Dear Family and Friends,
This has been a quick week! Such a good one though!
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| P-Day Ultimate Frisbee! |
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| Sister Hart can't even open her eyes--it's so hot! |
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| Mosquito bites in the shape of the Big Dipper! |
On Tuesday we went over to the Relief Society president's for dinner- they had a party and made All Cafe Rio recipes! Which is also Sister Hart's favorites and one of her hardest things to give up in going on a mission- funny huh? So that was pretty cool.
We have been noticing a few of our investigators have had some circumstances that have made it very difficult circumstances to see them in awhile or to come to church. That isn't my favorite, because I want to help them; but as much as I want to, that is where their agency comes into play mostly. It's hard to watch when the truth is right in front of their nose and they can't, or don't know how to recognize it. We have also met a few people and have been working a ton with our new branch missionaries and mission leader-- (he) taught about missionary work in 3rd hour of Sunday and we talked about our mission culture for about 12 minutes or so and how this is a pattern for our own lives:
Mission culture:
1. We Love the Lord. We serve him. We follow him. We represent him.
2. We are worthy-- Clean, not perfect. We cannot help others to overcome the bondage of sin if we ourselves are entangled in sin or disobedience.
3. We treasure up the words of eternal life found in the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets.
4. The Holy Ghost is the ultimate and true teacher. We are the conduits of the light-- we are not the light.
5. Teaching requires observing, listening and discerning before talking.
(adapted from "Becoming a Preach My Gospel Missionary", Elder Bednar, MTC 2011)
We have been finding people to teach, yes, but also, they are the ones I have noticed who need it. In praying for help, God can help us, and sometimes he will send those answers very clearly, but if not, we will keep on looking for them in every way we can.
One of the people we teach daily dose to.....and is pretty good at English accepted a Book of Mormon from us this week and said he would read it. He seemed pretty excited, and asked lots of questions- we gave him a traditional Mandarin one. We taught him about hobbies and on the sheet of paper the specific assignment included in the lesson plan is to remember to keep the Sabbath day holy-- So we got to talk to him about that and even though he works on Sunday, he respects that and it sparked more questions which led to us being able to give him the copy of the Book of Mormon!
So, here's a blonde moment you might enjoy: I said something to one of the sisters in the branch who just went down to Utah to go to the temple for her endowments and I couldn't remember where when Sister Hart started talking about it to her. Somewhere along the line I got it and said "ohhh." (This is where it gets better). (The sister) said,"I think you're getting a little blonde in your hair." I reached up to my head and said "where?!?" TOTAL blonde moment!!!! but seriously I had just found a hair that looked BLONDE in my hair earlier that day. Good stuff... haha!
We woke up on Thursday, I think, and after exercise, getting ready, studies, etc. we were heading out for Thursday training and noticed that upstairs or main floor of the house smelled like someone was barbecuing! We went outside and everything was smoky ALL across town! There are wildfires across Nenana and down that way that the smoke just gets trapped in this valley. So there has been lots of smoke out there lately but today it looks great outside!
We had dinner with a family who has adopted three special needs children, plus the three they have of their own and that includes one who is in our branch-- one sister has had 22 brain surgeries in her 19 years and she is a sweetheart, a brother who is severely handicapped and a sweet and very opinionated little girl who has downs syndrome-- I got to sit next to her at dinner and she talked to me the whole time- she is 9! She talked and talked and we both made faces back and forth and she was always right next to me- she is the sweetest little girl!!! It was hard to leave that house- The parent, kids, everyone was so sweet and though they have their own struggles the spirit in that home is undeniable and powerful. I hope that one day they can all go to church as a family, because I can tell that is one of their deepest desires, although right now they have to stay home to watch one of their children.
We have gotten to help a woman and her daughter move, play sports, make cookies for someone, and paint a room (which paint is now on my jeans, which are not coming back home with me!) Great week, most of the time sister Hart and I fill all remaining drive time that we aren't on the phone (because a ton of our work is on the phone) with talking! We have laughed ourselves crazy this week!
I have no clue if anyone will set off fireworks up here- it's light outside, and yes, we are losing a little bit of light since solstice, but only 4 to 15 minutes or so. We were supposed to go down to Nenana for the 4th of July, but they cut down the amount of missionaries they want to come so no Nenana service for us, but that's okay. That was sad but there has got to be something up here that we are needed for! Happy 4th of July!!! Hope it is a great one and that you all stay safe!
Love,
Sister Wuehler
scripture:
Doctrine and Covenants 4:3, 4: 5-6 (the qualifications and the tools)
3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are a called to the work;
4 For behold the a field is white already to b harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in c store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;
ism: "Men [and women, of course] accomplish marvelous things by trusting in the Lord and keeping his commandments-- by exercising faith even when they don't know how the Lord is shaping them." (Dennis E. Simmons, "But if Not" 2004)
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