Priesthood Power!

This week I am just going to give you the lowdown. It snowed again on payday, like always!

Tuesday we had a lesson with Beatrice. She is an investigator who doesn't really understand a lot, but she says she always feels these bad spirits on and around her. She said that she was cursed when she was younger while she was living in Chicago. Her son has even been choked in his sleep before, and they are always haunted. We were going to do a handoff lesson with the Elders because she speaks English. She said not today, but I was really worried about her and when I asked her, she said that the spirits were really bothering her. She asked if we could find a priest to help her cast the spirits out. We explained about the power of the Priesthood that the Elders have and that they could give her a blessing. We met Elder Selijaas and Elder Kline at the church and they were able to give her a blessing. Elder Selijaas said that it felt like someone was trying to push his hands off of her head the whole time, that they clearly did not want her to get a blessing. It was crazy. He said it was a weird blessing and they fought through the whole time. Next day, Beatrice called us and thanked us. She said she felt so much better and wanted a blessing for her son too. It was a great experience for her, even though it seemed pretty sketchy to me!

The next day we had new missionary training in Iowa City. It's like two hours away, and of course I drove because I’m such a good driver. We went to the training, and it was pretty repetitive, yeah, because I have been here like 11 weeks. It was us and a bunch of the new missionaries. We drove back and had a lesson with Alisa. She's the one who said she was born Catholic and will die Catholic. She had a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well.

Thursday we had zone conference in Cedar Rapids. That was like an hour and a half away. Zone conference is where we found out Elder Selijaas is leaving this Monday. It was really sad, but he has to go get his shoulder taken care of so he can keep playing basketball. The Zone trainings were really good. Then we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch – I'm not going to lie, we may or may not have watched a little bit of March madness! Then we went and visited a member that Hermana Pearson knew in Cedar Rapids. Then we drove back home.

St. Patrick's Day we visited a bunch of ladies that are in our ward.  We spent most of the day knocking even though we didn't really find anyone. Friday was a day when everyone was kind of mean to us. One guy was talking to my companion and told her how impressed he was by how well/fast she speaks Spanish. Then he looked at me and said "Tú necesitas más practica!"  Yes, I know! It was really sad, but that's OK.

Saturday we went to a baptism. His name was Thomas and he was this cute old man. After he got baptized, I asked him how he felt. He said he was just really relieved because he knew that this was what he needed to do. It was really sad to see Elder Selijaas there because he is just so heartbroken about having to go home.

Sunday we went to church and had lunch with Sister Warner and her daughters and dinner with the elders at Bishop Moose’s house. We tried to visit a couple of people after dinner, and then we went home and studied for a bit. We ran some treats by the Elder’s house and Elder Selijaas wrote us the sweetest note!  He shared his conversion story and about how sad it is to go home. He is going to be so, so awesome – we just think he is great!

I love you all so much – it's not that I don't miss you but I really don't! I love you tons but I LOVE being here and getting to serve the Lord.

Smooches!

Monday – After we emailed our families and washed our clothes; we went and bought food. We had Pday in Davenport and we played basketball and then trash ball, which is kind of like ultimate basketball. We went on exchanges with the STL's – I went with Sister Marhrt and Hermana Pearson went with Sister Kimber. We pretty much just went looking for people and we had dinner with that Atchleys. There are some crazy tornado warnings going on. There are sirens going off everywhere and we have to go inside all the time. It's pretty sketchy – but today was a good day!

Tuesday we went on exchanges again. Sister Mahrt is so, so cute. She is super bold when it comes to talking to people. She is really quirky and I love her a lot. We tried a bunch of potentials, but no one was home and we could not find anyone to talk to us, but it was good. Sister Mahrt does not speak Spanish, so I had to talk to people all by myself! It was really, really scary. But, I did better than I thought I was going to do, so it was really good. Afterwards, we went to dinner at that Bringas family again (it was delicious) and then we came home and studied, and went to bed. It was a great day! Wahoo!

