Week 16 - Feliz Natal

 Olá tudo mundo, e Feliz Natal!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas, even though you probably weren't able to meet with all of your family or do the same Christmas traditions you usually do. It's ok, that means we get to focus more on the Savior!

Our Christmas was pretty simple. We dropped off a few treats and notes to some members, opened packages, and talked to our families! I was feeling a little extra homesick this week, so it was really nice to talk to everyone. And usually when I call, the younger kids are busy playing, or uninterested, but this week I got to talk with them too! Except Peter, he did not want to see me at all. He would only look at the screen if he was shown pictures of Mater from cars. And he would cry if the screen went back to my face. He's probably forgotten me by now, but he's super cute either way. And he's already getting so big! But yeah it was so nice to talk with them. I have the best family 

And fun fact: Elder Ethan Wride (my brother) and I are only an hour apart from each other! I'm on the far west side of Indiana, and he's on the far east side of Illinois (in the St. Louis Missouri mission), so we're just across the border from each other! Maybe we'll meet up sometime and play spike ball ;) 

I also really miss Utah. There are great places to hike, camp, ski, there's a decent amount of snow, and when it's cold, it doesn't burn your skin and make you want to die. Indiana however, is freezing, and there's not even any snow. (Except for on Christmas! You should have seen Sister Junot the other day. When she saw snow outside, she danced and jumped all over the place like a little kid yelling "Jesus liiives!!!")

And I really miss the mountains! If any of you have some pictures of the mountains feel free to send them my way! Also if you have any pictures of the star of bethlehem/Saturn-Jupiter alignment, feel free to sent those too :) 

On Christmas Eve we had zone conference! We talked a lot about showing Christ-like love to everyone, and some teaching/finding tips.

We also did a social-distanced nativity scene, with homemade costumes. Our angel costumes were pretty lit. 

Also President Page (who already kind of scares me) roasted me when I introduced myself. I mentioned that I was originally assigned to João Pessoa Brazil, and he said "Well, we don't care about that." :( He's kind of a savage.

Yesterday in church we hosted the entire church service. We taught the Relief Society, sang a musical number with the Ukulele in Sacrament meeting, then the Elders in the ward got sick, so we gave the talks too. It was a wee bit stressful. 

And our friend Kishitij came to church (via Zoom)! He has been making great progress. We've also been studying the Book of Mormon with him this week, and he's making great progress! 

Scripture of the week: 

"Adam fell that men might be; and men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25) 

I love this scripture. Everything that happens to us, and our entire reason for being here on earth is to have joy! This earth life isn't a punishment because Adam and Eve partook of the fruit and fell from Gods presence. Hard things in life are not to punish us, but teach us and give us experience! God's plan is perfect and he uses everything to bless us! So remember to keep smiling and be happy, because that's what we are here for. 

J - put Jesus first

O - Others second

Y - Yourself last

Love you all, and have a good week! 

- Sister Wride

1. Peter doesn't like me anymore :/

2. The Stumpff family! 

3. Our angel costumes

4. It's cold here

5-6. Cool christmas PJs

7. Our friend Kishitij!

8. The star of bethlehem 

Week 15 - Snowballs and Shut down

 Olá! I hope you all have had a great week! And I hope you all are ready for Christmas! 

Here's my week: 

1. Snowball fight

2. Shut down by people

3. Glenn ☹

4. Concluding remarks

1. This week after district council, all the Elders were outside in a mini snowball fight, then as we were driving away, they threw two snowballs at our car. 

Then we thought we would be really cool and get back at them, so we went around the church where they couldn't see us, and stocked up with like 10 snowballs. 

With all of our gear ready, and with the protection of our car, we drove back around the church to sabotage their pathetic little snowball fight, and surprise them all. 

I threw one snowball that hit the floor, then with that, suddenly the Elders attacked us with dozens of snowballs! One hit my head, one hit Sister Steele, then the rest went through the windows, and sprayed snow all over the car. We were outnumbered and were forced to retreat. I don't think a single one of our snowballs actually hit any of them. Moral of the story: don't have a snowball fight with Elders.

2. We didn't do much teaching this week. We had lots of lessons planned, but most of them have fallen through. And then, the two of our most (and only) progressing people have stopped talking to us. 

First of all, there's Ricky, the awesome guy who has been super receptive. He didn't show up to our lesson (again!) and he hasn't been answering his phone. Maybe he lost his phone because he's not one to just stop responding. We're a little sad. I have faith that we'll get a hold of him sooner or later though!

