Family,
I hate to start these things
out on a depressing note, but I have to address something that has weighed on
my mind all week... WE LOST THE WINKLEY'S HAMSTER.
The Winkley's
are the family that we live with and they are out of town on a two week church
history site tour. S. Winkley's mom,
Grandma Pat, has been staying with us. We
have been taking care of their animals which include, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 guinea
pigs, and 1 hamster named Biscuit. Thursday
night we took out the guinea pigs and hamster to play with them per the kids
request to take them out periodically. I
take the hamster out and S. Mendoza put it back. Somehow one of the doors to the cage was left
open or loose and when I went to feed it in the morning the hamster was GONE. That morning was Zone Conference and we had to
be leaving the house at 7:20. From 6:30
to 7:00 we frantically search the house. Mind you the house is a massive three level
mansion. No sign of Biscuit. We had to leave so I found out that I can
actually get ready in 15 min and we headed out to Fayetteville for Zone
Conference. We asked everyone to pray to
find it. We had one of our
investigators, Tom, say one of the most beautiful prayers that have ever been
said for a rodent. We had a less active
pray for this hamster and she hasn't prayed in months if not years. Grandma Pat's Sister in Florida was praying
for it. We had a family of 8 kids come over to look for it with no
success. We've left out food. Spent what very little time we have in the
house looking. Nothing. For those
of you who know my deep and abiding love for animals know how much this is
tearing me up inside!!! I still have a
small shred of hope that the hamster can be found, but I'm pretty sure Biscuit
become someone else's biscuit. So if you
wanna say a little prayer for a hamster for me that would be very much
appreciated. Or at least one that the
Winkley's will forgive us 😔
In other news, Monday
evening we volunteered at the Pinehurst Fourth of July event and it was so fun!
We just got to pass out flags to everyone which was a perfect opportunity for
us to talk with everyone and be seen with our tags on! We even made friends
with a very nice couple (I sent a photo) who gave us watermelon and cookies! Something I love about serving in the South is
that you can talk about Christ with just about everyone. It is a common thread that links us all
together.
We lucked out and
actually did get to see the fireworks cause we got stuck in the parking lot
trying to get home. ✌🎆
It has been so fun
having Grandma Pat at the house! Despite
the hamster incident. She is a hilarious
80-year-old woman who looks like she's not a day over 60. She has so much
energy! She is Presbyterian (S. Winkley is a convert) and so we've had a lot of
good conversations! We watched the
"Testaments" with her last night. A missionary classic, I have the whole thing
memorized. Unfortunately we had to scoot right after we finished watching, but
she did say it was interesting!
This week was both
Zone Training and Zone Conference, which really doesn't happen in the same week
most of the time. It is an hours drive
from where we are so it takes up a lot of our day, but with all good things!! It is cool to see how a mission progresses as
a mission President gains more knowledge and instruction. Just like us in our
missions! I had a moment of feeling
regret because I hadn't been implementing these things that I learned earlier,
but I remembered that that is part of the growth process. I am really exciting to see the direction the
mission is heading as President James gets more creative and we are finally
moving away from tracting! S. Mendoza
and I are now going to implement dog walking as a method of finding haha
As we continue to see
in this area, we have been lead to the less actives! I mentioned Taylor shortly in my last email. She is awesome! She was baptized when she was 16 but due to
some circumstances that she finally opened up to us about she stopped going to
church and her life has taken a very different path. She is 20 now and is searching for meaning to
her life. She doesn't let us into her
house but we go and talk with her on the porch for quite a while sometimes! We
just let her talk mostly and we get to know her and then we share something
with her about the gospel. We found out
that she really didn't understand or was taught very well the first time so we
get an opportunity to re teach her! Keep her in your prayers.
I was reading in the Bible
Dictionary about Conversion and came across this quote "To labor for the
conversion of one's self and for others is a noble task." bible dictionary
pg 622
The conversion of
one's self comes first. If there is one
thing that I take away from my mission, I hope that it is I come away
completely, 100%, totally converted to this gospel. I have come to understand and strive to apply
what it truly means to come unto the Savior and learn to walk with Him. That is a promise held in my patriarchal
blessing that I have been lead to recently. When we accept the Savior's invitation to
"come unto me" and "follow me" we begin a tranformative
process, a "positive inner change.” This change is manifested both inward and
outward. It only happens if we persist
at it. We put in the effort and
determination to seek Him. I know that
this gospel makes me happy and makes me work to become a better person.
Heavenly Father works
miracles. He makes it so that the simple event of losing a hamster can be a
spiritual experience that helps you understand prayer and the purpose of trials
better. Like that is literally the
weirdest thing ever but Heavenly Father makes it work.
THANK YOU to all of
those who have sent me letters! S.
Bobbitt forwarded me the one's that were missing so I will do my best to
respond when I can!
This is the last week
of the transfer so hold off on sending anything until the 19th. I don't think I'm getting transferred, but you
never know.
Love ya'll!
Sister Dearden
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