup at the doctor on Thursday so that was super fun! It was a sites day so we ended up coming late to Kirtland so we could go to the doctor in the morning. We woke up to snow that morning and then by around 10 o'clock it had mostly melted in our area. So at the doctor there were all these pretty fall colors out the window, and then on the way to Kirtland--which is closer to the lake--we drove through a blizzard. It looked like January outside. I'm talking like 6 inches plus of snow on the ground and it just kept snowing more. Then it turned into slush because it rained after that. Then later that day it was sunny and started to melt the snow, then got colder and rained some more and turned it into ice. Soooo that's Ohio I guess. That was all in one day. So we stayed the night there and the next day we had interviews with President Vellinga. That was so good. He gave me a few reminders that I needed to hear. We have the best mission president. Seriously I am sad for other missionaries who don't have President and Sister Vellinga. They're just so great.

 

And then that night we had an appointment with the Stamms so we left Kirtland early for that. That went so well! We taught them about eternal families. The McIntyres came and bore really pure testimonies about eternal marriage and Katherine said she was tearing up. It was super sweet. They loved it! AND they came to church yesterday. I'll get to that later...

 

Saturday the Solon Elders had a baptism that we took Michael to. It was a really good baptism. We didn't have much time to talk to him right after because we had to book it out to Garrettsville with the McIntyres to pick up a potential investigator for the bonfire that night. But he did say that it was interesting and then started to compare it to Baptist baptisms. He's frustrating sometimes. Then we picked up Katee and went to the bonfire, which was a huge success! There was so much fellowshipping going on I wanted to cry. Plus it was super fun! We just roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and socialized, then we shared a spiritual thought about how the gospel can bring eternal happiness. The biking Elders came with an investigator too and Elder and Sister Packer were there, so we all sang our mission song. Our ward is seriously the best though. So many people made time to help us that day and it was AWESOME! If I could bake them things I would but missionaries don't have time or resources for that kind of stuff :( Lame.

 

And THEN...FOUR investigators came to church on Sunday! Michael, Katherine and Drew Stamm, and Lisa all came. We found out Lisa and Jim are moving :( Jim just stopped drinking and has been sober for a week, and this time he has medication for it which should help. But we're losing them!! Dumb. Then after Sacrament meeting Bishop came and talked to the Stamms and asked if he and his counselors could come see them on Tuesday. That meeting was one of those meetings that happen now and then where by the end you are just so uplifted and you feel so good and clean and the spirit is so strong. Sister Johnson sang "I Believe in Christ" which was amazing, and then the talks were all so powerful. Our stake president was presiding that day and he got up at the end to share his testimony. He said "I know there are some people here investigating the church. We have felt the spirit so strongly in this meeting, and I hope you have felt something today." Then he bore a strong testimony and sat down. Bishop told us that as he was saying that, he saw the Stamms nodding their heads and felt prompted to go talk to them and plan a time to see them. So they set up a time on Tuesday to stop in and chat. He said it had been confirmed to him that they had definitely felt the spirit. So I'm so excited to hear how it goes.

 

Then after church we took Michael on a tour of the Johnson home next-door and it was one of the most spiritual and faith-building tours I have been on. I was frustrated with myself about not knowing much about the tour and getting things wrong and sounding dumb. But I felt the spirit urge me to be more humble and to realize that this tour was not about me. From that point on I was more in tune with the spirit and even though I didn't know the tour very well, I just felt like I was able to speak to him directly from the spirit. I don't remember even what I said. But I did feel like the words were not my own. At the end of the tour we asked Michael how he felt. He said "I still didn't feel strongly overcome with the spirit or anything, but I can tell it was important." We asked him what made him think that. Then he said "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can put it into words, but I will have to think about it." That's pretty typical for Michael. After he has time to let it sink in he is usually more aware of the feelings he had. But I'll be honest, sometimes I want to shake him and say "YOU ARE FEELING THE SPIRIT!" Haha. That's probably not very Christlike though. So I'll just have patience. I know that Heavenly Father is helping him change his heart, and I have faith that he will recognize it.

 

Love you all and have a good week! Until next Monday... :) Write me!

 

Tayler