July 20th, 2015
Well....almost.
What better way to end my time in Midwood than having an extra crazy
week with extra crazy people! I am being transferred which is crazy
but I am so excited for wherever I get sent! We also had a lot of
amazing spiritual highlights that you should get ready for.
So a few crazy stories: on Thursday we
decided to clean up the 178 referrals that have been sent to us in
the last week. That's 178 people who requested bibles or Book of
Mormon or pamphlets off of Mormon.org that need to be
called and have an appointment set up with. Amidst this 3-hour
ordeal we found some humorous things to keep us awake. One lady had
an email address that was something like "wifematerial@hotmail.com"
another lady's phone rang and rang and it finally went to voicemail
"hi this is Shara, please leave a message" there was some
shuffling and after a few seconds I hear "uhhhh? Oh." And
then the phone clicked. I seriously could hardly leave a message I
was laughing so hard. She like, didn't know how to turn it off.
Those are just the surface too. So many good ones. I called one lady
who agreed to meet with us and who wanted a Book of Mormon. If they
want a BOM you know it's real cause everybody and their dog wants a
bible but the people who are ready usually want a BOM. So we set up
a lesson for the next day at 10 am.
A little backtrack: Thursday
night I had to go to the foot doctor again and get Wendy dug
out and frozen off. He dug her out real good and froze the heck out
of my foot. I seriously couldn't walk! Haha. So the next morning I
get up to work out and I couldn't even stand on the dang thing, it
was so swollen! But we had this appointment at 10 and the lady
seemed to be ready to jump in the font so I was like "dang it,
we're going!" So we go to this lady's house, it wasn't far from
the church but as we walked through the neighborhood it was a bit
uncomfortable. There were different groups of large black dudes who
looked like they were doing drug deals. The building she lived in
had most of the windows broken out of the panes and it was just
super sketchy. But I guess I didn't think anything of it as we rang
her doorbell. As soon as she opened the door there were red flags
going up all over the place. Her eyes looked funny and the weed
density in the apartment was like 97% I could barely breathe. So we
started out our lesson and she quickly went into a bunch of sketchy
stuff that was going on in her life with the police, her landlord,
drug deals, and people breaking into her apartment. I was trying to
give her the benefit of the doubt as I'm sitting here listening to
her drama. My companion, mind you, has completely zoned out. She
didn't say a word the whole time. I think the weed started to get to
her. So I was trying to steer the lesson to a close but she wouldn't
let me interject! It was so weird, as I sat there listening to her
go off about her life I became more and more scared for my own life.
She talked about how if certain people knew we were in her apartment
at that moment they would come kidnap us. At the same time as I was
like, glued to my chair and terrified I felt this calm, peaceful
direction come over me. I knew exactly what I needed to say, but
most of all I knew I needed to say it RIGHT THEN because I was
starting I get dizzy. I cut this lady off mid sentence and told her
we were going to say a prayer and then leave. It was super awkward
because we were in the middle of the "lesson" but I said a
prayer that the lady would be comforted in her trials and then we
got the heck out of there. I was like "we will be in touch...!"
Hah. Not. As we walked away I reflected on the guidance I had
received and I was so grateful that I could feel the spirit even in
a situation like that and I felt very protected regardless of all
that was going on. Sometimes we need that opposition or "crazy"
so we can come back to the essential things: the gospel is true and
God protects us when we are doing His work.
So I have been on a little funk lately,
I have had a hard time talking to people on the bus. It's been weird
because I've never had a problem until this last week. So I was
sitting near the front of the bus and my companion was in the back
and this guy gets on the bus. He sat down next to me and looked at me
for a sec and then put his headphones in. You get used to people
staring at you here, usually at the name tag, sometimes just your
face cause they're creepy haha. He was listening to Florida Georgia
Line so I pointed to his phone and asked if he was from the country.
I figured God was giving me an extra boost of help to talk to people
since I was strugglin with it. We struck up a good conversation and I
was just leading into the gospel when I had to get off at my stop! I
quickly handed him a card with our phone number and the church
address on it. He just smiled and said "we should definitely
hang out!" Haha OH NO that fearless went down the drain. He
texted a few minutes later and was like "hey it's Allan, I met
you on the bus (;" oh my heck I was dying laughing it was so
awkward and sad! He def wasn't interested in learning more...about
the church at least.
A few other highlights were taking
Valerie to the temple for the first time to do baptisms, a block
party at our Ward Mission Leader's house, and having one of our
really busy investigators take time out of her schedule to come to
church on Sunday and surprise us! Valerie is ON FIRE. We taught our
investigator and brought Valerie with us and she just hit the nail on
the head when we talked about a living prophet. We started teaching
Valerie the new member lessons. Usually the way I do it is I have
THEM teach US about the restoration or whatever lesson we are doing
so we can see what they know. Dude. I felt the spirit so strong from
everything she said! She knew the whole thing and she knew it well!
It was so beautiful to see the difference in her demeanor from when
we started teaching her. The first time she walked into the church
she was sooo hyper and antsy and in this lesson she sat there calmly
and testified of the truthfulness of the restored gospel. I was one
proud mama. It is amazing to see the change in other's lives, and
even more amazing to see it in your own life and in the lives of
those you love.
It seems like everyone has been talking
about the Book of Mormon in the last few days. Reading it, knowing if
it's true, getting an answer. As I was studying this morning I felt a
very powerful spirit about those 3 things. When we read the Book of
Mormon and pray to "know" we aren't always praying
specifically about "knowing" that the book is true. At
least for me, as I read and pray, I receive clear and undeniable
guidance about directions to take in life, and knowing that, in turn,
helps me to know the Book of Mormon is true because it answers the
questions of MY soul. It doesn't matter what the question is. It
doesn't matter what the answer is. But the fact that we do
receive answers is what matters. I know that the heavens are open. I
know we can be guided in our lives on how to best follow the strait
and narrow path back to our Father. He gives us the path and all the
things we need, it is up to us to figure out how to apply the
teachings He has given to our current situations. I know the gospel
is true. It is everlasting and infinite, just like Christ's
atonement. I love my Savior and am grateful for what He has done for
us. May we ever watch for ways to become more like Him.
Thank you for your love and support!
Sister Wadsworth
1. Missionary desk...cause I know you
all care.
2. Block party!
3. The twins from Paris
4. Last district hurrah before Rogers
and Shippen go home.
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