Service Brings Opportunities

Hello, I can't believe Jordan got called to Germany. That's crazy! Now it just means I'm gonna have to finish learning German and learn Spanish when I get home. The Devotional with President Nelson was super cool. He talked on seeking truth, making and keeping covenants, and helping to gather Israel. Sarah and Keith were sick so they didn't come to church. Sister Brewer came. We had some nonmember lady show up, but we only got the name Mary. She seemed a little crazy, but she did come to church, so that was cool. I am in the Turlock zone. I do know Sister Smith, she is in my district. That's crazy you served with her dad. Also, I forgot to get a picture with her today. We haven't taught Bertha yet, she was never home when we went by. She has 5 kids. Twin girls, Isabella and Anabella (18), Daniel (10), Bella (6?), David (9m). Sarah and Keith told the Kings they had made it to day 6, and we were planning on the celebration the next day, but then Keith got really sick, so we haven't seen him since Tuesday. But we called and they say they're doing good and want to do the party when he feels better, so I'm hoping they're still sober. We haven't met with Joseph since last time. I talked to Mary and apparently when I was on exchange and they taught her, she said the Elder that replaced me made it seem like we didn't need the Bible and only needed the Book of Mormon, so she really doesn't like him. I guess her husband, who was in the next room, got a similar vibe, so when they left, her husband made her throw away the Book of Mormon. She didn't want to, and asked if she could give it back to us instead, but he was persistent, so she threw it away. So now we're going to try to fully include the husband in our lessons, even though his English isn't great, so that they are on the same page. Also, Mary told us that after she threw it away she went online and downloaded the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, and D&C onto her phone, so that was good news. We'll see how next week goes. We haven't met with Carol this week, she is helping her sister move out of her house. Next week she may or may not have Jury duty, if she doesn't then we will meet. So, sadly all of our return appointments from that one area cancelled. But we're going to stop by all of them again this week and see if we can set something up again. Miracle: This week we were able to find some service opportunities and I loved it. Crazy how digging for two hours brings me joy now. Also, one guy we offered service to didn't think we'd come, so when we showed up he was really suprised. Also, he had already made his kids help him with it, but he told us we could come back and share our message with him since we were truly willing to help. Challenge: Not sure why, but I've been getting crazy motion sickness lately. It's pretty rough because for the first 20 minutes of lessons or us contacting after driving, I feel nauseous and it's hard to teach and talk to people when I feel sick :( Good news: We got to hear from the prophet last week and he talked a lot about building the kingdom in our areas. So, I'm really hoping we get some solid member referrals in the near future.

Chinese:

I got permission to call and talk to my MTC companion everyday for language study if his mission president allows it. But, Elder Baak didn't respond to my email yet, so not sure if that will happen or not this week.