Hello all! I had a great week
and hope you did as well! Sister Manning and I have been working really hard
and had a fabulous week! Stressful. But fabulous.
So after pday on Monday, we went
over the area plan with Brother Stocks. For those of you who don't know, the
Europe Area 70 put together action points for all the members in the area to
focus on. They are: invite a friend, become physically and spiritually self
reliant, and to find an ancestor. So basically to develop friendships that can
eventually be led to either fellowshipping or missionary work, being self
reliant, and doing family history and temple work. So we have been asked to
visit every active member and go over this area plan with them. Oh and that's
every month...so anyways, we are busily working at trying to do that. Then we
had a lesson with Jane and Andy on the importance of church and the sacrament.
We were going to go over prayers and scriptures as well, but we ran out of time
and had to run home.
Tuesday we did 12 Weeks and
lunch right away and then street contacted in and around town and waited for
the elders. Then we picked them up and walked with them to Jackie's house for
her baptismal interview. SHE PASSED!!!!!!! So we spent the next few hours
street contacting and calling auxiliary leaders to make sure as many people as
possible knew about and would be able to attend the service. We were supposed
to have a lesson right after but when we got there and knocked she started
screaming and crying. So we decided it wasn't a good lesson and continued to
street contact. Then we had another lesson with Jane and Andy since we didn't
finish yesterday. We talked to them about the power of prayer and scripture
study. It was another great lesson that went way too long, but it was good!
Wednesday started out with
district meeting and then we caught another bus afterwards to Mablethorpe and
visited a less active lady. She is so sweet and welcomed us in immediately! So
we were there for about an hour getting to know her story and then we had to
catch the bus back to have a lesson with Jackie. Our Branch President,
President Whall, came with us and we talked about teaching and learning in the
church and enduring to the end with him there. She was pretty distracted
because it was the first time he'd been in her house...so that was a little
embarrassing, but she didn't seem to notice and he didn't seem to mind too
much.
Thursday we started trying to sort
through more of the area book in the morning and then our lesson cancelled, so
we went and contacted a few formers before heading to the library to finalise
Jackie's baptismal program. Then we did what Sister Manning calls
"wandering Finding" where we just wandered around town and looked for
people to talk to. So basically street contacting without a final destination
in mind. It was actually really neat, and we even found a nice, quiet park we
could teach lessons if we needed to! Except it's getting really cold, so we're
not sure how often that'll be utilised...but it was good anyways! Then we had a
lesson with Neil. We had to talk to him on the stairs to his flat because
sister Stephenson got held up at an appointment, but it was still good. We
talked about the plan of salvation and temples with him and then headed out to
try by a few more people and then went to the Elliot's for them to print the
program. Just as we were about to hit print, we got a call from one of the
speakers that he just remembered they were going out of town. So brother Elliot
voluntold sister Elliot to speak instead. It was pretty funny. But then we went
back to the flat for tea and 12 weeks.
Friday went so super fast it was
like blinking and it was over. We had weekly planning and lunch in the morning
and then had a lesson with Jackie about temples. Then we walked back to the
flat and waited for Sister Harvey and we went visiting teaching with her since
she visit teaches a less active family. So we basically just went for moral support.
It was hard though because we found out their concern was a misconception of
doctrine. And they wouldn't listen to us explain the real doctrine. So that was
quite heartbreaking. But hen we had tea with the Harvey's and then had to walk
around town for an hour afterwards until 9. So that was interesting. It was
funny because sister Harvey didn't believe us that nobody would be out to talk
to and while she was driving us home she kept saying "wow, there really is
nobody, are you sure you have to stay out another hour?" It was pretty
funny!
Saturday was stressful but
AMAZING! We started out the day by doing Mormon.org time. I
tried to figure out family search. But didn't get too far in an hour. Next time
maybe. Then we had lunch and went out to try by a bunch of formers. Then we did
some baptismal shopping (we bought cookies...) and then got on the bus. I woke
up about thirty minutes later and then we got off and went to the chapel. The
Grimsby Elders and Sisters were there trying to figure out how to fill the
font. So sister Manning and I began cleaning and making sure everything was
ready. Then we went back to check on the font and couldn't figure out why the
water wasn't raising. Well long story short, we realised that Elder Omondi put
the drain stop upside down, so it wasn't sealed and therefore the water was
going right down the drain. And yes, I did just throw him under the bus. But we
got it fixed and the water was at an ok level by the time the service started.
It was so lovely. Jackie turned around just before she got in the font and we
were afraid she was backing out, but she looked at us and said "say
goodbye to the old Jackie" and gave us a hug. It was so great! She is
absolutely amazing. She did have to be baptised twice though because her leg
came out of the water, but she didn't complain! So that was good!
Sunday. Well Jackie got
confirmed as the newest member of the Louth Branch and it was so wonderful. She
said she didn't like being the centre of attention, but she feels like a brand
new person and that she has a new family. It was so great. We had a lesson with
her after church and then went to talk with Josephine and try to see Ben, but
he was asleep already (it was 5...oh to be 15 again!) then we had tea and 12
weeks again. Only one more week! Hard to believe that transfers are already
next week...
So in other news, we are safe,
despite this happening to our neighbor's flat:
We think it got broken into. The
police were here for a few days to make sure nobody came back, but we are safe!
And we started deep cleaning our
flat this morning and found a surprise. I'm guessing it's from when elders
lived here:
Oh and I finally found a Welcome
to Louth sign to take a picture in front of. It was just down the road from us,
who knew? Nobody I had asked in the street...
So my spiritual thought is from
Elder Hale's talk: "Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son,
Jesus Christ" "the light of belief is within you, waiting to be
awakened and intensified by the Spirit of God." No matter where we are on
our path of discipleship, whether we were just baptised this weekend or 100
years ago, we all have things we can learn and things to study. This is a
Gospel of change and a gospel of learning. We're never done. So keep listening
to that still, small voice telling you what to learn!
Sister Hope
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