falls through :) Honestly, we're not too discouraged because
sometimes, that's just how it goes. We put forth as much effort we can
and rely on the spirit, but people still have their agency.
Terry came to church!! The insurance company put her up in a hotel and
she is trying to get her strength back from everything that has gone
on. She made it through sacrament meeting AND Sunday school! She's
excited to go and see her son and her granddaughter in Vegas. But she
leaves Thursday and won't be back for another like 10 days. She has a
renewed resolve to quit smoking!
No Tammy this week because she has to take care of family issues :/
Peter is seriously the greatest human alive. So we sat down one day to
read the Book of Mormon, as usual. We got to talking a little bit when
I realized that I don't know a whole lot about Peter's life. I hadn't
sat down and just found out who he is and where he comes from. I mean,
I knew the general stuff that you need to know as a missionary to help
teach him, but I was curious. Not quite sure how we got on the
conversation, but he started telling us about when the Japanese
invaded his home island Chuuk. He talked about how the Japanese
soldiers stayed on the island and set up factories there. He also
talked about a Japanese spy who notified the American army of what was
going on and how the Chuukese people were being treated. When an
American bomber flew over, he pointed a huge spotlight at the plane
and then at the spot where the Japanese ship was so they could bomb
it. Peter was telling us about a farmer who planted his crop and
arranged his potatoes to signal the Americans of where to look to
strike. Apparently, Peter was one of 9 councilmen from his town. There
is one mail warehouse for the whole island that everyone goes to. We
have Peter's address in Chuuk for when he moves back and we want to
send him letters :) There's so much more he told us and I could have
sat there for forever listening to his life. Btw his family found a
new apartment and moved in at the nic of time. Peter is so grateful.
RYAN IS ON DATE TO BE BAPTIZED ON SEPTEMBER 3!!! Oh happy day. We
could feel the spirit so strong in that lesson. Ryan was telling us
that it feels right and he feels ready. He's been taught for so long,
but it wasn't until a few months ago that he really started
progressing. He wants to come to church as much as he can with his two
jobs. He really wants to be a full member, be a true part of the
church. We're so happy to help this family as they continue to make
covenants with our Heavenly Father and progress towards being sealed
as an eternal family in the temple.
Ok so crazy person from the week: We were knocking doors along the
street where an inactive member lives. We stopped on the far side of a
random house's driveway to look at our map to see where some more
potentials would be when I spot this figure lurking up and peeking
over his fence. He yells out, "What are you doin!?" He couldn't see
Sister Cichos from where he was at, only me. We were like, "Checking
our map to see where we're headed next." Then he yells, "Where'd you
come from?" So naturally I said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints" lol. He got mixed up and thought we were the JWs. I
was all like, no not really have you ever heard of mormons? Yeah
that's us. How are you doing today, have you ever met with the
missionaries before, we're sharing a scripture from the Book of
Mormon, would you like a copy, blah blah blah the whole shpeel. He
sounded sane at that point, but boy was I wrong. He starts going off
on how our church had some messed up history in hating black people
and that if we were taught correctly, we would know that the whole
human race can be traced back to African ancestors through DNA and how
he is ex FBI and all this other crazy stuff.
We were just like, well our church doesn't practice that hate and God
loves all people. He wasn't hearing a thing. I gave up and said, well
sir, I didn't get to learning that in all of the science classes I've
taken in my lifetime. Theeeeen he asks us who we are going to vote
for!! He went off like y'all better not say Donald Trump because
Hillary is the way to go. Heaven help us if trump is elected and then
he starts rambling about how our church also has a lot of money. By
this point I figured we should probably slowly back away and make our
exit. The man wouldn't even tell us his name, he said it was top
secret. Find out later that night while I was talking to that man,
Sister Cichos had the whole Saratov approach thing happening in her
mind and was getting super freaked out.
It was cool to study this week about Alma the younger becoming
converted. He was super rebellious and went around trying to destroy
the church with his buddies. He had a hard heart and was stuck in his
ways. His father probably had endless nights of praying fervently on
behalf of his son. When Alma was struck dumb by an angel, his father
rejoiced because he knew that the Lord was helping his son to become
humble. Now I'm sure that in the beginning of being struck dumb, Alma
wasn't too thrilled. Afterwards, he got up and exclaimed his
experience with the Atonement and wanted to go about sharing about
repentance. I have to sit back and ask myself if I take all of my
humbling experiences in stride. Can I find a way to rejoice in
experiences that are unpleasant to go through, but will lead me to be
more like the Savior? I'm learning that as I do, I find a greater
capacity in myself to be happy. If I see all of my experiences as ways
to learn, I know that I can one day return triumphant to my Father in
Heaven.
Love y'all,
Sister Thorum
Our washing machine finds ways to flood our kitchen, even when we don't use it!
Cecil<3
Froyo because RYAN IS ON A DATE
