Week 16 - Kuna 09/23/13

Hello family!

It really has been a busy week! But a good one! We saw so many people this week! 

On Monday, we went to the Welker’s home. They’re an older couple that aren’t able to go to church due to poor health. We taught FHE with them and read that awesome conference talk I mentioned in my last email, which I hope you’ve read by now.  Brother Welker is a spiritual giant and always has the best stories to tell! He reminds me of a mix between Thomas S. Monson and Grandpa Lee, so you can see why I love him! Sister Welker is so sweet just like Grandma Kitty! So they’re kind of like my grandparents away from home! 

We’ve been visiting several families on a regular basis that need a little extra help for one reason or another.  One of our visits is to Sister G’s house, which is right behind the house we live in, so we share a back fence. I saw Sister G’s youngest, M. outside playing so I peeked through a little hole in the fence and said "Hi M.!".  He stopped in his tracks and looked all around for me. When he finally found me, he got the biggest smile on his face and baby babbled to me for five minutes. His older brother, G. eventually saw that we were chatting it up and came over and said, "Hi, wanna come to my house right now?" I told him we couldn't but we would come over the next day. He said "Okay that will probably be fine. I'm going to go tell my mom!" He bolted in the house as fast as he could and we could hear him yelling "MOM! MOOOOOOM! SISTER TAYLOR IS COMING TOMORROW! SISTER TAYLOR IS COMING TOMORROW!"  Funny kid! When we arrived the next morning, Sister G answered the door and said "Thank goodness! G. has been asking for you non stop ever since last night!" I love littl man G.! He is such a sweet kid! After we saw Sister G. on Tuesday, met with a new investigator Jacob, he is only 14 years old. We taught the Restoration and it went really well! We challenged him to read a part of the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true! So hopefully he will keep his commitment and be ready for our next appointment. After Jacob, we went and saw Sister M. I love her so much! She broke down crying and kept telling us how much she appreciates us coming over to visit her! We are going to have the Elders over this week to dedicate her home. For dinner we went to the Driesel family's home. They invited a less active friend over to join us. Their friend has a super sweet and fun 12 year old daughter! She doesn't want the church to know where she lives so no one tries to "re-convert her". We totally respected that and tried to refrian from too much church talk, but at the end (as always) we shared a spiritual thought! The message was well received and we said our goodbyes and went on our merry way. We later found out the the scripture we shared was one that helped her in her conversion to the gospel. After we left she asked Brother Driesel for a Priesthood Blessing. We then saw her at church this past Sunday! How awesome is that? A lot of the time, when we follow spiritual promptings and do missionary work, we don't get to see the fruit of our labors. But this time we did, and it really got us pumped to work hard this week! After the Driesel’s, we went to see Troy and Tanya Miller. They are one of our families that are like our "parents away from home". They are so wonderful to us! Troy was scheduled for back surgery the next Thursday in Boise so we stopped by to wish him luck. We had a really nice gospel conversation and a little fun too of course! Troy loves to joke around, and is always good at lifting our spirits when we've had a tough day!

On Wednesday we saw a recent convert that we’ve been working with.  She actually used to live in Fairfax! So she loves to talk with me about all of the places she’s been in Virginia.  We always read from the Book of Mormon with her. This past week, we read 1 Nephi chapters 17-18. I love reading the stories with her because it helps me remember some things that I have forgotten about! This week P. is going on a tour of England! She is going to bring us back a little souvenier. She's so sweet! After we saw Penny, we went and saw J. S.  J.  she's a wonderful lady who is just becoming active in the church again! She was struggling with her testimony of Joseph Smith because of some negative information she had read awhile back.  But this Wednesday she announced to us that she was over her block and she now accepts him as a prophet of God! We were really excited! After J.’s we went and visited the B. family. This family is really struggling. But they wanted us to  teach their 8 year old daughter the lessons so she can get baptized! The family is mostly less active and we have been trying to help them get back to church. For dinner, we went to the Fulmers house. Brother Fulmer is our new Ward Mission Leader in the Kuna 4th ward. He and his wife are awesome! They have captured the spirit of their calling right away and are so ready and willing to help us. I'm really looking forward to working with him more! That night we went and visited the B. family. The dad and he is less active. He served his mission is Los Angeles and talks about it all the time! The rest of his family aren’t members. The mom used to be really against the church, but now she welcomes us in with a hug! We still aren’t able to teach any discussions, but we always share a spiritual thought with them. I love that family so much! She’s a couponer so she always sends us home with extra coupons and treats that she picks up from the store!

