Monday January 5, 2015

"Don't look back, look towards the future"

This week was a pretty good week for us, we have had some obstacles that have been placed in front of us with those that we are working with but we are slowly trying to figure those things out.

    We saw Amber St.George this week and she is doing really well and is progressing well. We taught her the Plan of Salvation this week(Click here to what that is) and it went really well, but of course Satan was trying to throw everything at us with distractions. I can't even tell you how many times while teaching that something has happened to distract from the spirit.  Anyways so when we first starting teaching her we were unsure about her living sitiuation.  Well this week we found out that her "roommate" who is a less active member she is dating, although she hasn't admitted that to us. But they are living together so that will have to be something we will address, but we are unsure how it will go because I know they are not ready to get married(they have only known each other for 7 months) and I don't think she is financially stable to move out or be there by herself.  Plus the baptismal date that we had for her is not going to workout, she has to go to court that day for some legal stuff with her ex-husband.  Nothing seems to be playing out right now, but I know that it is all going to be in the Lord's timing and I just need to trust in that.  She is an amazing person though and is so strong after all that she has been through and she really is just trying to find that path for her boys to be raised the best that they can be.  We are hoping to start figuring out some of the pieces to this puzzle this week, hopefully all will go well.

    So update on Sallie Fogg, things are progressing with her, a little slowly though.  She is still reading the Book of Mormon but still isn't ready for church. I can feel her starting to pull back and it is hard and sad to see. I have been praying to know what we can do for her to help her.  Her husband has been playing a big part in it as well.  We talked to him this week and he still has some hard feelings towards the church from the past and isn't ready to let them go.  We tried talking with him but he is very stubborn, his heart is too hard at the moment.  The sad thing is that I he is influencing his wife I feel like.  So again trying to figure all that out as well.

    The McEvoys are doing pretty good, sadly they didn't make it to church this week.  Her kids were up all night throwing up.  I think we might of found the problem as well.  We went over like two days before to help them clean and organize some stuff and we worked on her food pantry.  Well turns out that they have mice.  I swear I can't get away from those things, I feel like in every area that i have been in I have had to deal with them or help someone clean them up after them.  So we helped them start to figure out that, nothing too big but I am pretty sure it played a part in her kids sickness because they had gotten into some of their food and we had to throw a lot of it out.  So i am determined this up coming week to get the family there.

   Another lady that I started working with when I first came to the area has decided that her news years goal this year is to make it to church and for her daughter to come with her. So each Sunday I am going to be texting her each Sunday and saving her a seat.  I feel like sometimes you just need to get people to church one time to feel the spirit that is there and to start making the connections there with other.  But that is the hardest part sometimes is getting them there the first time. 
     We have gotten some less actives that are starting to come more regularly and that is exciting to see them to become more active.  We got a gospel principles class started this week as well so things are progressing along in this ward.  I found out the other day how many converts this ward had 5 years ago from part member families in the area, there was quite a bit.  It also made me realize that that resource has probably been exhausted so I just need to continue you talking to everyone I see and tract even more and try different ways of finding new people in this area. "If you do the same thing that you have always done, your gonna get the same thing you always got" So if i keep trying the same thing I have been trying where there is not much success then that is what I am gonna get until I start using other resources more and more.

    New years Eve and day there really wasn't anything too excited going on, I am a little excited for the Holidays to be over because lots of people kept telling us how busy they were and to come back after the Holidays.  I also love this time of year because people have set new goals for the new year, I just got to find those ones that set a goal to go to a church.

   Okay so a little sad news for the week, to be honest this news was bitter sweet. It was exciting to hear, but it was probably one of the most heart breaking things to hear as a missionary.  So remember back to my first area when Joe Rarick was Baptized? Well I had only written him twice on my mission and life for him has been up and down with everything but he has always remained strong in the gospel which has been awesome.  Last time I wrote him was back in September with his year mark coming up I was seeing how things were going and if his goals were still the temple.  He was taking the temple prep. classes, but wasn't sure when he was gonna go yet. His wife wasn't ready to go through and be sealed just yet.  Well this week at District Meeting I was talking to my zone leader who had served in that area, we got talking about Joe and I asked him if he could find out for me how he was doing.  So he I got a text from him a few days ago to tell me that Joe had gone through the temple back in November. I was so excited for him, and then I started to cry.  I was sad that I could not be there with him for that experience, that I couldn't see the change that he had made this past year, to see the different steps in his life.  I know that most missionaries don't have that opportunity to go to the temple with their converts in their mission because it is so big.  But we can in ours, to be honest I am mad a little at me because I should of written him again,I had thought about how he was doing a lot last transfer.  But a big part of me is pretty upset with the Elders  in that ward for not letting me know about him going through the temple.  I know there is nothing I can do about it now, but it was just hard to hear that the one convert I could see go through the temple on my mission I missed. I'll have some after my mission I know that, and I want to try and be there when him and his wife get sealed.  When I ran into my mission president at a baptism he didn't really seem to care, that was kind of harsh for me.

   Well sorry to end on such a sad note, but I hope all is well with you! I love you all so much! 

Quote I heard at church that I loved "You can't build a home in Zion and have a vacation house in Babylon" 

Okay and just one funny quote from my ward mission leader.  So we were talking to his family about their new years goals and his youngest son said that he wanted to try to work on his singing talent because he has a deep voice.  His mom told him he should do the ward choir with her, my ward mission leader response was "ward choir only works for African Americans" bahahaha so funny, okay all you might not think it is funny or that it doesn't make sense, but in the context of everything it was funny.

   Love you all!!!!

Love 

   Sister Metcalf