Wednesday – today was pretty chill. We didn't write letters, but we mailed some this morning. Then we had district meeting and our zone leader, Elder Jenkins, gave us some great training. He talked about how to incorporate members more into our lessons. We went to lunch at Sam's Club. I ate yummy pizza. Then we went and did Mormon.org for a while and I cried a lot because of the video about two old people. Afterwards, we helped the elders move one of their investigators into a house. Her name is Lea and she is really adorable. We had dinner with the Brushares, but, before that, we dropped a birthday card and cookies off to Elijah, Tisha son. Tisha was super happy that we did that because she thought we were coming to teach her and she was making all kinds of excuses. She was grateful that we were there to serve her son and she was really touched. After Spanish study we went to bed. Today was Muy Bien!

Thursday – Today was so cute! My family sent me the cutest package and I'm so grateful. It brightened my entire day. We tried a lot of potential's today, but no one was home. We visited a sweet lady that lives in an assisted living home. She is medically less active. We had dinner with Grandma Johnson, the cat lady.  We helped her clean up her house a little bit today. Seems like a more mellow day, even though we tried really hard this morning to find someone. Basically, we spent the day with cute little grandmas!

Friday was kind of weird! We had an appointment set up with Stephanie and when we drove to her house, we saw some Jehovah Witnesses go into her house. Say what? We said a prayer and went up and knocked on her door. When we got there, she was super awkward. We just said hi to her. She clearly forgot that we were coming over and they were just knocking through the neighborhood so she let them in because she is so nice. She was super apologetic and we just told her that we would come back another time. It was a little weird! Then, we knocked some more doors. Our car had a recall and so we took it in and got the oil changed and stuff. We did planning meeting while we were waiting. Later we went and visited a less active named Sister Schumacher. She loves the Scriptures! I don't understand why she doesn't come to church because she has such a strong testimony. She is really, really cute. We had dinner with a new convert, Sarah, and her daughters. They are really cute also. We did a practice lesson with them and role-played. We put sticky notes on Grandma Johnson's door because she broke her ankle and then we went and visited another less active named Sister Dunn. Another great day as a missionary!

Saturday – Today was the day I met my “grandmother”! My grandmother – Hermana Rodriguez!  She was Hermana Pearson's trainer! She just showed up at our doorstep knocking to surprise her. It made my companion so happy, even though her trainer had just come back to visit the mission since she left this last transfer. We went to Panera Bread for breakfast. It was super fun and super weird! It made us really grateful that we are missionaries! The world is always going to be there – Instagram, Facebook, Twitter but, we are growing and changing so much! It made us super grateful to be where we are at. Then we went and worked super hard! We knocked doors and planned. We met a funny lady named Nika! The mom let us in and was like "oh hey girl, what's up?!" Hermana Pearson asked her where she worked and she said Fazolis. I said that I really liked it and Hermana Pearson said she had never been there and asked if it was good.  Nika's mom was like "I don't know girl. I have never eaten there. If I ate there, my booty would be so big I would be knocking trays over and hitting white girl’s husbands in the back with my booty!"  We started laughing and she was all "girl, I ain't playing". She asked us if we wanted some food. She was like "girl, don't be playing with me. We have chicken and barbecue in the back, or cake!"  I told her I would love some cake and she said "that's right!" They were playing some crazy hood music and it was so fun. They were all so nice! I walked into the kitchen to put my plate away and her brother was there. He was like "hey sweetie!" And then he started checking out my companion, which made her feel super uncomfortable! I was all whatever! It was funny. Nika never came out and the mom said "hey girls, if y'all ever just want to come over and hang out you are so welcome. We are always barbecuing, you are always welcome to every party!" We told her thank you and she was like "girl, holidays around my house… You have got to come. We have turkey, ham, everything you can pray for. And it is so, so good!"  Then she said "When you come over, you girls just do you, just dress the way you are dressing. I have 11 brothers and if they see booty, please!?!  I'm just saying, they get crazy. Y'all just do you."  We said goodbye and she said "Y'all are just so cute! Smooches, Smooches!" She was so adorable and fun. Best part of today for sure!

