Family and Friends,
I loved so very much getting your emails this week and I am going to try really hard to respond to all of them, but it will have to depend on how much time I have left after writing this e-mail. This first week out in the field has been more difficult than I expect, but honestly I am still loving it so much. I am learning so much each and everyday. As you heard last week, my companionship opened up a new area...kind of. Basically the Elders before us were over 5 different wards and from what I heard so far from the members was that they were feeling kind of neglected. So we are the first set of sister missionaries in these two wards and the members are super excited, which gets me pumped up. There is a lot of work to do in these two wards and I see a lot of potential. We have 45 part member families in one ward and 26 in another, which is just so crazy to me. We are trying hard to meet up with a lot of them each and everyday. We do have some previous investigators from that area, but most were last visited in 2011 and 2012. We are still working hard at it each and everyday. We have gotten some referrals from members which is really nice and we are hoping to contact them today. I am just learning to love each and everyday and make the best of it. Saturday was probably our roughest day, for all of you that know about the key indicators, we had all zeros except for referrals, we had four. Getting home that night I was just laughing, it was a long day but I didn't feel like we weren't working hard or were unproductive. It is hard to explain, but I just feel so blessed for being so positive all the time. I know that this is the Lord's work and I need to rely on his timing. It is frustrating at times when people are not home or others are not interested. But honestly my companions and I make it a good time, like when people just slam the door in our faces we just laugh it off or joke about it and move on the next person on our list. The members here are super awesome and I feel like each time I leave a members house I feel so much love for them. I can tell that this will be an amazing area, we just need to build it up and really work with the members. One of the wards I am working in actually just reorganized their bishopric, so that adds a little more trouble in our pathway, but honestly I don't mind it. I know that I was put in this area for a reason, and that there is a lot of good that will come out of it. Before I forget, the members I am living with are the Dallings and they are seriously amazing!!! They are so involved in the ward and are so involved in missionary work. Brother Dalling use to be a ward mission leader so they tell us all these stories of how they have shared the gospel to others. They are seriously awesome and so willing for the Lord to use them by any means. They actually didn't even think about housing missionaries until about a week before we came out. Their stake president called them up and talked to them about it and even after the agreed to in they still did not know if they would have missionaries this transfer or next. They didn't find out till the day that we came in that missionaries were going to stay there. They take such good care of us, this Friday is Brother Dallings Birthday and so last night they had two of their older sons over with their wives and kids. They invited us sister missionaries to dinner and to have cake with them. They had stake and potatoes, it was seriously so good!!!! I can see why so many missionaries are gaining weight hahaha But don't worry about me, we go running every morning, which I am still not use to still. I don't think I will ever get use to running at 640 in the morning. As I mentioned last week, we are over 2 wards and I have met with both ward mission leaders and one of the bishops(will explain why not the other one later) I have learned so much about the members and their stories or backgrounds or struggles, and it honestly humbles me all the time and I feel so blessed for the life that I have and for how I grew up. I feel so lucky that God choose to put me in a family that was already strong in the gospel and supported me in everything that I choose to do. I hope to use that strength and love I received from all of you to help others as well. Remember me talking about Leah from my TRC teaching? Well she E-mailed me this week, she found my blog and found out that no one had written me(HI LEAH!!!!) Honestly her letter she wrote me was so amazing, words can not describe, it brought me to tears. She told me so many things that I needed to here and really boasted my confidence. She helped me see that I am like all the other missionaries and that no one missionary is alike. I have special talents and abilities to touch others that I wasn't even aware of and she really instilled in me that I am suppose to be serving a mission, but most importantly that God needed me to serve a mission. I know that there are going to continue to be rough days and that it is even going to get even harder, but I know that as I rely on the Lord he will give me the strength to pull me through. This is the Lord's work and I am just an instrument in his hands, I am always wanting to just find new investigators or find people to teach. I have learned to be patient and that every single person I talk to is important, less active and active members. My purpose is to help others come unto Christ, and that applies to everyone I talk too, not just nonmembers. I have began rereading the Book of Mormon, and I feel like while serving a mission that I see it in totally different eyes and almost that like it makes a lot more sense to me. I just encourage you all to continue to pray each and every night. Know that the Lord loves you no matter what! I am just trying to soak everything in because I feel like I am going to have to train really soon, we have 23 sister out right now and there are 18 coming in next transfer which is just crazy to me!!!! Well I must go now, but I love you all so much and pray for you all every night!
Love
Sister Metcalf
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