Her group email this week:)
Helloooo all!!
This week was super great! We were able to find a lot of people and see the Lord's hand work small little miracles in everything! It is still pretty cold here but supposed to warm up this week. Church was cancelled AGAIN yesterday because it was so icy, and we were also not allowed to drive, so we walked. Pretty sure Hermana Mensinger and I slipped like 50 bajillion times and the people in the cars probably thought we were nuts but we got a good laugh out of it. We came home super dead tired and beaten physically though, ha! Man, I really feel sad though, I'm a MISSIONARY and haven't been to church for 2 weeks! I need the sacrament! Haha :)
For all of you who know Miranda sings... My companion loves her too!! This companionship was God-given!! Well, everything is God-given but this just provides a witness! Haha :)
As far as our investigators are going... We have quite a few, but work has been pretty tough. As well as being able to see God's hand in everything, with everything we have seen Satan working on them as well. (2 Nephi 2:11-opposition in all things) :) I love being a missionary and being able to see people change their lives for the better! Just small little things you can see a light in them and see a testimony growing in them that put feelings inside you that words can't describe! There are so many things that happen here on my mission that I have been able to say, "that would have NEVER happened," or, "I would have never experienced that had I not gone on a mission!" So many awesome things and crazy things as well! Ha for example, funny story.., the other day, we were trying to find a member from our Ward that hasn't gone to church in a long long time whom we haven't met, and as we were walking down the stairs to the apartment complex there was a lady sitting there on the stairs smoking and she said to my companion, "ohhh those are some nice boots you got there! Where'd Ya get em?!" and so we made a little bit of small talk with her and she started talking about how mormons are very nice and "you are very nice.." and all, and then she started talking about how we aren't sent here to judge other people and how we all have the ability to make good or bad decisions in life. At that moment I shared a scripture with her from the bible (Matthew 5:16-thank you dad!!) And explained to her how we all have the light of Christ in us, and that is what enables us discern right from wrong and make good decisions, and the more we make good decisions that light will grow in us and we will be able to overcome any troubles or difficulties we may have with the help of our savior..well, the lady started crying and said, "I have a light! I know I do!" And was just bawling and started singing the "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." Song and asked for a hug and started hugging me, then her fiancé opened the door from inside and she just walked inside crying, and that was it! It was super interesting and we were super confused.. A lot more happened but that's the gist of it.. The lord works in mysterious ways!! That's all I have to say!
Well, don't want to make these emails too long cuz I know they can get a little exhausting to read, but I just want you to all know that God loves you and I know that! I have been able to feel His love as I serve Him, and encourage you to do the same! (Omni 1:26) "serve Him with all your heart, might, mind and strength" and you will see blessings!! Try it, I dare you :) God will never fall short on His end of the promise. I hope you all have an awesome week as you serve those around you and come to know your Christ as your savior and friend!
Love you all!
Hermana Riddle :)
Sent from my iPad
This week was super great! We were able to find a lot of people and see the Lord's hand work small little miracles in everything! It is still pretty cold here but supposed to warm up this week. Church was cancelled AGAIN yesterday because it was so icy, and we were also not allowed to drive, so we walked. Pretty sure Hermana Mensinger and I slipped like 50 bajillion times and the people in the cars probably thought we were nuts but we got a good laugh out of it. We came home super dead tired and beaten physically though, ha! Man, I really feel sad though, I'm a MISSIONARY and haven't been to church for 2 weeks! I need the sacrament! Haha :)
For all of you who know Miranda sings... My companion loves her too!! This companionship was God-given!! Well, everything is God-given but this just provides a witness! Haha :)
As far as our investigators are going... We have quite a few, but work has been pretty tough. As well as being able to see God's hand in everything, with everything we have seen Satan working on them as well. (2 Nephi 2:11-opposition in all things) :) I love being a missionary and being able to see people change their lives for the better! Just small little things you can see a light in them and see a testimony growing in them that put feelings inside you that words can't describe! There are so many things that happen here on my mission that I have been able to say, "that would have NEVER happened," or, "I would have never experienced that had I not gone on a mission!" So many awesome things and crazy things as well! Ha for example, funny story.., the other day, we were trying to find a member from our Ward that hasn't gone to church in a long long time whom we haven't met, and as we were walking down the stairs to the apartment complex there was a lady sitting there on the stairs smoking and she said to my companion, "ohhh those are some nice boots you got there! Where'd Ya get em?!" and so we made a little bit of small talk with her and she started talking about how mormons are very nice and "you are very nice.." and all, and then she started talking about how we aren't sent here to judge other people and how we all have the ability to make good or bad decisions in life. At that moment I shared a scripture with her from the bible (Matthew 5:16-thank you dad!!) And explained to her how we all have the light of Christ in us, and that is what enables us discern right from wrong and make good decisions, and the more we make good decisions that light will grow in us and we will be able to overcome any troubles or difficulties we may have with the help of our savior..well, the lady started crying and said, "I have a light! I know I do!" And was just bawling and started singing the "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine..." Song and asked for a hug and started hugging me, then her fiancé opened the door from inside and she just walked inside crying, and that was it! It was super interesting and we were super confused.. A lot more happened but that's the gist of it.. The lord works in mysterious ways!! That's all I have to say!
