So......today my email is going to be extremely short as Sister Lau and I were locked out of our apartment for a couple of hours today so we're running behind on EVERYTHING. This week wasn't super eventful - a lot of our investigator lessons cancelled and we had to drop some people who weren't progressing anywhere, but things are still good. I'll just list a few updates here:
Christine: Christine dropped us this week - she tried dropping the missionaries two times while I was gone and so we let her go this time. It broke my heart, but she got to know a lot of the ward members who are still in touch with her and have talked with her about her decision. She knows it's true but she's worried about the commitment to "be perfect". We're going to give her a little bit of space and she'll come back on her own.
Chris: We were able to teach Chris again this week. She's not comfortable praying or reading aloud and we're trying to help her to overcome that but it's difficult. She suffers from anxiety and panic attacks so we don't want to push her......we'll see how that goes. But she came to church again! She loves church so much and LOVES Relief Society. She's signing up for all the service projects and everything - it's so great.
Paul: We taught a new investigator this week...except he doesn't count as a new investigator because we couldn't set a return appointment until he knew his work schedule. We taught him the first lesson and he's very active in his church, but he accepted the invitation to read and pray about the truth of the Book of Mormon so hopefully things will start happening this coming week!
Ashley (Noelle's friend): We taught Ashley about the Restoration! She's progressing quite fast - she didn't make it to church this Sunday though - but we're trying to get her a baptism date for the end of May!
And.....that was it as far as investigators go. Joseph, Sylvia, Richard, Gerry, Jackie - all bailed. But Gerry came to church! Apparently he hasn't been to church since I left the area so that's awesome! Hopefully he'll be ready for baptism May 11th!
Sister Armstrong: We started seeing the people on the widow list and Sister Armstrong was the first one we went to. She's been a member all her life and comes to church every Sunday still - she doesn't drive but her roommate Harry brings her every week even though he has no interest in religion. They were actually engaged a long time ago but she broke off the engagement when he told her that he would never join the church. She said, "I just couldn't take that chance." She married a member in the temple later and they had six kids. Exactly one year after he died, she submitted her papers to serve a mission and she served in South Africa! She was a proselyting missionary for about three months and then they needed temple workers so her mission president assigned her to work in the Johannesburg South Africa temple. She shared some great stories. You're never too old to be a missionary! I think I'll do that when I'm older to if the opportunity arises.
Noelle: Noelle's doing pretty good. We've been helping her pack up her room in order to move to Utah next month after her finals are over. And she's going to the U, not BYU. I was disappointed to hear that......but anyways, she's doing ok. She went to the singles' ward yesterday so we're going to see how it went when we see her tonight!
Valerie: Valerie's health is getting better everyday. She didn't come to church yesterday but she says that her and Nicolas are coming next week! We were able to lift their spirits up a little bit and teach them about the Family Proclamation - Valerie had never heard of it because she's been going to church on and off for the past thirty years.
Barbara: Barbara made it to all three hours of church for the first time since I came here in November! She enjoyed it, but snuck out right when church ended so she didn't talk to anyone. We'll work on that - she needs some good solid friends in the ward. She made us tri-tip steak this week which was SO GOOD and we helped her make her earrings. I just love her.
Sister Shooter: Sister Shooter can't make it to church because of her work schedule so we visited her. She grew up in the Ivory Coast and was raised as a Jehovah's Witness and her and her husband joined the church in Milan, Italy. They went back to the Ivory Coast and then came to the states to Missouri and she ended up here a few years ago after their marriage ended. She's so talkative - she spoke a lot of French to her son and I couldn't understand a lick of it. Oh well - it'll come back someday. She fed us food even though it was 3:30 in the afternoon, and then we had dinner that night with a member at 5 AND THEN during our weekly planning that night, the owner of our apartment building (also a member) brought us pizza! So we had three dinners that night. It was the craziest thing.
Garrisons: I love this family. We didn't have dinner with them this week like we normally do, but we had FHE. It was still hard and crazy with their two little girls, but we had family prayer at the end and the girls were completely quiet and still! It was a miracle!
And now a couple quick stories from the VC.....
Sally: The elders from the Cambodian branch brought Sally to the VC. She's less active but she is so solid. We talked a lot about Jesus Christ and His Atonement and she was very emotional. She didn't really know if she could repent, if she could change, but we read Ether 12:27 and helped her feel God's love. She mentioned that every time she comes to the VC, she feels that same love. It's amazing the difference that God's love can make - people can feel it so strong, especially at the Visitors' Center.
Jennifer: Jennifer came in with her boyfriend and their little boy after I waved them in. They had just been walking around the grounds and had never been inside the VC before. They didn't have much time, but they listened to the Christus narration and had some great things to say about it. They were really open and receptive to learning more but they had to leave. I'm just praying everyday that they'll come back.
We got a couple of awesome referrals this week and we're meeting with them next week! The work is moving along great here in Castro Valley.
I love you all - keep working hard!
Hermana Hunsaker
