I think the hardest lesson I have had to learn on my mission so
far is that I can't change people. I came out thinking that I could baptize the
world! If only people just knew and hear me testify to them, they'd know the
truth… yep. I totally thought that. And in a way I still do haha because there
are people out there who need ME to testify to them. But it's just been hard
because I realize that no matter how much I tell someone, they still can't find
out until they ask for themselves. And you can't push that on someone and you
can't make them feel the spirit. Even though you know 110% that it's true, they
can only know for themselves and that's the hardest thing ever. I can't imagine
having kids. This really is preparation!
We had the craziest Sunday ever. I thought when church was
cancelled in Naples because of the pipe was bad, this FAR exceeds it. But I
really don't think I can do it justice over writing or even telling. It was a
"had to be there" sort of thing.
We have these 2 investigators that we got from the Elders who
were covering part of our area. The girl is SO cool and we love her so much!
She has this friend that she's living with. When we met him he was whispering
while talking to us because he was "saving his voice". We thought it
was kind of weird, but didn't think anything of it. He also said that she was
his fiancé… so we thought just some weird relationship problems were going on
or something. We had 2 really good lessons with her, while he just kind of sat
there. So they wanted to come to church on Sunday. We still hadn't found them a
ride on Sunday morning. As we were searching Sister Canulette came in and we
ran over to ask her if she could pick them up. She said yes than goodness
(20minutes before church). So Sister A and her went to pick them up while I
stayed in our ward counsel. Apparently some really weird things happen on the
way here. He was acting really strange and she was acting normal. They ended up
getting here right before they passed the sacrament. So they were doing fine,
he (sorry, I can't use names so it might be a little confusing…) was acting
weird so she didn't want to sit by him… so Sister A sat in-between them… then
while someone (our WML actually) was doing this amazing piano piece he just
jolted up and left. Really weird… so then she chases after him. We just stayed
sitting not knowing what to do. Then after the piece was over we decide to go
and check on them. They were outside walking across the street! There house is 12
miles away. We had no idea what to do! So we just watched them from the window.
Then they got more down the street and soooooooo we did what anyone would do.
Ran and grabbed our sandwiches and watched… we were starving because it was
1:45 and we hadn't had lunch. Then they were going up and down the streets.
Some members sitting on the couches were just watching in anticipation with us.
THEN, they started coming back! So we ran and put our sandwiches away. AH. They
were outside and she was just watching him while he talked about the bubble
around the church, the internet in his head, the smells that were in the
church, and how we had our own ecosystem….
Then we knew something was totally up. She was so calm and
collected though. She just let him talk it out. I can't really even explain all
what he was talking about…. but we just let him talk and he kept saying he
wanted to go home and that he was going to walk. She just said she wanted to
stay. SHE LOVED CHURCH. So then there was some more stuff where we talked to
him. Then we grabbed Sister Canulette and had her drive them home with us. He
then was talking about his nails and things like that. So I just talked to her
about how she liked church, she loved it and we explained a lot of things (side
note, we totally had Texas Roadhouse rolls for our sacrament bread. No joke)
about sacrament and stuff. She wants to come back, but he couldn't handle it.
Here's the miracle, Sister Canulette used to work with psych
patients. So she was asking him questions and things like that. On the way back
to church she told us that she's almost sure that he's schitzophrentic (no idea
how to even spell check that…). Everything he said and was doing pointed to it.
It was insane. We made it back halfway through RS…. everyone after was asking
about it because it was like this big show that was going on and we were just
running around like chickens with our heads cut off not knowing what to do… I
still don't think I've done the story justice because it literally was
insane.
ANWAYS!
Also, I was able to explain why we are called Sister to a 5 year
old this week. I explained it EXACTLY like we do to investigators. It's SO
simple :)
Also- I love Sister A :) she's pretty much my favorite! I love
working with her and I hope this Saturday doesn't rip us apart!!!!! Also, since
I'm getting SOOOOO many letters (cough cough) just to let you know there is
transfer calls this Saturday so if you don't send it in the next few days wait
till Monday to know if I'm still here!
Before I forget I wanted to tell the Primary in my ward thanks
for the package! I loved it so much and it totally made my day!!!! :)
HASTEN THE WORK. Since this email is already a mile long I'm
going to throw this in.
Hastening the work isn't just to bring people in now- it's to
prepare the missionaries to be strong mothers and fathers united in raising and
fighting for the Army of Helaman! The cool thing is, we're an army. This is a
war. And we know who wins. All you have to do is pick your side, and stick with
it till the end!
This. Work. Is. True!
It's real and I love it more than anything! I love being a
missionary! :)
I love you all!
Love, Sister Calder :)
Spread
the joy! If only you knew how much joy comes when you bring someone in :)
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| Eating Filipino food. Not loving it as much as Ash |
