This week was a great week in the Melrose Area! We have been having a lot of fun with Red Cross Service, Car Batteries and finding a FAMILY!
This week we were able to go visit a family who is less active, one day they decided that they and the church had different views on equality, so they just decided to stop attending, when just a couple months before she was in the young woman's presidency and he was in the bishopric. When they did this they also stopped talking to all of their friends that were members. This was really hard for their neighbors who had been friends with them for years and we have gotten close to this family, all of this went down about a year ago and since then they have been on a do not contact list. But the neighbors have begun to have more contact with them and it really has given them hope. We decided just to go to the house to see how they would respond to us knocking at their door. The mom answered and she was so nice to us, something that we weren't expecting and told us that she wished to not be contacted but that she hoped we had a good day. I feel like their a lot of people in our church that are following this same pattern, and my heart hurts for them, I wish that they could have the feeling that they did when they realized the church was true. And I hope over time that Heavenly Father will help them to soften their hearts, and that they will be able to come to church again. If you are struggling with things that the church puts out, pray about it and find the truth for yourself. That's what we do with all of our investigators, we, meaning Sister Nowell and I, are not perfect teachers. But if you pray from yourself to know that these things are true, the Holy Ghost will tell you. Heavenly Father will always give you that personal revelation.
Well this week was the end of the month and in missionary world that means you are trying to save every penny till the next grocery trip. Well Sister Nowell and I had no groceries and we didn't have any dinners for the rest of the week. So we decided that we would use our lunch time on Wednesday to do a quick trip to Walmart. It was going perfectly great until we got out to our car and our battery died. We started to panic, okay I started to panic, Sister Nowell was fine. But anyway we said a prayer and decided to call some sisters in our Zone and they got some jumper cables and came and saved us, luckily the member they live with had just bought some! Heavenly Father knows exactly what is up! Anyway we were saved from Walmart!
Funny story while we were in Walmart we had to use the restroom and when we walked in it smelt like alcohol so bad. Then all of a sudden a man walks out of one of the stalls. This has never happened to me before and I thought it only happened on movies. Well he was drunk, he was very nice, but he was drunk and didn't see which bathroom he walked into.
We had dinner with Candy on Wednesday night and it was a good meal with her. But let's back track on the story for a second. Candy had signed up to feed the Elders on Monday, and the Elders had talked about how they didn't really want to go. Well Sister Nowell and I told them that they had to go, that Candy would freak out if they didn't. Well that 5:30 on Monday we got a voicemail from Candy and she was freaking out. The Elders didn't show up for dinner she said and she had been cooking all day and, that we would probably bail on her on Wednesday too. Awkward. Well come to find out the Elders did go they were just late. But Candy being Candy she spent the whole dinner talking about it. She also continued to tell us about how she cooked them a gourmet meal, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and pie. Well then she made up frozen burritos, just a little funny. But all in all it was a good dinner and we were able to laugh about it in the end.
Funny/Sad thing happened this week. Sister Nowell and I were looking through our area book and we found that someone had a bunch of fellowshippers so we decided to try and find out more information about her by texting one of the members. Well, found out that she died from cancer a few weeks ago. So awkward and I felt so bad. Apparently it was a good thing and that she was in a lot of pain, but it was very sad to hear about it!
This week it has been getting so dark, so fast. It will be 7:30 at night and it will be pitch black outside, and for some reason everyone says that is normal. But in my mind I am just hoping that means that fall is around the corner. I am so sick of this hot weather we have been having. Praying for rain
September is Family Finding month here in the Oregon Eugene Mission. So what did Sister Nowell and I do? WE FOUND A FAMILY ON SEPTEMBER 1ST!!! We may have gone home after the lesson and did a happy dance in our apartment. It was fabulous. So who is this family you might ask. Well this is Elena and Zach, and they have been coming to church for a whole month now! Which you could say is pretty unusual. They just moved into the area and are living with some members. Every week at church we have been getting to know them and have been trying to schedule a time for us to meet with them but nothing has worked out. So on Thursday morning Sister Nowell thought well maybe lets just text her and see what she is doing this afternoon. She texted back within seconds and said nothing you should come by and say hi! Well, we couldn't turn that down, so we went by their house later that afternoon and we had an awesome lesson with Elena, Zach and their family, they have 4 kids, a 10 year old, an 8 year old, a 6 year old and a 3 year old. We began with what we call in missionary language, how to begin teaching, basically getting to know the people you teach and explaining what we do as missionaries. We were able to teach all of the Restoration in our lesson and answer some questions. Since they have been coming to church for awhile they had some questions about tithing, the word of wisdom and even temples. We invited Jenna and Elena, Zach had answered a phone call and the younger kids went outside for a minute, to baptism and talked about once they know for themselves what we are teaching is true, that would the next step. Jenna asked her mom, "Can I be baptized?" It was an awesome lesson and we were able to end with a kneeling prayer with their whole family. Sister Nowell and I are so excited about teaching this family, there are so many hurdles that we see we will have to go over in the next couple of weeks with them, but we can already see them in white ready to be baptized.
