It was great inviting everyone to conference! We made up little flyers with all the times on it to pass out to everyone. Sister Lewis has been sick with a cold though, and it's been getting worse throughout the week it seems, so I went on splits with Kristen's daughter to hand them all out. Very successful! And we sent out mass text reminders as well! We don't know how many people watched it. We can only do so much reminding and inviting. Not as many people showed up to the church to watch it as we hoped, but oh well I suppose. We still had people come.
There was a dumb thing that happened in passing out one invitation though. We hadn't seen this investigator in awhile, just because of life. She's an investigator that Sister Barrett and Sister Schoenfeld tracted into in a trailer park by the church.
Well, instead of the investigator coming out, her friend came out, and... yeah. When we asked about our investigator she dodged the question, and she told us 'she' was her christian friend and that she's never going to convert and that we don't need to come back and not all Mormons are Christians and blah blah blah. It was just one of those interactions that made your stomach sick.
We were really angry. Because that whole thing was really dumb. SO we went and played with kittens at Kristen's house!
And we ARE going back to that investigators house. We aren't taking just the words of her friend.
We've taught Jaffar a few times this week. It was so funny. We were going to his place to have a lesson, and both Jaffar and Brother Witt were stuck in the lobby. (They just started locking the doors of the 'African apartments' as we like to call them, which is really lame.) We walked in and wondered if it was planned - Brother Witt doesn't live there after all!
"Brother Witt! Are you here visiting Jaffar?"
They looked at each other and it finally clicked that they knew each other from church from Brother Witt giving Elias the priesthood! Super funny. Brother Witt was actually going to visit the Azonto's. Everyone thinks that Brother Witt is the bishop because our bishop has been out of town so much and seriously hasn't been on the stand for a month now.
Jaffar is still on for getting baptized on the 17th.
Someone else that is on for getting baptized: We thought it would be Zazu, but plot twist! It's Charity! We met with Orlando and Charity at the beginning of this week and she had been thinking a lot about it and she wants to be baptized before I leave! And Saturday was the day they picked to quit smoking and do the whole grapefruit juice and cinnamon mouthwash thing of the stop smoking program!
I told her that that's great that she wants to be baptized and that she wants me to be there, but that she NEEDS to stay active in the church! She says she understands. I want her to be baptized... but they need so show that they will be faithful at attending church and take their own personal initiative, not wait for the other to step up. And Satan knows it.
We were totally going to watch the afternoon session with them on Saturday, but they texted that a friend had an emergency that they needed to help out with and we tried to set up watching it with them on Sunday, but they never answered their calls or texts... But Orlando's father gave them both a blessing still on Saturday for strength so they can quit smoking. They are so up and down...
A story that I failed to mention, there's a Mexican investigator that we'd only been able to teach once because we just never managed to set up a return appointment that worked out because his work was so crazy. We were trying to meet him on Friday nights. Often he would text us that they were still working, but we kept trying.
Well. Friday came around. And we forgot to write down to try and see this Mexican investigator. When we got back to the apartment, we read a heart breaking text.
"Hi miss sanderson how u doin i hope u did have a good day today i got back 20 till 8:pm at tha house today n i was waitin 4 u! :'( "
We were crushed! But it's ok, because we were able to set up an appointment with him for the next evening! And it actually worked out, and it was a great lesson! And then he could know Sister Lewis and not just me! Or so we hoped.
We hoped he would stop texting 'miss sanderson,' but he never did. There were just too many red flags through his texts that he was too attracted to me instead of the gospel. I hate it when that happens! So. We referred him to the Spanish elders.
Elias didn't get a job, but he did get moved in with his one other roommate to a little house. Our relief society president is a saint and she was able to donate some dishes and sheets and towels to them. They were super grateful.
Elias has been frustrating us though. We wanted him to come to both sessions on Sunday, but he wasn't ready in time for the first one and he made his ride come back for him and he still wasn't ready. So he made her miss much of that session. He was ready for the last session. But it was still lame. But it's ok. The atonement is real.
SO Awesome! And we all got to talk to President Hess about our areas and what they need and what we could use and it was awesome! Elder Reynolds put in the suggestion of having a set of sisters open and area in Ray, and have them cover the three small cities of Ray, Crosby, and Noonan. That would be GREAT! And then we were able to express that we have two much work for just one set in first ward, so we could totally use two sets of missionaries, AND that we NEED sisters!
Now to talk about general conference.
When the new apostles were called, we were sitting on the edge of our seats! Elder Rasband! Elder Stevenson! And Elder......... RENLUND!
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! WHAT!? OH MY GOODNESS!!!! WHAAAAATT!!! AAAAHHHH!!! SO COOL!!! IS THIS EVEN REAL LIFE!!!??? OH MAAAN!!!"
I met an apostle just a month before he got called! And had a personal interview with him! What!? I am so so humbled! And the story that he gave in his testimony (Elder Runland's Testimony), he totally told that story to us in the meeting. AND the mother of that story is actually Sister Halliday, who works in the North Dakota Bismarck mission office! How insane is that! SO crazy!
I loved the emphasis this conference on mothers, and on new and old prophets, and on the holy ghost and striving to 'use' that gift of the spirit that we all receive after baptism. I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!
We are ponderizing 1 Nephi 15:11 this week. What scripture are you ponderizing?
Until next week!
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