Dear Family and Friends,
The past 2 weeks have been the craziest 2 weeks on my mission. It all started when we met our investigator and started teaching him. I've never felt Satan working so hard against somebody before but he is really out to get him. Last P-day wasn't the best and even ice cream couldn't fix it.... believe me we tried!!!
Tuesday we had district meeting and found out a huge issue with our investigator that could ultimately stop him from being baptized in the near future. He was supposed to be getting baptized on Sunday but when we interviewed him we knew that wasn't gonna happen. Tuesday night we met this amazing family... the Johnsons. They just moved into the ward and sister Johnson is one of the sweetest members. It was amazing to talk to her and see how somebody could be sooo humble. She has 6 kids and manages to keep her cool. She just focuses most on what is truly important and doesn't stress about the other things.... something I need to learn to be better at.
Wednesday we went and taught that investigator again and had the elders come give him a blessing.. at the moment he told us it was a set up but he called us that night and told us how glad he was that we stopped by and had the elders give him a blessing. We called president about the situation with that investigator and it didn't look to good. Later that day we were driving to try a former investigator and this guy is walking down the street and just lifts up his shirt winks and us and flashes his abs. We just laughed and got out of there.
Thursday was corn dog day at sonic and we got like 4 corn dogs each. Didn't realize how hungry we were. That night after a very rough day we came home and thought the day was over and we could just plan for the next day and go to bed and hope the week gets better... but I guess Satan had other plans.... just when we thought the day couldn't get worse our toilet broke and flooded into the light in our kitchen downstairs. I heard Hermana Mitchell screaming and I heard this big crash and then the power went out. Thank goodness we had flashlights. We ventured downstairs and found the phone and tried to call maintenance and didn't have their number in the phone so we called the manager, and our neighbors, and a member that lived close by, and everyone we could think of and nobody was home or answered and we were completely stuck without any help. Things after that just spiraled out of control and we ultimately just laughed to keep from crying.
Yes those are ties… gotta make some excitement during studies
Friday morning we went to the hospital and I got another shot in my back. Poor Hermana Mitchell was all alone in the hospital waiting room. She says I was pretty out of it when we went to lunch after. I was on bed rest the rest of the day.
Saturday we got called to give talks and do a musical number in church the next day. We got to church and couldn't get our investigator to church and the amazing elders helped us get him to church and he stayed for the baptism afterwards. One of the worst weeks on my mission but it was all worth it to help that one investigator. I learned so much from this week.
I KNOW the Lord puts us through unbearable challenges to help us learn and grow. We got through it by encouraging each other and giving service and at times admitting that we needed help and couldn't do it on our own. We seriously made it through this week by the grace of God and all his tender mercies kept us from breaking down in tears. The things that are the most hard are always worth it. Without my mission I dunno how I could have learned the things I've learned or experience those things if I had not served a mission.
~Hermana Larissa Johnson