Well, this week has been pretty good! With the holiday
season, it was kind of hard to teach people, but it was still fun :)
This week, the Lindermans took us out for Mexican food at a
place called Lomeli's-- I walked in and felt like I'd time-warped back to
Midway! The music, the atmosphere, the people, the language, everything. And
the food was delicious- It really makes my day when I have a legit straight
mexican meal every now and then :)
 |
| Our District at a Thanksgiving Lunch |
*****
Thanksgiving was great and rather uneventful compared to our
normal festivities, but I still loved it :) We had dinner at the Werner's
house- they are lovely! Sis Werner is the only lds member of her family- we ate
with her, her husband, and her daughter. It was awesome! They told us all about
their African safari and we had some great conversation (including a hilarious
story about how their cat got stuck in the dishwasher. Sister Graham and I died
laughing over that one).
Then we went to the church and weekly planned
Then we went to the McLane's later that evening and had a
Thanksgiving leftover dinner and it was fun to be with them for a little bit :)
They are an awesome family!
*****
This week, we visited a less-active sister in the ward who
has been less active for a really long time. She hardly knows anything about
the church- she was baptized a really long time ago, doesn't remember much, and
says she only got baptized because the people were nice. We've been meeting
with her more and trying to re-teach her basically from Ground 0. Her Visiting
teacher has been trying for a long time to go in and meet her, but schedules
haven't worked out and it's been hard for that to happen, so she's been writing
her letters every month for years. But it finally worked out! We had this sweet
sister come meet her visiting teachee, and it was such a great lesson. This
sister taught this less-active sister about the Book of Mormon, and answered
her questions with so much love and testimony. It was such a sweet experience
to see, and Sister Graham and I were so impressed with her. The members really
don't realize how much power they have in just sharing a heartfelt testimony of
the things that they know are true! It was a great lesson, and we really
appreciated this sister coming with us :)
*****
Sister Graham and I taught Gospel Principles and one of the
people had a seizure in the middle of class. It was a rather interesting
experience. It was only a minor one, so it wasn't a big deal, but Sister Graham
and I didn't know what the heck was going on or what to do, so we just kind of
watched as one of the other members of the class came over and helped him.
I don't think I'd ever seen a seizure before. But it was
rather educational- I'm glad that member was calm and knew what to do! The guy
ended up being just fine. :)
*****
On Friday night/Saturday day, we had exchanges! I went and
spent a day with Sister McCarrey in downtown Chicago. It was really fun- in the
morning for exercise, we went and ran on the beach, and it was kind of nice
being back in a city atmosphere :) We contacted a lot and found some really
great people who are ready and interested to hear our message. We get turned
down a lot, but we have the privilege of meeting a lot of really stellar
individuals. :)
 |
| The Sisters on Splits |
*****
There was another really sweet experience we had this week-
There is a less active sister we met named Cathy, who we've
only met like twice briefly. We had an appointment to visit her, but she got
sick and had to cancel. A couple days after that, she called us and said she
has a friend who really needed some food- she was short on money and wasn't
getting her paycheck for another week. Cathy told us she really wanted to help
her friend, but she was short of money herself, so she couldn't! She called us
asking to see if we could do something.
We called the Relief Society President for ideas, and she
more than willingly gave us 3 bags of food from her food storage. Another
member in the ward gives us and the elders a bag of bread every week, so we
just decided to give our bag to her this week.
We followed Cathy over to her friend BJ's house later that
evening to bring her the food.
When BJ saw the food we had brought, she was so touched.
First off, that her friend Cathy recognized her need and tried so hard to help
her. Second off, that people she didn't even know had helped by giving her
food.
The Spirit was definitely there as BJ shared her experiences
and how blessed she felt to be Cathy's friend, and how much the food would mean
to her family who was far away and unable to help. Sister Graham and I felt
inspired to share a verse in the Book of Mormon. When we did, the verse,
combined with the service we had done, touched BJ's heart so much that she
literally begged us to give her a Book of Mormon, promising that she would
start reading it the minute we left.
It was a really beautiful experience. Cathy has the sweetest
heart and most sincere desire to help others, and the Relief Society President
for so willingly helping us help someone she didn't even know. And for BJ and
her sweet spirit of gratitude. It was a really touching experience :)
*****
I read through the David and Goliath story this week- I
spent two days studying it and it was really cool. There are so many parallels
and concepts that I was able to draw from it, and so many connections between
other stories like Paul, Peter, Nephi, the 2,000 Warriors and Joseph Smith. I
really enjoyed that study, and I have so many notes and ideas off of it, but
there's too many to share. Maybe another day. But yeah, I really liked it.
Also, I have a running theory with Sister Graham that Nephi
is a good example for EVERYTHING. Everything. That's probably why he ended up
at the beginning- because very rarely do people actually champion through to
the end, and because he IS such a good example for everything, it was important
to have that where everyone would read it :)
That theory has stood for almost 2 months and hasn't been
proven wrong yet.
*****
Well, that's kind of it for now! Every once in a while
lately, I've been feeling really bummed that I'm not in Brazil. Don't get me
wrong, I love Chicago and I love serving here! But I'm reaching the
halfway point in my mission and I'm still not there :P I go through my mission
with the realization that I could be gone any day, or I could be here for another
8 months. Sometimes that gets kinda hard. But there are two things I've noticed
from it-
1) the "Forget yourself and go to work" principle
really does work. The only times I get bummed about not being in Brazil is
during language study, and when I give myself time to wander and not think
about this work here in Chicago. But the 'feeling bad-ness' about not being in
Brazil goes away the minute we really get to work and worry about our members
and investigators and the work. Ha it's really nice, actually :)
2) I've really learned how to rely on my testimony. When I
start feeling like the Lord has just ditched me here in Chicago for the heck of
it, or when I start getting frustrated that 'the Lord has the power to get me
to Brazil now- why doesn't He??', I just need to remember.
I've been blessed to have several experiences,
especially within the past year or two, that have proved Absolutely that the
Lord's hand is in my life, and it may not work out the way I want it to, but
ultimately, it will work out in the way that's best for me. I know my Heavenly
Father doeth nothing except it be for my benefit. Even when it's hard.
So when I start to feel bad, I just go back to what I know-
I go back to the fact that the Lord has proved Himself to me time and time again,
and there's no reason for me to doubt or question. I know it will all work out
for what's best :)
The work continues to move forward and progress! I love it.
I feel so much more love for the people here. It's weird, but I do. I feel more
and more every day of the reality of this work. My testimony and understanding
of the scriptures grows every day and it's a real blessing and privilege. I'm
grateful for the Spirit, and for the power of the Book of Mormon. No matter
what people try to say or do or think, the book is true. That is a fact. I give
people every day the opportunity to repent and come unto Christ. Sometimes they
take it, sometimes they don't, but I know everytime that I am giving them the
opportunity to have better lives, to have Christ more actively in their lives,
to prepare to meet God. I know the blessings I've received from this gospel-
I'm not out here to discredit or disrespect or remove other religions in
peoples lives. The message that we have can only add to the faith and understanding
people already have of Christ. I love the scriptures. Read them- it changes
your life :)
Love you all, have a great holiday season! :)
Sister Walton
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