This week has been quite the rollercoaster of events.. but I'm starting to realize such is the life of a missionary..So i should probably get used to it. I seriously cannot believe another week has gone by! Missionary time is like double speed I swear. And enough things happen in a week to be spread out over several months. But it keeps life quite exciting :) So i had my second exchange on Tuesday and it was so fun! Sister Arnold (the sister training leader) came to my area for the day and we DID WORK (all because of the spirit of course). One thing being a missionary does is allow you to instantly become best friends with so many people after barely meeting them. It's crazy! I felt like I have know her for years! We taught Darryl again and he is doing so good! We found out that his Dad was Mormon, but died when he was only 14, so he has been responsible for helping his mom raise his 5 younger siblings. My heart broke when I heard that, and he got a little emotional. I cannot even imagine what his life has been like. He was really receptive to learning more about the gospel though and about Heavenly Father's plan for him. He feels the spirit during the lessons and says he feels so happy and peaceful when we meet with him. He was really excited about coming to church with us this Sunday, but at the last minute canceled :( I was so. sad. He not only canceled, he hung up on me when we called him to see if he was ready for his ride to come. Not cool. I've never gone from so happy to so sad in that amount of time. It really was a rollercoaster! I then started to think about how our Heavenly Father must feel when we push Him away and make bad decisions. His life must be an emotional rollercoaster all the time! It made me want to always do things that make Him happy, because he feels the pain and sadness of every sin that all of His sons and daughters make. He is invested in us and is cheering us on throughout life. He wants us to feel joy and peace throughout our lives and He knows the only that we can achieve that. Through His gospel and turning to our Savior Jesus Christ. Every. Single. Day.
We also had a similar experience with Rachel. She met with us twice earlier in the week and was so excited to see us! She talked about how she wanted to get baptized, moved to Utah and marry a nice Mormon boy, and have lots of blonde blue eyed kids. I talked up the BYU boys quite a bit so she said she was going to check them out first..haha. But anyways, she was doing great! Got a new job, was going to come to church Sunday morning, etc. Saturday night we are driving by her apartment complex and we see 2 cop cars....and Rachel handcuffed by her car!! WHAT??!? I about broke down and went over there. Sister Crane held me back though. But seriously. I wanted to scream. But then I remembered I'm a missionary, and we're supposed to act like Christ at all times and I couldn't see Jesus screaming about anything, no matter how disappointed He gets. So yeah, we played some nice church music real loud and sang our sorrows away. We'll check back with her next week so I'll keep ya posted. She knows the church is true, now it's all about what she chooses to do about that. Sometimes I really hate people's agency.. just saying.
Now just for a few other fun things that happened during the week.
>We met a guy named Cowboy and his girlfriend named Silvia. She said that he needed to go home and shower. He responded "I don't know whatchu talking bout, I sitll smell like Old Spice."
>We were street contacting and Sister Crane told a girl that she liked her necklace..the girl looks down... she's not even wearing a necklace..umm I meant bracelet! haha
>We walked up to a big truck with a bunch of 20 year old guys in it. Said hello, then me and Sister Crane both chickened out and continued to walk by. We then realized we had nowhere else to go further down the street, so we turned around, took the walk of shame, and got up to the courage to talk to them about the gospel. They said we could come back and teach them! Whoop whoop.
>Met a 70 year old lady on the street who was wearing a belly shirt. She asked for some money for the bus, so I gave her a few quarters and took the opportunity to talk to her about the gospel. She said, "Oh I live a very clean life, how many 70 year old women do you know that look as good as me? I never do drugs or anything, except for marijuana. I just smoke that stuff for medical reasons though..."
>We realized one of the guys we've been trying to teach has a pet peacock in his yard. Sister Crane hid behind me the whole way up to his door. Apparently they're not the friendliest of birds. We made it out alive though. just barely.
> Sister Crane informed me that I sleep talk. I taught a family the other night about how the gospel will bless them and allow them to live together forever. Must be why we're in a singles ward because apparently I can teach families in my sleep..
>I've now been called Sister Sour Crout and Sister Clause.
> I've almost been killed by the gates that go down after cars drive through..twice. Don't ask.
>We taught an awesome guy named Steven. He wants to have a big BBQ for us, and gather a bunch of people together to hear our message. He is awesome! He used to be homeless, but now has a full time job working as the guy on the street who holds the for sale sign for their store. He always has a huge smile on his face and is rocking out to his ipod. He brought us in for a big group hug after our lesson with him.. whoopsies..The coolest part was when he asked us for a Book of Mormon with a huge smile on his face after our lesson and said he couldn't wait to read it :)
>We saw a scorpion! It was already dead though, thank goodness.
>We helped a lady move and actually got to wear pants! She also showed us her sexy white motor bike. Sister Crane and I made a pact that we will start a motorbike gang when we get off our missions and cruise the country. Until we find our significant others of course. And they can then join us.
>We taught a different Rachel and had an amazing lesson with her! We may have played a little matchmaker in the mean time and invited a guy in our ward who likes her a lot to come to the lesson with us. The plan worked to our amazement and digits were exchanged. They even read Alma 32 together after we left! We've already got their marriage date picked ;)
>President and Sister Neider called me and asked if I could play violin at a stake member missionary training last night. It was a little nerve racking, but I am so glad I am getting so many opportunities to play :)
Sorry this email is so long! For those of you who read till the end.. good job on enduring ;)
The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints is so true :) Remember how much our Heavenly Father wants us to return to live with Him and make sure every day we are doing those things that will help us reach that goal!
Two questions to think about this week:
1. Is there anything I wouldn't do because of the atonement of Jesus Christ
2. If we KNEW Christ was coming in 1 year from today, how would we change our lives?
I love you guys! Have an awesome week :)
Seester Kraus
ps. first pic is a dead scorpion. Second pic is the light from a huge hotel on the strip that is always there..third one is our goals for the coming week! Through faith, (and lots of prayers) we can do all things! Oh, and we decided to be adventurous and buy some coconuts.
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