Hey family!
AND HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!! Holy poop y'all have been married a long time!!! WOOOHHOOOOO
Well....this week has been a little more difficult than normal. We still saw a bunch of little miracles though so I am still holdin up. But I never realized how much heartbreak I'd experience on my mission. I guess no return missionaries like to talk about the difficult parts, rather everyone likes to reminisces on the good times and miracles. But now I am here and learning all these things firsthand for myself and they kinda stink at times, yet they are very refining. Yesterday someone in church made a point, they said the purpose of the Gospel is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. And that's why these missions are so good for people like me. I have been taken out of my comfort zone and forced to grow up -- which sounds really terrible but I would never ever take back the experiences and lessons I have learned here.
Anyway.... this week has mostly been a little disappointing because tons of things are falling through. People we have been teaching have been flaming us (not showing up to their appointment), dropping us, or just avoiding us. Sometimes I feel like I have the plague! But its going to be okay because we still have the Takac's! The Takac's have been our only stable investigators, but we ended up having to move their baptism date to March 5th which is a little worrisome. A bunch of complications/drama came up last night. We were serving at the Visitor Center but I was literally on the phone most of the evening trying to rearrange everything and trying to figure out what was causing the drama. Satan is really working on them.
We did get to see our investigator Derek again though. He is doing well but he is never ever home and he won't commit to an appointment so we just have to drop in weekly and try to catch him. He is progressing though! He isn't so sure about baptism but we have been talking to him about specific prayers and reading the Book of Mormon. He is a funny man!
We also met a man who we may start teaching. He was high when we talked to him and we asked him if we could pray with him. He said he wasn't in a good state of mind to talk to God and so we straight up told him that he was letting Satan take over his life and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. He was taken back and asked us to come back and teach him more. I am curious how much of that lesson he is going to remember but we will see when we meet with him next!
Brandon got kicked out of his sister's house and is currently in Oklahoma but he says he is coming back soon and wants to get baptized when he comes back --so his baptism will definitely be pushed back.
This week I also got to go on exchanges and it was the weirdest thing ever. First off, Sister Janairo and Sister Burns are companions and they are my STL's now. They also serve in Shaker Heights (yup, Sister Burns is back in Shaker Heights). Anyway, I went to Shaker Heights with Sister Janairo which was weird because its my old area and my old companion. And it was also weird because my trainer was with my trainee and Sister Burns told Sister Edwards all about her experiences with training me... So that brought back lots of memories... lol
We also had interviews with President this week which was nice. I always feel so much better after those because he helps me recognize what's important --except he did talk to me about going home soon which made me freak out a bit! Its still doesn't feel real. I am kinda in denial haha :)
I love my mission no matter how difficult it has been! I love love love knowing that I am doing my Heavenly Father's work. And I am grateful He trusts me enough to take care of His children in this area. May I also say that that the Book of Mormon is literally my favorite thing. I would die without it. And I seriously have no idea how people can press forward without having it's truth, hence why I am out here trying to give everyone a free copy.
So yup. Thats whats up.
I MISS YOU FAMILYYYY!!!!!! I LOVE Y'ALL SO FLIPPIN MUCH!!!!!
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Katie Call
AND HAPPY 25th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD!!!! Holy poop y'all have been married a long time!!! WOOOHHOOOOO
Well....this week has been a little more difficult than normal. We still saw a bunch of little miracles though so I am still holdin up. But I never realized how much heartbreak I'd experience on my mission. I guess no return missionaries like to talk about the difficult parts, rather everyone likes to reminisces on the good times and miracles. But now I am here and learning all these things firsthand for myself and they kinda stink at times, yet they are very refining. Yesterday someone in church made a point, they said the purpose of the Gospel is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. And that's why these missions are so good for people like me. I have been taken out of my comfort zone and forced to grow up -- which sounds really terrible but I would never ever take back the experiences and lessons I have learned here.
Anyway.... this week has mostly been a little disappointing because tons of things are falling through. People we have been teaching have been flaming us (not showing up to their appointment), dropping us, or just avoiding us. Sometimes I feel like I have the plague! But its going to be okay because we still have the Takac's! The Takac's have been our only stable investigators, but we ended up having to move their baptism date to March 5th which is a little worrisome. A bunch of complications/drama came up last night. We were serving at the Visitor Center but I was literally on the phone most of the evening trying to rearrange everything and trying to figure out what was causing the drama. Satan is really working on them.
We did get to see our investigator Derek again though. He is doing well but he is never ever home and he won't commit to an appointment so we just have to drop in weekly and try to catch him. He is progressing though! He isn't so sure about baptism but we have been talking to him about specific prayers and reading the Book of Mormon. He is a funny man!
We also met a man who we may start teaching. He was high when we talked to him and we asked him if we could pray with him. He said he wasn't in a good state of mind to talk to God and so we straight up told him that he was letting Satan take over his life and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. He was taken back and asked us to come back and teach him more. I am curious how much of that lesson he is going to remember but we will see when we meet with him next!
Brandon got kicked out of his sister's house and is currently in Oklahoma but he says he is coming back soon and wants to get baptized when he comes back --so his baptism will definitely be pushed back.
This week I also got to go on exchanges and it was the weirdest thing ever. First off, Sister Janairo and Sister Burns are companions and they are my STL's now. They also serve in Shaker Heights (yup, Sister Burns is back in Shaker Heights). Anyway, I went to Shaker Heights with Sister Janairo which was weird because its my old area and my old companion. And it was also weird because my trainer was with my trainee and Sister Burns told Sister Edwards all about her experiences with training me... So that brought back lots of memories... lol
We also had interviews with President this week which was nice. I always feel so much better after those because he helps me recognize what's important --except he did talk to me about going home soon which made me freak out a bit! Its still doesn't feel real. I am kinda in denial haha :)
I love my mission no matter how difficult it has been! I love love love knowing that I am doing my Heavenly Father's work. And I am grateful He trusts me enough to take care of His children in this area. May I also say that that the Book of Mormon is literally my favorite thing. I would die without it. And I seriously have no idea how people can press forward without having it's truth, hence why I am out here trying to give everyone a free copy.
So yup. Thats whats up.
I MISS YOU FAMILYYYY!!!!!! I LOVE Y'ALL SO FLIPPIN MUCH!!!!!
Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Katie Call