2 Weeks

 

THIS WEEK WAS AWESOME. Well, it was just like any other week, but every week is awesome. I have 2 weeks left... which doesn't feel real, so I'm just being normal like I'm never going home. I don't understand what all this "trunky" stuff is - all you have to do is pretend like it's not real, hahaha.

Anyways, let's start with Monday. On Monday we went to Sister Snyder's house and made Oreo balls for lots of our investigators and some other families in the ward! It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able to give treats to people. That night we met with a part member family and started teaching the 9 year old son! Gabe loves church and he even promised us that instead of playing "Call of Duty" all weekend, he was going to just read The Book of Mormon... much to our surprise, he actually did!  They are a sweet family, the older sister, Talitha, comes to church on her own with her Grandma. Gabe is excited to get baptized! We also stopped to see Kawika and his family. They have had a lot going on lately, so we went over just to visit with them. 

Tuesday I went to the Doctor for my hives. I can't remember if I wrote about hives in my last email or not? Basically I've been breaking out in hives for a long time now, so they made me go to the dermatologist. When we were there, we met a really old lady and she was a Holocaust survivor! She was really sweet and cool. We also got to visit with the Babcock's again that day - they are so sweet and their kids are a lot of fun. Our dinner appointment cancelled, and she told us to stop over to get some money to go out to eat - $20 each! It was nuts! We treated ourselves to In N Out, naturally. We got to meet with Orion and Trinity, who was actually having a good day, so we got to talk about the Plan of Salvation. It's still so neat to watch Orion help his sister understand the Gospel. We went over to see Kaycee, and we talked about baptism and confirmation. It was a cool lesson! We talked to her mom, and she agreed that Kaycee was doing a lot better, and now Kaycee and Gabe are having a combined baptism on December 6th! We all are so excited! It was a great Tuesday! 

Wednesday we had exchanges, and I got to be with Sister Hope in her area. It was a lot of fun! Unfortunately I broke out in hives all over my back, but there is a lady in their ward that loves essential oils and energy work, so we went over there and she helped me out. That morning we taught a guy named Armin that came to church in my ward. We taught him about the Restoration, and he loved it! He was really receptive and could see the blessing that would come from the Gospel. We had district meeting, as well, and met with lots of people who's names I don’t remember because I only met them once.  I love Sister Hope, though - she's so sweet. 

Thursday was hilarious and awesome! In the morning we met with a guy named Juan that showed up at church - he clearly only came for the financial help. We met with him and it got crazy. We were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how Christ has done so much for us. He basically told us that he doesn't believe in God or Jesus Christ. He only believes in a higher power and he believes in the Virgin Mary... So he believes in the mother of the Son of God, but not in the Son of God, or in God... so there was really just no logic there. He also told us that he is bipolar and has some brain injuries... So while he was screaming at us about all of that, all I could think of was back when I was in Henderson and the Elders had to come get us out of our bipolar investigator's house... hahahha. But, after that, Sister Chevalier and I got to go to the temple! It was so peaceful and awesome. I saw tons of people there from Anthem! I saw Sister Rumsey and the Rickey's, and also a lady I knew back in Sunrise! It was so fun! We got to see Karla and Monzie with our Bishop's wife as well! We talked about the Plan of Salvation. They both told us that they feel really peaceful about the things we have taught them, and that they would like to get baptized! They are so awesome! We just hope we get to meet with them more, since they have crazy schedules! For dinner we went to the Stapleton's and had a "southern Thanksgiving meal" - it was sweet. I don't really know what it was, but it was some sort of dumplings and cornbread and Thanksgiving-y type things. That night we saw Sherry again and read the Book of Mormon with her, we saw Gabe again, and we helped Sister Plett vacuum her home and make her bed!

Friday was weekly planning. During lunch, for some reason, Sister Chevalier were talking about crazy people and getting attacked, so we practice getting out of choke holds... you know, just in case someone comes and chokes us... It was so funny. The funnier part was later that night when we were waiting for our investigator to answer the door and Sister Chevalier turned around in the dark on the porch and put my in a choke hold - hahahahahaha. I was so shocked that I didn't even move. But that day we got to see Sister Joseph, who told us her husband who we were teaching is going back to prison for 4 more years. My goodness. We had dinner, and got to see the Green's. Brother Green is really awesome, and his wife is a non-member, but she has come with him every Sunday for the past 10 years! We got to know them and just talked to them. We saw Gabe again, and we also got to see Priscilla again! We met with her and talked to her about church. She is going through a really hard time, as well, so keep her in your prayers! 

Saturday we had coordination meeting in the morning, and then got to see Sister Rock! She got a new car and passed her driver's license test! We were really excited for her! We then went to meet a less active/ part member family, the Witz Family. You guys. I cannot explain to you how cool this family is. Actually, I can. I kid you not, Brother Witz was Chuck Norris' body guard! FOR REAL. He is the owner of some huge martial arts foundation and teaches all over the world! They almost didn't let us in, but then they did... and they LOVED us. They talked to us for over an hour, and told us to come back the next week! He offered to teach a self defense class at the church! It was a miracle! So cool. We saw CJ and Amanda, and then had dinner at the Brandt's. Brother Brandt is one of our ward missionaries. They are so sweet and so cool! They made us a cake, and we were eating it, and Sister Brandt said it was a special cake that her mom used to make during the war. She said it was so hard to get eggs and oil for a cake, that instead, they would use MAYO. So the cake, which was delicious, was made out of MAYO. I almost died. I couldn't even imagine how something so good could contain something that I hate so much. It was funny. After that, we felt prompted to stop by the Loveall's house. Apparently, their car just got totaled, and Justin's shoulder was out of place, and one of the boys has been sick with an ear infection for 2 weeks, and everything was crazy, and they all felt tension. We called up their home teachers and they came over (literally they were there 5 minutes later) and gave Justin and Jayden blessings, and then they blessed the home. The difference was incredible! I am so thankful for the Priesthood. 

Sunday was church. We had 7 investigators come! Church was great. Afterwards we had dinner at the Ebaugh's. We stopped by Karla and Monzie's house, and we talked with Karla and Isaac for a little bit. Violet was running around and chatting away as usual, but she said something that hit us pretty hard! Among all her shouting, she told us that she had been praying while we were gone! This sweet little 4 year old girl has been praying! Violet loves to pray, so we prayed with them at the door step, and Violet said it. She is the cutest. To end the night, we stopped by Fidel's house. We finally got to talk to him! He has been working like crazy! We were "talking" to his family too - they only speak Spanish, so for 20 minutes we all tried to speak to each other, it was so funny. My high school Spanish is so bad. It's hilarious. 

This week was so good, I am so blessed and I love being a missionary. Have a Happy and safe Thanksgiving! 

I am so grateful for my family and friends, and for this chance I have to serve my Father in Heaven in helping others to come unto Christ. I am grateful for the Savior, Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for us so that we can live again with God. I am happy to have the restored Gospel in my life. I'm happy to be here in Las Vegas!

 

Have a good week! I love you all!

 

 

 

Love, Sister Coltrin