Tuesday was kind of slow. We had some appointments set up, but really none of them went through. We did get in contact with a member from Oklahoma that has a referral for us, which was really good! We stopped by Brother Buck’s in the evening and got our car charger back, and then we were supposed to go to the temple in the evening with a recent covert, but we got a call right about when they were about to go and the recent convert, a 13 year old girl, told us that her Mom had just had her baby, and so they wouldn’t be able to make it…….What?? That is pretty much the best excuse for not being able to make an appointment! We’re planning on another time when she can go, but stay tuned as usual. That night, we did a lot of organizational work and then headed home.
Wednesday we had 5 appointments set up, so we were pretty full, and the day before, we had had some miracles in scheduling and that morning, we had also had a scheduling miracle, so the day was looking up. But of course you can guess what happened. Even though we had a member set up to go to pretty much each of the appointments with us, literally none of them went through. The only one that did was a Bible drop off, but she wanted a large print, and we had a good conversation with her, really established a connection and trust, and she could be a great investigator! Just a note, so many people out here are disappointed with the world, with the churches and with people. If you can share the gospel with anyone who has any of these mindsets or concerns, please do. They will thank you forever. So after none of our appointments went through, we went down to New Britain and had dinner with the Rodriguez family, who is super awesome! Their son is active and so are they, but their daughter is a returning less active, and we had a super sweet lesson with a Rubik’s Cube that Elder McIntyre got for Christmas. We related that in order to solve a Rubik’s Cube, we need to know the algorithms so well, that it is natural. Once we know them, we can apply them to any situation we are in. If we know the Gospel that well, so well that nothing brings us down, we can endure to the end and have eternal life. After them, Jacob Locke, the best investigator, pretty much a member but not technically yet a member guy, ever had us over to the hospital and we got to visit with them and their newborn daughter, Charlotte. I am pretty sure they are back home at this point, but it was a really cool experience to be able to visit with them the day after she was born. His wife was doing ok, and so was he, and they still were making sure they were ok to go home, but it was tender to see her so young. As a missionary, that really doesn’t happen too often, so it was a blessing that we won’t forget any time soon.
Thursday we did weekly planning in the morning and then were supposed to meet with an investigator that the Spanish Elders picked up for us, but that fell through, but we got to see Angela! She was picked up by Elder Tilly and Elder Clements before we got here, but has had some struggles in her life really lately and she kind of closed off for a bit, which is completely understandable. We finally got to go over and had a great lesson on the power of the Atonement. She has had some real struggles in her life, but we talked about how everything isn’t meant to be perfect right now, but how eventually it will be. We talked about how struggles build us and that they aren’t because our forefathers were terrible people, or such. The spirit was really strong and Brother Buck bore powerful testimony of the importance of knowing this and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ had blessed him personally. That night we went on splits again with Brother Buck, and we didn’t really see many people, pretty much nobody, and it was tough, but I think that is supposed to happen. In the words of Sister Buswell,”If you guys didn’t have days like this, I’d be worried.” It’s just like what we talked about with Angela and with Brother Buck. Practice what you Preach!
Friday was District Meeting and T-texts. The days leading up to it were stressful, but a peace came over me and assured me that everything would work the way the Lord wanted it to. Elder McIntyre taught a powerful training on Teaching for Understanding, Listening, and Asking Questions. He asked some really good follow up questions and it was stellar! T-text wise, Elder Bacon is leaving for Worcester, Elder Tebbs is going to Central Falls Spanish, Sister Morris is going to Trumbull to serve with Sister Barrick (she was in my MTC District), Sister Owens is going to Weston 1/2, Elder Weber is going to Norwich to be a Zone Leader, and we are staying! There was a lot of collapsing this transfer, and a lot of missionaries going home, so many areas closed…we are grateful to still be here and can’t wait to serve the Lord for another transfer!
Saturday was New Years Eve and we had lunch with Sister Knighton, the appointment with another investigator fell through, but there was a Portugese Baptism (Haroldo and Sandra) we were able to attend, and I was able to play the piano for it! That night we wrote our talks for the next day and prepared for the New Year!!
Where the Lord Wants Me 