Sister Melanie sent this on December 20 but I have been to Iowa City and Nauvoo for my niece, Jamie's wedding. - Her mom
Dearest Family,
Love you!
This has been a crazy week, but more specifically, a crazy couple of days. I don't even know where to start. Sister Kusnerik hasn't been telling anyone in our ward that she is going home (well went home today), so last week when she starting revealing the news, everyone suddenly wanted to have us over for dinner. We have had more invitations than we could even handle.
On Monday, we had lunch with Sister Young and some of the other ladies from the ward and then had a FHE with the Young family that night. Brother Young, who was just released from the Bishopric, went in for surgery this Thursday to have a tumor removed from near his spine. During the FHE, it was clear that he was in a lot of pain. He could only sit still for a couple of minutes before he would have to shift positions to be able to deal with the pain. Before we went to teach them, we had felt prompted to talk about prayer, and as we discussed the answers that we have each seen to our prayers, we felt prompted to make them a promise, that if they would counsel with the Lord, especially in the next couple of days, that they would see miracles. We anxiously awaited to hear the results of the surgery on Friday. Since then, we have learned that Brother Young's tumor was cancerous, unlike they had thought. However, it was not touching any nerves but was sitting in the spinal cavity. Only 30 people have had this type of cancer before, and now he makes 31. They were able to completely remove all of the cancer and he will not have to do any chemotherapy or radiation. He is still very weak, but well on his way to recovery. I feel like, if nothing else, Sister Kusnerik and I needed to be in the Oakview Ward these last three months to provide opportunities for miracles to happen. We have seen several experiences where people, by keeping their end of the promise made to them, were able to see miracles in their situations. Those miracles were only able to happen because, through missionaries, Heavenly Father set the terms and gave them an opportunity to be blessed through their obedience. It scares me to think about what could have happened if any one of the people involved in these situations were not prepared and faithful to the promise given to them.
On Wednesday, we had another lunch appointment, this time with Sister Roads. Through some miscommunication, we accidentally went to the wrong place to meet her and were not able to contact her because she does not have a cell phone. Since we were already in the area, we decided to go out to lunch ourselves at a place called Hu Hot, which is apparently very popular among many of the Elders. It turns out that what it is like a make your own stir-fry. You get a bowl, fill it with raw meat, vegetables, noodles, and sauces, then they stir fry it for you. But that is really not important. What the interesting thing was that as soon as we were seated, something felt kind of weird. As we went up the counter where they stir-fry the food, it was even more weird. The spirit was not there at all and we could feel it so strongly, but it was amazing how sensitive we were to it. The farther away we got from the counter, the better we felt, but it was clear that there was something going on there. Our best guess is that there are some major issues going on between the workers there or that one of them is involved in some very serious sins. We were fine, but it was just really crazy.
On Thursday, we went out to our area to go to an appointment, but as we were driving, found out that the appointment had cancelled. As we were trying to decide what to do, we got a little lost and ended up near a trailer park in the area where a couple investigators and members live. We stopped outside of one of the member’s homes. I was about to tell Sister K that there would be no way she would be home because she works during the day, but I didn’t. When we knocked on the door, she was home. She had been having some troubles with insurance companies and one had called her at work and made her very upset, so she had left early. As usual, we just happened (well not really) to be at the right place at the right time. All I can say is that God is so aware of us. He is so aware of everything that is going on in our lives. I do not know how anyone can deny that there is a God or that this church is not true when we have so many experiences like this. It happens every day. I can't even tell you the number of times that we have been in the right place at exactly the right time. It is way too many to just be coincidence. There is no such thing as coincidence anyways.
Yesterday morning, I dropped Sister Kusnerik off at the mission office for her interview with President Kuntz and then headed off with Sister Wilson for district meeting. Everyone keeps asking me if I am so sad to see her leave. I feel bad for saying this but I really am not. I know that I have learned a lot from her and that she is a great missionary, but I am so ready for some change. With all of the preparations for her leaving, I feel like our dedication and obedience has really suffered. I am so excited to now be with Sister Wilson. She feels like the exact same thing has happened with her companionship, and we are both ready to rededicate ourselves and work our little tails off. The next couple of days are going to be awesome. I can feel it. Last night, we went to go check on a less-active in the Oakview ward. They were not home, so we started knocking doors in the same circle. We saw a woman walking her dogs and went to go talk to her, but she disappeared down a side walk with a fence on each side that extended between the homes and let through the backyards to another part of the subdivision. We started after her, but after 5 or 10 minutes, were not getting any closer to her and she was becoming aware of someone following her. We decided to stop so as not to scare her, and right after found a group a teenagers walking home from school. I guess that is why we were following her. We gave them mormon.org cards and invited them to the gingerbread festival and then headed back to the car. It was hilarious.
Hope you are all preparing for a wonderful Christmas! I will talk to you soon!
As soon as I get my new companion on Thursday and we figure out when and where we are going to Skype, I will have one of the senior couple sisters call you and figure everything out.
Ok love you!