3. Then there's Glenn, the slightly crazy guy who we've been meeting with a lot. He's been very receptive and last week he even said he wants to be baptized! 

Then this week he told us that his aunt and his mom who he's been staying with both have Covid, so we invited him to join church via zoom call instead of in person. (Isn't it funny? We're asking people to not come to church.) Well I guess he was having a bad day, because he was highly offended by this offer, and frankly decided he wants nothing more to do with us or the church. He went off saying "I think we have come to the end of the road in our relationship. Thanking God for meeting you when I did, but I am also thanking him for having you show me just how little faith your church has." He told us how he wishes never stepped foot into our church, how no one understands him, and "Next time you invite someone in to the church, I pray to God you don't turn them away." So yeah that was nice. He does have some mental health problems, so we're thinking these hard feelings may be temporary. We'll reach out again in a week or so 

4. So yeah sometimes missionary work is frustrating. But hey, Christ and his teachings haven't always been accepted! Just because it's not accepted by everyone doesn't make it any less true! God still values our freedom to choose, which is so merciful! God will persuade and invite, but he will never force anyone to choose a certain path if they don't want to be there. Anyways but I will keep trying to invite people to come to Christ. I love our Savior, and I love His gospel so much. The more I study it and teach it, the more it rings true, and I love seeing other people's lives changing because of it! I promise if you keep following Jesus by praying and studying his words every day, you will see a significant change in your life. You will have greater perspective, and you will feel more peace and joy despite your circumstances. So remember to study the Bible and the Book of Mormon every day!

Also look out for my post on the 23rd of me playing the flute, on the Facebook page "Followers of Jesus Christ in Lafayette"! Wooo!!! 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas!! And feel free to email me 

- Sister Wride

Pictures:

1. I'm thinking of getting one of these hats. Yes or No?

2. Christmas card

3. We can't eat in restaurants (#covid) or in the car so we get to eat outside 

4. Snow! finally...

5-7. Felt cute, might delete later

Week 14 - 20 years old

 Olá Tudo mundo!

This week was great! We had some good lessons, we did more service, and I turned 20! I don't think 20 years old quite fits me though. Technically I'm a grown adult, but it doesn't feel like it. I feel like the same person that I was in 6th grade. But don't worry, I'm much less awkward than I was. 

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I feel so loved! And thanks to my amazing parents and grandparents who sent me packages! I now have enough junk food to last me the rest of my mission. That is, if I can control myself...

The members gave us lots of food too. I very much appreciate it, but they won't stop! The Smith's gave us a giant meatloaf with potatoes, and before we could finish that, the Hitchcocks give us some Brazilian rice and beans, and then last night, the Westbroeks knocked on our door with 2 dozen waffles! Then the Stumpff family gave us a cheesecake, but Sister Steele can't eat it because she's allergic to soy, and Sister Junot won't eat it because she is trying to be healthy, and then there's me, who has very little self control when it comes to cheesecake. And we can't give food away to people, so it looks like I will be eating all of it. And honestly, I'm not complaining. But yes I'm probably gonna get fat 

Also fun fact: The Momfords and Sons are in our ward. 

Brother Momford is the Bishop of our ward, and Brother Son is the ward mission leader. (If you don't get it, you need to listen to more music. Go look up the song "Cave")

I'm really loving marking my scriptures! I've developed this whole system and a color code, and I've been drawing some pictures in them (pictures attatched). It's so fun! I could spend all day reading and marking my scriptures.

We had more lessons this week, and I found more people to teach! Lately we haven't found any new people, but a big part of that is because we hardly ever do Facebook finding. Usually we're a little preoccupied with studying, planning, making posts, meetings, etc. I wish we did more to find people to teach, but we just haven't been making it a priority, which makes me sad. So this week I messaged more people, and I found quite a few that are looking for a good church to go to! And I met a few people who want to do Bible studies! I don't know if it will go anywhere, but it really showed me that if we are looking for results, all we have to do is put in a little effort! 

That reminds me of what I was reading in 1 Nephi 16, where Nephi and his family were traveling in the wilderness, and Nephi's bow broke, leaving the family with no food. While Nephi's family sat and complained against God, Nephi went and made a new bow and arrows out of wood, and went to fix the problem! Nephi went hunting, and saved his family from starvation. I love this story because it shows that God loves effort! He is perfectly willing and able to solve our problems, we just have to turn to him for guidance, and put in a little effort!

