Christmas started out with us waking up at 6:30, exercising, opening a few packages, weekly planning for about 4 hours, teaching our investigator Vivian, caroling at a couple people's houses, eating a big ham dinner with the Lilly's, and then skyping my family. Christmas Eve was so fun too!! We had district meeting about two hours away which took up a huge chunk of our day but it was a potluck lunch so Sister Cox and I brought a ham while every other companionship in our district brought other things such as potatoes, rolls, salad, dessert, etc. Tis the season! It was nice to be with other missionaries on such a family-oriented holiday because we knew we were all going through the same thing and we could support each other and such. After district meeting we went to the Lilly's and made sugar cookies with their family, then we went and had tacos with the McLarens, then we went back over to the Lilly's for a steak/lobster dinner :))) #spoiled
Oh...speaking of Vivian....SHE HAS A BAPTISMAL DATE!!!!!!! F i n a l l y. She has agreed to baptism on April 16 and I really could not be more excited for her! She is so sweet and I hope she continues to work toward that goal without the adversary ruining anything...
Transfer calls came! Sister Cox and I will both be staying here in Bethel together for another 6 weeks!! I am pretty excited about it..I really love the people here and I love my companion and I love Maine and I love the tiny tourist trap of bethel. I could definitely survive another 6 weeks!
Sister cox and I had a very very hard time after our Skype calls on Christmas night so we ended up sitting on our living room floor crying together for a good hour or so. It was so hard getting back into the missionary mode to plan for the next day and knowing we had to wake up the next morning to tract for about 3 hours...no thanks. The road we were going to tract has houses VERY spread apart so we'd only knock on about 10 houses in those 3 hours. So the next morning came and we were dragging ourselves around the apartment getting ready to head out and we just had NO motivation at all to do anything. I decided to go to my desk and read out loud to myself and sister cox this paper that was given to me at a missionary meeting..it says:
"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
The die has been cast; I have stepped over the line.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my presence makes sense, and my future is secure.
I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk with penance, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven.
My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the mass of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the name of Christ. I must go on til He comes, give til I drop, preach til all know, and work til he stops me, and when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me, my banner will be clear.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth."
As soon as I finished reciting that, we were both very motivated to represent our Savior Jesus Christ and we headed out the door. We saw immediate blessings! The second house we walked up to had a man standing on his porch. We went and introduced ourselves and we offered to share a message about Christ with him. We found out that he's the son of a lady named Linda who goes to the Methodist church and she LOVES US. We've shared messages with her before and she loves our church more than anything. She would join our church if she wasn't scared of the Methodist church being turned into a bar with the little amount of people attending it. She says that she talks about us missionaries in her church so the congregation knows who we are!
"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.
The die has been cast; I have stepped over the line.
I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my presence makes sense, and my future is secure.
I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.
I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk with penance, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven.
My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the mass of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the name of Christ. I must go on til He comes, give til I drop, preach til all know, and work til he stops me, and when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me, my banner will be clear.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone that believeth."
As soon as I finished reciting that, we were both very motivated to represent our Savior Jesus Christ and we headed out the door. We saw immediate blessings! The second house we walked up to had a man standing on his porch. We went and introduced ourselves and we offered to share a message about Christ with him. We found out that he's the son of a lady named Linda who goes to the Methodist church and she LOVES US. We've shared messages with her before and she loves our church more than anything. She would join our church if she wasn't scared of the Methodist church being turned into a bar with the little amount of people attending it. She says that she talks about us missionaries in her church so the congregation knows who we are!
Anyway, so yeah that was her son. He was interested right away which shocked us a little bit...nobody is ever interested in "hearing a message about Jesus Christ" right away. We were so used to rejection hahaha but we taught him the restoration right on his porch! He believed everything we said and he already had a very strong faith in Christ before we taught him. He took a Book of Mormon and promised he would read it and we made a return appointment with him. MIRACLE. Heavenly Father is so good to us...we really needed that to happen :)
Here's a funny story...we knocked on a house and the lady let us in right away. She wasn't interested in hearing a message, but she let us in anyway...weird...then she told us to go downstairs and hang out with everyone. WHAT! Soooo we awkwardly walked downstairs and met even more people who weren't interested either. They kept talking and talking and talking and it was so strange and we were just stuck in some stranger's basement without a single clue of what to do. Finally someone went upstairs so we followed them and left. SO AWKWARD. The things missionaries have to go through..seriously..
Church was cancelled!! It was freezing rain which caused the roads to be icy so bishop just cancelled it altogether. It was a huge blessing for us though because church is an hour away and we are completely out of miles!!! Instead of going to church we ended up walking to the airport in the freezing rain so that we could use their computer to print out maps...our lives are thrilling. We walked 7 miles total! My feet are killin me but it was good exercise soooo I'll survive.
Last night we also drove a total of 22 miles that we DON'T have in order to deliver a Bible to some guy that requested one. He came in our iPads as a referral so for the past two weeks we've been trying to contact him to give him this bible but he was always working. We decided to try him one last time last night which was a mistake...as we were walking up his driveway, he started shining a very bright flashlight at us from his window which was so uncomfortable so we pretended not to notice. Finally he yelled at us and asked what what we wanted so we told him we had his bible that he requested. "Nope. That was someone playing a joke. Bye." And he walked away....OHH sister cox and I were so angry! He was so mean about it and we used so many miles to give him his stinkin bible that he doesn't even want. Some people..
I'm just babbling and I don't know what else to say!! I'm going to be hitting my 6 month mark in a couple days so that'll be a cool milestone :)
OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL THOSE THAT SENT A CHRISTMAS CARD/PACKAGES. I love you all so much and it made me so happy to hear from people at home. I'm so blessed.
Teaching the Grinch!
My District :)
Christmas Day!
Haha I think we will be set for a couple of years
Right before I hung up...I LOVE THEM :(
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