Sister Melly
Love you!
This has been a crazy week, but more specifically, a crazy couple of days. I don't even know where to start. Sister Kusnerik hasn't been telling anyone in our ward that she is going home (well went home today), so last week when she starting revealing the news, everyone suddenly wanted to have us over for dinner. We have had more invitations than we could even handle.
On Monday, we had lunch with Sister Young and some of the other ladies from the ward and then had a FHE with the Young family that night. Brother Young, who was just released from the Bishopric, went in for surgery this Thursday to have a tumor removed from near his spine. During the FHE, it was clear that he was in a lot of pain. He could only sit still for a couple of minutes before he would have to shift positions to be able to deal with the pain. Before we went to teach them, we had felt prompted to talk about prayer, and as we discussed the answers that we have each seen to our prayers, we felt prompted to make them a promise, that if they would counsel with the Lord, especially in the next couple of days, that they would see miracles. We anxiously awaited to hear the results of the surgery on Friday. Since then, we have learned that Brother Young's tumor was cancerous, unlike they had thought. However, it was not touching any nerves but was sitting in the spinal cavity. Only 30 people have had this type of cancer before, and now he makes 31. They were able to completely remove all of the cancer and he will not have to do any chemotherapy or radiation. He is still very weak, but well on his way to recovery. I feel like, if nothing else, Sister Kusnerik and I needed to be in the Oakview Ward these last three months to provide opportunities for miracles to happen. We have seen several experiences where people, by keeping their end of the promise made to them, were able to see miracles in their situations. Those miracles were only able to happen because, through missionaries, Heavenly Father set the terms and gave them an opportunity to be blessed through their obedience. It scares me to think about what could have happened if any one of the people involved in these situations were not prepared and faithful to the promise given to them.
On Wednesday, we had another lunch appointment, this time with Sister Roads. Through some miscommunication, we accidentally went to the wrong place to meet her and were not able to contact her because she does not have a cell phone. Since we were already in the area, we decided to go out to lunch ourselves at a place called Hu Hot, which is apparently very popular among many of the Elders. It turns out that what it is like a make your own stir-fry. You get a bowl, fill it with raw meat, vegetables, noodles, and sauces, then they stir fry it for you. But that is really not important. What the interesting thing was that as soon as we were seated, something felt kind of weird. As we went up the counter where they stir-fry the food, it was even more weird. The spirit was not there at all and we could feel it so strongly, but it was amazing how sensitive we were to it. The farther away we got from the counter, the better we felt, but it was clear that there was something going on there. Our best guess is that there are some major issues going on between the workers there or that one of them is involved in some very serious sins. We were fine, but it was just really crazy.
On Thursday, we went out to our area to go to an appointment, but as we were driving, found out that the appointment had cancelled. As we were trying to decide what to do, we got a little lost and ended up near a trailer park in the area where a couple investigators and members live. We stopped outside of one of the member’s homes. I was about to tell Sister K that there would be no way she would be home because she works during the day, but I didn’t. When we knocked on the door, she was home. She had been having some troubles with insurance companies and one had called her at work and made her very upset, so she had left early. As usual, we just happened (well not really) to be at the right place at the right time. All I can say is that God is so aware of us. He is so aware of everything that is going on in our lives. I do not know how anyone can deny that there is a God or that this church is not true when we have so many experiences like this. It happens every day. I can't even tell you the number of times that we have been in the right place at exactly the right time. It is way too many to just be coincidence. There is no such thing as coincidence anyways.
Yesterday morning, I dropped Sister Kusnerik off at the mission office for her interview with President Kuntz and then headed off with Sister Wilson for district meeting. Everyone keeps asking me if I am so sad to see her leave. I feel bad for saying this but I really am not. I know that I have learned a lot from her and that she is a great missionary, but I am so ready for some change. With all of the preparations for her leaving, I feel like our dedication and obedience has really suffered. I am so excited to now be with Sister Wilson. She feels like the exact same thing has happened with her companionship, and we are both ready to rededicate ourselves and work our little tails off. The next couple of days are going to be awesome. I can feel it. Last night, we went to go check on a less-active in the Oakview ward. They were not home, so we started knocking doors in the same circle. We saw a woman walking her dogs and went to go talk to her, but she disappeared down a side walk with a fence on each side that extended between the homes and let through the backyards to another part of the subdivision. We started after her, but after 5 or 10 minutes, were not getting any closer to her and she was becoming aware of someone following her. We decided to stop so as not to scare her, and right after found a group a teenagers walking home from school. I guess that is why we were following her. We gave them mormon.org cards and invited them to the gingerbread festival and then headed back to the car. It was hilarious.
Hope you are all preparing for a wonderful Christmas! I will talk to you soon!
As soon as I get my new companion on Thursday and we figure out when and where we are going to Skype, I will have one of the senior couple sisters call you and figure everything out.
Ok love you!
Sister Melly
These pictures and the one above of the Gingerbread Festival
from Sister Lamb's Mission Mom's Blog
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