November 18: Subject

Hahaha. I wrote Subject for the subject. That's humor. Creativity at it's finest.

Well, anyways. This week was literally the best, so giddddyuuUUUuuPPP. 

(Prepare yourself for so many random things. My cohesiveness in emailing today is at an all-time low.)

1. My companion. Nope. She's the best person in the entire world. She reminds me so much of my darling MTC companion, Sister U. Sister T is from a small-town in Utah that has gas station and a main road. (Just like Hatch!) She's taller than me, and has little glasses and long blonde hair. She's been home-schooled her whole life, and so I know that the things that are hard for a new missionary anyway are even more difficult for her. The good news? She is just about the most beautiful, most courageous person in the entire world. I see her going out of her comfort zone about 200 times daily, and always to help someone else. She has the most gorgeous singing voice and so many talents that lend themselves so well to helping people. She lives her life so close to the Spirit, and she's ridiculously sweet and sincere. She's like a unicorn among companions. She's majoring in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing, and she wants to write LDS Young Adult novels. No. Like. Sorry if you thought anyone you knew was better. They're NOT. :) I am so happy!!! She is super obedient, works really hard, and loves the Lord. Those are all my favorite things. BOOM. Not a companion. An angel. THANKS. I see what you did there, Heavenly Father. HIGHLY appreciated. So.

2. This week has been the week of promptings. Monday, Sister C's last P-day with me, was probably one of my favorite nights of my mission. During the day, we were running around crazy, trying to get her ready and packed to go. I killed time at Target and got to looking at layers. (If you were here in this weather, you'd understand that knit sweaters are like a siren's call.) I picked out one and went through the check out line while Sister C wrangled with returns. Upon buying it, I immediately walked over to the return counter to join her and returned it. Why? I absolutely had no idea. It was so weird. I was on auto-pilot. I just knew I needed to do it.

Our night was slow. We didn't teach anyone. It was 11 degrees out, and in the African community especially, that's hibernation weather. Everything fell through, and no one would answer their phones. We ran to the gas station for a quick bathroom break, and as we went to pull out, we were approached by a woman in a red coat.

This woman had tears frozen to her cheeks, and snot running down her face. Her eyes were wild and every movement was frantic and desperate. Her hands were chapped, and fresh tears ran down her face. I felt the most overwhelming love for her as she related her story. Her name was C. C's daughter had been stabbed seven times in Chicago, and so she'd been given charge of her grandson just as she lost her job. The two of them had been living out of her car, but she'd left it parked illegally in North Minneapolis, where it was towed. She didn't have the money to reclaim it, but she took the bus to the area because it's highly populous as far apartment complexes and people in the African community. She had ID and an obituary, but honestly, I didn't need to see those to know I wanted to help her. She didn't ask us for money, but she did ask for any food, and for pull-ups for her grandson, who'd been sitting in his mess for about a day and a half.

We called one of our ward missionaries. She's like the ward grandma, and the literal best joint-teacher in the world. She came and met us, with a coat small enough for the woman's grandson. As we waited for her, we ran to Walgreens to buy pull-ups. We couldn't bring her with us in our car, because of mission policy, but we told her to wait inside the nearest gas station. As I went through the check-out line with the pull-ups, and the woman rang me up, all the sudden I had goosebumps and tears in my eyes. The Spirit was so strong, as I looked at the price on my receipt, and thought about the sweater I had returned. They were almost penny for penny the same. 

We went back, and no matter where we looked, we couldn't find C again. I pray that we someday, we do cross paths. The opportunity to serve her and love her, regardless of how it ended, was something I thought about the rest of the night. I thought about the prompting I'd had to return that sweater, and as a missionary, it got me to thinking about my Savior Jesus Christ. It made me think of how Jesus Christ gave up His will, His want for comfort or for another way, and took upon him the sacrifice to pay the exact price for each and every one of us. And returning to that neighborhood, to that street corner, and feeling the ache when we couldn't find the person who had asked, made me think of each and every one of us. 

That help, and that sacrifice, are available to us. The price has been paid. It's been done. We've been provided for. But are we willing to ask for that help, and then give that help time to work? Are we fully aware of the help that IS there for us? 

The rest of the night, I kept thinking of the words of the scriptures. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. I know that our efforts, whether successful in a way you can measure or not, were a success to the Lord, and I am so happy I got to feel His love for me and for my sister C on Monday night. 

3. We sing in all our lessons now. I KNOW WHAT. My companion sang in President's fireside. Solo. Unreal. I cried. It's fine. Proud mom. 

4. This week, in our last hour of the night, everything fell through, and none of our less-active stop-bys would answer their phones. I asked Sister T where we could go on a Friday night that was missionary appropriate. She said, "The grocery store?" We prayed and felt good about it, so I said, if we taught a quality restoration lesson and helped someone, I'd buy her froyo. WE DID IT AND IT WAS WONDERFUL. Frozen okra and miracles. Highly recommend. President Clements texted us and said, "I love to hear of miracles in the frozen foods." Hahahaha. Also, as we were doing her training eval last night, Sister T and I shared that story and our Zone Leader was super quiet for a minute. Then he was like, "Sister T

, come here, I need to talk to you." I was like, awwww SNAP what'd I miss?

And then he said, "You are the luckiest missionary. You have a great trainer. You need to learn from her. She knows how to have fun AND do the Lord's work."

:) It made me so stinking happy. We DO have fun. Maaaaaaaaybe I had like 800 more stories to tell you. Miracles are poppin' out of the snow. LIKE DAISIES.

Gotta go. I love you and I like you!!!!!