Here's a fun fact. Our neighbor's car was stolen! We are on alert jaja. I was talking to President Killpack about how the creepiest guys always approach us and he said to just follow the spirit and that we will be safe. Right. And then he said this haha "to be honest, South Tucson is probably the sketchiest part of this whole mission. Even more so than Nogales or Sonora." Fabulous. Jaja
This week was a little different for us because since we got to go up to Tempe last week, we had to sacrifice a little on our end. We got 150 miles less to drive this month. Our dinner appointments seemed to be the furthest places they've been thus far (20-25 minutes away) and we had 3 or 4 occasions where we had to go into town or the mission home. This meant we ran down our miles way faster than usual. We decided to walk whenever we could and, of course, we ended up meeting a lot of people. It was pretty fun (: (And wow, it is sure warming up here. I keep telling myself this is only January! pah...). But anyways, I really enjoyed getting to talk to more people. We ran into some fun stories. We talked to this young man who is Catholic. He asked us if we are married. We of course told him no and he said something to the affect of this: You guys should really be Catholic so that you can get married! You're both very pretty so you should be Catholic. haha thank you, Sir. And also yesterday, I said to my companion "I wish it was your birthday so that I could tell you happy birthday!" and she said well maybe we will meet someone today whose birthday is today. And I said "Yeah! Because I really just want to tell someone happy birthday!" it was a random thought, yes. So literally like 5 minutes after that we met this guy named Will. We asked how old he is and he said that he was turning 23 today! Bah! Happy Birthday! I was thrilled! While we were talking to him I would just randomly say, "hey, Happy Birthday!" I think I told him 5 or 6 times haha it was sooo wonderful! (:
We got to go to the Gila Valley temple this week! It was sooo wonderful (: And a miracle became of it. I knew God would help us in our righteous efforts and so I asked Him if He'd provide a miracle that we wouldn't run out of miles before our time was up. We had to drive to the temple which was 4 hours round trip. Because of this, we were told to add 270 miles onto our odometer. This was more than enough and I witnessed an answer: a true miracle.
This week we got in touch with a former. She just all of the sudden opened her heart to us and we weren't even trying to find her. She was telling us about all of the hard times she has been having (it seems that everyone has the hardest lives here!). She told me later that she liked my shoes and I just wanted to take them off right then and there and give them to her. We rounded up some extra supplies that we have around our apartment and gave them to her the next day! And the day after that, we spent about 2 hours cleaning her kitchen. You would be proud, Ma. It was craaaazy. But it was amazing to feel the change of spirit as the Spirit could now more fully abide in this clean environment. They also have the cutest little pups that we get to hold every time we go there (: yay! haha and We also got to meet this solid, solid 17 year old! He is wonderful. SO great. He accepted a baptismal date and is just thriving in a matter of 3 days! He went and bought a shirt and tie for church this last Sunday. It was so cute haha we had someone in the ward help him to tie it.
I just want you all to know that since I've been out here, I have become a magician. All the little kids know that I do magic tricks (; I pull glow in the dark stars out of their ears or from under their shoes. Bet you didn't know I could do that before,eh? Me either (; but it is so fun because they sit there and patiently wait because it takes about 10 minutes for another star to come out (;
Ohhh my goodness. Let me just tell you another funny story. These little kids I was doing the star trick with said "hey how old are you?" and I told them to guess and they said 20. I told them they were close and that I am 19 and they said' " really? Because you look like you're 30" psh...30? jajajaja good one, children.
Last night we got to have some great FHE lessons with 3 families. One fam we simply just went around the room and told each other their strengths. What really stood out to me was how prevalent the Spirit was just by simply bringing out the best in each other. God loves us and He loves our families. Of course the spirit would be so strong when we have so much love surrounding us. So be kind, families (: Love one another.
I just want to leave by saying this world is crazy! It is sooo full of just darkness. I have never met so many 14 year olds that smoke pot! Every other one, I swear. It is so clear that the task of living righteously is being more and more neglected. But you need to know, we all need to know, that we have a purpose! That we are loved! Don't you quit. I want to illustrate how ridiculous it is when we follow a crowd with, of course, a poem I wrote for ya...be excited (:
There are no ups from here on out.
It all goes down and around and about.
Because going down hill needs no worry
You can roll right down in quite a hurry.
But going upward takes too long;
And some get ideas of finishing strong.
They say a man once gave it a try.
He climbed and climbed and got very high.
He decided to continue and pick up his slack--
So he kept looking up and he never came back.
So no one should ever climb those hills.
At least that's just how everyone feels.
Going down will always be best.
It's easier and faster and needs no rest.
So you can go up, but I'm going down--
Because everyone feels it's best in this town.
I want to encourage you all to find those lonely people, and sit with them! (Especially at church). Maybe even put a picture of the temple on your credit card so people will ask you about it. Look for simple, easy ways to share your happiness of this Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because it truly is all about Him. Love you!
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