4/22/13

AHHH!!!! I LOVE THOSE PICTURES!!!! those kids are just so stinkin' cute!!! I can't believe how big they both are! MICHAEL WEIGHS AS MUCH AS HALEIGH????? That's insane! He's going to be an NFL player one day - for sure!

Sounds like you guys have been busy this weekend! That's so awesome to hear how everyone is doing!

Things here are going well! Sis. O'Driscoll's new comp is fantastic! She was one of the training sisters at the Kirtland sites (she ran the sites). She has 2 transfers left in her mission and then she's home to Idaho Falls! She really knows what she is doing and they are already having a ton of success!

Chucky is doing good. We had a church tour with him Thursday night. It was fantastic! We ended in the Chapel. Sis. Carlson and I sang "I Need Thee Every Hour". He said that he could really feel the spirit. We asked him to say the closing prayer and he cried! He said one of the most sincere, heartfelt prayers I have ever heard! It was so awesome. Then later on we found out that there might be some potential problems. It looks like he is going to become a father here soon. We're not quite sure how that is going to effect his baptismal date (Which we have already had to push back 3 weeks). So hopefully he can get that figured out and then we can either teach his family or just him or no one. We're not quite sure...

Jason is now in the other sisters' area. We have split the Massillon ward into north and south. I am on the south side and Sis. O'D and her trainer are on the north side, where Jason is.

The split has been the source of a lot of frustration and confusion for the ward and us. We have some members, the Hildebrands, in the ward who are so awesom! They would do anything for the missionaries. THey live for the missionaries. Because there are less members on the south side, we aren't being fed very often. The Hildebrands are convinced that we are starving. which we aren't. So they came to the transfer meeting on Tuesday and talked with President. Bro. Hildebrand chewed him out about the rules. We aren't allowed to go out of our area, even for dinners, and we can only meet at the same members' home twice a month. So Bro. Hildebrand was yelling at President over this stuff and got him to agree that we were allowed to go to his house once a week and that he could bring the north sisters food if they needed it too. It was so embarresing. We felt so bad for president. So we went up after and appologized and talked to him about it. Hopefully Bro. Hildebrand can let it go and just move on, but he most likely won't. A lot of the members don't understand that these aren't rules that the president makes up, these are rules from the first presidency. and if we aren't being obedient to these rules, we won't have the spirit with us. We teach by the spirit and if we don't have it then what are we doing? SO we've been trying to explain this, I think they are starting to understand...

Right now I'm doing good with stuff. We do have a washer and dryer in our apartment building, we have to use quarters though. But it's better than some. We usually don't have a lot of time on P-Day to get everything done that we need to, it's really frustrating. Today after we email we are going to Steak N' Shake with the Elders and then we are going to play sand volleyball outside! We can't wait. We also need to go clean our car - inside and out, and do laundry and go to the store and eat dinner. Then we are helping the Rohrers move! Rick's sister-in-law's husband just died and with the insurance money she bought them a beautiful home - fully furnished! So there isn't much moving to do, just some cleaning.
But a typical day for us starts when we get up at 6:30. We try and exercise till 7. then we get ready for the day. at 8 we start our personal study and then from 9-11 we have companion study. at 11 we usually have lunch and then start proselyting our have appointments. we get an hour for dinner at 5 and then we usually don't get home every night until 9. we plan for the next day till 9:30/45ish and then go to bed at 10:30. It's pretty crazy. I'm still exhausted all the time. We call it righteous fatigue. :)

BUt things are going good! we have been blessed a lot this week and have seen the hand of the Lord in this work.

We have this investigator, Debbie, who is married to a convert. We have been having such a difficult time trying to get her to read the Book of Mormon. As we were studying, we came across Alma 32. It talks about how faith isn't perfect and that if we just exercise a particle of that faith that it will grow within us. It compares the word (the Book of mormon) to a seed and that as you experiment on the word that the seed will begin to grow within you and will become delicious to you. This really hit home for Debbie. I love Alma 32. Because it tells us that it's okay that we don't have a perfect knowledge, we only need a desire. We have to be dilligent and patient as we nourish that seed, but once we do it will sprout up into the tree of everlasting life! The scriptures need to be like air to us, we must read the Book of Mormon daily! I have learned so much from the Book of Mormon in the last 2 months. I have read scriptures that I have read a hundred times and suddenly they make so much sense to me in ways I never thought they could. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS AWESOME!!!!! I want to give a copy to everyone I see! READ IT!!! Seriously, there is nothing better that you can do with your time than to read the Book of Mormon.

Well I love you guys! I miss you so much! I have your pictures all over my room. I think about you all everyday!

I hope you guys are all amazing and that you can see the Lord's hand in your lives!

 

love you!

Rachel