McKenzie and Me

                            

Heyo!!

Ok, last Tuesday was crazy. Sister Larsen and I woke up to a really bad storm around 4:30 am. Sister Larsen heard it and I woke up to the lightning flashing from the window. It was nothing like we have ever seen before! It was like as if a tornado passed through. Sister Larsen and I kept on thinking the 2nd coming was coming but the earth wasn't shaking yet, haha. But cool thing was, we were calm through it all and we were able to sleep peacefully through the storm. The next day, we came to find out hail came through the size baseballs. Wind was blowing 90 mph. More than 1,580 lightnings struck within 20 minutes so that was like 50 lighting strikes within one minute. Roads were closed, traffic lights stopped working, trees are all over the place. It was intense. 

So remember how we taught a Chinese guy last week? He came to church yesterday and loves it! Well the Elders decided to take him away from us and teach him. My heart is saddened because I was so excited to teach him and I know he will retain more if we teach him the gospel in Chinese. There were 6 other Chinese people living in his house and some hardly speak English. So I wish the elders good luck. We got a referral of a Chinese family and again, the elders took that one from us as well. I guess God is testing my patience to see how I would respond to the situation. I hope they will understand what the Elders are teaching them through the spirit.

Sister Larsen, Me, Adrianna, Melissa and Jessica

On Saturday, we got a phone call from Melissa saying that she want to change her baptism date to one week earlier. We decided to visit Melissa, Jessica, and Adrianna.  Melissa is the mom, Jessica is Melissa's daughter, and Adrianna is Jessica's friend. When we first arrived everyone was going crazy and Sister Larsen and I were sitting on the couch laughing our heads off not knowing how to calm everyone down. At one point Melissa is screaming from the kitchen saying a bad word and sweet eleven year old Adrianna screamed, "Language Melissa!" They settled down into their seats and look at us. Adrianna has a BOM in her lap waiting for the lesson to be taught. Once everyone calmed down, Adrianna excitingly asked if she could say the opening and closing prayer, I chuckled and responded yes. We decided to review the baptismal questions with each one of them. This was Adrianna's third lesson with us so we had to explain the 1st lesson clearly. She was amazed when she heard about Joseph Smith and the first vision. She also asked how she can know if the BOM is true and we explained. She then looked at us and asked if she could get baptized. She knows that the gospel is true and whatever we assign her to read, she reads it and loves it. She also explained that she knew a little bit about baptism before and asked her mom permission to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her mother said yes.

A little info about Adrianna. She opened up a lot about her life. She had a hard life. Her parent are divorced. Her father just passed away last year. She is staying with Melissa and Jessica for a short time because life is hard at home. She loves her mom and misses her. Adrianna stays with her mom and at her grandma's house along with few extended family members and things are crazy over there. She is 11 years old but acts as if she is 17. 

I just want to take Adrianna under my arm and show her how much I love her. My heart feels so good when I am around her. She is so special to me and I hope she doesn't go astray when she gets older. I literally feel like I am her older sister whenever we are together. We talk and laugh together all the time and she gives me the best hugs in the world. That would be my last time seeing her before she moves back to Bayshore to be with her mom again. I hope the missionaries there will be teaching her. I know if she has the gospel in her life, she will do many great things! I will definitely keep in touch with that amazing girl who has helped me learn how to become more humble each time I meet with her.

It is crazy to see how the Lord works. We have had so many lookups yesterday but they were either not home or moved out. We arrived to the last house on our lookup list and the people there moved out. Discouraged, we walked back to the car. Out of nowhere, we heard someone yell, "Hey! You Mormons?" We saw two guys sitting in their car drinking and smoking. We walked over to them. Their names are Chris and Cory. They have been best friends since 3rd grade. We pretty much talked with them for an hour. If you want to teach a lesson to a drunk guy, it's fun. They say some crazy stuff. Cory was more christian and Chris is more of a free thinker and said a lot of anti-mormon stuff. Every question they asked we answered. They were surprised. Cory loved how we are so happy and he wanted to get that. We started to testify and Cory was really interested. Chris was in the background swearing while we were teaching Cory. It was cool because everything that Chris was saying was tuning out to a point where we couldn't really hear him. Cory downloaded gospel library and connected it to his car so he can listen to the BOM. Cory is pure in heart and hopefully we will be able cross his path one day again.

At church yesterday, I was sitting next to our investigator, Marylou. During the sacrament, I pulled out my physical Book of Mormon and started reading it. She looked at me reading it and then decided to get a BOM from the church bench and read it. You never know who is watching. Be an example that someone can look to and follow.

I love talking with the members. Sometimes we look at them and you see them doing good but sometimes we don't know their real stories. I talked with a lot of members yesterday and came to find out that a lot of them are struggling but were grateful that I went up to them and talked with them. Church should be a place of safety and love. It should be a place where everyone comes together and becomes a big family, supporting one another. That experience really taught me a lot about how everyone is truly children of God. It makes a difference when we take the time to listen and to love them rather than focusing on ourselves.  #turnoutward

We worked so hard we came home and crashed on the floor!

I have never been more obedient as a missionary than at this time. I learned so much from Sister Larsen this past week. Everyday, I have been getting up on time, exercisng, keeping my body healthy, doing all studies including my language study, work when needed to work, plan when needed to plan, and etc.  I recognize I am more happy and more receptive to the spirit when following the missionary rules and commandments. I love the feeling of working hard and being obedient during the day and going to bed happy, and being tired from working hard. I love going to bed being filled with the spirit. It's incredible to be in that process of changing my life to match with the Lord's will. 

My view while doing language study.

 I love you and I am grateful to have you in my life.

Love,

Sister Moore