So, obviously on Monday was the ultimate District Activity that was RIDICULOUS FUN and now all of the Elders think that I am a legend because I killed them at basketball and then chugged soda so hard that it came out of my nose and also I kicked their butts at dew pong. BUT that day was so long and so fun that by the time we got home and had to go out at night ya girl was absolutely dead and so tired but that is okay because it was a fun day.
Tuesday we met with Adrina and don't worry, she came back and was actually super solid all week until yesterday. It is crazy how fast she is progressing. We taught her about the commandments and we also retaught her the restoration because we knew that she probs didn't remember too much and we want her to understand be prepared for her baptismal interview which is coming up here pretty quick. We told her about the interview too so that way she knew why we were kind of quizzing her on all of these things and then she was SO CUTE and later that day she wrote down a bunch of answers to the questions because she wants to be prepared for her interview. We went back over on Saturday to teach her lesson five (about temples and family history and priesthood auxiliaries and stuff like that) and she showed us in her journal where she had been writing all of her answers and parents, it was just so tender. We love her. Also on Tuesday, we did some service and got some tacos. We have this elderly next-door neighbor named Brenda and she has a problem with her legs so she walks with a walker and even then she has a super hard time getting around. But she is a really good cook and baker! She periodically makes us food and baked goods and we take out her trash and walk her puppers. She periodically looks after her daughter's dogs but obviously can't walk so she does it for her. So Tuesday was our first day doing that and then we have done that ever since and we take out her trash as we go too. She isn't interested in the church though, in case you were wondering. Anyways, we did that and then we got two-dollar tacos from this place in downtown Gahanna and it was too fun. Also, we saw the Elders car so we put pass along cards in their windshield as a prank. We also visited this recent convert named Sally Turner and she is SO FUNNY. She lives in the middle of the hood and we went into her home and she is in the middle of redecorating and everything and didn't have too much time to chat but we talked to her about her conversion story. Basically, the missionaries stopped by three times and every time she yelled at them to leave and then eventually she let them in and they gave her a Book of Mormon and then her kids gave her a bunch of anti-Mormon literature and then she threw the Book of Mormon in the trash but when she did that the Book apparently literally started SCREAMING. Then she put it in the closet and it started banging against the door so then she read it and then got baptized two months later. Is that wild or what? She was cool. We are going to help her out with her house and then try to get her to the Temple because she needs to be active because she isn't the most active right now.
After that we went to this grandma and grandson that we have been trying to teach for a minute and just have never been able to get in contact with. The grandma is a minister but she likes that we come and talk with her grandson about Jesus. Their names are Sherrie and Rohaun. Rohaun is literally the most tender person that I have ever met. He literally gave me a hug when I came in and wow he was cute and he LOVES Jesus. We taught them about the plan of salvation and we invited them (but Rohaun specifically) to read and to pray and he was super sincere and promised us that he will. Sherrie on the other hand basically told us that she likes the BIble and that that is the only word of God and she probs won't read the Book of Mormon. Well, we have our work cut out for us so I will keep you updated on what happens when we go back and how we can help them.
On Wednesday we had interviews with President Stratford and I LOVE that guy. It is funny how different he and president Fisher are but in a good way. I like how President Stratford actually talks to me about what is going on at home. I feel like if I try to tell President Fisher he just brushes it off and tells me to forget about it (which is right) but President Stratford tells me that they are praying for Abby and that I'm just doing awesome and to keep on working. Isn't that so cute? And honestly, it isn't affecting me too much, at least on that day it wasn't, so I was like yup for sure. He also (President Stratford) in the middle of our interview said something quite concerning. He said "Sister Moran how would you feel if the Lord called you to train next transfer" and I was like "excuse me?" and he said that he hadn't prayed about it or anything but it had just come into his mind and he wanted to see if I would be overwhelmed by it or something and I was just like nah I would be fine but also please pray about it because ummmmm training. Yeah. I don't think I will honestly, but that was just something funny that came up in our interview. Also on Wednesday we had District Council and I gave a training and it went super well! We were talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I told them how I had a crap companionship with Sister Brinkmeier and I could feel the Atonement working and helping us fix things and our feelings and yeah it was just a good training and there was a lot of participation. We have a super good district.
