Okay. Picture this. We went to a newlywed couple's home for dinner
last Monday, Jim and Joan's. Jim is a white teddy bear, and Joan is a
Jamaican woman with long braided hair, and they're both in their 50s.
Here is how they met: as Jim was picking vegetables from his garden,
he prayed over his vegetables that they would nourish whoever got
them. Well one Sunday while he was giving away his vegetables after a
church meeting, Joan passed by, and he offered her vegetables. Each
week, he started bringing her vegetables and would "accidentally
forget to bring bags" for her vegetables so that he would have to
carry them directly to her car. The rest is history! They now live on
Jim's farm together and are wonderful member missionaries.
So we walk into church yesterday about 5 minutes before sacrament was
about to start, and a sister in our ward comes up to us and says,
"there is a woman that just walked into the chapel that is wanting to
talk with missionaries." Lakisha has been going from church to church
looking for the right one, but also learning truths about Jesus
Christ. She asked us how she could become a missionary and wanted to
take missionary classes, and we told her we could help her out(: well
as you know, it was fast and testimony meeting, so as people would get
up and bear their testimony, I would pray for them that it would touch
Lakisha's heart. Most members probably don't realize how stressful
testimony meeting is for missionaries! We just hope that investigators
feel welcome and comfortable(: anyway, so as we are sitting there,
Lakisha expresses interest in sharing her testimony. Long story
shorter, I go up with her and bear my testimony and she bears hers as
well!!!! It was beautiful, and we became instant friends throughout
church! She is a mom of a 20 year old and a 12 year old. As we went
from sacrament to Sunday school, people started complementing her. She
was so shocked and told everyone, "oh! Really?? Ah Lawdy!!! That's my
first time!!" We are going to start teaching her this week! We're
excited! It is bitter sweet that I am leaving here in just a week and
a few days. Sweet because I know I have more to do at Temple Square,
but bitter because of all the incredible people we are teaching here.
My companion and I have concluded that we smell the most interesting
smells in the world being a missionary. So in Maryland, they have the
screen doors with the hinges that are in front of the front door.
Right when we open those screen doors to knock on the front door, a
big whiff of "SURPRISE!" comes at us. We just never know what we're
gonna get!!
We had a wonderful lesson the other day!! So one of the members in our
ward is dating a great man who is not a member. Well we went over to
her house and taught her, her boyfriend, and her cousin (who also
isn't a member) this past Wednesday. It was such a powerful lesson
about the Book of Mormon. We used 3 Nephi 11 and how the Holy Ghost
was prompting the Nephites, but they only really paid attention when
he repeated himself. Many spiritual experiences were shared, and both
the cousin and the boyfriend agreed to start reading the Book of
Mormon.
We taught a less-active the other day, and that was an interesting
experience. Throughout the whole lesson, her big fluffy dog was
standing in mine and my companion's face as we were sitting on a
sunken-in couch and barking at us! The dog bit my finger (ah!) and the
less-active member took control of her dog.
We met Jayaraman last night! He is from India, and he was telling me
about karma. As he was explaining to me an exciting analogy with lots
of hand motions, Sister Taggart talked to Chrish, another man from
India. We got both of their contact information and committed them to
read the Book of Mormon. 8:30pm miracles!!!
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| Sister Tembo, Sister Truman and Sister Steenhoek |
So we got Paula a CTR ring, and she loves it! She wore it to church on
Sunday. (: we brought Sister Davis to one of our lessons with her last
week, and just as a little background, Paula lives in a home that was
built during the a Civil War times. It's old and small. Well Sister
Davis brought over a blueberry pie and some whipping cream. She was
pretty set on making her own whipped cream, but we warned her that
Paula would probably not have a beater to beat it with. She was in
denial. Fast forward to our lesson, thanks to her short 65-year old
attention span, Paula is done listening to us and her focus is on the
pie. She looks at her little chihuahua and says, "Lily! Get off your
lazy butt and find me a beater!!" We love her(:
We almost ran out of gas on Saturday, and stopped at this gas station
in the middle of no where. I went and contacted the guy parked next to
us, and he just so happens to be less active!! Another miracle! We
invited him to church and got his contact info. Hope to see him at
church in the near future!
So last but not least, there is a guy in our ward that is the twin of
the under dog in "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" (Marilyn and Aubrey,
you know who I am talking about), as well as a a guy that is a younger
version of Tim Gun, the host of Project Runway!
Well, I hope you read my full email. It was quite the fun week! But I
also hope to hear from you. Love you all!
Sister Steenhoek
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