posted for Christine by Jana
Hello Lovelies!
Hmm what exciting stories can I share... I actually sorta, kinda taught a lesson last week!!! We have some members we've been practice teaching on and last week they brought a friend who had questions and interest so we basically had a question/answer session with her about things like the law of the tithe and what that money does. Then we shared the story of the restoration. She soaked it up like a sponge! At the end I got bold and asked her to read the Book of Mormon. She said "How much and how soon?" I was hoping for the first chapter of Nephi and she said how about the first book of Nephi! AAAAH! The only catch is she is a Doctorate student in Chemistry at UF and is HUGELY busy with school (weird right?!), so she said it might take her until Christmas break to do that, but she promises to do it. You can tell she isn't half-hearted about this, so I'm really excited to see where this goes.
Otherwise we are still just knocking doors to no avail. People here are very religious and like their religions so not many people let us get past " missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ"...before they are closing the door. But that's okay. Eventually someone will want to know more. And I will be ready when that day comes!!! haha We are still working like mad-women to connect with the ward and get referrals there. We are slowly progressing on that front and hopefully will see the fruits of our labors there soon.
Sister Patterson hasn't been feeling well the last couple days so I've had a lot of time to sit and study in the apartment. It's been awesome. I've just been powering through the Book of Mormon (my goal is to read it at least 6 times while I'm out) and marking up all the scriptures that go with the Preach My Gospel lessons. And wow have my studies been awesome. Sister Patterson was shocked that I could just sit there and study for three hours straight. What she doesn't realize is that this is much more interesting than thermodynamics and much easier to stay awake through compared to special relativity and if I can study that for hours on end I can surely study the scriptures for three hours.
Mom, I think I found two of your new best friends in Gainesville. One is a sister I would guess is your age. You would not believe her sewing area! She has a whole wall of shelves and the fabrics are sorted by color and some into clear totes and lableled with that color. Then there are drapes that pull closed across of it so you don't see the fabric, ribbon, thread storage. I plan to get pictures...Sorry Dad if this means next summers renovation project is fabric storage... Next is a couple my age that got married this spring. We walk in and he has three dehydrators going. I casually ask what he's drying, assuming a fruit of some sort. Oh no, he's making his own minute rice. Fruit was totally last year. Now he dries meals like taco soup, minute rice, oatmeal, and all these things so that all he has to do is add water and they've got dinner. They are majors hikers and are trying to come up with their own stock of MRE type foods. It amazed me what they had done.
I'm sad I missed Jason and Shelly's return to Ucon. Tell her I miss her and she was one of the best YW's leaders. And tell Kylene congrats!!! Alivia already sounds like she's going to be a heartbreaker. I love the name. I hope they're all doing well with the work of a new baby in the house.
I decided to add a few more photos this week just for fun:
- Sister Wall's family loved sending food in the MTC (like every couple days) and Sister Delaplane and I loved eating it for her! And yes, Sister Delaplane is eating an oreo dipped in frosting. It's actually quite delicious. I ate my cupcake before the oreo fest though...
- The plants here are crazy! I feel like I'm in a Dr. Seuss book half of the time. These flowers were on a tree.
- And this is about how everyone's yards look. It is sooooo soooo sooo green and lush here. No one grows grass really since the soil is essentially sand and also no light reaches the ground. But it is so gorgeous!
I can't say that I'm sad I missed the snow. It's still t-shirt weather here. Some natives are saying it's getting cold and I just laugh! This is summer where I'm from! Which does make it very confusing when I realize it's the middle of October. I'm still struggling with that since it's even hot for me here some days.
Well, I dunno if I have much more to say. I love you all! And I miss EVERY one of you who reads this. Truly. I didn't realize how lucky I was with my friends and family until the umbilical cord got cut.
Remember, BE the change!
love,
Sister McCracken
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