This week....what can I say about this week....it was different. Definitely learning about many cultures even though I am here in the U.S. Normally our Seattle Saturdays are filled with hectic running around craziness. This week we found ourselves actually having some tracting time. Tracting= the most interesting of stories. We went to this apartment complex that we thought would be chuck full of Hispanics. Wrong. It was full Muslims. We actually had a really good conversation with a Muslim family. We talked about the similarities about our beliefs. To be honest, I don't know a lot about their beliefs so we asked them a lot of questions, especially about baptism. We invited them to be baptized, but of course, they weren't interested. But we left with mutual feelings of respect. "Kill 'em with kindness" is pretty much my new motto. Now Hermana Boley and I are determined to convert all the Muslims that live in our apartment complex. Haha. Too bad we aren't English speaking or else we really would!
We also have had the cravings to do more service and ended up starting an English class. So far we have one student that we haven't had time to teach yet. She is from Iraq and doesn't speak one lick of English. Hermana Boley has taught an English class in one of her areas before, but I don't think we really know what we are getting into. Oh well. It's an adventure. It's service. I thinking it's radical and exciting!
I think I am becoming more Hispanic by the minute. We were laughing because so many people have asked me this week if I am Hispanic. "Nope, soy Americana." Then they are like, "No, I meant which country are your parents from?" Then I start the list: Germany, Switzerland, England, France, Scotland... They all seem so confused. Just wish that they could see my sister, Isabelle! Then they really wouldn't believe our European heritage. Hehehe. I just think it's funny when they expect me to be the expert in Spanish, but then my blonde haired, blue eyed companion starts speaking and they are like, "Oooo interesante." Si, Senor!
Also while tracting this week, we met a Satanist. That was probably one of the more sketchy experiences of my life. She didn't want to talk to us, but we kept asking questions about what she believes. Basically she thinks everything is bad. God's bad, life's bad. Everything. She looked really uncomfortable talking to us so she slammed the door. Just comes to show that evil can not with stand light. It's people like that that make me so sad. I don't even understand. Anyway, we sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light" as we were walking away, hopefully loud enough so she could hear.
Other exciting news --- I saw so many miracles this week, particularly two. Not to dish on my comp and her driving or anything, but we were in two fender benders this week. The first one was her fault. I was even backing her, but she hit a parked car. Luckily there was little damage done and the people were super nice about it. The second time wasn't her fault. I was backing her out and then this other car decided to back out right into her. The first miracle is that I wasn't sandwiched between the two cars. But both of the cars were smashed together. They both pulled back into their parking spots so we could assess the damage. We were trying to keep calm and not panic. Both of the cars were clearly smashed. I turned to look at their car and it had a small dent and a scrap. I looked at our car and the dent had popped right out. I looked back at their car and their dent had popped out. All of us were inspecting the cars and miraculously their was no damage done to either of them. And no one was hurt. Heavenly Father is seriously the best! No worries everyone, we are taking 'backing up' a lot more seriously now!
In our actual missionary work, things are going well. We finally got a branch mission leader who is 'the bomb' so hopefully things will get better. We always have more than enough people to teach, the problem is is that we want members to be present at as many lessons as possible. This is the challenge: member participation. A lot is asked of members when they join this church, but it's because we are blessed to be doing the work of God.
Virgilio is our progressing investigator. We have finished teaching him all the lessons and he has been to church more than 5 times. He is all set and ready to be baptized. The thing is that he hasn't committed to a date. We asked him to pray about this Thursday so we will see if he has gotten an answer yet. I am just praying he will be baptized soon.
Also, two angels have been sent into our lives lately. Ironically, both of them are named Maria. The first Maria is only 13 years old, but she looks at us like we are heavenly beings. We love talking with her, but we haven't gotten her parent's permission to teach her yet. But she is amazing! She doesn't just read the Book of Mormon, she studies it like I have never seen before. She actually uses the index. She highlights, researches, ponders. It's incredible. We were reading some Isaiah chapters with her in 2 Nephi. Hermana Boley and I were reading the summaries and scrambling to try to come up with ways to explain what Isaiah is explaining. When we started talking about it, we realized that she understood it better than us. She makes missionaries look bad! But she is so sweet and so humble. Can I adapt? hehe! The other Maria is probably in her 40s. She has cancer, and she is not only trying to take care of her kids, and also her nephew's kids because their mom abuses them. Every time we talk with her my heart breaks. I would do anything to help her. She calls us her angels. She loves when we pray and sing to her.
Sometimes we do things, little, mundane, ordinary things everyday. We get bored of them. We hate doing them. We don't see the point of doing them. But it's those little things that we do everyday that make a huge impact in other's lives. It's the mold of our own lives. To be honest, most days as a missionary are routine. We live by the same schedule everyday. People avoid you. Appointments fall through. But then there is that one person who sees us as representatives of Christ and their whole world changes. There is a really great video called "You Never Know" under Mormon messages at lds.org. I encourage all of you to watch it...Family Home Evening activity! Much love, hugs and kisses from the great city of Seattle!
Week 16 Challenge:
Week 16 Challenge:
Con Amor,
Hermana Stoddard
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