There's my address, Raaaaaaaachel. Don't let Roxy or whoever eat it again. I've had Toffee Pops, but Squiggles are way better. Like Toffee Pops with honeycomb pieces on the top. I have to tell you--your sunbeams' idea of Heavenly Father who lives in the sky is not so absurd compared to other ideas we encounter :)
Friday 26th was Australia Day. Which is in my American opinion much undercelebrated :) It was mostly just another day for people to work in their yards, as far as I could tell. Fireworks happened in the city.
Thursday I met another Hungarian. In case I haven't told the story, I was convinced back in July that I would be called to either Hungary or Italy, then I went to the SLC temple to do baptisms and ALL of my names were from either Hungary or Italy (strange coincidence?), then at the MTC the next-door neighbors/other sisters in my little branch were going to Hungary, then I had to go to class with them one day and I really learned some Hungarian. Here I keep meeting Hungarians. Considering the fact that I'm after all this in Australia, it's just weird.
So yes, Friday was Australia Day. I was scared to go tracting because people often are jealous of their holiday time. People were generally nice though and I had one cool experience. I'm still learning to listen to the Spirit, ya know. We were talking to Beryl about the Restoration and a little about the Plan of Salvation and we were about to leave but then I got this idea so clearly that I should ask her about family history (the stake's missionary work initiative this year is to make family history kits for people as a service as a way to introduce them to the gospel), and I said "are you interested in doing family history research?" and she looked at me so surprised and said "I was just thinking about that this morning!" We gave her the card necessary to get that research done for her. I don't know what will happen with her but it was a great lesson for me as I learn how to receive and recognize that inspiration. It kinda scares me because it was strong, but subtle. Hmm sounds familiar, eh? Sounds like ALL the scriptures about the Holy Ghost EVER. Am I just now learning it? :)
Saturday something beautiful happened. Kristen, a member, came with us to go meet this lady she has encountered several times over a few years now as she walked to school or went running, who Kristen thought could use the gospel. She was outside on the porch, and so was everyone else. (Usually this leads to taunting. Not on our side, theirs, silly.) Her children were there, as well as a man who is something like a son-in-law, and his mother, and a grandchild, and a cousin, and seriously I have been daydreaming about a situation like this. We went up to the lady--Maylene--and she remembered seeing Kristen, and she let us in to share a scripture with her, and then slowly everyone else started coming in until we had a room full of people, and then they were like "what's your spiritual thought?" and we shared a scripture about how the righteous can expect a better life, and then Bryan, the man who is something like a son-in-law, said he wanted to read the entire Book of Mormon, and that he had never been religious but we'd changed just a little his ideas, and the young cousin said similar things... we went back last night and Maylene and her 28-year old daughter and the kids invited us to come back Friday evening. She is just a simple person, who works hard to take care of her children, and she doesn't want her kids to become involved with people who drink/party/etc, and I'm thinking she means that she wants church friends for her kids. Leah, her 12-year-old daughter, started high school today, which begins here at 7th grade. She's worried. Anyway they are sweet sweet people, the humble type, hardworking...I'm excited about them. I don't really see how anything other than member referrals are highly effective in missionary work.
Oh, about the parrots. Yesterday we were putting an invitation into a less-active girl's mailbox and a clump of three BEAUTIFUL colorful, mostly green parrots fell right next to us out of the tree. They'd been fighting. Sister Erickson screamed and people came out of their houses. Ha. Also one of our investigators, Kerri, was walking in a park with her children and one of her friends, and a strange dog came up and started attacking their dog. You'd think that the owner would come up and get the dog, right? No, the owner came up and started punching Kerri and her friend. Oh yeah and I held a hen last week. By the way. Ha.
It turns out that Bernard, one of our investigators, is an amazing amazing amazing man, a fighter for FREEDOM in the truest sense. (I use this phrase because it will interest a certain one of my readers.) Here's a hint: he's from South Africa and he has coffee table books of Nelson Mandela. That's only one aspect, the beginning, which I use to illustrate his personality. I won't write about the rest, but it was so inspiring to have met him and heard his story. We NEED him in the church. He knows that he has to read his Book of Mormon and pray on his own to figure out whether he likes the comfort of having us around or that he likes the doctrine, and the more I learn, the more I see how he has been prepared for us. For example how he stopped smoking just a couple of weeks before he met missionaries.
Brandon--I was beginning to worry. You've missed both December 10th and January 10th, and February is coming up :) How much you loved being a missionary and how you love missionary work has helped me to the making of certain goals that help me every single day. Email me your address, k?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEREMIA! Everyone is shocked when they hear that I have a 2-year old brother. He's so dear. Don't let him forget me...okay don't let him forget what I look like.
I'm having such a good time! It should be illegal!
Bye
Sister S. Nilsen
(secretly, "Sav")
No comments:
Post a Comment