It's like 60 degrees outside and I'm pretty sure that's a record! Oh, it feels soooooo good. I didn't know that it got that cool in Louisiana! I'm really glad it does because I thought I was going to die if it stayed in the 80's and 90's all year!
It's been a great week! On Wednesday, we went and helped the Elders because one of their tires went flat, so we ran it to the bike shop for them! That was a fun experience. We went to the bike shop I got mine from and looked at all the cute bikes there. After that, we went up to LSU to something they call Free Speech Alley. They do it every Wednesday and Thursday and so we spent almost all day on campus passing out copies of the Book of Mormon and pass-along cards and talking to people about what they believe! It was so awesome and I was right up front doing a ton of the talking. Sister Seegrist was behind the booth talking to one of the Sisters that's about to go home and I guess she kept saying that she couldn't believe I've only been out for a few months! She said she was really impressed, so it made me feel awesome! That was one of those times that felt like the type of missionary work that I expected to be doing 24/7. It gave me a new perspective on talking to every single person that we talk to and just being more friendly. It's like last year up at school when I realized I needed to get out of my bubble and say "hi" to more people. But, this is a little more intense because now I get to say "hi" and then try to tell them about the Book of Mormon, Plan of Salvation, Restoration, etc ...
We taught EJ a short lesson the other night, it wasn't as awesome as it could have been but we're still excited and working with him. It's just baby steps right now. Last week we taught five lessons to investigators, which is the most we have ever taught to investigators in one week. It might not seem like a lot to you, but we're also teaching a ton of less-active members and members, too. We taught the Plan of Salvation to a lady that even finally committed to set up a specific return appointment up with us!! I was sooooooo stinkin' excited!!!!!!!!!
We went to see a less-active sister that hasn't been to church in years. She's in her 50's and we want her to be able to come back to church and bring her family. Her name is Esther. I might have told you about her already. But, we invited her to watch conference. After the Saturday morning session, we called her and asked her if she had watched it and she broke down and started to cry. She said that it had touched her so deeply and that she knew that she needed to start to come back. She said that she talked to her step-son and that he was going to pick her up for church next week whether she's ready or not. She is so sweet and the last thing she said before she hung up was that she wants to come back. Then she said "just don't give up on me." It broke my heart a little bit, because we have talked to others about her a few times, and they warned us that Esther will come back for a little while and then she always falls away again. But, I just know with all of my heart that there are so many members, nonmembers, inactive members and others that have that in their minds: "Just don't give up on me" I don't want to give up on them. Everyone needs this! Every needs the chance to accept it.
Ok, So a really neat miracle happened on Saturday night. After the afternoon session we headed down to see a referral in Prairieville. We pulled up and the referral hasn't moved into their home yet and all of our other appointments have fallen through. So, we decided to take a little time to tract in a neighborhood. Sister Seegrist was inspired for that idea. We said a prayer and as soon as we got done, I had a feeling that we should go and see a potential investigator that lives at the very far end of the neighborhood, so we walked down there. I knew that it was a long shot to see him and really talk with him because we had met him at his girlfriend's house, and he was pretty strong in his opinion that God wasn't there or didn't care. Lo and behold, he was home, and lo and behold, he told us that he has read 1/4 of the Book of Mormon. He said that he's totally reading it from a secular point of view, but Sister Seegrist started talking to him about how he should read the introduction and do what it says to ask. We didn't get to go inside to talk, but we talked on the front porch for a long time! It was so neat. But if that wasn't enough of a miracle, here's the kicker. We started to walk back towards the car, and we wanted to knock on one more door. We knocked and stood there for a little while. There were a lot of cars in the driveway so we knew people were home and we could hear people yelling inside (it was during the LSU game). No one comes, and no one comes, and then we hear the side door open and shut and a guy in his 20's walks around the side of the house muttering to himself. He doesn't see us so we awkwardly stand there for a minute before I finally say "Hey." He stops and looks pretty confused at us and then we walk over and start talking to him. We talked about the Book of Mormon and the apostasy and restoration and had a super neat short lesson. He said that he wants to learn more, and we have an appointment with him tonight to teach him more! This tender mercy helped me remember that when we are making the effort to get out and talk to everyone and find people to share the message of the restored gospel with, God will place people in our paths! In the past week, we have given away 10 copies of the Book of Mormon because we are making the effort to get out and talk to people no matter where we are!
I think that I am really starting to get the hang of this missionary stuff. haha.
I love y'all so much! It's ridiculous how much I'm learning out here! It's just like in one of the talks given yesterday, "A teacher is also a student." It doesn't matter how long I teach out here, I will always be learning more and more!
Love, love, love you millions!
Sister Thornley
