IT SNOWED!!! WOW are we sure loving it!These Virginia people sure aren't though. The stores were totally wiped out of milk and bread days before the storm hit. And then church was cancelled. So we have been doing what you may ask? Well our mission president told us not to drive or bike (thank goodness) so we have been walking our feet off! It has been pretty good!
We woke up to snow Saturday morning, and so we pulled on our snow boots and big coats and headed out! Poor sister Olsen did not have snow boots so her little toes were freezing! Glad I have carried mine for 10 months now, they are sure coming in handy!
That first day it was still snowing and the wind chill was not helping. But we journeyed to V's and helped her clean her house. Since she is so old, she gets cold real easy, so her house is like 80 degrees... it felt real nice :) Then we took a mile or more hike to see a few members! One of them invited us for dinner, and we had some nice warm Brunswick stew! Yum :) Then out of the kindness of their hearts, they scraped off their snowy car and took us home.
[Lisa Says: We want to try this recipe and eat like Sister Poulsen! Easy Bruswick Stew ]
The next day (Sunday) we walked some more! We saw our investigator A! We gave her a Book of Mormon! I sure love giving people those, because if they come to know it is true, that means Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and that this church is true! It is truly the greatest gift we have to preach the gospel! We are going to her house to do some yoga today, so that should be fun!
Other than this crazy weather and watching people drive 15 under the speed limit on the thick iced roads, we set a baptismal date! There is a young boy who is watched by hit grandma who is a member. Name is R, he is 9 years old. We are teaching him and preparing him for baptism!! He is so cute, and keeps asking "When can I be baptized?" We have him set for the 11th of February! they live really far away so it is hard to go see them often, but we are doing as often as we can! I am just so excited for him, he is so ready and loves Jesus!
We finally got down to NC this week to visit a few people! It is about a 30 minute drive, but it is worth is to visit less actives and members! It is a strength to my testimony to see members who live 30+ minutes away to drive all the way here to church because they understand the importance of it. I will never take church for granted again. Especially because from my house in Utah, it is a 5 minute walk to our building. I just love the members out here :)
In Zone Meeting we talked about finding new people to teach! It sure is tough, lot of people are set in their ways. But they taught us how to not say "Can we share a message with you about Jesus Christ?" But rather to just start testifying right off the bat! We do something called "walk 'n talk" Where we literally walk and if we see someone we talk to them and introduce our selves! That is something I do love about being a missionary is that we talk to lots of people! I have grown to love people! Because as a representative of Jesus Christ, I try to see them as God sees them. It is truly beautiful. He really loves us all so much :)
Thought for the week: We had Sister M out with us, and she said a wonderful prayer before we went into a lesson. She said something that really stuck out to me. She said "We hope and pray that our families are doing things that would make Christ smile." Now Sister M is the primary stake president, so she is so good at putting things so simply that a child may understand. So the simplicity of this phrase was just amazing to me. So I just wanted to let y'all that I am going to now pray for this, and I hope that you all do things that would make Christ smile!
Well, ta ta for now! Back into the wintery wonderland of Franklin! Yes it is cold, but "The spirit of God like a fire is burning." He is helping me stay warm in these cold times, both literally cold, and cold rejections. If we simply do our part, in trying to share this message, we are fulfilling our duty.
LOVE YOU ALL!! Be safe in the snow! But don't forget to have fun in it too :)
Peace out. Sista Poulsen
