Training and Doing the Best We Possibly Can

 

 

Hello Everyone!

So this week has been really good. And of course with the news you've all been waiting for... Sister Chen and I are tag team training SISTER MOODY!!! She's already such a great missionary and I'm super crazy impressed with her. She goes for it and her Chinese study is truly inspiring. We've had a lot of fun getting to know each other this past week and also running around and introducing her to every member we possibly could. We also really focused on talking to everyone this week as part of the Ballard Contacting Challenge and now we're really, really focusing on talking to every person possible no matter how odd the situation might be. Rolling down windows and talking to people outside of the car hasn't quiet happened yet but were getting really close. 

Training a new missionary really does put a perspective on your mission. I was laying in bed thinking about the lineage of missionaries and how I had two wonderful trainers in sister Liao and sister Penrod and they had trainers who had trainers and it just keeps going back and back. While Elder Ballard was here he apparently had someone look up the statistics for this mission and there has been 10000 missionaries in this mission since the time that Elder Ballard served here as mission president and 1.6 million lessons taught. He used this statistic to point out that while it's important to plant seeds we shouldn't forget that there has already been many seeds planted in preparation for the harvest that has been promised today. That's a large number but at the same time it's so encouraging to think that my missionary lineage goes back to those times and that there are people here who need me now and have been getting ready for years. 

We're going to find those people! And we're going to teach sister Moody how to find those people and somewhere along the way were going to figure out how to speak Mandarin while we're at it because that's a goal too!

So in the little details of this week. We finally went met with the Nabrotzky family at their own house and found out why they don't usually invite us to come out to their house. Middle of nowhere farmhouse in the middle of all these corn fields. They don't actually farm the land they just live there. It was beautiful but it was also a 45 minute drive one way. It was a good thing we were able to have lunch and have a good pre-ward council meeting with the relief society president because it was a very, very long drive. 

We met with both Bella and Tommy as active members met with Allen three times (any prayers you can send his way for understanding that joining this church doesn't mean he'll stop progressing it just means he'll keep going, Also about why we need baptism we've assigned him 2 Nephi 31 twice now! would be really appreciated), we had a lesson with prayers and everything just on the side of the street, held district meeting, ran into our returning member family twice just out on the streets, turned over two investigators, worked like crazy on our Chinese and during weekly planning on Saturday we got a call from Robin who told us his mom didn't want him going out to Montreal even for work and that his family would be paying for his schooling this semester and HE'S STAYING HERE!!! It was fantastic! and yesterday he was able to get the Aronic priesthood! Let me tell you it's such a nerve wracking experience when you're new converts tell you that they'll be leaving before their records are solidified and therefore before they can actually get the priesthood.... it's like sending them out not fully prepared!!! We were so sad! And then he got it this Sunday which was probably the biggest miracle we saw this week!

Also Caleb came back from his vacation and he was excited to be at church. He stayed all three hours and talked to so many people! He's going to get baptized really soon and we're super excited for him!

The only other lesson we were able to have this week was with Vincent a new investigator and he won't be able to come to church next week but he's going super strong right now and has such a desire to be better and to do better in his life it's so cool to see. 

So yah... we have like... those four investigators right now, and a handful of potentials we're going to be trying to contact in September which is like... this week, wow that's weird! 10 months has gone by so fast and I'm not sure completely how to feel about that but we're going to be working on it!

Also since we were at Camara's (The relief society president) house this week she felt comfortable enough to ask us to teach relief society this week as a last minute thing. We taught on 'In praise of those who save' and 'To the rescue, we can do it!' Two of my favorite talks from this last conference and the lesson went really well despite the fact that we almost zero time to prepare. So that was a blessing as well we had a sweet sister from the branch who will be putting her papers in this week come up to us afterwards and give us a hug and say "I was that less active for nearly 10 years and I'm so grateful that I came back you sisters really helped me feel that I've made the right decision thank you." That was a great experience. 

So yes this week has been good and we look forward for things to keep getting better and better! We grow grace by grace and we'll keep growing and getting brighter and brighter until we are prepared for that glorious day. Christ is our savior and He loves us infinitely. Keep shining the world needs your light. 

-Sister Skinner