Sunday was whack! Today was daylight savings time and we forgot, so we missed Ward Council, but we were on time for church! Last night this random number texted us and this guy told us he wants to join our church. We told him great, just come to church tomorrow. I honestly thought he was a weirdo that just wanted to talk to two girls. When Hermana Pearson called him, he was at the church waiting for us. His name is Ted (Theodorus). He is from Greece. He speaks Greek, Spanish, and English. I guess he got our number from some Latino guys he’s been living with. He seems like a really cool guy and he stayed for all three meetings today. We have never had a lesson with him and so he really didn't have any idea about what was going on. We invited him to be baptized and set up a date, and he was totally ready to go. We are meeting with him tomorrow. We are thinking he has a Word of Wisdom problem but we are hoping that it is going to gain a testimony, and try. It has really felt kind of like a miracle! Then we went and tried a bunch of potential's, and then we had dinner at Bishop Moose's house. We had really yummy lasagna. Hermana Pearson got a blessing from the Elders and we came home and did our studies. We worked on our numbers and now we are getting ready to go to bed. It is just so fun being a missionary!

Dream Weaver!

Monday – Hi family! Today was Pday and we emailed. Yesterday was Sacrament meeting and I started crying a little bit. I saw a little brother getting his back scratched by his sibling and it just made me miss Dane so much. Dane, I just want you to know how much I love you and miss you. We got food today and it was fun. We kind of just hung out. Elder Higley and I played volleyball for a while. We peppered for a bit and he's pretty good. I guess that he has sisters that play. Then we had dinner with the LaFevers and it was really good. They are from the first Ward and fed us yummy chicken. They have the cutest, cutest little kids. Then we went and visited a couple of older ladies in our ward named Sister Down and Sister Johnson. They have the cats that really like us, much more than we like them. But the Sisters are super cute! We had ice cream from McDonald's later and then we went to bed!

OK, so Tuesday was kind of weird! I had a dream last night that Hermana Pearson and I went to teach this less active that we have been trying to visit, for quite a while. Her name is Mago (actually Margarita, she goes by Mago) and she has never answered before. We have tried so many times, but I have never seen her. In my dream, she is a little Latino lady who has glasses and her hair is up in a little bun. So when we woke up, I told Hermana Pearson we should go to her house. When we drove up, she was outside with her little girl waiting for the bus stop. We ran over to catch her and try to set up an appointment with her. It was pretty awesome that we finally met her, but she definitely was not the lady in my dream that I saw. But we were super happy she was home and we will meet with her soon. Then we went and knocked around, and tried to visit Menelva. She was super awkward and told us to text her, but she seemed very flaky and I am a little discouraged about it. Well, what are you going to do? Afterwards, we went to a referral that the Elders gave us, his name is Luis, and his wife answered the door. IT WAS THE LADY FROM MY DREAM!!! It was pretty cool! She said that she is Catholic, but that we could talk to her husband. Luis was not home but we set up an appointment to come back. Then, while we were knocking, there were all these crazy tornado warnings. People would open their door and tell us they aren't interested, but that we should really go inside because there are tornado warnings everywhere. We just kept knocking. We had dinner with the Bringas family and had super yummy tacos. We were talking about Spanish and discussing how my comp speaks really good, but how much I am struggling. Hermano Bringas said that I probably cannot see it, but that I am getting better! He is a very soft-spoken man, and it just warmed my heart so much that he said that to me. Then we went to the church and studied Spanish. At home tonight, there is tons of lightning, thunder, and huge a windstorm. But it is awesome!

