they're the absolute best and also it's hunting season so there are
deer everywhere in this city, just running around. And there was no
deer emoji so I used a cow because I can.
Moving on.
So...this week was super lame.
Last week we went to visit one of our investigators, and it was super
cold that day, but he's a single guy and we didn't have any woman who
could come with us and so we had to sit outside on his porch. While we
were sitting and talking to him, we found out that he was really sick
and I felt really bad and so we tried to have a quick lesson with him.
A couple hours after the lesson I started feeling pretty crappy but I
just thought, " ain't nobody got time fo dis" and so I pushed through
it for about three or four days until my body finally just crashed.
Just goes to show you that if you don't take time to rest you'll take
time later to be sick.
Which is what we did.
And let me tell you, we took a lot of dang time.
It started Tuesday - just cold and chills and stuff, we went out a
little, but I slept a lot. Wednesday we had zone training so obviously
we went to that and I just sat out for all of the activities and
stuff. When we got home I tried to tell myself that I was feeling
better, so I pushed myself too hard again and we went out to our
dinner appointment and to our meetings at the church and to try a
couple of people. When we got home that night, I was just exhausted
and miserable, so Thursday we spent the entire day inside which made
me really sad because it meant that we had to miss working at Katie's
which is the best part of every week. At this point m symptoms has
escalated beyond the fever and achy and now included nausea,
dizziness, congestion... I didn't have any appetite at all, and when I
tried to eat, I couldn't keep it down. Sister Welch felt really bad
and she tried to find me some medicine and she ended up giving me this
pill that totally knocked me out, so I don't remember anything about
Thursday because I was unconscious.
Friday was a little bit better, we were able to go out and see some
people and get a couple things done. A member of our ward passed away
this week and we were able to attend his funeral and to comfort his
wife and daughter, they're both less actives that we've been working
with, and they were really happy to see us. They told us how much Joe
loved the sisters and how we were like family to him.
Death is so weird. It was just a couple of days before, maybe like 8
or 9 days, that we were over at his house for a dinner appointment. He
had made us grilled cheese sandwiches with pickles on them and orange
jello on the side, and we were sitting there, laughing, telling jokes
and cool stories, he showed us his photo albums and shared his
testimony with us, and we shared a spiritual message and said that
we'd see him later...
But the next time we saw him he was just laying there in his coffin,
no color in his cheeks and no big grin on his face.
It definitely wasn't an expected thing by any stretch of the
imagination. He was the primary care taker of his wife Roberta, who
has been sick for a really long time, but Joe was healthy as a horse.
Just had a heart attack one morning and died before the ambulance
could get there, so I guess God must have really needed him up in
heaven.
So anyway. That was really sad. I think it was harder for Sister
Welch, cause I didn't know Joe as well as she did. The hardest thing
for me was to watch the people's reactions and how sad they were and
just to wish that there was something that I could do to help them, or
some words I could offer to take their pain away, but all I could do
was just cry with them and hold their hands or just sit and hug them.
Anyway... There have been fourth deaths in this ward since I got to
this area three weeks ago, so I think I'm bad luck. But it's caused me
to reflect a lot on how grateful I am for the knowledge I have of the
plan of salvation. It's also been weird, two of the people that passed
away had requested that there be no viewing, no funeral service,
nothing. Just a graveside prayer and some short words and that's all.
And our bishop was taking about the importance of a funeral and the
respect that we show for our body as we lay it to rest in preparation
for the resurrection, etc. and I guess I never thought about it that
way... I love that idea, that you're just laying your body down and
keeping it safe until your spirit can be reunited with it again.
Especially that we get to be all dressed in our temple clothes, that's
the coolest part for me, all ready to stand for judgement and be
welcomed home into the celestial kingdom to live forever with Christ
and our Heavenly Father!! That's the dream, right?
But yeah. Enough about that.
Saturday and Sunday was back to business.
We had some really great lessons on Saturday. My favorite was with our
new investigator Ashley, she is so cool. She has had the absolute
hardest life I've ever heard, but she's just decided that she wants a
life with the Savior on her side again and so she was trying to find
the right way to go and that's when we found her. She said she is
going to work toward baptism on December 5 and we are so excited for
her! This week we got to teach her the plan of salvation and she just
ate it up, she had a big smile on her face. We asked her if she felt
that our message was true and she said yes. Then we talked about how
to recognize the spirit and committed her to read and pray more and to
come to church with us. She couldn't come this week because there were
some family members that were in town, but she said she would
definitely be there next week. So that was awesome!
