MONDAY: We had a zone p-day, and had so much fun playing beach volleyball and flying kites and playing on a playground at a park...then got to play the piano for awhile and play so more sports at the church! had a fun lesson with a recent convert/part member family that is from Pompeii, then drove to Cedar Falls for exchanges!
TUESDAY: I was able to serve with Sister Sumsion for the day, and we had so much fun! We started of the day with a few minutes to find before doing service, and as we were pulling out of the parking lot Sister Sumsion said she felt like we needed to go back and talk to a guy that was standing outside his car. We pull back around, and by that time he had gotten back into his car. To follow the prompting she received, we parked, got out of our car and went and knocked on his window. hahaha..... He looked up, a little confused, then got out of his car and we start asking him how he likes living here and such, then he gets back in his car and tells us he has to go and shuts the door. AWKWARD MISSIONARY MOMENTS are the best, right? haha. Anyways... then I found $5... (That's for you Rach). Have you ever painted old ladies nails? Well...if you are ever a sister missionary in the Iowa Des Moines mission, you will most likely have your fair share of painting nails at retirement or nursing homes! It's always fun to hear their stories, talk about their religious backgrounds, get all sorts of advice, and occasionally get snapped at for not covering the whole nail with polish because you can't see the whole nail.. haha. We had fun. =D After doing nails we met up with the other sisters for lunch, then we spent the rest of the day finding and following up with potentials. The first potential we checked up on let us right in, offered us water and we were able to share with her the message of the restoration. She asked perfect questions, like how come there wouldn't be a prophet on the earth today if there were in bible times, or aren't we all here to become like Jesus? ...well, yes, indeed you are right Chris! haha. It was just really cool to be lead by the spirit and know what to say and do to help her understand clearly. It's always so amazing to be in a lesson where you learn as much as they do! I wish they could all be like that! It was a great exchange! As we drove back to Cedar Rapids, we got to watch a lightning storm which is always fun! :)
WEDNESDAY: Having been asked to provide the special musical number for Zone Conference Thursday, we figured we should probably put it together and practice...haha. So we (Elder Ellsworth on viola, Elder Smith on Cello, and me on piano) practiced a couple hours wednesday morning. We had a very spiritual lesson with Michele in the Perry's home, read the first part of Joseph Smith History, and talked about recognizing the spirit and it was cool to hear how Michele has felt the spirit in her life and how she knows God is aware of her. Oh also...she writes us these hilarious stories about her life and prints them out and we have them in a book...and oh my goodness run on sentence issues... haha. Anyways, she has inspired me to start writing down memories and funny things that I remember! Okay, well maybe I'll start when I get home and have time...but I've started to think of a few good ones! :) After Michele, we were able to go to the nursing home and see Vickie. Jean was supposed to join us, but she was sick. Vickie is so cool!!! She's 55, has a lot of health issues, grew up Catholic, but felt like it was forced on her to believe in God which pushed her away. She recently got back into reading the bible, and loved what we had to share with her and really wants to find the truth. She even recognizes how Satan tries to get her to stop reading, and doesn't want her to meet with us...but she said she'll win this one. haha.
THURSDAY: Zone Conference in Iowa City. So....I made it through the first half of the conference completely fine, the trainings were great...then we had the "goodbye testimonies" of all those going home August 1st... and of course, I had to be first! haha... It was so weird!!!!!! I swear I just barely got here! I can't believe that was my last ZC! It was such a wonderful meeting, the spirit was so strong...and I didn't even mess up much on the musical number! "Abide with Me"...it was so pretty with the viola and cello.
Wow, this one is a novel, I'm sorry! Okay fine, I'll skip to the miracle we had yesterday! After a lazy p-day, we had about an hour before we had to leave for Mt. Vernon...so we stop by and see Melissa, who is getting baptized on Saturday! Her son, Brody, who had met with the missionaries before too, but was not really wanting to be baptized came in and we had a really neat object lesson on the Book of Mormon and how Christ loves us so much. Randomly, he chimes in and says, "could I get baptized with my mom on Saturday?" ...so we asked him a few questions, and he's good to go! WOW! It was so cool to see how Heavenly Father is working with this family. It had to come from Brody, and he just decided he was ready! So now, Melissa and Brody will be baptized on Saturday! :) Man, I am so grateful I get to serve at this time when the Lord truly is hastening his work. I know this work is true, and that one day the gospel with flood the earth. I am so grateful I have the knowledge of the gospel in my life. I know it is true.
Love Always,
Sister Natalia Alston
 |
| kite flying fun |
 |
| Monday-Fun Day |
 |
| The Road to Damascus |
 |
| Texas Roadhouse |
 |
| Turkeys that were creepin up our back steps |
 |
| my unicorns name is Stella |
No comments:
Post a Comment