December
23, 2013
So, I feel really bad.
I've been typing up long e-mails each week, and I found out
I've been sending them to the wrong e-mail address! So now you get FOUR weeks
of e-mails, in just this week! Merry Christmas to you, this is my present from
me! [=
We wanted to have a tree for Christmas, so last P-day I
bought a string of light and we shaped it into a little ghetto Christmas tree
on our wall! It kept on falling, (and it was really embarrassing when
maintenance came and saw it) so we decided to put it across our patio doors
instead.
 |
| Our pathetic Christmas Tree |
Monday was a very eventful day. We are advised to have an
appointment after P-day, which is from 10am-6pm. Sister Jarman and I taught
these three younger women about the Plan of Salvation in a kinda sorta sketch
place, and ended the lesson around 8 pm, so it was already dark. We assured
them that we were about to get on a bus so we'd be safe. Well, we missed the
bus by literally 30 seconds. We ran after it but admitted defeat. We started
off on our trek to a semi safe bus stop. Sister Jarman and I had to walk at least
a mile to get to a bus stop that had a light and a bench. We figured that the
bus would be coming soon, so we waited, and waited--and waited. We called Sister Bird and Walton and told them
that we missed our bus, but they were in an appointment. Long story short, we
got on a bus around 9pm, just as the sisters were saying that they'd come pick
us up. But we didn't want to stay at that station any longer because we didn't feel safe, so we got on the
bus. That bus then took us to Metro
Transitional Center,
aka jail. We were going to wait for the sisters to pick us up but a police
officer said we couldn't stay there because there were inmates around the
corner. So we got back on the bus, and we thought it was going to take us to Civic Center
station, but as of last Saturday, the bus routes and times have completely
changed, and they didn't update the route papers. So the bus driver took us to
Five Points (which is once again a complete sketch area). We were on that bus
going to Five Points for at least an hour and twenty minutes. Since it was
P-day we didn't eat much. We usually eat around 8 pm for dinner. I was hungry,
exhausted, dehydrated, you name it. I was even getting sick because of the way
the bus driver was driving. All in all, we got home around 10:30pm and we were
completely shaken up. We vowed that we'd never get on a bus ever again. (But of
course we've been on bus ever since).
Also, we were going to drop LaWanda, but we found out that
she was very, very sick to the point that she couldn't do anything. She
finally answered her door and she's back and ready to learn! So we're hoping she'll get
baptized on the 11th of January. Sophia keeps on cancelling her appointments so
who knows if she'll further progress or not.
I went on exchanges with Sister Walton, and I was in the
other sisters' area. We taught some amazing lessons, and I'll try to share some
of them if I have time. But we went to Wendy's and there were these two men
Cedric and Larry, teaching these four boys how to play chess. We watched them
and talked to them about chess and how we are missionaries, and then got our
food. After, they motioned us over and said that they'll teach us how to play.
Sister Walton and I told them that they could teach us, as long as we could
teach them something. I started to teach them about the Restoration, and Joseph
Smith and the First Vision. Larry was just completely engrossed in what I was
saying, and the spirit was so strong. Cedric was telling the little boys that
they needed to pay attention, because they needed to learn some knowledge. We
gave them Sister Walton's contact information, and all of the little boys were
talking about how we were so cute, "especially that one" pointing at
me. One of the little boys actually gave me and Sister Walton a hug and it was
pretty hilarious that 12 year old boys and younger had crushes on us.
At church yesterday, Cedric came to church by himself! I don't know if Sister Walton contacted him or not. I greeted him at the door and I sat by our
investigator, Loren. Now they're going to teach him and he seemed pretty
interested in the church. I really wish I could teach him!
Sunday night, we had inspiration to go on the #162 bus,
wanting to go to Natalie and Barney’s car—that is where they currently live. We
ended up missing our stop because we started to talk to a woman named Shamel. She
is amazing and we really hope that she wants to meet with us. We gave her a Book
of Mormon and gave her a pamphlet on the Restoration. We also met Estella who
has met with the missionaries before, and she really wants to meet with
missionaries again so we got her contact information. We also met a woman and
two little kids, and they said that they would try to come to church because
they love going to other churches to see what they are like. Sister Jarman and
I feel like there's a lot of potential in those people, so we're excited to see
what happens. It was so sad because we talked to the bus driver when it was
only us on a bus, but we forgot to give him a Restoration pamphlet! But he said
that he's always there on the weekends and we should come visit him again so we
plan on it.
I am so excited for this Christmas week! I know that so many
great things will happen if we have Jesus Christ on our mind. I challenge all
of you to have that missionary moment this week, and tell people about our
church. Pray to have missionary moments, and have faith that the spirit will
guide you on what to say. What I learned this week was to have faith is 'to
act'. If you don't act, then you really have no faith. So that's what I'm going
to try and work on this week. I love you all very much, and I hope you have a
very Merry Christmas. Remember what Christmas is all about, and spend as much
time with your families!
-Sister Sudweeks
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