My Dear Family,
How are you? I am emailing you late today because we had a sisters conference this morning with President and Sister Albright. There are 25 sisters in our mission, and it was a wonderful meeting. It felt so good to be together and feel like kind of a normal person for a few hours! First we carved pumpkins, then we had lunch, and finally we listened to President and Sister Albright and Hermana Funch (our coordinating sister). It was a fabulous meeting. I love being all together.
Did you get the package I sent? I sent it last Wednesday and sent it to Grandma’s because you said you were going to be there. Hopefully it got there before you left, but if not maybe she can just mail it to you. Sorry for the confusion! I should have just sent it home, but I thought it’d be fun for you to get it at Grandma’s. Did you have a fun trip? It made me happy to think about you there at Grandma’s house, but it made me miss you lots too. Is Charlie getting big? I hear he’s walking! How fun!
Last Saturday, we got to go and do a service project with our singles ward for the Hume School. We did yard work for three hours, and I’ve never enjoyed yard work so much in my life! It was just fun to be doing something different! Speaking of yard work, is the lawn getting better? J
We had a pretty scary/funny experience a few nights ago when we were out tracting. We knocked on a door, and an old man came to the door. He smiled and said, “Hi! I’m not interested in learning about the church, but a while ago some missionaries came and did yard work for me. Would you want to do yard work for me?” We told him that we have some service hours and could probably help him with some yard work. “Good!” he said. “Come in and let me give you a rose!” I felt really uneasy, but my companion just walked right in his house, so I followed. I think he sensed my uneasiness because he said, “It’s OK, my wife’s home.” She came into the room and waved at us. He then gave us each a rose. We thanked him, and there was some awkward silence so I said, “Have you always been into roses and gardening?” “Yes,” he said. “Well, I just like to grow them so I can give them to women.” Weirdo. We were both feeling kind of creeped out at this point. Then he gave Sister Bennett his business card, which read “Roses for Special Women—the Rose Man.” Weird! “What is your religion?” Sister Bennett asked him. His face got really serious, and he said, “It’s a secret.” Then his wife motioned him over to where she was and said, “I don’t want you to talk to them anymore.” He showed us to the door, and we couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I was pretty creeped out.
On a happier note, we are teaching a lot of wonderful people right now, two of whom are recent converts who just moved into the area and haven’t been active in the church for a while. They’re both young single adults. The first is Joanna. Joanna is the one I told you about a few weeks ago who grew up in a children’s home. She is so sweet, and I really enjoy talking with her and teaching her. One of the biggest blessings of being a missionary is the increased capacity you have to love. I feel so much love for the people I come in contact with it is overwhelming. The other recent convert we’re teaching is Kathleen. I love Kathleen. You know those people you meet and just instantly have a connection with? That’s how it is with Kathleen. She’s such a genuine, good person. She joined the church when she was in high school and then kind of stopped going to church when she went away to college. She has forgotten a lot of the doctrine, so she asked us if we’d teach her the lessons again. It’s been such a joy to teach her. She has such a strong, powerful testimony. We were teaching her about the plan of salvation last week, and I was teaching her about judgment and how Jesus Christ will be there to be her advocate. I told her that He will know everything about her, about her life, and even the desires of her heart, and that—as a result—she will be judged perfectly. We both just felt overwhelmed with the Spirit and both started crying. This gospel is just so amazing. I can study and teach it all day, every day and still constantly learn more and feel like I have SO much learning and growing to do. But it is comforting to know that we do know everything we need to do to return to live with our Heavenly Father and be with our families forever. It is no guessing game. It is a blessing to be able to teach that to others.
As far as investigators go, we are teaching a lot of wonderful people including two really great women: Nikki and Tiffany. Nikki is in medical school and is just such a genuinely good person. The first time we met with her she said that she just wants to do what God wants her to do. She is so willing and open to learning and praying. Tiffany is also wonderful. She is from Florida and is only here in Virginia for a year. We’ve taught her twice, and she always has wonderful, heartfelt questions for us. It is just a wonderful blessing to be able to teach such intelligent people who are so willing to learn more. It is very humbling. But we pray always to have the Spirit guide us and fill our mouths, and as a result we have great success.
Cassandra (our investigator who was baptized on the 9th) is doing great. It is such a joy to visit with her on a weekly basis and recognize her growth and joy. Hopefully we will have more baptisms soon! We have a wonderful woman named Li (from China) who we’re teaching, and I think she will get baptized sometime next month. We’ve also been teaching a wonderful woman named Marcy (from Panama), but her English is not very good, so we ended up passing her to the Hermanas. I miss teaching her though. Between her broken English and my broken Spanish, we did OK, but we just felt it would be better for her to be taught by Hermanas and attend a Spanish ward. She seems to be thriving on it. Although, she is in Panama for a few weeks for her dad’s funeral, so she won’t be progressing for a little while. It was so sad. She texted me in Spanglish on Saturday morning and said, “Sister Lee, mi fader se fue.” I thought that meant he had died, but I wasn’t sure. I tried to call her, but she was hysterical on the phone, so I couldn’t understand a word she was saying. We were on our way to our service project, so we called the hermanas and had them go over and visit her. It helped her a lot, and she ended up coming to a big ward Spanish festival with her husband, daughter, and son that night. Sister Bennett and I were also able to attend the festival, and it was CRAZY! So much food and so much loud music and chaos. The bishop of the Spanish ward grabbed me half way through the night and said, “Can you go into the women’s bathroom. Someone’s sick.” I went into the bathroom to find about twenty Hispanic women in native dresses (permeating the room with strong perfume) crowded around a Hispanic woman (also in native dress) sitting on the toilet crying. I couldn’t understand what the problem was, but I tried my best to help her, and we ended up calling an ambulance because she was hysterical. I still don’t know what the problem was because by the time the ambulance arrived I was whisked away to help with something else. I hope she’s O.K. Oh the crazy things you do as a missionary! I am just beginning to learn! Anyway, Marcy is wonderful, and I can’t wait to attend her baptism in the near future!
Sorry this letter is so scattered. I am just writing as thoughts come to me. I miss you all SO much and really appreciate your letters, packages, emails, and prayers. You are the most wonderful family in the world. I love you. Please write me and I will write you back! Keep me posted on anything fun/interesting happening in Utah! I miss my Utah, but especially all of you.
Love you forever,
Jordan
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