Well, don't want to make these emails too long cuz I know they can get a little exhausting to read, but I just want you to all know that God loves you and I know that! I have been able to feel His love as I serve Him, and encourage you to do the same! (Omni 1:26) "serve Him with all your heart, might, mind and strength" and you will see blessings!! Try it, I dare you :) God will never fall short on His end of the promise. I hope you all have an awesome week as you serve those around you and come to know your Christ as your savior and friend!
Love you all!
Hermana Riddle :)
Sent from my iPad
Pic 1: Someone made these in front of the church building and we had to get a pic :)
Pic 2:Walking in the cold! :)
For those of you who understand Spanish, this is part of the letter that she wrote to me in Spanish this week:) This was in response to some questions that I had for her..
"Ok, bueno. Sí, estamos enseñando inglés todavía cada jueves. Mi compañera es de Illinois. Pero fue a BYU Idaho el año pasado por la escuela. No hemos podido hablar con Albert, pero hablamos mucho con Luis y está progresando. La única cosa que él no entiende es la autoridad del sacerdocio, lo cual no hemos explicado muy bien creo. Pero Luis quiere que Albert conozca los misioneros allá en Puerto Rico. Vamos a tratar de hacer algo sobre eso. Maria.... Pues, ella no quiere asistir a la iglesia porque ella ha asistido en el pasado y piensa que es una buena experiencia, pero le gusta su iglesia católica mejor. Vamos a seguir trabajando con ella por un ratito, pero tal vez su albedrío está impidiéndole de entender y cambiar su vida.. :( es muy triste, pero vamos a ver."
She said, that they are still teaching English every Thursday. Her new companion (Hermana Mensinger) is from Illinois but she attended BYU Idaho last year. She said that they haven't been able to talk to Albert (who had to go back to Puerto Rico to live with his mom) but they talk with Luis (his father) and said that Luis is progressing. He just doesn't understand the authority of the Priesthood of which she didn't think they explained very well. She said that Luis wants Albert to get to know the missionaries in Puerto Rico and that they will try to do something about that. (Her other investigator) Maria doesn't want to go to church because she has attended in the past and thinks it was a good experience but likes the Catholic church better. She said that they are going to keep on working with her but her agency is preventing her from understanding and changing her life. She said, "Its so sad but we will see."
Here are some clips from the email that she sent to me this week. She was answering a bunch of questions that I asked her. She loves questions because it helps her to be able to explain what is going on a little better. She says that there is so much happening all the time that there are so many things that she forgets to talk about. So, if you are writing to her make sure to ask her some questions:)
"Things have been going great with training! It's been going really well! We found two new investigators last night from walking like an hour in the ice so thank goodness for that! One of them is the son of a member, his name is Oscar, and the other is a lady with some kids that lived close.. We set up a returning appointment with them and hopefully they will really want to listen! They seemed interested..
A typical p-day hmm.. It depends, it's different every time.. P-Days are usually kind of stressful to be honest, trying to get so much done in so little time.. I wish it wasn't just from 10am-6pm.. But that's ok, I have the rest of my life to be able to do that kind of stuff on normal days.. I usually don't eat dinner on p-days till we get back at 9, cuz we just don't have time! Next week we are planning on going to the air and space museum though in Chantilly, which is in our area, which apparently I have heard is way cooler than the one in DC.
I wish I could just videotape my whole life and thoughts! Yes we are allowed to video, and I can watch videos too, so that's fine! Haha :) I dunno these next few weeks are going to be iPad training so we will find out more of the standard and everything.. basically I am really upset about Facebook though because they said we need to deactivate our old one, but I can go in and do that because there is a setting I have to click on so it doesn't automatically delete my account after 30 days of deactivation.. They said it shouldn't matter if your old one deletes though but that was the iPad guy who said that.. That if they are your really good friends they won't have a problem adding you in the future.. But a lot of people were concerned about all the memories and past pictures and history on there. Some people have a lot, like me.. So I just have to make sure I go in and click that setting after deactivation.. Ahh so crazy!
We had a family history training a while back and it got me super stoked to do a bunch of family history when I get home! I can honestly testify that family history changes lives, and it is a super good way to keep your mind focused on the real purpose of life and eternity.. It's amazing! We have had the opportunity to talk with less actives and recent converts about family history and get them meeting with the family history consultant. It is a super way to get them ready to prepare and go to the temple too!! It really is a great tool, I wish I knew more on how to use it though, because for non members it's really hard to know where to start."
This week Mariah got permission to sign in to our Icloud and share her pics and videos with us. We have been seeing pictures pop up here and there for most of the week. There were so many funny pics of her and her companion and I happened to mention that to her. She said that she had no idea that we could see ALL of the pics she was taking, she just thought we could see the ones that she actually put in a shared folder. Haha:) Below are some pics that came through on the Ipad this week. There are others but they just might be a little embarrassing for Mariah if I post them haha:) Enjoy!
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