I hope everyone is doing well back at home! And that the weather isn't as rainy there as it is here. The members here have been praying and fasting for rain (they all own land and really depend on the moisture) and it has been POURING. Great for them- terrible for us. Haha! But, luckily, this ward is AWESOME at giving us rides around the area. (Which is also terrible for my weight... I'm getting so fat. Bleh.) This ward is getting more and more excited about missionary work! The work is hastening! And miracles are happening!
We have CD players/radios in the cars. It's not the olden days anymore. ;) And we also have a CD player in our apartment. So, yes, CD's would be appreciated. :)
I haven't really gotten over my sickness yet. I'm definitely able to function- but my nose is still stuffy all the time. But that's okay. I can work through that.
You can take the names out if you want. It's okay since I only put their first names and you didn't post the ward name on the blog. No one should be able to find them.
Sundays are.... a breath of fresh air. And they are over much too quickly. If I could live in the church building, I would.
I've learned quite a few words in Tongan from my companion (as shown above haha). Who knows- maybe I'll come home and bear my testimony in Tongan- my new mission language. Haha! Yeah, like that'll happen.
I think I'll take this letter day by day...
Monday:
So, this was last P-Day- and I sent you an email that morning. But something awesome happened that night. My comp and I were sitting at home after we had finished eating dinner that a family had bought for us. And we were going through the ward list thinking of who we could visit... We aren't supposed to go and visit ward members on Monday nights because of FHE and we really don't have any investigators. So we were pretty bummed. All day I was praying that we would be given an opportunity to help someone, or to have a missionary experience. But nothing had came up in our path that day. Pretty discouraging... So we just got into our PJ's and sat on the couch and talked... (Probably not the greatest thing to be doing. We should have tracted or something like that. But still.) But then a knock came at our door. Weird. It was 7pm. No one but the ward members know where we live- and why would anyone be here? I answered the door and it was one of the young women from the ward- she had brought us over some salad and fruit. But there was something else on her face that seemed to scream- "I need to talk." So I invited her in, and she accepted. Long story short... She ended up sitting and talking to us for 2 and a half hours about her life, mistakes that she had made, and her feeling like she was losing her testimony. And, oh boy, I could SO relate to her situation. Everything that she had been through, that she was feeling, I had been there too! I shared with her my experiences and my testimony of the atonement- to which she was very touched and left our apartment with a determination to change and improve her life.
This had been an answer to MY prayer. I prayed to be able to touch someone that day. And this (I found out several days later from her mother) was an answer to her parents prayers- that she could find someone that related to her and would help her develop a testimony through this hard time in her life. The Lord answers prayers. He is aware of us. And he provides answers in a lot of different ways- including through other people.
Tuesday:
Nothing big or exciting happened on Tuesday. Other than one of the ward missionaries invited us into her house really quickly- and she has an entire room dedicated to KOALAS. WHATTTT?!?! I loved it. I need to go back and get a picture. Her husband served in Australia. So it's full of awesome stuff.
Wednesday:
This was my 1 month mark. What-what! Sweet! 17 more to go! haha
We visited with widows/widowers from the ward- sharing messages and helping them with whatever they needed. This ward is filled with older people, who really appreciate and (really) depend on visits from other people so that they don't go crazy sitting at home all day.
We also visited with a young family, less active, and asked them if they had thought about going to the temple to be sealed. To which she responded, "Well, we just celebrated our 7 year anniversary and we were thinking of going for our 10 year anniversary. That would be really cute!" NOOOO!!! Come on people! Getting sealed in the temple is not renewing your vows! It's getting SEALED for time and all eternity! We're going to need to teach them more about the temple and what it really means...
Thursday:
Man. THIS was a ROUGH day. Full of cancellations and disappointment. But we ended up going to the relief society presidents house to go over the ward list and the ward boundary with her (since everybody knows everybody here- AND their story- AND if you need to know anything you always go to the Relief Society president!)--- Turns out everyone is either active in the church, a "do not contact", or mentally crazy. Yeah. That's exactly what she told us. Isn't that great? haha!
But that night we had 2 awesome appointments! We taught Lyle again- a less active, has been for 20+ years- and gave him a Book of Mormon to have him read. He's getting more and more willing to change as we meet with him and we can really see the spirit working on him. And we also visited with Dave again! What an awesome guy! We taught him "CPR for the soul"- church, prayer, reading scriptures. And he really understood it! He's been reading the Book of Mormon every day and trying to say his prayers. YES!!!
Friday:
District Meeting. Whoohooooo. I feel like all of the sisters in my zone are Tongan. Why am I the only white person?! What's with that?! I'm the only person speakin' English around here! haha! But that afternoon, the young woman that talked to us on Monday came and took us out to ice cream at Arctic Circle (love that place). And while there, we were joking with the guy that took our order- he seemed like a friendly guy- so we had the YW give him a mormon.org card with our names and number that said, "Keep up the good work! Call if you want to hear about the gospel! <3 The Lds Sister Missionaries" He shouted, "YES!" when he got it. Yeah, he probably won't call. But it was still awesome.
Saturday:
We established weekly visits with our investigator, Haley! Her Dad still isn't allowing us to give her the discussions- but we're going to meet with her weekly and share little spiritual thoughts with her. It's a start! :)
We also were walking a little bit that day... and were chased down the street by some killer chihuahuas. Maybe not "chased". But they were pretty ferocious little guys. Scary! haha! And we met with Tami and Summer!!! They are less active and when we said that we wanted to go visit them, everyone in the ward said, "Good luck with that... No one ever meets with them or finds them at home." WELL! WE DID! They were working in their yard- so we offered to help. (Yes, we were in our skirts and scarves and flats.) Imagine me- wearing a maxi skirt- CHOPPING WOOD. Yeah. It happened. And it was awesome. And they let us share a message with them afterwards. :)
That night, we went to a baptism of a Tongan family (TONS OF PEOPLE). MAN, can they sing!! The spirit was so strong as they sang Tongan hymns. And we ate dinner with them afterwards- Let me just say- Tongan food is GROSS. Disgusting. They kept telling me that I was too skinny and needed to eat more.... Maybe I need to hang out with Tongan's more often. They think I'm skinny! haha
Sunday:
My favorite day! I was asked to sing in church on Sunday- and also in zone conference tomorrow. haha! I didn't realize how much I missed music until that day. We went to ward choir- and I just felt so much happier about life and my calling. I need to sing more often! And that night we went over and taught Marietta again- this time about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we were also joined by a woman named Cassie! She is dating a less active member and is really close to an active family in our ward. Her heart is SO prepared for the gospel! And she's EXCITED! Sister Happy asked them the baptismal question, "As you come to know that these things are true, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" And Cassie was like, "If I know it's true- then of course I would!" We gave her a Book of Mormon and encouraged her to read and pray about it. I testified to her that she needed to find out the truth for herself. She accepted. :D
Marietta... not so much. She's not quite ready yet- she just doesn't WANT a testimony. We're still working with her, planting seeds. And we're hoping that her heart is softened.
That's pretty much it for my week. Some awesome things are happening! The work is coming- slowly- but it's coming. :)
I hope you all are doing great and I look forward to hearing from you. :)
Love,
Sister Gubler
p.s. We got flowers from a member in the ward!
And we went to a boy scout store!
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