2016

Hey everyone! Happy 2016! 

This week was a slow one.  Which was a huge bummer cause I really thought things would pick right backup after Christmas!!  I forgot that people are still busy, not home, and with family.  Sometimes you look back at a week and think, "Ah nothing happened I am the worst missionary!!"  But then as you really think about it, without that lens of negativity, there were still good things that happened!

For example, Monday night after preparation day, we went out tracting to our favorite apartment complex.  It had started to rain a little, but not to bad.  On our way back to our apartment however it was a torrential downpour.  We got SOAKED, haha absolutely sopping.  Even with a jacket on. The whole time back to our apartment we were just singing hymns as loud as we could over the rain.  A good memory indeed. 

Tuesday we tracted. A whole bunch.  Everyone was super nice so it was actually an enjoyable time tracting!  We found some people to follow up with and it was really good.  We then decided to make our way to see some Less Actives we had never met that were about a mile and a half away.  It took us a while since we were walking.  We got there and they were actually on the porch talking with the Young Women's President! haha so we felt a little weird, like double the Mormon power! haha  It turned out to be an amazing visit!  Sister Talbot is from Venezuela and actually served a mission and met her husband on her mission! haha  We had a really great discussion with her about why she is Less Active and such.  She said, "You guys get me! None of the missionaries before have done that, they are all trying to convert me and I don't need to be converted."  It was just really neat that we connected with her like that.  She loved us and immediately invited us back to celebrate Sis. Michael's Birthday! 

We received a Head Quarters referral that someone requested a Bible so we went and contacted her on Wednesday.  We knocked on her door and she invited us right in!  Her name is Therese and she is our new investigator for the week!  We gave her a quick restoration lesson and a Book of Mormon to go along with her Bible and set up a return appointment, which we had on Saturday!  It was a really good lesson.  Sister Michael and I had really prepped for that lesson and prepared our lesson around asking really good and direct questions.  That way she would come to conclusions herself.  It was a very spirit led lesson.  I felt like I really waited to talk and say what the spirit told me to.  Sister Michael brought up baptism, which we hadn't planned for, but was exactly what needed to happen.  Everything clicked for Therese after that and she realized what our purpose was.  She isn't totally all for getting baptized and joining the church, but she invited us back!  It was really good to be bold and have our purpose realized right at the get go.  She definitely has potential if she prays and receives an answer that this is true! 

New Year's Eve we were invited to the Karp's for dinner.  They had invited some friends over who were non-members so that was nice to get to talk with them. The Karp's are part German and lived in Germany until about 4 or 5 years ago so we had a traditional European dinner called "Raclette" which is a type of melting cheese.  It is hard to describe how it is made, but I think there were some pictures on facebook.  We also had Chocolate fondue!  Which has always been our New Year's tradition so it was neat to still get to do that! 

Sometimes you can get overwhelmed by the disappointments of the week, and feel like nothing got accomplished.  I definitely had moments of that.  I have been struggling with my perfectionism of late.  The "not-enough" syndrome.  The fact is, I am trying and trying counts!  Heavenly Father cares if you are trying even if the outcome wasn't what you wanted.  And there is the ATONEMENT.  The atonement literally covers every short-coming, weakness, and mistake.  I came across a quote that I just love, 

"The Atonement, which can reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, he has promised that he would atone. and when He atoned, that settled that."

-President Boyd. K Packer.