this was my week

Man, guys. What a week this was! This weekend, all the missionaries and the ward got together to go visit the less active members who hadn't been visited in a while. Each of us would split up and go with one member, and we had a separate list of people to try. 

Sister H had quite a bit of luck of finding various less active members who were willing to be visited again! There were a couple part-member families, and one who had just gotten out of a rough patch in his life and wanted to come back to church!

.......I was able to leave a lot of notes on doors and found out that a lot of people have moved!

I also protected a ward member from a dog. The dog was completely friendly, the ward member was just scared of it. 

I felt like a hero. 

Elder F, however, had the best of luck. 

Now, I mentioned a couple emails earlier about our ward mission leader, and how buff/semi scary he is. Let me redescribe him to you: 

Eastern European. HUGE biceps, and just overall buff. Bald. Thick accent. He was in the army. 

He's just scary, okay? But you love him. But one time, he fist bumped me, and my knuckles hurt for daaaays!

He also has some sass. His name is Brother S. We call him Sassy S. 

He hates it.

So Elder F and Sassy S go to try a less-active member. They pull up to a house, to see an old man chasing a cat. 

"Oh no, that can't be it," said Elder F, and they kept driving, in vain hope that that wouldn't be it. 

After pulling a full circle, they discovered that it was....indeed....the house they needed. 

So they park around the corner, and walk up to a house. The next thing they know, a pellet whizzed past their head, and the old cat-chasing man walks up to them, holding a large pellet gun. And the man is completely intoxicated.

They ask for the less-active member they're looking for, and the man responds that the person moved, and proceeds to tell them how horrible of a man he was. 

He then launches into a number of tangents, and Elder F said that the guy kept using really big words incorrectly, so he didn't make much sense at all. 

The guy then goes into how horrible of a life he's had, and how his son snuck into the house, turned off the water, and cut out the pipes to sell for drug money. 

"AND THEN HE DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO TURN THE WATER BACK ON AFTER HE FINISHED CUTTING THE PIPES! HE JUST LEFT IT OFF! SO I WAS WITHOUT WATER!" yelled the guy. 

"Trust me, sir. He's doing you a favor." said Elder F. 

The drunk man then begins to cry, and stumbles over to Sassy S. He clasps Sassy S's hand and declares, "Sometimes....I just want Jesus to come. WHY CAN'T JESUS JUST COME AND TOUCH ALL THESE PEOPLE? AND HEAL THEM?" 

He then begins to sob. And sob. And sob. 

Awkwardly, Sassy S puts his arms around him and hugged him as the man cried and cried into his chest. 

"Well....we know we're on this earth to become like God," said Sassy S quickly, in his thick accent as he patted the man on the back, "and Christ can heal us. Through His atonement, we can be forgiven. And we can pray for help during sicknesses, and to overcome the sicknesses."

The man continues to sob. And after a while, Sassy S peels him off of his chest, Elder F handed him a pamphlet and their number, and they scurried off. 

"So how did it go?" we asked the Elders when they returned to the church, which was our meeting point.

"A drunk man cried in Sassy S's arms. I'd say it was a success."

"You've never let me cry in your arms!" said another ward member. 

This is why I thoroughly enjoy this area.

So....anyway....I came in contact with a lot of sober people this week! Yes, my friends, our investigator is STILL staying off of alcohol! AND he’s getting better and better. He has grown SO much spiritually, and loves the gospel. We've been able to meet with him pretty frequently, and whenever he gets excited about a scripture he read, he always texts us. 

Usually it consists of this: 

"[insert scripture he read here] WOW!"

"We love that scripture, too! It really shows how Christ truly loves us, and how he sacrificed his life so we could live with Him and Heavenly Father again!" (or something like that)

"WOW!" 

He is doing so great :)

Transfer calls were also this week!

Now, I think I mentioned before, how transfer calls are on Saturday, but if you're being called to a leadership position, you get your calls from President himself before anyone else. 

It was 10: 26 at night, I was just untucking my bed sheets to curl up into my warm, cozy little bed, when Sister H says, "The Mission Home is calling!" 

She runs and hands the phone to me. 

"Sister Stimpson! I want to talk to you privately." Said President Wirthlin. 

Sister H and I looked at each other. 

"Um...okay...." 

I stood in the closet and turned it off speakerphone. 

"Okay, President." I said. 

"I'm calling you to train a new missionary!" 

"Sweet!" 

"andi'dkeeptalkingtoyoubutit'slateandyourzoneleadersarecallingbackandineedtotakethisphonecall. Love you! Bye!" 

I stared at the phone and hung up, and left the closet. 

"What did he say?" 

"Elder G is going to be an assistant." 

"He told you that?" 

"No, he said he had to hang up cause he had to talk to our zone leaders. He's calling me to be a trainer." 

And her head immediately went down on her desk and she said, "Nooooooooooo! I don't want to leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeave!" 

I stared at her, unsure of what exactly would be the best way to comfort her. 

Then I patted her on the head a couple of times, before hugging her awkwardly. 

The next day, we got the rest of the news!

Sister H will be going to a city on the border of Canada. 

Helloooo, winter. 

Elder G will indeed be the next assistant. Called it!

Elder B is leaving, and Elder F will be in a trio with two visa waiters. 

Big changes going on here, folks. 

I'm pretty excited to train, but I've had a few freak outs. What if I don't train her right? What if I mess up? I don't know how to be a missionary! What if she doesn't like me?!

And I'm left to wonder if this is the same kind of anticipation new moms experience. 

Anyway. I'll leave at 6:30 in the blasted morning on Wednesday to pick up my new little trainee. 

Okay, right now I'm nervous. 

But I'm also excited. 

Yup. 

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

Hurrah for Israel!

Sista' Stimpson