2013-12-31 ... What Happened This Week?

CHRISTMAS HAPPENED!


Wow Christmas on your mission is a super special thing!  I am so grateful that I got to talk with and see you all! :) I took a screenshot of you all and it's one of my favorite things to have on my iPad!!


So Christmas Day we had a last minute dinner with Bishop Weiss.  Him and his family were preparing for caroling but we for
got to plan our dinners because LITERALLY EVERYONE was asking if we could come to theirs.  Anyway, cool story, Bishop Weiss' daughter served in Taizhong!  So we talked for a bit in Mandarin and that was way great.  She loves to ride horses (what?) and to rock climb (what what?!) it was really nice getting to meet her.  I am trying to plan out my Language Study because a few sisters here in Logan have offered to help me during my study to practice teaching in Mandarin and vocab and for them to remember haha!!


On Christmas Day we were GOING to go sledding with the Zone, but a member called us and asked us to come to a lunch she was having.  She served a mission but she had a friend that she wasn't sure how interested he was in the Church, but she kept having a prompting to talk to him about it.  So she set up this lunch for people who were not at home for the holiday and invited us!  Philip, her friend, is a way cool guy and he said he would like to get a little more.  Unfortunately he's not in our area, he lives in an even house and our area covers the odd houses on his street!!  But we passed him along to the Elders so that's great!


AND WE WENT CAROLING!  We went twice and were able to carol to one of the girls we work with.

 She and her family loved it :)  All of our missionaries sat in the back of a trailer and a member drove us around.  We were all SO COLD but it was way fun!!


Christmas Day we called home :) and then went to work!  We had a lunch with Bishop Loosli who is such a nice guy!  And that's what I counted for our Christmas Dinner because the missionaries in our Zone were going to all eat together at a member's house.  That fell through though haha so we went to Burger King!!!!!  YEAA!

After we started caroling at the old folk's home and that was so great.  Our companionship had gone there once before so it was really great to see some of the same people again!  Mel Smith is like the coolest guy ever, he used to fix watches and when he feels like it he goes into work and still does!  He's been in the paper and just loved to have someone remember him :)  And to get to hear some of the things he believes about the Plan and like his outlook on life was so nice.


Oh and we had a Zone FHE after our lunch!  That was fun because we all shared Christmas Memories, and then we made new ones!


Since we are working with 16 wards we wanted to meet with all of the Bishops before the new semester starts here at USU campus.  So this last week we met with 11!  We got to know them, their families, and they got to know us and how we can help them!  We wanted them to know who we are so they can feel like they


So.  Saturday happened.  And was really hard.  We were running late to everything and tried to push back the time for a lesson with Tiffany and she didn't want to push it but didn't tell us until it was too late.  Anyway we ran there (up a hill, in my boots with heels [worst idea ever]) and got there totally out of breath.  We have been meeting with Tiffany who is an investigator for a while, and this was the first time in a week.  We had stopped at her work to tell her we were thinking about her and texted her loads but she was always busy.  She dropped us.  She asked us to stop coming.  It was SO HARD!  As soon as we got out of the lesson I started to bawl.  Like I felt like I shouldn't be here, like I didn't say enough.  I didn't share my testimony enough.  Ugh it was so hard.


THEN Sister Lolofie made me direct where we should go knock on houses.  WHAT.  We knocked on 4 houses and no one was home.  So super discouraged we just started walking.  We visited the house of someone we are working with and she wasn't home but her roommate was.  We talked about what we can do better with her friend and how she could support her roommate who was starting to come back to Church (Jessi is the bomb!  I learn so much from her!!)  Anyway after we left I felt like we should go to the complex across the way but I didn't say anything so we walked past it.  I felt that "stupor of thought" and we turned back.  And turned back.  And turned around again.  I couldn't figure out if it was the Spirit or just like me thinking.  But we went anyway.  Knocked on the door.  And an Indian woman opened the door.  We found our her name was Pratima and that she was interested in hearing about prayer.  She said she prayed but not usually and she would like to.  YAY!  We got back next week because her roommate was sick!


Ugh I can't think of anything else that's happened this week, but I know I've started to notice small miracles that Heavenly Father blesses me with :)


I also learned a really good/effective approach.  Ask someone what their favorite food in the world is.  Then say, what if I had never eaten __ wouldn't you want to share it with me?  Tell me how yummy it is?  How much I will like it?  That is how I feel about this Book of Mormon, it has made my life better in so many ways.  I invite you to read it.  I know you will find it personally satisfying, because it is the word of God you will discover and feel God's love.  Here is a copy for you.


BOOOM.  But humility.


Another cool thing that happened earlier in this week.  I was really frustrated because our appointments were falling through and so were rides.  It was the day before Christmas Eve, and we were walking home after 9:30.  Home is about a 20 minute walk away and it was 5 degrees when we left the church building.  I hadn't brought a hat or gloves so I was freezing.  And as we were walking I prayed and asked Heavenly Father just please.  Just one person.  Have one of these cars that keep passing us stop.  Have one person offer us a ride.  All I need is one.  Please show me and help me.  I've been doing my best to stay positive but I am cold and sad.  Please.  We walked a block, and no one stopped.  We passed Kris' house and Brock's car pulled in.  He said I' so sorry I just dropped Maury off, I can go get her ..  We said no it's fine and kept walking.  We didn't walk more than 2 steps when another car pulled in.  It was a couple that had just gotten home from their honeymoon and they offered us a ride.  They looked really tired so we said no.  But as we walked away they got shovels out to clear all the snow that had fallen since they were gone and I turned back around and offered to help shovel.  He said no, just get home. Have a great night Sisters.  So yea, we didn't take the car ride(s) offered us, and no we couldn't do any service but I can't express to you how UPLIFTED my heart felt.  Heavenly Father gave us 2 options, not just one.  And all the rest of the walk home I was smiling and didn't feel cold.


Love you all so much,
Sister King
Juju jimmie
Wang Jiemei
D&C 84:81-84
Alma 56