Jan 27: Que dia!

Oi, family and friends!

It was another incredible week in the mission field!

Here in Austin, one day it is 75 degrees and Sister S (from the Midwest) is saying "I can't believe this! It's January!" and then two days later it is snowing and Sister Greenall (from CA) is saying "I can't believe this! It is too cold!" The weather is always a surprise, so that is fun!

It's true that a mission is like a roller-coaster! The time goes by so fast and you go from low to high to low to high several times in a day!

We meet many people that are struggling and something I have learned is that as people, we are ALL struggling!  Elder Bednar taught that the character of Christ is turning outward even in times of personal struggle (times that we naturally turn inward).  I hope to remember the things I have seen and learned here on my mission, and to be a person who will turn outward regardless of personal peace or struggle.  It definitely is not an easy thing to do. But being a missionary has offered new perspective in my life. We get to visit so many people!  And people trust us. They see us not as ourselves, but as the missionaries, and so they tell us things they might not tell us otherwise.  We have received calls for help with family issues and calls for help with needing food.  And the truth is that we are called as teachers!  We are here to teach Christ's restored gospel, and so there isn't a lot we can do for a lot of people to meet physical or other needs, except to refer them elsewhere, to pray with them, and share a message.  But my testimony of the need for visiting and home teachers has been solidified.  Everybody truly does need something! After my mission, I want to do all I can to reach out to others, to be a friend, and to bring comfort.

Dad, I remember you asked me during our Christmas phone call what has surprised me most about the mission, or what is different than I expected.  I've thought about that a lot ever since, and have realized that what surprises me most is how people see us as missionaries!  Have I already said that? I probably have.  But I have experiences over and over again that humble me and remind me that I am not representing Erica Greenall at this time of my life.

Yesterday Sister S and I were striving to decide what would be the best thing to do with our time.  We had worked hard all week, and had made plans for Sunday which had turned out not to be the best for that day.  As we got in the car and went forward with faith, the miracles started happening!  We received a call from a ward member, saying that their husband, had been running late for church that morning, when he saw a man riding to a different church on his bicycle.  Her husband, Brother K, offered him a ride, and drove him to the church where he was going.  In the car, the man had asked about their church. Brother K had told him he was always welcome and gave the man his phone number.  Later the man called Brother K and said he wanted to learn more. He has a family of 6. Miracle!

Then we decide we should visit a member we had been trying to meet for quite a long time. We stopped by, they let us in, and we got to know them. The mother, kids, and grandparents were there, but not the husband.  We soon found out they were going through a divorce. We were able to share a message (Mormon message: "The will of God" about the current bush)  that was able to meet their spiritual needs in a small way.  It became a visit full of tears and testimonies.  The most humbling part, that reminded me that I do not represent myself, was the grandfather's prayer before we left.  He humbly addressed his Heavenly Father, then began to pray, and sincerely thanked Him for sending the missionaries to their family.  As he said this, he paused and began to cry. His prayer was so filled with sincere gratitude. The Spirit testified to me of the power and authority of a missionary's calling.  I know that as missionaries we have been called by a prophet of God, and that we have been given the authority and power (conditional upon obedience) to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

After that visit, we had another hour of working time. Sister S and I had gotten in the car and were both thinking "what can we do now...” when we got a phone call. Kind of like this...

 

"Hello this is Sister Greenall and Sister S!"

"Hello! This is Br! And you don't know me yet! I am new in the area and I want to meet you.  I was baptized about 6 years ago, and my mom a few weeks after. We just moved here, and well, honestly we haven't been going to church for a while, but we want to come back! And so we want to meet you so when we come we can know somebody there!"
"Ok, can we come now?"
"Yeah, come on over!"

So we went to meet Br, her brother Ch and their mother Lo.  They have to be some of the warmest people I've ever met! They, along with others we have met here, are my definition of southern hospitality.  They had the funniest and most incredible conversion story! They were raised in a strict Christian religion where the number one rule was to never let a Mormon in your door, or else you would surely go to hell.  Well, they ended up with 20 or so members in their house, helping them move and they had no idea they were all Mormons! ...when they found out that they were Mormons...poor Lo, the mother, was scared to death!  Well, I guess that didn’t last too long because she is a member of the church now.  Anyways, great people! We love them so much already!

We saw Brother M while teaching Fr in their house. Brother M came down the stairs, with a sore leg, and let us know he needed to go to the doctor because of a complication with his leg.  Fr offered him a ride, and we tried to stop him too, but that stubborn guy got in his truck and drove himself!  We found out his health problems are very serious.  We wrote him a letter with another conference talk to listen to with our testimony and left that and a pamphlet with Fr to give to him.

I love these people! I love the people here in Austin and Pflugerville, I love being a missionary, and most of all I love the Lord!

Have a great week!

    -Sister Greenall

The awesome Ma family fed us African food - YUM!

 

 

Funny story:  This letter is from a Baptist church to a Sister Jeanie so and so.  The sender did not put an apartment number, they only used the address of the apartment complex. So because the mailman always puts all the letters to "Sister so and so" in our box, he put this letter in our box.  So we brought it to the office and told them it wasn't for us.  The next day we got it back!.  We tried again and got it back again!  Finally the other sister missionaries brought it back to the office and asked them to return to sender and told them it wasn't for us....later that afternoon when we checked the mail, we had gotten it again!  Haha!

 

 

Mentally preparing for the weekly car vacuum challenge

Weekly: Entire car. rinse. scrub. rinse. spot free. tires. 5 min Flat!