Week 42 - Kyren got baptized and we're actually really sad about it

 Wow, this week was crazy! But it was awesome. 

Mini highlights :)

- Our friend Sherry randomly decided to quit smoking and drinking coffee!! We didn't even ask her to :)

- Our friend Rita actually read the pamphlet we gave her and had a lot of great questions in our lesson!

- We ran into George again, the creepy old dude who called me a pretty lady. I guess he didn't remember meeting us last time, because he asked the same questions about where we're from, how old we are, and if we have boyfriends. He also said some other suggestive things that I don't want to share. It was kind of funny though.

Miracle donuts

Here's a cool miracle for ya! So we were studying at a little restaurant/grocery store, and as we were leaving, Sister Kinikini spotted some donuts, and she said she felt a prompting to go get some. We got two each, then Sister Kinikini felt like she needed to get some fries too. We got some fries, then as we went to check out, there was an older guy just ahead of us in line, who asked "Why are you ladies dressed so nicely?" We explained that weare missionaries, and he said "Oh you all are Jesus lovers, that's wonderful! Once you finish checking out, I want to talk to you for a bit." We had a super solid conversation about Jesus and swapped numbers!

It's a good thing Sister Kinikini followed those promptings! If we hadn't have taken the time to get donuts and fries, we wouldn't have run into him haha. So when in doubt, folllow those cravings because they might lead to something good :)

Kyren got baptized...

Ok, now for Kyren. So idk if you remember Kyren, but he's someone we met back in May, when some Elders in Michigan city called saying "Hey, we have a baptism for you!" We've met with him a few times, and he's super elect. He's read the entire Book of Mormon front to back while he was in prison and he has such a strong testimony of the Savior. He wanted to be baptized ASAP but we had to tell him "not yet", because we had to go through all the lessons. We put him on date for June 27th, but then he stopped responding to us and we haven't had a lesson since. ☹ Then yesterday (July 27th), we look on his Facebook and we see THIS:

   FB_IMG_1624841936512.jpg

KYREN NOOOOO!!!!! 

That's not the right church! Sister Kinikini and I were screaming, but also laughing because it's kind of hilarious. So close, yet so far... I truly admire his devotion to God and his eagerness to be baptized, but it is one of those things that has to be done the right way. It needs to be done with Gods power, so it can be bound on earth and in heaven. (See Matthew 16:19) To do anything under Gods power (to baptize, build a church, preach the gospel) you need to have His preisthood authority, which comes directly from Jesus Christ! It doesn't come by saying a prayer or reading the Bible or getting a certificate.

Soooo yeah. We're gonna have to clear up some things with him. He's an awesome guy and his heart is in the right place, he just missed a few crucial details. Oh boy, I don't even know what to do with him.  

Transfer news

And last but not least, we got some transfer news!!

After 4 transfers of being in Niles, Sister Kinikini is going to Plainfield Indiana, I will be staying here in Niles, and we're both training!!! Aka, we're both pregnant!  Not only that, but both of the Elders in the ward are leaving, so my greenie and I will be taking over their area and all of the people they're teaching!!  We're going to be crazy busy! I'm actually super stressed. I guess God decided it was time to slap some responsibility on to me because I've been slacking for the past 9 months. This will be good for me though, I hope I don't do too much damage. I could use some prayers though haha.

I love you all, and I hope you have a fabulous week! Tchau tchau!

- Sister Wride

1. Draw 20 

2. Lil Peter

3-4. The District

5. The sweet ladies we do service with

6. Rita :)

7. The Tropps! Brother Tropp is our Ward mission leader, and the very definition of a mission dad.

8. It's been raining so much that the river flooded

9-10. Michigan is beautiful!

Week 41 - Lake Michigan

 Oi tudo mundo! 

This week was great! We had an awesome mission tour and zone conference with President and Sister Johnson from the Seventy (our first zone conf without masks or social distancing :)), we went on exchanges, we had some great lessons, and I'm learning more every day!

