Hello family and friends! I hope you
are doing well and have had a wonderful week!
Remember our
good neighbor friend David who walked us out a couple weeks ago? Well, it has
been my personal challenge to be nicer to that man than anyone I've ever met. I
was dancing in the parking lot this morning and as he gets into his car says,
"Are you training for something?" I told him briefly about trying to
keep in shape (...haha I WISH) by dancing/running every day for the folk dance
team. He then said, "I want you to know that I really appreciate what you
do. The reason I walked you out the other day was because how you got into our
apartment was deceitful. You know what I mean?"....HAHAH!!! It's crazy how
opening a door works. Anyway, long story short-please pray for David. One day he'll
like me, "but that day is not today".. haha!
This week was actually really cool!
The branch was hit hard with some pretty major tragedies, and I don't know if
I've ever seen God's hand more in our lives. On the 4th, one of our member's
apartment burned and she lost everything. The kid above her was playing with
fireworks and one didn't completely finish burning. She thankfully was at work,
but has to get new everything.
The more I have
thought about it, the more I see it as God's greatest blessings to her. She is
financially struggling MAJORLY due to poor choices, and I thought she was going
to be homeless before I left the area. Now that her place burned, she will be
able to get an apartment closer to work, and she is able to gt even nicer
things than she had. They let her go through what she could for 15 minutes a
few days later, and she actually was able to find a bin with her only son's
baby pictures. Isn't that so cool! Not only was God able to save her
financially, He is able to give her something even greater in return-and is
able to bless the branch with an opportunity to serve.
We also found out yesterday that one
of my favorite less active members has stage 4 breast cancer. She bawled as I
rubbed her back for a while. I didn't really know what to say when she told us,
but I read some scriptures with her and gave her many, many tissues. We visited
her last night, and it was good to be with her. We talked with her about
possible solutions, but mainly we just listened. All of the sudden, I said,
"One of my favorite things about being a missionary is that we have
literally been set apart to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. As such, we have
been given the authority to act in His name" I randomly opened up my
scriptures and read Mosiah 4:9 'Believe in God; believe that he is,
and that he created all things, both in heaven and in
earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and
all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth
not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend'. I then said
"I promise you in the name of Jesus Christ that if you will either move
out of or marry your boyfriend, you will be healed. God loves you and wants you
to obey Him".
WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I
started freaking out in the car afterwards. I asked her if she believed me, and
when she said "Yes", I testified that I knew God loved her. It was actually
a really neat experience
(Sorry the font changed, and I don't
know how to change it back!)
This week I also got to spend a
night in Cadillac as well as in Mt. Pleasant in my old apartment!!! It was so
weird to be back there, and 6 months of memories definitely came
back. I am grateful for Mt. Pleasant, but I was sure glad to come back
home to Petoskey! We traveled all over because we had Zone Training,
and I ended up teaching part of it. My topic was "working with
Members" and I prayed for days on what I should do. I couldn't figure
anything out, and all of the sudden, the idea of "Etiquette" came to
my mind. I literally taught 60 missionaries how to eat right and why they
should. I kept thinking about all of my "lessons" with Dad downtown
at Lambs and it was actually really fun! We had a practice teach where a couple
missionaries eat very poorly in front of President and Sister Jacobsen (who had
no idea what was going on) and it went really well. We also talked about asking
members "Why are you active?" and helping members remember why they
are doing what they are doing. Thanks for all of the idea that helped me!
This week I was thinking about a
cute little family I met quiet a few months ago who weren't interested. I
thought we should try again, and they said yes!! (I usually just act like I've
never met the people because I was in about 300 lbs of coats the last time I
knocked on their door...but their 6 year old girl looked at me and said "I
think I've seen you before" Shoot! I guess it doesn't work every
time! Ha!)
The fourth was fun-kinda. We were
given ALL day to play around. But we got to bored we ended up teaching a guy
and picking him up as a new investigator! The coolest part of the 4th was
dancing in a parking lot as the sun set into the water, and then watching the
fireworks over the water. Seriously, Petoskey is the coolest place ever!!
Overall, I am doing so well. I am
loving life, and I can't wait until Huntie is a missionary! I have
a referral waiting for him once he is in the field. You would think
that Petoskey and Nashville were like Sandy and Draper by the amount of
people that know people in each place. I can't wait until I get to send Hunter
some names of people to teach.
I testify that Jesus Christ lives.
He is the Son of the Living God. We have a Prophet on the Earth today who
allows us to know true doctrine. I am so grateful to know that this church
teaches the doctrine that Christ taught. I love Him.
Have
a wonderful week!!
Sister Ensign
