Yes! Investigators Standing in Line to Talk to Sisters Lamb and Bergeson

Dear Family,

Love you!

What a week of miracles this has been!

After p-day on Tuesday, we saw Madison and Kate at their home. Kate apparently has really bad anxiety with leaving their home and all kinds of things and had thought about calling us many times to cancel, but for some reason (the Spirit) had not, so we were able to teach both of them together. Kate is so sweet, but can be confusing at times because she covers up a lot of her emotions, so it is hard to really tell what is going on in her head and what she is really thinking. Madison is excited to be baptized on the 18th. We still have a lot to teach her, but we will just keep pushing on through!

Wednesday was perhaps the most miraculous day of all. I think that because Sister Bergeson and I served in Oakview for so long, He is giving us a break and letting us see a lot of miracles to reward us for all the long hours of tracting and feeling unaccomplished. When we got to our area after district meeting, we only had two appointments scheduled with about 8 hours of time. We had set the goals of teaching: 1 member present lesson, 3 other lessons, and 1 less active/recent convert lesson. Our first appointment was with Aliyah, but when we got there, her mom said that it was really not a good time and asked if we could come back later, so we rescheduled for 6. We went to eat lunch at the church and while we were there, were able to make an appointment with Fatma and Fatwa for that evening as well. With the 45 minutes that we had before our 4 o’clock appointment, we did some tracting and taught a man named Earl about the Book of Mormon. We then headed to teach Patrick with Sister Staker. (sister Staker reminds me of what I think that Katie would be like in her Minnesota ward. she was a little nervous at first and her husband told us to go easy on her, but she has quickly some to love going on team ups with us. She is in her early 20's, super cute and sweet, not pregnant though :)) When we arrived at Patrick’s apartment building, Sister Staker (Amy) was waiting for us outside and talking to one of Patrick’s neighbors, an older woman named Patti. They made quick friends and were making plans to go to the apartment pool party a couple of days later together. Sister Staker introduced us to Patti and we are going to stop by and talk with her later when we get a chance. What a good little missionary. After seeing Patrick, we went to visit Fatma and Fatwa. When we got there, their mom had friends over, so they told us they had arranged for us to go to Madison’s house, just a couple blocks away, for the lesson. So, we got to teach both Fatwa and Madison together, making a member present lesson! Perfect. After we walked back to our car, we headed to see Aliyah. We talked to her about baptism and she is set to be baptized on Aug 11th, which will be just a couple of days before she goes to high school. It is coming up fast (especially because they now want us to have baptismal interviews a week before the baptism) and we have a lot to teach her, but we feel that it is the best thing for her so that she can have the Holy Ghost when she goes back to school, otherwise it may be a little tough on her. So, we will be teaching her a lot this next week. After Aliyah, we tried a referral that we received from the Skyline elders, a woman named Kellie and were able to teach her as well. She is quite an interesting person. She definitely needs the gospel, but she is going to need some work. She is recently divorced, going through all kinds of trouble with her ex-husband, has three young daughters, is living on disability, etc. so, she is going to be fun. She has met with the elders a few times before and likes what they have been teaching her, so that’s good! The elders are going to bring her to the TC on Tuesday (tomorrow) and officially turn her over to us.

One of the things that has been the hardest for me to wrap my mind around on my mission is setting goals and working hard to achieve them while still loving people and teaching them to help them, not just to check another number off of a list. When we set goals and think about them more throughout the day, we are better able to accomplish them and be focused and Heavenly Father is better able to bless us. It is hard to find the balance sometimes, but I felt like Monday was a good day for that. We were able to set high goals, work hard to reach them, while still desiring to help people.



Sister Melly at the fireside

It was also another one of those weeks where I got to do something a little unexpected. After all of the firesides, sometimes I feel a little jealous of all the sisters that are good singers and piano players and get to use their talents in the firesides. So, I was praying that I would be able to find a way to use my talents this week, and Heavenly Father helped me out with my request. On Thursday morning, I went to the home of a recently reactivated member in the Elmwood ward named Cindy. The guy that she has been living with has been being taught by the missionaries for a while now. I actually taught them once with Sister Pinchak a couple of months ago. They are getting married this weekend and then he is being baptized next week. She ordered a wedding dress from china and wanted some alterations made, so they asked me to do it. I was a little nervous about what she would ask. All she wanted was the neckline lowered, but I had to take off the sleeves to do it, so I had some fun :) it didn't take too long though and she loves it, so I am happy.

On Thursday evening, I had a unique experience. We went to visit a less active and as we left her apartment, we started talking to a man named Aaron. He has MS and is in a wheelchair. We gave him a copy of Finding Faith in Christ and set a return appointment. He said "Wow! I have never had two pretty ladies meet me, give me a present, and then want to come see me later!" It was pretty funny. As we finished up talking to him, another guy came up behind him, so we opened the door to let him through, but he said “No thanks, I want to talk to you." Have you ever had someone wait in line to talk to you before? Someone who you don't know? As a missionary? I never heard of it happening before, but that was what I would say it was. The second man, Joe, said that he had seen us around before and wondered what we were doing/what we talked to people about. We taught him right then and then again last night. He seems pretty sincere in his intent, so that's good. We are planning on turning him over to the elders soon.

So that was some of the miraculous events that happened this last week, although if I had more time, I could probably tell you some more. Those will have to wait. Pretty good I’d say! I liked it.

Well, I LOVE YOU! As usual. Have a happy 30th of July!

Love, Sister Melly

Sister Melly's mission car?