17 January 2011
Dear Mum, Papa, and Family,
So yeah, Sister P and I are both staying for the next six weeks. And then, I am betting one of us would leave. They wouldn't leave us both in the same area, in the same companionship. We will have 6 months together by the end of this transfer. That’s a pretty long time. But they are extending people's stays in areas. I think it's so people can get used to the ward, the area, and the companion and then be able to work hard. Those first weeks of moving into a new area are so hard, and never as productive as the end. So hopefully this will up the productivity of the mission. But we'll see. Some sisters have been with the same companions for 9 months and are still together. Although that sounds great to be with Sister P for that long, I think other sisters would help me grow more by that point. But right now we are doing great and growing lots, and working hard! Love it!
That’s so adorable that Hailey put halfway on her facebook! Goodness, how did I get so lucky to have such a GREAT best friend!? I love her!!!
And J Cis married too? They are dropping like flies. Good for him! Ha-ha. Is E H married yet? A B wrote me this week, and updated me on the engaged group. I am missing so many weddings. I also got a letter from M, and she is getting married in a few months! I miss her, and I am sad I won't be there for the wedding. Hopefully I’ll get pictures.
I love the journal entries. I just got my LCR quiz back, I did so well. I filled out every entry! With every wrong answer! I thought at least I could have more creative answers?
So things here are going well. We are working hard. We had the MOST ridiculous experience this week. So we went to a lady's home for a lunch appointment, and then we took her out teaching with us. We went to this man's home that we had met a few weeks earlier (because our appointment flogged us), and this man apparently is losing his memory. So he didn't know who we were, but he invited us in. we taught him a bit of the restoration and shared a book of Mormon with him and invited him to church. By the end we were realizing that his memory was really bad because he kept repeating a lot of things. So we went back to drop off S, then drove to our dinner appointment. When we got there, I asked Sister P for the phone. And she thought I had it. I thought she had it. Neither one of us had it! So we had to look through our planners to find the old man's phone number so that we could see if he could see if we left our phone. He didn't even remember that we had just come to his home. So we asked him to look for a little mobile phone and we'd call him back. When I called back, he asked”what does the leaflet that I am looking for look like?” I said, "Actually it's a little black and silver mobile phone", and he then remembered and said that that's what he had been looking for and he'd keep looking. This conversation happened maybe four or five times until we were satisfied that he had remembered to look and that it wasn't there. During this fiasco, we were also trying to get hold of S to see if we had left the phone in her home. Her phone was busy the WHOLE time we tried. And of course, us being the smart cookies we are, we also called our mobile phone so hopefully someone could hear it and answer it. But no luck. Well, we were in the dark without a mobile phone for about three hours. Not able to track it down. We went to another lesson, and then raced back to S's to hopefully be able to find it. When we got to S's flat complex, the fire alarm was going off, and we found out that it had been going off for the last two hours. So no wonder she didn’t' hear our phone going off. But the phone ended up being in her bathroom. We grabbed it, raced home, and were home on time. What a mess! That teaches us! From now on, we will have to always check who has the phone. Phones. They are nuisances. That was a good story of the week.
Anyway. Not much else to report really. We have some REALLY good goals for the next transfer. We are so grateful for our time in Evesham. The branch is having a hard time at the moment, but we know that when we are being tried it's because something really good is going to happen. And we think it's that G will get baptized soon.
Speaking of G. We have been praying about how to help G get to the waters of baptism. And we realized that he has a testimony, but he doesn't recognize it as such. But he doesn't mind sharing it with others. He shares the plan of salvation with people so much. Of course he knows it's true! So we prayed about it, and both Sister P and I feel like we need to take G out teaching with us. So we called him and told him we were prompted to take him out teaching with us, and that we feel that it will help him, and he immediately said yes. G is so willing to do anything to feel the spirit, and to know what's true. He is truly amazing, and everyone in the branch is seeing a huge change in G. It’s soon!!! We know it's soon!
We are also teaching a man named H. He is the husband of a semi less active member. And she is adorable. They have two little kids, and Gm (the wife) is going to raise the children LDS, so H is taking the lessons to learn about the church for purely informative reasons. But we have been teaching them, and we think that this may lead to him being baptized. We had a really funny experience. We were sitting there, talking to H about his questions. And he said that he just doesn't understand the book of Mormon or Joseph Smith, that it just seems too farfetched. This is when Gm said "well, H, you have to pray about it to know if it's true. That’s the only way. But you aren't going to do that because you just want to learn about the church, so you will never know." and H just gave her this look like he was annoyed and now he is going to pray and find out. It was great. Hopefully this reverse psychology will work on H. They are an awesome family though. They have the most beautiful house in the whole world. And Gm offered for us to be able to stay there when you come and pick me up. She really wants us to. So that's an option. But they have the cutest babies. One is a little two year old girl - E. And there is a four month old boy named B. The most beautiful, posh family I have ever met. They are amazing! (Every time we think of H, we think of What's Up Doc. We should start calling him Steve.)
We are teaching T and Tm still. We are still praying about how to bring up them getting married so that they are able to be baptism candidates. Their issue has been that neither T nor Tm has a job and they have this one year old baby. And they would lose their benefits from the government if they were to get married. But a blessing has come in the way of a job for Tom. We are still waiting to hear back, but hopefully T has been able to get a good job. That will help things dramatically. And we brought a young married girl from the ward with us teaching them last week, and it made all the difference. And so we are going to teach her tonight with the same girl and her husband. Fellow shippers are the key! So pray for T and Tm please!
Anyway, that's all here at the moment. Things are great! Love life and love being on a mission! I can't believe that yesterday was 9 months. Halfway through. Crazy!
Well, I love you all! I know that this church is true, and I know I am in the right place! I am so grateful for my chance to be here, and I am grateful for all your prayers, letters, and support! Thank you for everything! Love you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!
All my love heaped up pressed down and running over,
Sister Ann/Annie Clark
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