He finally did it!

Our Mission District

Dearest Family,

Well another week come and gone. My apologies for not letting you know my Pday was not on Monday!! Haha last Monday night Sister Rendon was like "OH NO!! We didn't tell them our P-day got moved because of the holiday!" Woops! Sorry about that. Haha. Our p-day got moved because yesterday was a holiday and they wanted us working. It always throws me off when that happens!! 

Also, we had Zone Conference on Thursday and they told us we can't read our emails throughout the week anymore. President and Sister Craven realized that before the iPads we couldn't read them throughout the week, so with the iPads, the rules shouldn't change. They are very good at being obedient :) So we are being obedient too! So I wouldn't mind letters sometimes ;) 

Sister Missionaries: Rendon, Adams, Reading, Kenyon

Ahh. Where to start with this week? It's starting to hit me that I have been in Colfax for a very long time. I guess 7 months (On Sunday it will be 7 months!) isn't that long in the grand scheme of things, but for a missionary it is! But that's alright :) I do love it here, but sometimes I wonder if I am still benefiting the area! 

At our Zone Conference, they trained us on how to use the pictures in the front of the paperback Book of Mormons to teach people about the Book of Mormon, and I totally had never thought of using the pictures before!! They also told us we needed to step it up on giving out the Book of Mormon, because the mission office is jam packed with them. Apparently the church has a formula for how many Book of Mormons missions are sent based on how many companionships there are. Obviously we are not giving out as many as we should because the mission has stopped ordering them! They also counseled us to have them in our hands everytime we go to the store, or a public place. So Sister Rendon and I decided to take up their advice! Our dinner cancelled Friday night, so we went to Sheetz, and had our Book of Mormons out the whole time. We were there for about a half hour at a table when a guy sitting across the aisle from us saw our Book of Mormons on the table and said "Can I ask you a question? What makes your church so different from the other ones around here?" I was like "Perfect!!!" So I gave a brief explanation, and started talking about the Book of Mormon, and I thought "I need to use the pictures!" And then I turn to Sister Rendon and bam! There she is already with the pictures. Haha. It was just perfect! We gave him a copy and he said that he would start reading it and we set up a return appointment! We were so excited and just laughed at how perfect it was. Following the counsel of leaders really works!!

Drum roll... After 6 months of knowing (Sam), he is really really getting baptized on Sunday! Yay! It's been amazing to see the transformation. He still has struggles with being depressed sometimes and his financial situation, but he is SO much better than before. It really is amazing to watch the gospel transform people. I can't wait for you to meet him one day. He is quite the character. He makes a LOT of sound effects. On Sunday he was talking to Sister Rendon and I and was saying "I have an idea for a musical number for my baptism! Just call Salt Lake and tell them to send the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!!" You could tell he had been thinking about that joke for a while, by the expressions of "That's funny, right??" on his face. 

There is a man named (Jack) who we have been teaching for a while. Actually, we hardly get to teach because he talks a LOT. But anyway that's ok. Some people like to talk :) We sometimes have a hard time getting through to him. But yesterday Sister Rendon invited him to read 2 Nephi 31, and later we had a voicemail on our phone and he told us he read it and he really liked it!! Also at our Zone Conference President Craven taught us how when we are at people's houses, we should ask if we can see their computer, and then pull up mormon.org for them and leave it on their browser so when we leave, that's what's up on their computer. I did that with (Jack) and I think it really worked!! Yay! 

Yesterday we tried to "street contact" at the park, since it was a holiday. Obviously I do not know how to do it very well, because we were trying to be not weird and just sat on a park bench trying to small talk with people and try to lead to a gospel conversation. Well, it was super awkward and I clearly can't make it normal yet. Because at one point this lady was like "So what are you doing here? Just like... observing and studying or something?" Ahh! Hahaha I realized how weird we looked. Two girls with no kid or even a dog just sitting on a park bench, trying to talk to people. So embarrassing. Good thing I will probably never see any of those people again in my life.Missionary problems... :) 

We're still trying to help (Dorothy) set a date for her baptism. We don't really know what else to do! Funny story that was kind of awkward - her husband was baptized in 94 and isn't very active, but really loves the church. Anyway, we met with them at Bishop's house, and Bishop said "Hey we could work with (Marvin) so that he could baptize you, (Dorothy)!" and she laughed super hard and was like "Haha.. No." It was so awkward. Haha. We have no idea why she didn't want him to. 

So numbers aren't important at all, but Sister Rendon and I were so happy because on Friday we taught 7 lessons in one day (that has NEVER happened to us) and we taught 20 lessons in the whole week (also, NEVER had happened, and has been our goal for months). So that was great :) :) 

Things are good! It's kind of funny having the same schedule every morning. Throughout the day we have variety and different things happen, but it's kind of weird doing the exact same thing every morning at the same time. I even eat the same cereal. Frosted mini wheats. I don't know why, but that has been my favorite cereal since like April, and it still is. Oh also, our mission is doing a 40 day fast, where we have to give up something for 40 days, and Sister Rendon and I are probably going to do desserts. IT'S GOING TO BE SO HARD! Hahaha. But I figure it's only 40 days and then I can eat desserts the rest of my life. Haha.



This was taken at IHOP before the 40 day dessert fast.



I love reading the Book of Mormon :) Thank you all for sharing your insights! I love it! Something from this last week that I liked was in 1 Nephi 14:14, when Nephi is talking about how the righteous have the power of God. I reflected a lot on the subtle, sometimes undetectable influence and power that followers of Christ have. You can't really put your finger on it, but it is an influence that cannot be faked or brought about by the world. The best way to be a force for good is to be close to Heavenly Father and strive to live Christ's teachings. When I think about the future and how I can raise good kids, or be a good friend, or fulfill my callings, it simply comes back to being close to Heavenly Father and Christ and listening to the Spirit. If I can always work on being closer to Him, I will be ok. Someone who is close to Heavenly Father cannot go astray for very long. 

Anyway, I love you all!! Thanks so much for everything.

Love, Sister Adams

The Best Mission District!