I wanted to tell you about another dream that I had this week. In my dream, Hermana Pearson and I were on our missions but it was the Second Coming. Christ came again, but we did not see Him. It was not scary at all, in fact, we were super excited. The only thing that was sad was that we were not with our parents because we were still on our mission, but we were super stoked! We got sent home to see our families and we were with them a while, but we kept going back-and-forth from our home back to our mission. We kept walking through an airport over and over. It reminded me of Spirit Paradise and Spirit Prison. We kept going back to teach the people. It was kind of sweet! We were going back-and-forth for a while, and then we were going to go and be judged. We didn't see Heavenly Father or anything but we were together and were being taught about the different degrees of glory. The Telestial Kingdom was like the world right now, but everyone had perfect bodies and there was no crime and no discomfort. The Terrestrial Kingdom was the same, only a little better. The Celestial Kingdom came before us and we could fly, and breathe underwater, and everything was so awesome! Everyone wanted to go there so bad! So then we got judged. But it wasn't scary, I was just so happy. Our family went to the Celestial Kingdom and everyone from my mission and their families went to the Celestial Kingdom also. It was awesome! The first thing we did in the Celestial Kingdom was have a Sacrament meeting, but the presiding authorities were Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! I thought it was so funny because they were sitting up there in suits and ties and stuff. I think judgment day is going to be so awesome! Before that dream, I have always been nervous about judgment day. But now, I am learning that it is OK and it will actually be a wonderful day. I know that God loves me and He wants me to succeed! I don't have anything to fear as long as I keep striving to be better and keep living the life that I am living. There is no way that I can really be away from Him. It was super, super cool to have that dream!

Wednesday – Today was really cold! We started the day by going out to Cole Valley and doing Mormon.org time. Then we went and visited a lady named Beatrice. There were kind of weird vibes in her house and we tried to teach her about the Restoration. I don't really think she understood everything and actually, it was just really strange being in her house. She kept talking about all of these different spirits and stuff. After we left, we actually felt like we could breathe clearly again. It was weird and I didn't like it! We prayed that she would be OK and we hope that she is doing all right!  I made pasta for lunch and then we went and knocked some more doors. We went to Tisha's house and taught her kids. It was sad because she didn't even come upstairs! We taught the kids the Restoration with gummy bears and they are just so adorable! Then, we tried to go to Imagins house, but she was not home.  Our car would not unlock afterwards and we could not get in. Our car has an automatic unlock and it was so cold! As we were freezing and walking around the car trying to figure out how to get inside, Hermana Pearson suggested that we call a member and just wait by our car. We called Hermana Bringas, and it opened while we were on the phone with her. We got in the car and drove away – it was really weird!  We tried a referral that wasn't home, so we ate dinner and went to bed. Today was a good day though!

Thursday – Today we had interviews with the mission president. I talked to President Badger a lot about faith. I want to have the faith so that everything I say as a missionary will come to pass. That I can make promises to investigators and not be afraid and that what I say is of God. I want to have the faith to know that I have the authority to make those promises and that they will happen. It is really heavy for me to think about, and I just want to know that I can be that kind of missionaries/person. We talked a lot about that, and he said "I know that you don't see yourself the way that I see you. But, I can already see you becoming that person and truly becoming the missionary that I want and need you to be." It was really awesome! But, interviews take so long! We just hang out and wait for the whole district to be done so that we can all go out to lunch. I really love all of the Elders in our district! They are so fun and easy to get along with. We went to lunch at Chipotle – for my very first time! It was pretty good. Then we went to Mago's house. Her little girls are so cute. She has two daughters, one named Jimena, who is eight, and Luna is five. They are so cute! Mago has a really strong testimony but she works every Sunday and she doesn't seem to care. She did say she's trying to get a new job so that is good. We will see her again soon!  We had dinner with the Joneses and they are super sweet. We had yummy sub sandwiches. Interviews took up most of today, but it was awesome.

Friday was pretty chill. Kind of gross, honestly. You know how I am not much of a cat person and today we went to do service for the cute old cat lady, Sister J. We went over to help her decorate her Christmas tree. She has a tree that she decorates for every holiday and this time we did it for St. Patrick's Day. Then she asked us to do one more thing. We had to clean out the cat litter box! It had been a while since it had been done, since she is older and it would be really hard for her to do. Yuck! It was so gross! Afterwards we tried a couple of people, but I was feeling really gross so we went home for lunch and I took a shower which made me feel much, much better! Then we did our weekly planning and went to the Cleminsons for dinner. I love them so much! Cutest kids ever! We went to the church afterwards and studied Spanish. Today was a hard day because we did a lot of knocking and stuff, but it feels like we had nothing to show for it. But it's OK, because I love to be a missionary! It is awesome and fun and I love it!