On Thursday we had interviews with the mission president! It's always nice being able to talk with President Cannon. He is so nice and listens really well. He asked how things were going in my area and with my companion. And then I asked him if I could stay in Kuna for a few more transfers. He told me that Elder Zwick had told him to keep missionaries in the same area for at least 9 months, so yes I could stay! Hopefully I get to stay here, but sometimes, Heavenly Father has a whole different plan! After we got out of interviews, I sang a song I made up about Kuna to Sister Schloegel (the lady who works the front desk at the mission office). When I had finished, I looked behind me and all the office couples and the mission president and his wife were standing behind me watching! Apparently Sister Cannon had taped it! I would send you a video of me singing it, but 1. you can't send large files via e-mail and 2. my camera is still lost. :( On Friday we went and saw Shari Ladd and taught her the first new member lesson! We taught her about the Priesthood and the importance of being worthy to exercise it!  After Shari, we went to see the Neilson family who are recent converts. We shared a spiritual thought and celebrated with the mom because she was finally able to find a job! After that we went to visit with J. A., who has been investigating the church for a few years and doesn't understand the important of Christ and the Atonement. Sister Stevens did a great job of answering his questions.  For dinner we went to the Whiting’s house! They are such a fun family! They made super delicious Navajo tacos for us! Their son is in Uruguay on his mission and is coming home in three weeks. The 19 year old sister wants me to write him and for me to meet him when he gets home so we can get married. Everytime I'd say something she’d say  "Oh you like to sing! My brother Cameron likes to sing!" "Oh you love the scriptures? My brother likes to read the scriptures!" She is really funny. They are having us over for breakfast on Tuesday and making us crepes!  They are so nice! On Saturday we went and visit Cam and Rheanna Lewis. Rheanna has been investigating the church for three years. We extended the baptismal invitation to her and she accepted! She is getting baptized in two weeks! We have 3 baptisms in the next 3 weeks. Its going to be crazy! We went and visited Sister Taylor after that. She is a sweet older lady who had open heart surgery and has been bed ridden since. That night we got to see the Trents! Sister Stevens finally got to meet B., our eternal investigator. We talked a lot about, Jesus the Christ, because Sister Trent just finished reading it. Then she sent us home with Tangerine Fruit Bars! Yuuuummmm! On Sunday it was meeting after meeting after meeting! Believe it or not, Sunday is our busiest day! The only Sacrament we got to stay the full 1 hour for was for the 6th ward. Funny enough, it was in that ward that the bishop called up Sister Stevens and I to bear our testimonies out of the blue! (and it was perfect because we had a lot of investigators and less actives attending that ward!).  Next, we went to E. L’s. We hadn't visited him for a long time, and Sister Stevens hadn’t met him yet so no better time than the present!  During our visit, E. commited to go to church with us the next Sunday, on the condition that he could buy us lunch some time. Sounds good to me! After that we went to dinner at the Quigleys home. They have really cute kids that asked question after question. Finally,we went to Sister Huberts for the rest of the night, whew! Sister Hubert and her family are converts of 6 months. She’s from Russia and takes such good care of all the missionaries! She isn't in our area but we go over if we ever need a break or need help with something. I had some clothing that I wore holes in them and a couple skirts with rips and she sewed them all back up! 

So that was my week! And I’m out of time!  

Love you all,

Sister Lindsay Taylor