How is everyone doing? Seems like another long week without writing to you guys, Thursday was a dragggggggg. We were low on miles, so we stayed in pretty much all day. But we had to walk to the store real fast, which turned out being super inspired! I grabbed a few pass along cards before we left. As we were walking, we were handing them to people saying "Here's a picture of Jesus we know you'll love!" Or "Call this number for a free bible!" Then we met V. Super cool, and nice. He said he was Catholic but that there aren't any Catholic churches around here so it's hard for him to go to church. It was a perfect lead, to point around the corner and say "Our church is just around the corner if you ever want to visit!" We also said "We also have a Catholic that visits our church as well!" He was very interested after that! We gave him the address and our number. The sad part of the story is that we did not see him at church, but it was still fun to talk to him, as well as, a bunch of other people and give them the chance to "hear the word!" as the black people say :)
President Weed and Sister Weed have arrived! They are both so sweet, and very spiritual! But they are also super nervous! They expressed how overwhelmed they felt, and that they were scared. But that they feel humbled, and the the Lord has been blessing them! We are going to go to a big service project with him and 18 other missionaries on Saturday, so that will be lots of fun!
Have y'all seen the new broken vessel video from Elder Holland? It's great! We have been sharing that with people, along with Mormon 5:18 and talking about how we can repair our broken vessels. So here's my challenge for you this week, search this in your studies and come back with ways to repair broken vessels - Both in ourselves, and in others!
We had a great exchange on Wednesday! Sister Olesen and Hermana Coombs came with me to Rocky Mount! Which was crazy because I don't know the area very well! But we got a lot done! We taught M, who is stubborn and just wanted us to visit but not give her anything or ask her to be baptized. But the sisters were like "If that's her thoughts, then you probably shouldn't teach her anymore." Which I agree on. So we went in there, thinking that we were gonna have to drop her. But she accepted a Book of Mormon, said she'd read it, and said she would be baptized if she came to know it was true! Wahooo! That was a huge step! Now we just have to stay on her reading and such! We saw our recent convert, B, who is moving soon :( But it'll be good for him. He needs some new scenery. But we taught a lot more lessons that day too, which was fabulous! Got a lot of good work done :)
Our amazing investigator, K, is amazing! Oh sorry, I already said that. But he really is!! He totally gets the apostasy, which is hard for most people to understand! And he is loving the message! We are going to try to set him with a date this week, and he will be on the road for eternal life! His sweet little girl was climbing all over me during the lesson though. Pretty distracting. But the spirit was still there! We were both crying, and he said "I am not gonna cry in front of y'all, cuz then we would all look like a bunch of cry babies. But I'm crying on the inside." So cool.
We had to drop our other investigator K though. She just said she "didn't want to mix up teachings and that she needed more time." Kind of a bummer. But maybe we could try again later in the year. Satan is working hard on people here. Like the M family too. But we will hopefully have a lesson with them this week, and ask them why they haven't been baptized yet! It's gonna be good.
Thought for the week: Happy Birthday America!! How blessed we are to live in a country where we can live freely and peaceably! This place was called "The promise land" for a reason. Lehi led his family there so they could be free, and that still stands strong today! Alma 46:35-36. Moroni lead his people in freedom and love! And that's the spirit we should all have! God bless America, land that I love!
Transfer calls are this week... I know, it feels like they just happened! And Sister Brakey is leaving?!?! Gonna be weird not having my mama in the mission anymore! But she is ready and willing for her next stage in life! So excited for her :) So hopefully I don't get left in this area alone... cuz it's HUGE! And Elder Hyman is taking over cuz Elder Haddock is dying*, so we would both just be like headless chickens, running around doing who knows what! But Pres. Weed is going to be lead by the spirit, and I will do what He commands!
Have a super blessed week this week! Love you all lots and lots!!
Love, Sista Poulsen
*[this is missionary code for heading back home from the mission – they have moms and dads (mission trainers) that teach “greenies” about being a missionary when they are “born” into the field. It is a mission “life”, as a metaphor, I suppose.]
Have you seen lightning bugs/fireflies yet?
Oh yeah, we totally caught some a few weeks ago! The pics are horrible though, cuz it was all dark. They are super slow and easy to catch, so hopefully you can see them!
Have you met the new Mission President yet?
YES! We had a meet the president meeting on Friday. They are very sweet! Super overwhelmed though. And we had to personally call him yesterday about a specific question we had. Poor guy, he's so overloaded! But he appreciated us understanding their slow learning! Lots of prayers their way please!
Do the spray/mister bottles I sent help to beat the heat?
We LOVE those bottles! We were listening to some music, and spraying the bottles to the tune, it was very funny!
Also a chastisement:
Okay... so you posted that pic of our district with the wizard wands on facebook?!?! So many people have seen it! We heard from the secretary in the mission office! The mission pres. has probs seen it! Man, he must think we are crazy.
About the member photos that were texted to us this week:
How did you like the pics from Sis A? She had no idea how to do it, so we helped her out. It was weird to use an iphone!