There was more that happened this week, but some things you probably won't find interesting, and other things you probably don't want to know about. I'll spare you those stories. 

But I guess that's all for this week. I love you all! And Always feel free to email me!

 - Sister Wride

1. Sister Steele, Sister Junot and me

2. The Stumpff family stopped by and gave me a present 

3. My family sent me lots of random party decorations

4. And my grandma sent me a Christmas tree 

5. We can't burn candles, but I fixed it - Also ignore the fact that there are only 18 candles on there because apparently I don't know how to count.

6-7. Scripture drawings

Week 13 - I drank coffee

 Olá tudo mundo! Como vocês estão? Dang this week went by fast. I guess I'll jump right into it:

1. Coffee

2. Breakdown

3. Glenn 

4. Charger miracle

5. Ricky + spiritual rant :)

1. I drank coffee on Monday. We went to Starbucks to get some hot chocolate, but we couldn't see hot chocolate on the menu, so we got a chocolate mocha drink instead, because we were pretty sure they were the same thing. It was not. I just took a few sips and it was an accident so it's ok! Probably... But to those of you who who have never tried coffee before, I'll just say that you guys aren't missing out. 

2. On Saturday I had a mini mental breakdown just because of how restricted we are. I'm pretty sure our mission is one of the most Covid-cautious ones out there, because we can hardly do anything outside of our apartments. Basically all we can do is study outside (in the cold), go to church, and we can go into stores. I'm sick of Covid :/ If anyone knows when this thing is gonna end, let me know

3. But it's all good! We can still teach people and that's all that matters!

We've been meeting with Glenn a lot this week. He's the guy I talked about in my last email who said he was going to restore the church fully. I made him seem like a crackhead, but he's actually not that bad! He does ramble a lot about his pyramid scheme business and seeing ghosts, but he's great. We taught him about the restored gospel and of prophets, and he's super receptive! He's been reading the Book of Mormon, and he told us that its resonated with him so well, it brought him to tears. I'm excited to see how he progresses! 

4. One cool little miracle this week was after our lesson with Ricky. He talked about how he was missing his charger, and I happened to have mine with me, and it was the same kind! So I gave it to him. I was a little sad because it was a nice charger, but then again, it's Ricky. How could I not? 

So then we stopped by the gas station to buy me a new one, plus some chocolate bars, but as we were about to pay, a member in another ward saw us and said "Hey Sisters! I'm paying for whatever you are getting." and we were like "What?? Really?!?" He was too nice. God is real you guys! It definitely showed me that I shouldn't be hesitant to give to others. God loves it when we are selfless and serve others, and He blesses us for it. 

5. Ricky is progressing so well and it makes me so happy! We can already tell that this gospel is making a difference in his life. He tells us that he is happier, he is more patient with others, and he can more easily feel peace. And he's been reading the Book of Mormon so much!! He finished 3 Nephi, 4th Nephi, he started Mormon, and then he started reading in Alma the other day, and already is in chapter 30! Wow! That's more than I read in a month. He tells us that although he doesn't understand everything, he loves the story, he's learning a lot, and he feels so much peace as he reads. 

We had another great lesson with him about the plan of salvation. He was deeply touched to hear about God's plan for us, and how there's not such a strict Heaven vs Hell, but there are 3 kingdoms of glory. We also taught him that when we are judged, we will be placed to where we choose to be, where we are most comfortable. (Email me if you want a more detailed explanation ;) Meaning if we do want to live with God again, we can and because of Christ, it's 100% possible!

That part really struck Ricky and made him tear up. He has been through a lot in his life, and he's often had the thought that although he's trying to be better and he does want to live with God again, he has sinned too much that it's too late, so "why even try?" So sad! 

If anyone is feeling this way, that they've fallen too far and they can't recover from whatever you're going through, you are wrong! No sin or mistake we make can ever push us beyond the reach of our Savior. He is always there for me and you! Even people who have died without hearing about Christ and His gospel still have the chance to hear and accept it after they die. God is SO merciful! I promise that he loves you more than we can even comprehend, and he wants what is best for you.

Have a great week, and email me if you can! But most importantly make sure you're reading your scriptures every day!!

Love you all,

Sister Wride

1-3. Cool wall art

4. We got smoothies - Also peep at Sister Steele's tag! oops.

5. Video call ft. Daniel laughing hysterically

6. Sister steele teaching me a lesson 

8. door bell ditching