Thursday we started up our weekly Zumba and Yoga activity!!! We have a Sister from the ward do Zumba and we have Latisha who we are teaching (the one that yelled that she loved Jesus) do the yoga because she is working on getting certified and this helps toward her certification hours. Honestly, we only had about five people there including me and Sister Reese so it wasn't the hugest turnout BUT we did have a lot of people say that they could come next week so hopefully, that works out better. We are hoping that we can get more people out so it becomes more worth their while. But it is really good for Latisha because she gets fellowship from the ladies at church and she can be in the church building and yeah it is just a fun time too. Also, I am not very good at yoga but that isn't too surprising to me honestly. After that, we drove the Lancaster which is about an hour away and it is where our STL's live. We then went on an exchange (but they call it a training visit here) until the next day around two which is when we got to their place. We had a couple of cool experiences. I was with Sister Burt and we went to this recent inactive convert and she is a single mom of three who works at McDonald's. Her life is less than ideal and that day she was having a really, really hard time. She told us that she almost canceled on us because she just didn't feel like having people over. For the first 20 minutes we were there she was yelling at her kids to get off of her and pushing them off of her and honestly it was just so sad to see a mom treat her kids and even her little not even two-year-old baby like that. But, as we stayed, something changed! Her countenance improved and she started being more okay with her kids and we shared scriptures and she was happier and everything got better. I could physically see how the spirit worked in her to help her be more kind and I loved it. We invited her to pray because she doesn't really talk to God. So we are just starting tiny with them. Next, we went to this recent converts house, she is 12 years old, and none of her family are members of the church. The 12-year-old didn't even come out of her room so we just started chatting with her family and tried to teach a lesson to them but they were SO WILD. But also so cute. She has two little brothers (well more than that but two in particular) that were adorable. Their names are Christian and Curtis. Christian was having a fever of right around four days and we offered a priesthood blessing and they accepted and the Elders came over! It was so cute because the Gahanna Elders were on exchanges with the Lancaster Elders and Elder Lambert (from Gahanna) was there and his first name was Christian too and it was just really sweet to see them interact with the family and the kids and give the blessing. Side note: my testimony of the priesthood has expanded by about 100,000,000 percent while I have been out here on the mission. Anyways, while we were waiting for the Elders to come, we pulled out their children's Book of Mormon and tried to read some stories with them but they were just so rowdy. Especially the one Curtis. He was just running around the whole time and going off topic, BUT he was also super spiritual. He just kept talking about God and how he loved God and Jesus and didn't like the devil and it was so tender. We told them about the boy missionaries and how they are called Elders and then later Curtis literally said "I want to be an Elder when I grow up" and he said it to them when they came by and it was SO CUTE!!! Also, after the blessing was over for Christian, Curtis flipped out and almost yelled "I just feel like my head and my heart are going to explode I feel SO GOOD" And we were like "that is the spirit!!!" and he said that he felt that way at church too. And then he said the closing prayer and it was so cute. Wow, what an adorable kid. He is 7 and said that when he is 8 he wants to be baptized. It actually blows me away being out here and working with so many kids and seeing how in tune they are with the spirit and how much they love God. I just think it is dope.
The next day we finished up our training visit by finding three new people and me feeling like I should really get a priesthood blessing. I just have felt really sad the past couple of days/for two weeks. And normally I am fine, but it comes and goes in waves. I think a lot of it has to do with that I just brushed off everything at home and didn't think about it and now subconsciously it has just entered my brain and I need to get it off my mind because now I am getting sad about it. Plus, I have just been feeling weird about everything and man I just want to get rid of it. I have prayed and all of the sad weird feelings just keep coming back and I don't feel like myself so I have really been feeling like I need a blessing. The problem is, I don't like feeling weak and asking for help. BUT I am going to ask the Elders for one today anyways because I just need one. I'll let you know next week if it helps:)
On Saturday it was actually a pretty busy but also a lowkey day. We saw Adrina again (like I said further up there) and she is super cute and super pumped for her baptism. We brought a member out teaching with us too! Her name is Rebekah Morgan and she is 21 years old and has major, major, anxiety but she loves going out with the missionaries and wants to go out with us more. So she came with us to Adrina and then we went finding with her. We got on this street to find and there was a garage open with people inside so naturally we immediately went over there. It was these two Mexican dudes making fajitas. They were super nice but didn't speak very good English and we didn't really speak Spanish. The guy that we were talking to (Juan) told us to go inside and sit on the couch and his daughter would be home in 10 minutes and she spoke English. Let me tell you, I felt instantly transported to Mexico. There was a Virgin Mary shrine and there was Spanish and there was this tiny little chihuahua that was chilling all over us and he turned on the tv for us in Spanish and we heard a Mexican lady yelling at the kids from the next room. Yup. It was AWESOME. We ended up waiting for about 30 minutes for his daughter to show up and that was cool and everything. They offered us water and coke and all that good stuff and we were like "Nah, we will just wait" and there we were, just three random white ladies sitting on their couch waiting. Then, the daughter shows up and she is super confused about who we are and what we are doing and where we are from so we explain that we are missionaries and she was like "oh we are Catholic" and we are like "oh we can tell but we just want to strengthen your faith in Christ!" So, we got her number and we are sending over the Spanish missionaries. It was quite the experience. Plus, I feel like I understand Sister Costilla's outbound experience way better now! She is in texas in a Spanish area so I am going to email her about it.
Sunday we had a huge miracle and not one, not two, but SIX PEOPLE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! We had Adrina, Cynthia and Marvyn (they are from Haiti and are being hosted by a member family), Jillian (a recent converts girlfriend), and Amerihanna and Kamaiah(these two little girls that came literally out of the blue). It was fast and testimony meeting and Kamaiah wanted to go up but she wanted me to go first so she could see someone she knew do it and so I did (honestly I have no idea what I said) and then Sister Reese brought her up and then Sister Reese shared her testimony and it was super tender. Adrina loved the meeting and everyone was happy. Then, disaster struck with Adrina. Everyone else was good (I mean Cynthia doesn't want to be taught by us but we will still try) until Sunday School was over. Adrina is honestly kind of slow so she was feeling really overwhelmed after Sunday School and so many scriptures and she was just lost and she literally started crying and she insisted that we take her home and she said that church wasn't for her anymore and we just didn't know what to do. I was praying in the car on the way back that I could know how to help her. Then, I got the answer. Before we left Temple Square, they gave all of us a little silver star pendant so we could remember the square and come back soon and safely. I've had it in my bag but I felt like Adrina needed it more. I pulled it out and I told her how it was really hard for me to come out here from where I am usually a missionary and that it was so different but that looking at the star reminded me that it was okay to be scared and overwhelmed but that I knew that everything would be okay because God loved me and He was aware of me. I told her that she could think about that when she looked at the star and remember that it was okay that she didn't understand everything and that is how it should be right now, but she remembers the most important thing and that is God's love for her. She put it in her pocket right by her heart and then left and we decided to give her some space. So, we went about our day and ate lunch with our ward mission leader and his sister that we are teaching and had a lesson with her which ended with her running down the stairs to get him to ASK HIM FOR A BLESSING IT WAS SO CUTE because the people at work are so mean to her and she just wanted a blessing of comfort. It was so cute you guys really. And then we went to visit some members and I had a realization that members are important too (thank you God for correcting me) because once you come to their home and have spiritual moments with them, then they will ask you what they can do to help you out and give you people to work within the ward (like part member families and such) so that was cool to realize. Then, before we drove home, we missed a call from Adrina so we called her back. She said that she was trying to call her mom but she accidentally called us and then she said thanks for the star and that she had a long conversation with God when she got home and she just needed to cry for a second but that she was okay now! YAY!!!! I prayed for her I think 12 times throughout the day and God answers prayers. I know that for sure. He listens and He is real and He lives and He is there for us always and He will answer our prayers of faith. I'm so grateful for that.
So yeah this week was AWESOME but also super emotionally draining because I just feel so bad all the time. So, I am getting a blessing today (even though I am scared) and I know that it will have what I need to feel better. I love you both! And dad I am SO PROUD OF YOU AND HAPPY FOR YOUR PROMOTION!!!!! YAYYYYYYY! I pray for you all every single day and I love you and miss you all sooooo much. Talk to you soon:)
Love
Em
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