Sister in Seattle : Week 35: There is Sunshine in My Soul Today‏

Dear Friends and Family,

First off, a shout out to all the cool people in my life that sent me birthday presents. You guys are da best! It was a very quiet, but memorable birthday. It's the only one in my life (I hope) where I will be away from friends and family, but I had my cute little greenie and a loving ward so no complaints.

It's just my conspiracy theory,
but I am pretty sure all members
are ganging up together to fatten all missionaries...
for what purpose, I am yet to find out.

Lately the weather has been real nice up here. Everyone's yard is immaculate. I am not use to blossoms on trees around my birthday time. They always come out around my mom's birthday in April, but it's gorgeous. Last P-day we took advantage of the nice weather and went to downtown Edmonds. It's the cutest little thing full of shops and cafes. We went down by the beach and took some great pics.

Edmonds

Check out the cute birthday outfit!

The best part of this whole experience was that we were walking along on the street and this lady pulls over. We recognized her, but totally forgot her name. We remember that we met her knocking doors 3 or 4 weeks ago. She was uber nice, like over the top nice. She let us in and we had dinner with her and her family. They were very interested in us and our church, but are very much into their own church. Anyway, she was so happy to see us and she wanted our number so that she could have us over again. She also said that she heard about us on Edmond Moms facebook page.

A little background to this story....about a week ago while we were knocking doors on a different side of town we met this lady Kim whose dad is Mormon. She was friendly, but we could tell that she didn't want us to be there. A lot of people are that way. They are all like, "Shoo, go away. Go play with the other kids." Anyway, we said a prayer with this lady and she got really emotionally about it. She said it was exactly what she needed. Well, yeah! We ALL always need prayer. We continued knocking doors and later that night we ran into Kim again. She was a ball of joy at this point. She ran up to us and said that she posted about us on the Edmond Moms Facebook page. We were like, "That's cool." Later when we told our ward mission leader what happened he was in shock. He said, "Sisters, you don't understand how big this is. You made it onto Edmond Moms fb page? You are going to be famous!" Lo and behold, we are famous in Edmonds now. All these random ladies are like, "Oh, hi! you're the Mormon sister missionaries." "Yes, ma'am. Yes we are." You know the saying that everyone has like 7 minutes of popularity in their lifetime? Well, I think I just had those 7 minutes!

This week we were talking to a member about college and our future lives. I told her my interest in Anthropology and Sociology. I told her that my dream job would be to get paid to travel and study cultures. She told me a FUN FACT: Rick Steves lives here in Edmonds and that her sister in law is one of his tour guides. She is living my dream job. I even saw his studio in downtown Edmonds. Not to get trunky or think about my future or anything, but I just knew that my mission would open some doors for me:)

Anyway, sorry for getting distracted..back to missionary work. Our investigator Michele is so great. We had more contact with her this week. She kicked out the guy that was staying with her and she is living the Word of Wisdom. Her whole apartment seems lighter, happier. She is having surgery today, but hopefully after she recovers, we can help her continue to progress. We also ran into a Buddhist guy from Croatia this week. He was very interested in our religion, particularly our relationship with God. He found it interesting that we think of God as a father figure and that we strive to have a father and child like relationship with Him.

I have been thinking a lot about the nature of God lately. I would be scared of God if I thought of Him as this lightning bolt and thunder and "I will destroy every living thing" kind of God. But I have come to know Him more. He is like my earthly father. Tender hearted, gentle, merciful. He wants the very best for each and everyone of us. He created beauty from the delicate wings of a butterfly to the roaring ocean waves. He is magnificent and personal. And He wants us to be like Him.

My new favorite picture of Christ!

I just finished reading page 90 of the Book of Mormon this morning. Gotta love those Isaiah chapters. I have been trying to find at least one deeper meaning everyday. Something that hit me was 2 Nephi 16:10. A lot of people want proof of spiritual things. What they don't realize is that that proof is all around them. We just can't sense that proof with our normal 5 senses. We have to not focus on the things we see, taste, touch, or hear. We have to feel. We have to feel with our heart in order to know of God. In order to receive true knowledge, conversion and healing, we have to learn to communicate with God through our heart. The best way to do that is to get in touch with the Holy Spirit because our spirit can talk directly to the 3rd member of the Godhead. That in itself is pretty cool. The Church is true because this is Christ's gospel. There is truth in all things, but this is the fulness of the truth. I can testify of that because I have seen, felt and experienced it for myself.

Week 35 Challenge: