Greetings from the big NY!
So
can you believe it? Another week has come and passed here in
Cooperstown. I tell ya, time fies out here. But, I am loving it. Can I
also just say that fall has come in full force this week and I am loving
it. Fall is officially my favorite season. Amen!!. This week started
out a bit rocky. Like I said before, taking over the area and being in
charge is hard. Way harder than you would expect. But the good news is
that the Lord is on our side! So let me tell you some good things that
happened this week...
The goods:
1. We had to change Trish's baptism date to October 5th,
in between conference sessions. Let me tell you, this was not at first a
good thing. I was stressed, because it was kind of my fault for not
getting things scheduled in time! I was way bummed that we were pushing
it back, and really felt bad. Stress had set in. Well then Trish came
in, being the little spiritual giant that she is and told us that she
felt like Heavenly Father needed it to be pushed back so she could bear
her testimony in sacrament meeting before she was baptized. She also
said that it really is for the best. We concluded the Lord works in
mysterious ways, but we are SO EXCITED FOR THE BAPTISM!!! Its going to
be great.
2.
We had a really great exchange in which I got to finally leave my area!
Wooo! I spent a lovely day in Hamilton, NY.... and let me tell you, I
want to serve there. The people were angels (I was randomly hugged like 3
times), and we got to talk to college
students, and its like a real city! Like, if I was sent there next, I wouldn't be upset!
3.
The Harvest Fest! So some members in our branch own a huge apple
orchard, so they do this activity where they invite the branch and who
ever to come eat and pick apples, then they donate the apples to local
food banks! It was a great activity pluuuuuuuuss.... (sub bullets)
~We got to pick apples
~Eat free food (did I eat like 6 cookies that day? I can neither confirm nor deny)
~Interact with the branch
~Wear pants (you thrive on these moments as a missionary)
~PLUS, Trish came with her husband and mom and we had a super great time!
4.
WE PICKED UP A NEW INVESTIGATOR! Oh my, this is such a blessing because
it has been FOREVER since that has happened. Getting the work to move
here in Coopstown is difficult. But, we have taken a new perspective to
find people and we pray that we will continue to see things happen. So
who is this investigator you ask? This is someone we met in my first week
of the mission? Well, we are back in contact with her and she is doing
AMAZING! She told us that every time she prays for direction, as to what
she should do with her life, we knock on her door the next day. She
said its happened like 4 times, so she knows that there must be
something there. The spirit was incredible in our lesson with her, and
we have very high hopes for where it can go!
5.
Trish told us SHE wants to teach the next lesson, On the Atonement, To
her sons. and she just wants us to back her up. I died with joy and love
for her.
The life lessons:
I
always have to have a spiritual thought right? (Comes with the
calling). Anyway, this week I had been feeling a little down. Like I
said before, Sister Hansen and I have been doing everything we can to
try and find new people. We have made a goal to not tract, or tract as
little as possible. While other activities are much more productive in
the long run, they don't seem to yield as immediate of results. I was
then listening to a talk by Elder Bednar in which he said the phrase "Do
you have the faith NOT to be healed?" and I was thinking of it in terms
of a mission. like, "Sister Langford, Do you have the faith not to
find?" In other words, do I, or do any of us, have the faith to
completely turn it over to the Lord. To let whatever happens, happen and
know that it's in the Lord hands. To completely trust in the Lord and
his timing. Its easy to have faith when we are constantly seeing
miracles or seeing things progress, but how much more amazing is it to
have faith when things aren't progressing, when life isn't peachy.
That's real faith. So even though it may seem backwards to have "faith
NOT to find" That is what I have been working on. I know that by taking
the path we are, things might be slower, but the Lord will bless us, and
that I am not taking over the area, but the Lord is.
The laughs:
*while on exhange in Hamilton. Pouring rain. Knocking on a trailer park door*
Old man: "who are you?"
Sister McGreggor: "We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints"
Old Man: "what?"
Me: "We're the Mormons!"
Old Man: "You're mermaids?"
Me: *laughing* "even though we are soaking wet, we are actually mormons, not mermaids"
We knocked on a door that had a sign that said "No Jehovahs" and I said "good thing we're mormons!"
Sister McGreggor: "its ok for us to do socially unacceptable things, we're missionaries and we're sharing the gospel dang it!"
Sister Hansen: "We are going to be so prepared for life, like a mission is just a year and a half of super awkward moments"
Well
kids, that was the week. It was a good week, there were some good
times. I keep hoping that things will continue to get better and we will
continue to have faith in Christ!
XOXO
Sister Langford
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