HOPPY Easter! Get it....hoppy? [an old family joke]

Basically Easter is great as a missionary because you actually focus less on the chocolate bunnies and more on our Savior and remember the REAL reason of the season :) I LOVE it and this has been the first time Easter has really stood out to me as a holiday :D

We also got so. much. candy. The ward was very, very kind and supportive to us on Easter! We and the Elders had breakfast with some ward members Easter morning. It was SO good! And they gave us each an Easter bag.

Church was wonderful! The same less-active member who came last week came again this week, and the less active member who has been reading the Book of Mormon regularly came this week, too!

I also led the music in Relief Society.

It was an arm workout.

Ward members also gave us some Easter goodies, too. It made me feel loved :)

Easter Evening, we had a combined dinner with three families from the ward. It was a lot of fun, and I knew all the families decently well! Sister L and I decided that we're going to have a combined Easter Sunday Dinner with Sister S in the future. (We both served with Sister S.) And they, too, gave us an Easter Basket.

It was a great Easter full of love and full of our Savior.

Anyway.

I seriously can't even think of what we did this week! We've done a LOT of finding. Not a lot of luck yet - though we have a lot of potentials that we can hopefully pick up as investigators this week! Hopefully....but we have been having REALLY good and productive lessons with some of our less-active members. So that's a bonus.

Haha.....so we had a lesson with a less-active member. I warned Sister L before hand that I have the HARDEST time understanding him.

His wife is also listed on the ward roster.

We're 90% sure she's no longer living.

So the Bishop asked us to find that out.

"How are we supposed to bring that up?" asked Sister L.

"Well, you're the new missionary. You could ask if he's married!"

We invited a ward member to go with us, and we told her the situation. This ward member is awesome! And she's a returned missionary herself. She said, "Oh don't worry. I'll be the newbie who asks all the get-to-know-you-questions."

So we go in and sit down. Right away I can't understand what he is saying. I don't now WHAT my problem is. Everyone else can understand him but just something about his VOICE makes it IMPOSSIBLE for me to understand!

"So do you have much family?" asked the member.

"mmmmuhhmmmurs."

I'm sitting there thinking, "What.....on earth did you just say?"

"Oh, some children! Where do they live?" said the member.

I start scribbling down information in my planner.

"mmmmummrmrm."

"In the city! Wow. So you must be married then?"

"mmmurmurmurm."

"Not anymore? What do you mean?"

"mmmmurmnmurmrnm."

"Oooh she passed away! I'm sorry to hear that."

I quickly write that down.

"How long ago was that?" asked the member. 

"muuurmrmrm."

"Several years ago. Wow."

I wrote it down, and the member and I made eye contact. I gave her a thumbs up, she nodded once, and we started our lesson.

Companionship unity / using the ward members. That's how it's done.

Not much else to report on this week. We had a lesson with our less-active who came to church (the one reading the Book of Mormon) and woke her up.

Oops.

But she still let us in and have a lesson with her! And it was a really good lesson.....even though she was sleepy for it some of the time....

At least I could understand what she was saying.

We also had a super awkward lesson with another woman. She has quite a few health issues that keep her from coming to church.

Seeing as it was Easter Sunday, we decided to invite her to attend anyway since it was such a special Sunday! We came to our lesson all prepped to talk about the sacrament.

But when we get there, we could just TELL she didn't want us there! There was just this whole vibe of annoyance that made me squeamish inside.

So we sit down and chit chat for a bit, then we read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with her about the sacrament.

Then we start addressing church, and ask her to come, especially since it was Easter Sunday.

"NO." she says firmly.

"Okay," says Sister L.

Now she's sort of glaring at us. And suddenly I'm FASCINATED with everything BUT the woman we're teaching. The ceiling fan, the carpet, Sister L's hair, the buckle on my shoes, a bruise on the back of my arm............

The woman basically tells us where the door is, we say a quick closing prayer and leave.

Silence between me and Sister L. We go outside.

"I wonder what Harry Potter character I would be if I were in the movies," I say. Because that's how my mind works.

 

Later we told our district leader, Elder R about it.

"Man. Awkward lessons. Why are missions so....awkward?"
"I don't know," I said, "but I feel like there are way more awkward moments than not."

Well, my friends, it has been a good week!

....aside from the fact that it snowed on Wednesday.

You be letting me down, New York.

But I'll forgive you because it's 60 degrees right now.

I love you all soooooooooooo much!

Remember my birthday is May 3rd.

Hurrah For Israel!

Sista' Stimpson