Dear Family,
What a week! Things have been picking up in Glenwood, but not without our blood, sweat and my tears. Sister Jager never cries. Well, she didn't, until I softened her up. I think I have begun to rub off on her because she cried when she was telling me about the movie "Touched by an Angel". She said, "Oh no, what is happening to me?" And I just laughed an evil laugh.
I got to go on exchanges this week with a sweet sister named Sister Jardine. We did a 48 hour exchange rather than the normal 24 hour ones. It was so nice to be with her. She reminded me a lot of Becca in the way she spoke and the feeling I got from her. It felt just like home. I got to show her around and introduce her to my precious Glenwood friends. We went to Sister Farlene's funeral which I got the opportunity to play at, went to lunch with the Bledsoes, passed by a camel farm on the way to contact a referral, got chocolate milk shakes :), taught some great lessons, and felt the spirit. This is what life is all about! haha. It was fun. Felt sorta like a vacation.
This week we began to teach Adam Crow(14yrs) who is the son of a man in the branch. For some reason he hasn't been baptized yet but wants to be baptized before he goes back to Montana to be with his mom. He is getting baptized this sunday. It's been a great experience to teach him, especially with the help of his dad and step mom who have great testimonies. Yesterday we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about the marvelous gift of the Holy Ghost- how blessed we are to know of and receive this comforter to truly walk with us and bring things to our remembrance. One of the many things President Palmer has taught me is this: "The Holy Ghost sounds like remembering". This sanctifying power is available to us when we are baptized. We asked Adam why he wanted to be baptized. Being the thoughtful person he is, he was quiet for a minute. He didn't say much, but I felt the spirit powerfully. Tears filled his eyes as he said "I've been wanting to be baptized for..." He didn't even finish his sentence. It is for moments like these that we work and strive to be diligent. I felt the joy that comes into a person's life when they truly and deeply feel the spirit. There is nothing sweeter!
The people in this branch have changed my life. They are examples of the kind of person I want to be. I had some wonderful experiences with them this week. First let me tell you about LouElla Hawthorn. Do you remember when I told you that Sister Boston from Bartlett was the Southern version of Aunt Denise? Well, so is Sister Hawthorn. If you want to learn the value of hard work, talk to one of these three ladies. Sister Hawthorn is always going. All the time! She has a 200x300 ft garden that she tends to each day-complete with radishes, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, green beans, new potatoes, green onions, sweet potatoes, egg plant and more. Every Thursday she picks us up and takes us to the appointments with non-members she scheduled for us. She supplies most of our referrals and new investigators :). Then she takes us out to lunch, gives us things from her garden, and drops us off. What an amazing person she is. The reason she does this? She has a burning testimony of the gospel and the light it brings to her life. As we expressed our gratitude to her she said, "Do you know how much my spirit soars when I'm with the missionaries?". Each day I feel that I gain so much more from these people than I could ever give.
On Saturday we had our branch social in the park. It was wonderful! There were more non-members there than our own members! Sister Burnett and her sister Opal invited a lot of their friends from the singin's they go to at different churches around the county. The best part was when one of the visitors brought out his guitar and we all sang some gospel songs. I'm learning them! I wish I already knew them all. I had a ball. I made friends with them easily because that's the kind of people they are. Brother Bledsoe requested "our song" (the one we performed at his baptism) "In the Garden". I just loved the whole thing. The next day at church President Palmer asked if I had a good time with the singing. I said, "It's one of my favorite things!". He said it looked like I was having fun. Also our new investigator Jennifer came with her daughter Nora. Teaching her has been going very well.
After the picnic, it was about 8:50. Sister Jager asked me if there was any place I felt we should go. I thought of this white house I felt prompted to go to 4 weeks ago. So we went. We knocked and were immediately invited in and welcomed in such a warm way! We met a wonderful family- Brenda and Rick, their daughter and grand kids. They go to the cowboy church here in town. :) I've really been wanting to meet someone who goes to cowboy church! Rick added us on facebook, the little grand kids sang songs for us, we prayed with them, and they said we could come back to see them. We were so happy. On the way home Sister Jager said, "It's that 9:00 magic, I'm tellin ya". True.
I know I'm giving you too much information...but I wanted to capture some great moments I had this week.
All my love,
sister wilde
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