We also saw our investigator Bill, who has a baptismal date in
November and is trying to quit smoking. We had a great lesson with him
and talked about what he thought it would take to have the willpower
to quit smoking, and he committed right then and there to quit
smoking, we shared some scriptures that would help him and we have
been texting him every since, just about every other hour or so to
check up on him and make sure he's doing okay and giving him
encouragement. He says he knows he can do it which is awesome, we know
he can do it, too. Please keep Bill in your prayers! He has the
strongest testimony ever and he knows these things are true, he wants
to get baptized so bad! He is so amazing and I know that he can do it,
he has a real love for the Savior and the gospel, he knows the Book of
Mormon better than anyone else I've ever taught... He rocks! We really
want him to make it through this week!
Then we had a lesson with Brother Zajacs, he's an excommunicated
member who is working toward getting re-baptized and has recently
(like just within these last two weeks) lost both his mother and his
father. I'm telling you people, everyone in all of Butler county is
gonna be done for by the time I leave!! Anyway, it's caused him to
think about what really matters in life. We talked about the plan of
salvation with him as well and about the sanctity of life, and why
it's important to keep ourselves close to the Savior throughout our
lives... And, just like every other lesson I've had with him, we
committed him to come to church.
But guess what.
THIS WEEK HE ACTUALLY CAME.
It was amazing! We walk into church yesterday, and there he is sitting
in his little pew with his brother.
It was like...wow. Amazing. Everyone was going over and talking to
him, just welcomed him back with wide open arms and it was the
sweetest thing to see. We have a great ward here.
They also know how to party! We had our ward trunk or treat this week
as well, and that was a huge success. Even though it was raining, tons
of people came out. Even our investigator Perry came out, he was so
funny he said he felt like a creep walking in since he didn't have any
kids haha. But he seemed to have a good time.
Anyway, now for the two highlights of my week.
First, was last Monday when we took our pday trip to Pittsburgh and I
was probably just about the happiest person in the whole city because
dang flabbit, Pittsburgh is amazing. We met up with Sister Welch's
grandparents who are also serving in our mission, and they took us and
4 other missionaries to the Carnegie science center which was probably
the coolest building (besides the temple) that I have ever set foot
in, literally ever. I think I probably could have spent hours in
there, they had everything you could have ever wanted. They had zero
gravity astronaut training and microscopes for looking at dead bugs
and robots that you could play air hockey against and a fake tornado
which was absolutely amazing for me and they had a human yoyo thing
and a roller coaster simulator and a giant trampoline where I did my
first successful back flip and a gift store and friendly people and
tons of kids, the most excited of all of them being myself. It was the
greatest party ever. I was so happy.
Then Elder and Sister Butler (grape juice's grandparents) treated us
to Peppi's, it's like a Pittsburgh restaurant which is super cool, and
I guess the elders go there all the time so when we walked in they
said, "Ah! It's the eldettes!" Haha 😂 he was the funniest guy.
After that, we went and walked along the strip and I was sooo happy,
saying hello to everyone and I wanted to stop and look at everything
and I even got a pirates t-shirt and Grapejuice got a cats in space
calendar and the Butlers got some Pittsburgh popcorn and wow. It was
the best pday ever. I literally could not have been more happy. Even
the bus ride to and from Pittsburgh was amazing (except that I wasn't
feeling super good and so that wasn't fun) but other than that, it was
the most perfect pday I ever could have imagined.
And then the best highlight of all was meeting the Beers.
Mind you, I had already heard a ton about the Beers from Hermana
Tolman and Hermana Davis since they both served here in Butler. But I
had no idea how amazing they were going to be.
Here's the thing. I just came from my favorite area that I have ever
served in, and I don't think I will ever feel more like I belong
anywhere than I did in Lancaster serving in that branch, that was
literally my home! I miss it so much. And to make things harder, I
really haven't felt like I've been able to really connect with very
many people here. Like, I love a lot of people, don't get me wrong,
they're amazing. But I haven't really felt like I'm here for anyone,
if that makes any sense. Except for Perry, there was like that instant
friendship with him. But other than that... I kind of just thought
maybe Perry was the only reason I was serving in Butler.
And then we went to the Beers last night.
They literally had that spark in them from the moment we sat down, and
I never wanted to leave their living room ever for anything. I kept
just asking them question after question, sitting on the edge of my
seat and hanging on absolutely every single word that they said. My
love for that couple was instantaneous, I could have listened to them
all day long. When 9 o clock finally rolled around I was devastated
because I knew it meant we had to leave, and it had been so hard to
set the first appointment with them, I was worried it would be like a
million years before I saw them again. But, to my great astonishment,
they invited us over TUESDAY.
Like, tomorrow, people!
So we left their house and I was just like so happy and excited, and
flying on cloud nine because I finally felt like I had found someone
other than Perry that I could connect with and I finally had my moment
where I felt like I found out why I was sent to Butler, and that is
just a great feeling.
So basically I'm super stoked for this week is all.
Finally feeling a little bit better, still gonna keep the diet simple
this week though, try not to push myself too hard. Got my purpose, got
my motivation, got my Savior... Everything I need.
How could I ever fail? :)
Love,
Hermana Bills
