I can't believe how cold it is here right now, I am keeping pretty warm and hearing that it will be in the 40s on Saturday keeps me excited. You ever thought I would be excited for it to be 40 degrees. It snowed a few days ago which was super exciting and fun to play in for a few minutes, the only thing is that it hasn't left. People told me that snow only stays for a day or two and then melts, but apparently this snow storm came here to stay. But Its okay because I have been doing well with staying warm, fleece tights are a big help! Mom did you ever get my letter that I mailed to Jensa's during Thanksgiving week? It had some list of things for you to mail up or small items you can get.
So the Lord answered my prayers, I only am training one new missionary jk jk. I promise you I wasn't praying for this, I was actually really excited to be in a trio, I love trios. Apparently a sister was suppose to come in from Samoa, she is staying at the MTC a little longer. They had put her in the 2 week program and apparently she didn't know english as well as they hoped so she will be coming out in January for the next transfer. The easiest solution to this problem with having one less sister come out was just to have me train one since I was the only one that was double training. My new companion is Sister Pecjak (pronounced like p-jak the c is silent), she is from Henderson, Las Vegas and just turned 19 a few months ago. We get a long pretty great and it has been good thus far. She is the oldest of 3 kids and is half Venezuelan. Spanish is actually her first language, but you can't even tell. I have a feeling that President will probably put her as a Spanish speaking missionary. She is super awesome. This week a lot of the things have been on me which is expected since she is new and I am the only one that knows the people and the area. I love training don't get me wrong but I am kind of burnt out of it, I would love just a short break, maybe a transfer or two. The renewed stress of being in charge of everything and how the day goes and leading the area isn't the funniest thing to deal with. I really hope that she will be outgoing and help me in being bold. I can do it on my own but it is a lot easier when you have a companion that is bold as well.
I am still over the same two wards which I am excited about, I have been trying to hold on to two wards for as long as I can. We were suppose to get a new set of missionaries in but housing feel through. Next transfer we will be getting two new sets of missionaries no matter what. They want one of the wards that I am over to go down to one set of missionaries and they want it to be sisters. So If I am here next transfer I will be over just 1 ward. Which is scary, but I know that overall it is for the best.
Things in our area are going.....well its flat lined. I don't know what is going on, I feel like there is so much potential and nothing is really happening. We dropped and got dropped by a few investigators this week and all our other investigators are not progressing still. We work a lot with less actives and part member families and don't get me wrong I love them and love it when I see them come to church. But I miss teaching people about the gospel, there is just something that is amazing when you are teaching someone the restoration for the first time. I love seeing people progress and it is hard when they are not. I always wonder what I am doing wrong. I get discouraged for a minute, but don't worry i am continually staying positive . Sister Pecjak and I have sat down and talked about how we can progress this work along and how we can find new investigators. Relying solely on the members is not going as well as we would hope. Looks like we are probably going to start tracking, we will see how that goes. I am not a fan of tracking, but if that is the only way to start finding new investigators I will have to start doing more of it.
I saw Alex, one of our investigators who wants to get baptized but her dad won't let her, at church yesterday. We talked for a little bit and it was really good. I continually pray that she will get the courage to talk to her dad with at least meeting with us or with someone else in the ward about talking about her getting baptized. I am not worried about her, her testimony is strong, but I can tell that she is getting pressured from home to go to her dads church. Anyways I know that I just need to keep giving it my all and that is all that matters to the Lord. Even if I do not see the fruits of my labors I know that I am carving the path for future missionaries that serve in this area.
Some funny stories this week is that I had finally set up an appointment with a less active that I have been trying to pin down to meet up with since seriously day 1. She has always been busy, but we met with her Thursday
at 4. Apparently there was mis-communication because when we showed up she asked us if we were hungry and we said we were good. We walked around the table to see it set and food on the table, she just said "oh, well I prepared dinner for you". I just looked at my companion and said okay we would love to eat with you. It was a good dinner, at the end of our meeting I talked to her about why she doesn't come to church. She said how she felt we were to busy like, and she feels like she had grown closer to God since being inactive. I talked to her about the importance of church attendance about partaking of the Sacrament and she feels like that won't keep her out of heaven. I didn't know what else to say to her, I didn't want to get into a debate about things so I just asked her if my companion and I could practice the lessons on her and she agreed. Hopefully the spirit will be able to touch her heart as we teach her. After that we headed to our actual dinner appointment which was at 5. I said a prayer that my companion and I would be able to eat here and my prayer was answered. Funny how I was good about not over eating or eating at every ones houses we went to on thanksgiving, but how it caught up to me exactly a week later. So know that I am being taken care of..... too taken care of.
The next night we showed up to our dinner appointment and apparently they forgot, it was quite a funny encounter. I could tell they weren't expecting us so I just said we had stopped by to visit with the family, but they said they were busy. Kind of funny because that has never happened to me before on my mission. We ended up going to the Ward Christmas party with the people we live with so it all worked out. Other than that nothing really new exciting happening here.
I hope all is well back at home. Know that I love you and miss you all! I can't wait to talk to you all in just a few weeks! Work with the missionaries in your ward, accept Elder Ballards Challenge and invite just 1 person to meet with the missionaries by Christmas, even if they say no. I saw the missionaries serving in your ward Jensa, keep working with them, invite your friends over for a FHE lesson. This is the perfect time of year to invite others to feel the spirit of Christ(mas). Continually look for those around you to speak with. How great was the Christmas Devotional last night? I hope you all are finding opportunities to love and serve those around you!“There is a way for everyone … to participate in this great work. We can each find a way to use our own particular talents and interests in support of the great work of filling the world with light and truth.” —President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Love
Sister Metcalf
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