It's been another lovely week in Cougar Mountain. Seriously, it's been really, really beautiful around here. That also means more people are out in their yard and more accessible. But it can also make things more awkward because sometimes they run away from us into their houses....some people and their children....they are just so funny sometimes. It's like they are allergic to religion or something. Being nice to the two Mormon girls might give them the measles or something so everyone must run inside! But that's okay because they are all my brothers and sisters so we go after them anyway. We ended up singing "I Am a Child of God" at a large, wooden door because the lady didn't want to open it. Doors, fences, locks, they don't stop us!
This week we found a golden investigator named Carol. Problem is she is moving back to China in like 10 days. WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN???? She was so curious to learn about God and Jesus Christ. She asked us question after question and she ended the lesson with a beautifully honest and sincere prayer. I love the way non-members pray because they don't say any of the "Mormon phrases" in their prayers which make them so much more heartfelt. Anyway, she told us that she believes in God now. Teaching Chinese people is the best because once they have a spiritual experience and recognize who Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are, they easily accept the restoration and everything else. We took Carol to the Discovery center at our church building. She doesn't have any family history work done yet, but she loved it. She set up a familysearch.org account right then and there and she can't wait to go back to China and do some research.
In our zone, there is a couple whose calling it is to educate missionaries about family history. Let's be real, I had no interest in family history whatsoever before. But now, I can't wait to do more work on my family and to help other's with theirs. There are so many people here who are interested in family history so I think that is going to be the way that they will feel the Spirit and want to learn more about the church. Today we were able to go to the temple with half of our mission and most of us took family names. It was literally the best. I love living so close to the temple. I live even closer to the temple here than I ever lived to a temple in Utah! It's also a good conversation starter because people are always curious about the Mormon building with a golden man on top.
One other cool experience we had this week was taking Laurels out with us as a part of their mini-mission. One of the neighboring wards holds a mini-mission once a year with their youth. They have to live in the shoes of a missionary for 24 hours. That means keeping all the rules and living the missionary schedule. President Choi even went and spoke to them. Anyway, we went on splits for 4 hours. Hermana Oliphant had 1 laurel and I had 2. It was like having 2 nervous greenies. They did a good job though because most of the time we were tracting and street contacting. Of course when we are on exchanges one crazy thing has to happen. That came in the form of a man with a very curly afro who kept talking about "Kolob" subjects with us. He pleaded with us to stop being Mormons and start being Christians. Sorry Bro, I'm already both! It was a great experience for the youth and I hope that more wards adopt that program.
Well, I love all of you and have such a great week! This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it's true!
Con Amor,
Hermana Stoddard
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| Hermana Norton is home and sent me this collage of us! |
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