Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Good morning family!!
As you may or may not have noticed we e-mail at a different time each p-day. You get a surprise sometime during the day when you open up your e-mail! We started off the morning with me running the stairs!! Yay!! That makes me feel productive, even though I only ran them for fifteen minutes and was dead tired when I used to be able to keep going like the energizer bunny! That's OK... maybe someday it'll come back. =) I've also decided enough is enough with my whole enormously large intake of junk food and have decided to lay off for 3 weeks and hopefully that will become a habit because I need to be healthier or my missionary work will falter. I get to eat Indian food once a week... because I bought that thing Chad and I found at the Indian Kitchen? When I eat it with tortillas it’s so yummy. That's my treat for the week. =)
Last p-day was actually one of the most fun p-days I’ve had on the mission. It was funny because we were not looking forward to it at all. We cleaned the apartment, blasted music and spent some quality time together. It was super fun. =) This week we're getting a haircut from a magical hair cut lady in our ward named Sister Klein. I love that family. She served a mission in the south and he served in the Philippines. They are really missionary minded. I think one thing I've learned a ton on my mission is how to be a better missionary when I'm not in the mission field and how much member work helps the work progress. It’s incredible. The ward is starting to do a ward mission plan by doing something as simple as making a genuine non member friend go on walks, sharing a Book of Mormon, or doing scripture study as/with a family every day. It’s really cool. The goal of the ward is to get 7 baptisms this year. I will do everything I can to help them succeed in that goal. =)
Dad, I met an accountant yesterday! It made me think of you. =) Also I was thinking about what a miracle story our family is. We converted to the church and then stayed part of the church. Thank you for letting the missionaries in the door when they came knocking. Also, thank you for your support of me. I've learned a lot about hard ward, intelligence, and more importantly, steadfast faith in Christ. Also, I was thinking of the Marcantano’s. How did they end up finding the Church and getting baptized? For some reason I keep thinking of the forty day fast in our ward.
We saw a perfect, perfect, perfect rainbow. I've never seen one like it. It was a tender mercy of the Lord. It was a complete bow and we could see every single color. I was sad I didn't get to take a picture of it... especially cuz I was driving. P.S.... little cars are WAY easier to turn. They have an awesome turning radius. =)
Exchanges were amazing! We had a district meeting where the elders say “ooof” a lot. Remember how I used to say that all the time while in the car when playing video games Patrick? Ha-ha. Well it slipped out and they laughed at me. We went and saw three people. We shared the restoration with a new investigator called Laticia. She's amazing with a real testimony of God and how He helps people to grow through trials. She said she would read the Book of Mormon. We then went to a dinner appointment with the Reeves. They're less active and the moment we started doing a spiritual thought about families and prayer they turned off. They're super nice and friendly though and I think the sisters will work with them more. Hopefully they'll come back to church. I have faith! We also taught the final lesson with a lady named, Piroska, before her baptism! That was so exciting! Life is awesome!
We finally had the lesson with Theresa and she came to church! That was awesome! She kept saying that her family was wrong and they didn't understand the Church. She loves Relief Society. That's how it ends up working, huh mom? =) We ended up going on a walk with her and she has such a burning testimony of the Gospel that she would be bolder than us when we were street contacting. It was a really good teaching experience, which is really funny, I know. Boldness is an attribute that I'm working on every day. For some reason I developed shyness on my mission. We had the opportunity to teach her about the restoration of the Gospel and she believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet and she will read the Book of Mormon. The Spirit was really strong as my companion and I were teaching. It’s a way that I want to teach every investigator. It’s really true that as you love the people you're teaching and interacting with, Christ can work so much more effectively through you. I need to love everyone as much as I love Theresa. I'm working on it. She's moving back to Arizona on Wednesday to be with her husband again. Therefore, we're going to teach her again tonight and then get her contact information so the missionaries in Arizona can work with her. She will be their miracle, just as she was ours. =)
We also added a sweet little lady named Margarit
The military barbecue was a success but not the way we planned. As I said, we were able to invite people but they weren't able to come! However, the invitation opened the door for us to go back to visit them and hopefully to do service because one mother is really struggling.
We're trying to find more ideas to find and teach people because those people who reject us if we knock on their door may be more willing to come to special events. We're getting creative. This is just an idea, but we were thinking about going to a park with a candy filled basket and pass out plastic Easter eggs stuffed with invitations to General Conference. =)
Doors are being opened in this area. I'm so excited. I love Chula Vista! I love San Diego! I'm excited for the ward and praying with faith that more doors will be opened so that the ward can see the fruits of their labors in missionary work.
OH! I called that woman, O’Hara, I met on the airplane. She accepted a DVD of “Finding Faith in Christ” and so missionaries will be going over to her house! Miracle! Holy miracle-sauce! She also said she would give me her mom’s address so that's equally amazing. I've never had success with contacting people by phone.... The Lord answers prayers. It’s crazy how if I wasn't going to this particular mission, if I didn't sit on that one seat in the airplane, then she would never be having the missionaries over. I just love my mission. It’s perfect for me.
Funny story! We were eating yams in the back room and a sister starting saying. "I think I am. I think I yam." Also, an Elder decided that he wants to be friends with me forever so he can meet our Weston 1 Bishop. That’s pretty funny.
Sorry I'm out of time and can't think of anything funnier than that. More to come next week!
I love you so much! Thanks for your support and prayers. I know that the Lord is blessing me and you. =)
I know that Heavenly Father doesn't expect us to be perfect right now. He knows that we're only learning to walk, learning to become like him. He won't disown us, or scorn us for falling over at times. He'll help us back up and start walking again so we can become more like him. Don't beat yourself up over not being perfect. Give him your best and that will be acceptable to him.
I love you all!
Love!!! AMO!!
~ Sister Tardiff.
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