Sunday, March 20, 2016

And When Our Hearts Were Depressed and We Were About to Turn Back...

Well, hello,
The weeks honestly are just flying by. It also didn't hurt that P-day was a day later last week so I honestly just emailed a few days ago, but even without that the weeks go ridiculously fast. 
Wednesday was really nice. We went and visited one of our investigators in the morning and she is doing well. Sometimes it's hard to know whether or not she invites us over because she likes us or our message. But either way, every time we go she tells us how much it means to her and how she knows God loves her because we always come when she needs us. So we'll keep going back. :) After we visited her we went over to a member's house and spent some time with them. It was really neat though because they invited their niece over who is not a member. We shared a message about Easter and it was really nice and low key. It helped everyone involved and it wasn't that hard. It made me happy knowing that member missionary work can be so simple and can touch so many lives in a matter of 45 minutes. We also taught the mutual activity which was fun. So Canberra had better watch out because the Woden Young Women now know how to make stir fry and no bake cookies. Haha :) 
Thursday was really nice. We went and visited Kate. She is so great! She has so much potential but so little support. It's sad but great things are in store for her! Then we went and visited a less active sister. Oh my goodness, little old less active ladies are one of my favorite parts of missionary work. Maybe it's because it reminds me of the crazy things that would come out of my grandma's mouth when we would visit her, maybe it's because they are happy to have visitors and that makes me happy. Either way, it's the best. :) Then that evening we went with Sister Edwards to visit the Dempsters. It was a really great evening with a fun Easter message. I love Sister Edwards and the Dempsters! It was a great day and great to see members of the ward bond with those who are struggling and who aren't yet members. 
Friday was great. We had our meeting in the morning as usual and then we had a very interesting lesson. A member had invited us over for service but when we got there, she was stressed. So she asked us to sing hymns with her and share scriptures about the hymns. It was a really neat and calming experience. Then we went and saw our beloved Amanda! She's doing great! We reviewed the baptismal interview questions and she seems to be really confident and excited for her baptism in a few weeks! Please keep her in your prayers that her desire will continue to grow and that she'll be able to enter into this covenant! :) 
Saturday was great. We went and saw Yvette and she's doing well. Still keen on learning about the gospel but right now it's more of a search for knowledge rather than a spiritual search. But she's progressing, slowly but surely. :) We also went and visited a family that has had a crazy past few months. They're really great and they mean a lot to me, and I'm so grateful that as we prayerfully prepare lessons to share with them, we always hear the mum say, "Sisters, how did you know?!" It's always a testimony builder that the Lord is here working with us. 
Sunday was quite an adventure. We got yelled at by an angry member, our investigators that we were planning on seeing at church disappeared even though we had been talking to them that morning, Sister Teahe left to go back to Tahiti so I basically sat on the pavement and cried for a good 5 minutes,  so yea, it was looking like a pretty rough day. But when "our hearts were depressed and we were able to turn back" (Alma 26:27), we went back to the chapel after we said goodbye to Sister Teahe and talked to Bishop Seumalu. Well, there is a couple in the ward that has been coming for a while, they're just dating but pretty seriously. He starting coming back to church a few months ago when they started dating... but there's a twist. We all, including himself, thought he was just less active and then started coming back. BUT HE WAS NEVER BAPTIZED. So yea, we're going to hopefully start teaching him the lessons this week. MIRACLE. And then after we talked to him, this less active lady from another ward and her nonmember friend just walked into the chapel and we met them and they invited us over.  So it's okay for days to totally stink, because the silver lining is always thicker than the cloud.
Now, if you will remember my first email from the mission field, not the MTC but the beautiful field of Maine, you will remember me talking about the Cook family! I said, "Brother Cook is a member, his wife is a devout Christian, and their four children are baptized but not necessarily active. They are all AWESOME." Well, Sister Davis emailed me and guess who is getting baptized! Sister Cook! :D She's getting baptized next week! I'm so excited my heart could explode! 
Being a missionary is the best thing in the world. Sometimes, a lot of times, the struggle is real and being home would be a lot more enjoyable and a lot less exhausting. But it's about ten minutes after those moments that something happens and I realized how blessed I am to be where I am doing what I am doing. Being a member of the church and how I know Christ because of it is the biggest blessing of my life and so it's an honor to be able to try to help others experience the same. Have a beautiful week, endure to the end!
Love,
Sister Danielle Laree Stott



Pictures: 
1. Woden and Tuggeranong District. I know my emails disregard any normality amongst missionaries, but if they didn't already, I'm sure this picture would do it.

2. Saying goodbye to Sister Teahe. :'( 

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