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| Fresh Eggs from a member! |
This week we met a deaf man with a blind dog. We
played Rack-O with an old lady wearing a neck brace and she made fun of
me 80% of the time (but it's okay I teased her back, I don't let 80 year
olds get the best of me). She referred to herself as a "toothless,
braless old hag", aka everything I want to grow up to be. At Walmart I
bought granola bars without looking and accidentally got Mocha Bars and
wanted to throw myself off a bridge because of COURSE I would
accidentally buy coffee granola bars.
I want daddy to be proud of me because I went to buy some mesquite
smoked turkey breast (for nostalgia's sake) and the lady ended up
selling me NINE DOLLARS worth of ham for ONE DOLLAR AND NINETY CENTS.
Yes. Very very thickly cut delicious breakfast ham. As soon as I had it
in my hand I twirled and said "DADDY WOULD BE SO PROUD OF ME!" (Please
praise me now, thank you.)
We got a new investigator who is from Tennessee and said he has
been looking for a church, but never felt like any were right. And he
didn't want to join unless he had a way to know it was the right church.
*DING!* Lightbulb. Restoration. Amazing lesson. I danced around
afterwards with joy.
For service this week we worked for a funny Jewish man who is
Italian and I am constantly tempted to ask him to say "Go buy yoself
somethin nice!". We picked up rocks out of the mud and brushed his
donkey and talked to the emu and called it a day. Also we hung out with
his nephew, Chaz, who is 10 years old and wants to be an engineer and is
from Arkansas and wears glasses and shorts that are a bit too short and
told us about space camp. He is all I've ever wanted out of life.
We brought the old Hawaiian lady some flowers this week after
painting her porch, and I also gave her the pictures of her dog. She
could hardly stand it. She was so happy, she screamed and held her hand
to her chest. She was shaking as she took the flowers. She cried and
wrapped her arms around us. It is comparable to the time that I gave
grandma her Twilight shirt.
Our investigator shared Mosiah 5:2 with us and told us it's exactly
how she feels. Her baptism date is getting closer and we might move it
to the 5th or the 12th depending on how she feels about it.
Filipinos
gave us fresh eggs. And yes, fresh eggs are the best things on the
planet. I also got an all organic shampoo bar from the same guy who gave
me a homemade soap bar.
The best spiritual experience this week was a testimony
builder of listening to the spirit during planning. We had dinner with
an active family with a less active father. We were planning the dinner
message we wanted to share. We reviewed the record of things we'd
already shared with them. Though it made no logical sense the word
"prayer" popped into my mind. I sat in silence for a few seconds, then
asked Sister Garcia if we could share a lesson on prayer. It made no
sense, prayer was so simple, and I was sure they were all doing stellar
in their prayers. But she nodded and we wrote it down.
When we sat down after dinner and shared the message. Her husband
had already left to bring one of the sons to football practice. We began
to discuss the blessings of prayer. She looked at us and sighed, then
she poured out the feelings of her heart. She expressed that she
struggled in prayer. She felt as if she was failing as a mother to teach
her children to pray. Tears filled her eyes as she admitted to us that
she felt unworthy to pray. She didn't get down on her knees before
bedtime. She didn't establish family prayer since it's hard with her
husband not being comfortable with it. She didn't know how to muster up
the courage to get down on her knees at night before getting into bed.
She had experiences that week that made her realize that her children
didn't understand the nature or power of prayer. She apologized for the
mascara tears smudged on her face. We talked with her, encouraged her.
She asked if it would be wrong to pray silently, since she would find it
strange to pray aloud in front of her husband. We read to her the
scripture in Mosiah:
12 And Alma and his people did not raise their
voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and
he did know the thoughts of their hearts.
She said "Thank you, that answers my question perfectly."
I felt impressed to read her the next few verses.
13
And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their
afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I
know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant
with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put
upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs,
even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as
witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the
Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.
I watched more tears stream down her face as I
promised her that the Lord's promise to the people in the Book of Mormon
applied to her. I looked around at her beautiful home; gorgeous
portraits of her family, her three kids, cute decor everywhere- and I
realized how many burdens a mother must carry. Especially this great
sister, trying to raise her children in the gospel without support from
her husband. Mothers are great warriors. I pray that the Lord will
continue to help this great sister.
I love you all, keep being silly and pinching each other
xoxox
Sister Valdez
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| The college from where I am emailing. |
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