This week when we went over to Teresa's house with the Spanish Elders, and she had a friend over. Teresa, being the amazing member missionary that she is, asked her friend if he wanted to hear a message from the Elders and right there, we taught him about the restoration! It was super cool. It was all in Spanish, but I understood most of it, and I was super close to bearing my testimony in broken Spanish, but it's probably a good thing I didn't because that probably would have left him confused. But it was awesome! Teresa is so kind-hearted and she's always looking out to serve others. And she loves the gospel so much, that it just naturally flows out in every interaction she has! She bore a very sweet testimony of the Book of Mormon to her friend, and the Elders gave him a copy and a restoration pamphlet, and agreed to meet again later! It was great.

We drove out to New Buffalo to drop off a Spanish Bible, but they weren't home, so we dropped it off at the door. As we were leaving, we saw a guy walking to the house, so we asked "Did you request a Bible?" and he replied "Yo no hablo Ingles." Well it's a good thing I was there because I whipped out my Portuñol skills and asked "Tu quieres una Bíblia?" And he said he couldn't read, so I said "Tu quieres aprender mas sobre Jesucristo?" and he said "Si" So I gave him a pass along card with our number and the VeniraCristo.org website, and kinda just grunted at him since that's about as far as my Spanish will go. The gift of tongues is real! I felt pretty awesome but I think he was a little confused. Hopefully he looks at the website, but also I don't know how well that will go if he can't read... 

After that we were able to stop by lake Michigan!! Idk if we were allowed to, but we were right there, and how could we not?

It was so big and so pretty, it looked like the ocean. We skipped some rocks and took some pics, and it was a good time. 

Another highlight of this week was that I saw a FIREFLY!!! I was so excited and ran out and caught it, then we brought it inside and it flew around our apartment for a while, it was super fun.

I think that's about it for this week. But I hope you all are doing well, and I love you all!

Tchau tchau!

- Sister Wride

1. Donuts in the parking lot 

2, 5, 6. We took a video at the Michigan/Indiana video with the district and we got rained on 

3. Sister Kinikini and I

4. Sister Pratt :D

5. This was a weird conversation I had 

6-7. Lake Michigan

9. This is how excited we get when people come to church

Week 40 - HALFWAY THERE

 Oi pessoal! 

Wow, I'm halfway done with my mission!! I feel like I just got here, idk what happened.. But missions are seriously the best experiences ever. I've learned so much about Jesus Christ and His gospel, I've learned a lot about myself, and my love for others has grown so much! If you're considering going on a mission, do it!!

This week was pretty slow though. Lots of our friends haven't been responding :/ But we had a few good lessons. 

Also please say a prayer for Teresa, because she's going through a lot with her family situation. She told us her whole life story and holy moly, she's had a hard life! But I'm so amazed by her faithfulness. She totally could have been bitter because of her trials, but instead she's relied on God even more. She is such a happy lady, you would never think she's been through so much. And that's what's so amazing about this gospel! Saints can be happy under any circumstance! 

Just like President Nelson has said: "When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation... and Jesus Christ an His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy." 

Anyways, Teresa is so amazing! She's just eating up this gospel, she's reading everything she can get her hands on and is anxious to learn. I love her!

I love all of the people here. Some of them are a little weird, and some of them share too much, but Michigan/Indiana is the best! And it is so pretty here!! I'll attach pictures but just know that they do not do it justice. 

Other things this week: 

• A few weeks ago we gave a Bible to a guy from Nepal, and this work we finally had a first lesson with him! 

• We got like 10 online referrals! (2 of which we have lessons set up with)

• Kyren is on date but hasn't been showing up for lessons

• We went to the Ferriss' for dinner and they have the cutest home ever! It's in the middle of the woods and it's so pretty.

• We hosted a live video (go watch it on the page Followers of Jesus Christ in South Bend.)

Well that's about all I have, but remember that God loves you, e lembre-se de ler as escrituras e orar todos os dias!

Amo vocês!

- Sister Wride

1. Sister Kinikini got this super awesome shot of me doing a heel-click

2. Meme for your enjoyment

3. Our friend named Rat gave me this lovely gift

4. District Pday

5. Pretty trees 

Week 39 - Tracting and street contacting??

