Janene
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From September 16th:
Well yesterday I have officially been a missionary for an entire MONTH! What the heck!? Where did the time go, its so crazy its been a month already. I am loving the island so much, it is so beautiful here and the weather and everything - it's wonderful. Missions are HARD. I mean I knew they were hard, but man, its difficult. But honestly 18 months is such a short period in the span of our entire life, eternity even, so we missionaries HAVE to give it all we've got. Its definitely the hardest thing I've ever experienced in my life, but also the best. I have already grown so much personally and spiritually. My knowledge of the Gospel has increased immensely! I had no idea how many things I didn't even know. I have grown to truly LOVE studying. I love to study gospel subjects and increase my knowledge. It makes me want to take advantage of all those church books at home and learn more of the doctrine.
This week has been good, definitely one of the hardest yet, which I'll tell you about later, but I definitely grew and learned to rely on the Savior, as was my testimony strengthened.
Monday was great! We had "district P-day" which happens once a month, where we get together as a district and have P day (Prep Day) together. It was stressful that we had less time to grocery shop and clean and do laundry, but the day was way fun. Plus its hard because travel time with the Ferry adds at least an hour to any day. Lol! We chose as a district to go to Alderwood mall and that was weird but cool. Its weird being so "in the world" since we have been so out of it lately and truly focused on the gospel and its teachings, but it was really fun! I got my first pair of real Washington boots. I still have to get this special spray that keeps the water off even more and helps your boots last longer. Our district is small, 2 elders and 4 sisters including my companionship. I'm the baby of the group. They are all 21+ and all going home in 6 months or less. Later that evening we got to go to "empty 'nesters" Family Home Evening, which was just darling! Since that is like 90% of the ward, our whole ward was pretty much there. The faith of those members are so strong. So many of them have been through real tragedies, such tragedies I can't even share. Their faith is so strong, I want to be like that when I am that age. It makes me think a lot about my grandparents. I really have been blessed with such amazing examples. Grandma Janine took on 5 children and raised them, barely knowing grandpa at all. Grandpa served in the war, lost his wife, and raised many strong children in the church. Grandma Betty is my hero! She has been through so much, and yet she is never without a smile, always doing good for someone else, the most selfless person I know. Grandpa Rich saved people in his work, making sure they all got out safely, and Grandpa Denis lost his wife and still remains so strong. I have just been so blessed with amazing examples of who I want to become.
Tuesday was a rough day. Haha! Every single person we talked to that day said 'No'. And not just like a "ah, no thanks." There were choice words given, chastisement, we were told how wrong our church was. Then the highlight of the day was being screamed at by this elderly lady that was actually a member referral! She told us to get off her lawn, get out, drive away, go home, never come back. It was a little frightening but now looking back its a little funny. Then we visited a less active who was drunk with his wife and neighbor. They all had huge bottles of vodka in their hands, were active crazy, saying very crude things. I never felt in danger though, I knew the Lord was protecting us. Once we realized the severity of the situation we left. The saddest part was that there were kids around, toddlers walking around, teens watching and laughing. My heart hurt for that family, but also made me grateful for the guidance and standards the gospel provides to families. I went home feeling down, but my sweet companion counseled with me and we read from 'Preach my Gospel' where it talks about the people are not rejecting you, but rejecting Christ, but still how sad is that? Then second, that the Lord is always preparing people and we may be preparing a way for them to come to the gospel, at least we may be planting a seed. After hearing that I felt much better.
Wednesday was a hard day. One of the recent converts we are teaching had a tragedy come upon their family. Its hard because they are so strong, their testimonies are just flourishing. We have been doing new member lessons with them and previously this week I had taught the Restoration of the Gospel. The lesson with them was the first time that I was able to present the first vision to them memorized, and the spirit was just so strong. We are hoping that this trial will help their testimonies grow stronger as they learn to lean on Christ and turn to the scriptures even more. So far they have been doing all the right things, and we are so impressed with them.
So funny story, this is the ONLY water bottle we could find in any store on the island, how funny is that?? I get so dehydrated in the day that I need a water bottle, but this is the only one they had. The store manager said those were "seasonal items." So apparently being hydrated is only for the summer time. Lol I mean it IS Washington and they have rain all year so I guess it makes sense, but it made me laugh. So me and Tony Stark will be kickin it for a while. Lol!
