3-10-2014

Hey Famery and Friends :)

Kay! So pretty nice week, but not too eventful, so! This will be...shortish. