Lotsa Service!

Not a lot happened this week, so this is going to be a kind of shorter email, but that's okay! 

On Monday we played volleyball with both pairs of elders and the other sisters in the church gym, which was super duper fun! That evening we had breakfast for dinner with the Brills! I love the Brills! Brother Brill shared some awesome stories from his mission in Germany and we had fun visiting with their daughter Allie who just came home from England. 

On Tuesday we had an awesome district meeting about talking with everyone we meet. That's something Sister Stephens and I are working on! God commands missionaries to open our mouths "at all times and in all places" and we're trying to be better at that! 

We taught Roderick and Akeria about Entertainment and Media and helped them to download some awesome music from lds.org. Then we had a dance party to some of our awesome mission-approved songs. As long as it directs our thoughts to Christ and invites the Spirit, we can listen to it. Roderick and Akeria can be so crazy, but we sure love 'em! That evening we had dinner with the Orse family. We had cheesecake for dessert and talked with them about their family mission plan, which was awesome! It helps families set goals and make plans for how they can do missionary work as a family. 

On Wednesday we tried to see a bunch of former investigators. Sister Tedonne came with us to go see her sweet neighbor from Holland. She took a Restoration pamphlet, but she wasn't interested in learning more. Some day! :) Wednesday evening we went to Young Women's- Sister McSheehy likes for us to come so the girls can see that missionaries are really normal people and that being a missionary is awesome! It seems to work- a lot of them want to go on missions, which is super cool! We made sugar cookies, frosted them, and delivered them to some less-active young women. 

Also this week, we taught Jim and Vicki about the Law of Tithing and Tess and Yogi Nystrom's house! Wow did Jim and Yogi click! They're practically best friends now! They bonded over their heart problems, the insulin brand they take, and their crazy adventures from when they were younger. And they both love to talk and talk. :) And Jim and Vicki both committed to pay tithing (Jim once he's baptized.)

On Saturday we went to Sarah's house with all the missionaries to tackle a bunch of projects. We ripped out the inside of a closet that needs to be re-walled and tore down an old shed in her back yard. Then we went with the other sisters to help clean someone's house. 

Church was so powerful yesterday! I learned so much- about having a firm foundation in Christ, the importance of family history, and the importance of the family. Since being on a mission, my desire to have a family of my own that's centered on the teachings of Jesus Christ has increased so much. God is our Father- His perfect joy comes from His perfect and eternal Fatherhood, and He knows that having righteous families is what will bring us the most joy. Despite the world's disintegrating views on the family, we can stand firmly and faithfully in the teachings of Jesus Christ through scripture and modern day prophets that teach us how to have families that bring joy now and in the next life.