On Thursday we were able to do some service at the Red Cross. In the mission we try everything that we can to try and put ourselves into the community, and one of the ways that Sister Nowell and I are doing is serving at the Red Cross every once and awhile. Well this day we were checking people into interviews as they came in. One lady asked us, after sitting in the room for a good hour, if we were Modern Day Nuns, Sister Nowell and I looked at each other and started laughing. We told her that we were missionaries and she still thought we might have been Nuns in training. But we were able to tell her about what we do as missionaries and honestly it was super funny. Also at the red cross someone signed into their interview and they had the last name Cullen and I immediately thought Twilight. Then I realized we were at a blood bank and I laughed so hard.
Well Thursday Night we went to our Sister Training Leaders church so we could use their color printer and guess what happened. Our car died. AGAIN. But this time it was almost 9:30 at night and we were about to turn into pumpkins, because our curfew is 9:30. We ended up calling a member and they gave us a ride home. Our car has given us so many problems that it is not even funny anymore.
This week we were able to have interviews with our mission president and it was super awesome. He is an amazing man and he truly is called of God. He gave Sister Nowell and I some great advice as missionaries and as a companionship. I seriously love him and listening to him talk you can tell he is a very inspired man. We were able to talk about the Atonement a lot. And it is really funny because for awhile when ever I study something in my personal study we always talk about it a couple of days later. I was reading 2 Nephi 9, and it is a great chapter on the Atonement, and we literally read almost that whole chapter during interviews. I was really scared for interviews and I am not sure why, but I am so glad that it went awesome!
Well after interviews we were able to take our car to the dealership and they told us that our car battery was fine, and that they couldn't get it in until WEDNESDAY. We could not go without a car until Wednesday. So we told them that we would bring it back later, then suddenly our car was dead. What the goodness. Well they tested it and told us that it was dead, yeah we know that. So we left and went to Les Shwab instead and guess what, they got us in right there and changed the battery in 5 minutes. So lesson learned, never going to the dealership EVER AGAIN. So now we have a car that we aren't worrying about if it is dying every 3 seconds.
This week we were able to do exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders and it went fine. It is really weird because all of the Sisters always talk about how exchanges are SO MUCH fun. And I haven't experienced that in the 2 exchanges that I have had. Normally I am just stressed the whole time and I think it is just because I am not completely used to it, and it puts me out of my comfort zone. But for exchanges I was able to stay in our area and it was really fun to be able to take charge of our area. We spent a lot of time tracking and trying to talk to people. And I was able to teach a few lessons, and I was basically teaching by myself. Which sucked. But it taught me that I am capable of teaching by myself so that is pretty great! But you could say that I was really happy to see Sister Nowell and we may have hugged for a few minutes. I am going to be really sad when she leaves or when I leave.
I always love the opportunity that we have to share our Testimonies on Fast and Testimony Meeting. It is always amazing to see the strength of our ward as we listen to their testimonies and to be able to see the missionary opportunities that they have had during the week. I know that as we share our testimonies that they grow and that we are able to strengthen our own and that our testimonies are usually something that someone needs to hear. I am so grateful for all the testimonies that have been shared with me through out my life and that they have shaped me into the person that I am today!
On Sunday we were able to go a visit a member who had a knee replacement and Sister Nowell and I made him a funny card, I hope you think it is funny!
Well this is now the end of my letter. Thank you for all the love and support every one gives me every week as I read my emails it makes me so happy to know that I have so much love and support back at home while I am in the mission field. I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love, Your Favorite Sister Missionary,
Sister Harrison
We thought this was pretty clever (:
This was a picture with Cameron on his Baptism day that I never sent home, but I LOVE IT! He is going to the temple next saturday to do BAPTISMS!!!!
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