So this week was interesting. A lot happened.
As you can guess, I accidentally locked my companion in a garage. It was one of those garage doors that sticks, and people can never actually get them to open. However, the last time someone got stuck in it, they were in there for 2 hours, and I got Sister Grammer out in a minute. And then put tape over the mechanism so that maybe it wouldn't actually close from now on, so no one else gets stuck.
So I led our area yesterday for about 2 hours. Sister Grammer went to a baptism in her old area, and so a recently returned missionary in our ward was my temporary companion. I am still learning my way around Visalia, so that was interesting. We stopped by one investigator's house, and no one answered the door, so we went on to another investigator's house that's fairly close, but who we can never get a hold of. And she actually answered the door and talked to us for a little while, and then we set up a return appointment. So that was definitely God guiding us.
Okay, in my defense, I have a great sense of direction. It's totally Visalia's fault. The problem is that the streets don't connect. It's kind of like a grid, but with pieces missing for added privacy. The problem is that the street names don't change. So there's a piece of a street in one place, and further in one direction is another piece with the same name that doesn't connect to the first piece. So trying to find people is hard because if you don't get the right piece of the street, you can't find the number you need. And my internal compass is 90 degrees off. The mountains are in the east, so I shouldn't have a problem, but I do. Though you can hardly see the mountains.
Oh, I've found my new favorite snack- frozen peas. I go through them so fast. But they're so good!
We were about half an hour late to dinner one day this week. We stopped by some people on the edge of town and normally she'll just talk to us on the porch for about 5 minutes, and instead her husband invited us in and we got to teach the Restoration and answer a bunch of their questions! For anyone wondering, no, investigators don't have to sit anywhere specific in sacrament meeting. But the members were so patient.
One of the other sisters in our zone has been sick a lot this week, and so we've been helping out. It's been pretty amazing that the days they need us, we can't get solid appointments, so it's not a problem to go help them. But last night, they needed someone to stay with her, and both of us had appointments, so we found a member willing to step in last minute and go to our lesson with Sister Grammer so I could stay with Sister Jesperson. It was nice to get a bit of peace and quiet. I needed that. She slept most the time, and then woke up right at the end. We were waiting for her companion to get back, and we were talking with the door open, and she still wasn't feeling well, and we were joking that she just needed a cat to snuggle, and a couple minutes later, a cat comes up and is determined to get into the apartment. So she had a cat to pet. God really does know us.
So one day this week, our district leader challenged us to contact 4 former investigators. So we were working on finding a fourth and stopped by this house. An older lady answered the door and said that the person we were looking for wasn't there, but her husband was moving their stuff back in in about 30 minutes. So we walked around and happened into the house of someone in the Spanish ward (and they fed us dinner, which was a tender mercy, because our dinner appointment had cancelled, so we worked through dinner) and then came back. We talked to the lady for a little while longer, and then her son showed up. We helped him move in, and then found out that he was a former investigator too. Then we shared a quick message, then asked if we could say a prayer. And he said that he'd say it! Which was awesome.
I feel like I get so many tender mercies. There were two big ones this week, like last week. The first started last Monday, when I was reminded by my mom's email that I hadn't done anything for Passover. So when I went to the store, I got apples, planning to make haroset, which is one of the traditional Passover foods made from apples, cinnamon, almonds, and grape juice. Of course, when I got home, I realized that I'd forgotten almonds and grape juice, so I gave up that idea. Well, on Friday, I was missing home, but specifically my Grandpa's apple crisp. (I promise not all my tender mercies have to do with food.) So as I'm sure you've guessed, I found the apples in the fridge and was able to make apple crisp, not nearly as good as my Grandpa's, but good enough. It mostly just reminded me that God knows me, and that He knew that I'd want apple crisp later in the week.
Second, I'd been having a hard few days, and during personal study one morning, I came across Alma 26:27, which says:
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
And that was exactly what I needed to hear.
If you hear from me next week, that means I've survived the beginning of the process to put all the records in the online area book. And we have two 2" binders full of former investigators. So it'll take forever, since we have to put in every lesson they've ever had. Needless to say, we've been trying to visit some so that if they've moved, we don't have to put them in. But at least we'll have Gospel Library again.
Love you tons!
Sister Cate
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