This week has been very strange. It has been the longest week to date. And we are getting attacked by mosquitoes all the time. And Walmart is out of bug spray.
To start off this week we had a zone meeting on the island. We had a wonderful training about faith and how we can increase our faith to meet the mission goal of baptizing weekly. I had never felt the spirit so strongly in a missionary meeting. It was incredible. After our meeting we soon found out that our bikes were still attached to the sister's car so we were stranded at the apartment that night. It gave us a good excuse to clean the apartment and do some service for the sisters.
This week every single one of our investigators cancelled on us multiple times. We rode around for hours and no one would answer their door. It was rough and really hot! Like the hottest day we have had yet. We attempted to contact all the new move ins and none of the addresses were right. We went to see referrals and they turned us down. Thank goodness the members would let us in. Our district has had no success for weeks so we decided to move our efforts to gaining the members trust and working with less actives. We know that it is only with the members that we are going to find greater success. This Sunday we had a mission wide fast, so every ward in the mission boundaries participated. Our focus. Missionary work. They were to fast for the courage to open their mouths and invite someone they know to church or to have the missionaries teach someone in their home. In our branch on Sunday I sat through the most incredible testimony meeting ever. The members have caught the missionary spirit and have already begun to act. We are getting texts from the members telling us their experiences. A lady in our branch said " You know there is something wonderful coming to the area because we have been facing so much opposition lately." Amen. We know that Texas City is being prepared to receive the Gospel and I hope that Heavenly Father keeps me here a bit longer to help. It is not going to be easy but I cannot wait to see the day when our sweet branch becomes the Texas City Ward.
On Thursday my bike tire popped. And the sisters were not around so we had to walk for about an hour to get to a members house. We were halfway there and we see an old couple walking down the road. They offer to help me with my bike so of course we accepted. They took us to their garage and the brother went to work while we talked with he and his wife. I have never met a nicer couple in my life. They were very devote Catholic and were not interested in our message but they did not turn us away. They spoke to us about their beliefs and family and let us read the Book of Mormon with them. She said something I loved..' Don't tell me about Jesus. Be Jesus to me." She devotes her life to the service of others and simply asks that people do the same. She couldn't believe that two 19 year old girls were doing what we do. She and her husband told us that we could come by anytime and talk to them. She said that we are her new friends and she can't wait to tell all of her friends about us. It was the first time I felt loved on my mission. I will forever remember their sweet spirits.
For the 4th of July we went to our Ward Mission Leaders home for a BBQ. We played some Corn Hole....people in Texas love their Corn Hole. Other than that is was a normal day. Well except we got in a super sweet bike race with a 6 year old from the ward. He totally crushed us. Holidays are weird in the mission field, but we didn't have to go in early so we caught the first few minutes of the firework show from the Bay.
Best thing about this week was we were in the park fixing our bikes and this cop comes over to ask if everything is all right. He circles a few more times and goes on his way. The next day we go to contact a potential and this guy walks up to another apartment. He is totally staring at us so I wave and say hello. He comes back down later with His dog and is still staring so we follow him. He said "how are the bikes?" It was the cop! He lives right next to a member of our congregation and he has a really good friend that is a member that just got home from his mission. We could not believe it. He said we could drop by and talk to him in a week when he gets home from training. We are so excited to teach him.
Thank you all so much for the letters and emails and support. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week.
Love always,
Sister Greaves