Dear Family & Friends:
Sorry this email is a day late, but
things are closed on Holidays in a small town!
So few highlights from this past
week!
Last Monday we had zone p-day down
in Cedar Rapids so we played sand volleyball for two hours and then went to the
church and played volleyball for another two hours straight! It was so
much fun! We then were able to spend the evening finding!
Tuesday is our service day and so we
were back to the Community Center helping with the Meals on Wheels and calling
BINGO! We also helped at the Historical Center where we finished
polishing all of the silver! I didn't even make a big mess! That
evening we were able to have dinner with the Garvin's which are such an amazing
couple in our ward, but who are moving to Utah in a couple of weeks :(
they have been directors of the Mexico Temple Visitor Center, and served
another mission in Argentina, plus they are such amazing branch missionaries
that they will be greatly missed! After dinner we were able to have a
lesson with AJ, who is one of our investigators. He enjoys
assignments and so each time we meet with him we leave him several passages of
scripture to read with 3 questions that he is to answer by the time we meet
with him next. Which it is always exciting when we go over there and he
shows us his assignment because we are better able to gauge how he is
progressing and where his level of understanding is. It is neat though
because he is schizophrenic, but he has talked about some of the changes he has
noticed within himself as he has learned more, and he enjoys coming to church,
and has been praying a lot more!
Wednesday, we were able to meet
with several of our recent converts in the area and to help strengthen them as
they make the transition of being a member of the Church. It is so neat
to watch them as they grasp the gospel, and as they are excited about
everything they learn. Two of the recent converts that we were able to
see on Wednesday are going on a temple trip to Nauvoo in June, and so V was so
excited about getting the temple recommend so that she will be ready to go and
participate that day!
Thursday was surreal, as I was
getting ready in the morning I could remember one year ago that day getting
ready, and riding in the car with my parents to be dropped off at the MTC.
What a wonderful year it has been! Anyways, we had zone conference
in Iowa City all day Thursday and so we rode down with the Templeton's and the
Elders in our ward. What a wonderful
meeting it was. Sister Jensen trained on the Power of Fasting, to help us
as we prepare for a mission wide fast that will be coming up in the next week
or so. President trained on the importance of families and the doctrine
of the role of a family! The AP's focused their training on helping each
of us remember the reasons we chose to serve a mission, and what we want to
have become by the end of our mission. We also received training on the
Doctrine of Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the
End).
Friday: What a wonderful day
Friday was! First off it was May 23, 2014 and Mount Vernon's Zip Code is
52314! Exciting things in this small town! We began our day early
at the elementary school track helping with the last day of running club, so
Sister Stoffers handed out the medals at the end and I helped serve breakfast!
Plus we got sweet running club t-shirts that have a character from the
movie Frozen, (I had no idea who it was, so it was one of those times that you
realize that you have been out on your mission long enough that you are
completely lost when people start talking about some things). Anyways,
after running club we were doing our studies when one of the members dropped off
some music that she wanted Sister Stoffers and I to sing at her mom's funeral
the next day. And yes you read that right. . Sing. . . . haha umm
granted I have never sang before in my life really, and had no idea how to sing
a part. Sister Stoffers and I practiced for 2 hours and then I just said, I
can't ruin someone's funeral because I can't sing. I won't be the one
responsible for ruining a funeral. So we started thinking and called the
Cedar Rapids 1st ward Sisters to see if Sister Bingham could come to my rescue.
Granted it took a while to go through all the channels to get it approved
for them to come up Friday night and sing Saturday, but they finally came to
the rescue, and I didn't have to ruin a funeral!
Friday afternoon was when all the
zip code day activities were taking place, and the Branch Boy Scout Troop had
put together a seek and find photo scavenger hunt where they had to break the
code, so we were able to help out with that activity and then had dinner with
the Buttorf's!
 |
| Waiting for the scavenger hunt participants on Zip Code Day |
Sunday was really neat and
interesting. I learned a lot from things that took place in
the Branch and how you need to look for the teaching opportunities that are
presented whether you are a parent, a leader, a missionary, who ever, but being
able to take situations and handle them in the right way so that people can
learn in an environment of love. Also, AJ was at church so that was
exciting!
Yesterday was a good day as well.
We started off by playing tennis with the Eskelsen's and the four MT.
Vernon missionaries have improved a lot from the last time we tried playing
tennis. After wards we had brunch with the Eskelsen's and then headed to
the church for a Memorial Day BBQ. After the BBQ we went at played
basketball, and then were able to contact a few potentials and we were finally
able to set up an appointment with Jennifer!
Well, I love you lots and hope you
have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Call
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