Wow! What a week. Sorry (not sorry) for the long email! Even if you don't read it, I would genuinely love to hear what you're up to!!

Covid update 

We got some big news! Last Monday, President Page called the entire mission together for a special announcement, and said that covid restrictions in Indiana have been lifted!! Missionaries now can eat in members homes, we don't have to wear masks or social distance, AND we can street contact, and even go tracting!!! (On a limited basis.) 

BUT, that only applies for Indiana. And we're in Michigan. The ONE companionship stuck in Michigan. 

  

So basically the entire mission is just having a party doing whatever the heck they want, while Sister Kinikini and I are banished out here in the boonies, trying not to be salty as we hear everyone's success stories of knocking doors and being able to talk to people face to face.

We feel discriminated. But, we did discover that there is a teeny tiny pocket of Indiana in our area, and it has like 5 houses. So we're going to go there and knock those 5 houses and we will baptize all of them.

Although we are still in covid land here, we do get to go to Indiana for meetings. We didn't have to wear masks for district council this week, and it was seriously the greatest thing ever!! I didn't fully appreciate before how nice it is to see people's faces. Everyone was smiling the whole time and giving each other fist bumps, but the best part, is that Sister Kinikini and I got a hug from Sister Page!! She technically wasn't supposed to, but she felt bad for us two.

Kyren is on Date!

So, a few weeks ago I mentioned how we got a call from some missionaries in Michigan city, saying that they have someone in our area who wants to be baptized! His name is Kyren, he has such a strong testimony and is super prepared. He wants to be baptized ASAP but it's kind of weird because we don't know any of his background or what he has been taught. But he has met with missionaries before, and has read the entire Book of Mormon! On Tuesday he told us that needed to be baptized this Sunday, and although I love the enthusiasm, we need to make sure he knows what he is committing to, and we need to clarify some things. (See screenshot) So we're just cruising through the lessons (which is a little repetitive for him) and he's on track to be baptized on June 26th! I'm just hoping he's already been taught the Word of Wisdom and Law of chastity lessons. 

Bible Bashing

We went over to Teresa's house the other day (our cute little recent convert friend) with the South Bend Elders. Her husband joined, and at first we were super excited but then he came in with like 3 Bibles and started bashing us. He asked us all sorts of questions like "How can you be an Elder if you don't have kids?" "Are we saved by grace or works?" and "Is there any evidence for your Mormon Bible?" We answered all of his questions respectfully, but he didn't actually seem that interested in what we were saying, he just wanted to disprove our beliefs. He wanted things proven to him. Although there is a lot of compelling evidence for the things we believe, the most powerful and confirming witness we receive comes from the Holy Spirit. I just testified to him that I know this church is true, and I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God not because it's been proved to me, but because there is such a joyful spirit that comes from it! (Matt 7:20) I've seen all the good that it has done for my life and others, and for me that's all the evidence I need! 

Mistakes

I've been making lots of mistakes lately. I don't know why, but I'm kind of forgetful, and sometimes Sister Kinikini gets a little annoyed haha. She's constantly reminding me of things. I forget names and appointments, I get distracted, I don't pay attention, I zone out as I'm being talked to, I fall asleep during Facebook funding, and I do dumb things like the other day, when I got a piece of chocolate stuck in the car air vent and it made a big mess. They are small innocent things, but I have been getting frustrated with myself because I'm trying the best I can, but I keep messing up over and over again. 

But I've learned that the atonement isn't just to fix our sins, but it's also to fix our mistakes! So I've started repenting for every little mistake I make. And guess what? It works! As I've been repenting every day, I've been better at remembering things, I make better choices, I'm more energized, and I have the spirit with me more strongly! It's just like magic. When we turn to God and use the atonement of Jesus Christ, He will amplify our efforts, and help us accomplish things that we can't do on our own. 

I know that there is power that comes from Christ's atonement. If you feel stuck, or frustrated because you keep falling back into the same old habits, turn to Christ! He will work miracles in your life, and fix things that you can't fix on your own.

So my challenge for you, is to repent every day! If you can't think of anything to repent of, ask God and he'll offer a few suggestions :)

Tchau tchau for now!

- Sister Wride