Friday we had another lesson with our investigator, "L", she is doing so well! As an 11 year old she is really grasping knowledge of the gospel. She is so sweet. Her best friend, "H" comes to all her lessons, she was recently baptized and so her testimony is so fresh and so strong.
Oh my goodness... we met the craziest man on the island. This man named Danny, just picture the crazy old man that lives in the woods, about 5 ft high, long beard and mustache, a little stocky, just picture that. And he literally did live in a cabin in the woods, that's where we found him. Lol So yeah just picture that. He actually informs us that he used to be Mormon..it took about 5 minutes into the conversation to realize he was not all the way there. As we start talking about God and that God loves each and every one of us he goes "ladies, lemme stop you right there.. you know I have actually met and talked with God, many times. I've had 5 near death experiences. And what people don't realize is that God is actually a unisex being. He is both man and woman, beautiful and handsome, he loves you like a mother and scolds you like a father." By this point I am dying. I am looking away, biting my lip, trying to think about other things because I am seriously just about to lose it. My chest every so often shakes from trying to hold in laughter.. he goes on to tell us how God told him not to crush the ants of the world because they are children too... he told us his life is like the movie "50 first dates"and that is his life in a movie, every day is a new day for him, he never remembers the last day... he finished the conversation telling us how he is currently suing the Navy for poisoning him unknowingly, he has no evidence but just knows they did it. Then he's like "man, sometimes I just feel like I'm in another world" as he's moving his hands around and looking up into the sky, that is when I lost it and just started laughing. It was quite an experience, but it definitely made for a good story. We got to the car and just died laughing for about 10 minutes since we had been holding it in so long. So that is an experience I will never forget.
Saturday was a service day. We helped a lady move that was elderly, she and her husband went on a fishing trip together and he fell in and drowned - she wasn't strong enough to save him and he couldn't swim, his fishing pole pulled him in because he had a big fish. She said it gave her comfort knowing that her husband wouldn't have wanted to go any other way. After that it was actually National Service Day so we cleaned up the Bayview cemetery and got to wear Mormon helping hands vests with a big sign out front that told the community what we were about.
We went to lunch that day at this place called "Joe's Wood fired pizza" I was like, I have to go there! It was so cool, I talked with the manager and told them I used to work at a wood fire place back home and they said they started the same way just mobile, working at farmers markets, then made enough money to build a shop. And it was so popular, so that was awesome! I'm gonna have to email Elizabeth and tell her :) We finished the day helping that recent convert family I told you about. We helped her clean her house, to help relieve some stress. Its always more peaceful coming home to a clean house. I've really grown to just love service so much, and I love serving the people of Washington.
Oh! Last story real quick. So I am in charge of the cell phone, and Sunday night at about 8pm I noticed it was gone. And we had already been to like 4 houses that night, on all different directions of the island. We needed that phone and I knew it would be a challenge to find it. So, in WA its pitch black at 8pm. We said a prayer that we would find it, and went to the last house we were at just before, no luck. We didn't have time to drive to the other 3 houses and so we checked down this long dark road that we had driven down earlier that day when I got out to help her turn the car around. This road is like 50ft long, its pitch black, we can't see anything, nor do we know at what point we turned around and I got out of the car. Just as I am turning around to go back to the car I say another prayer to please help us find it, it has all of our contacts, many people need to reach us, and being on the island it'll be a while before we can get back to Everett to replace and order a new phone. Just as I start walking back to the car, a glimmer of light coming from somewhere reflects off the screen of the phone and I find it. I seriously had tears of joy. I know that it was a miracle and an answer to our prayers. There is no way we would have found it without the Lord's help. It was dark, the road was long, and it could have been anywhere. And there where absolutely NO lights, not even from the car, because the car was parked so far away, so where did the glimmer of light come from to reflect off of the phone? Exactly. It truly was a tender mercy of the Lord, my testimony was strengthened and I said the deepest prayer of thanks. I was just so thankful for the power faith and prayer has.
Anyways, love you all!
Sister Wawro
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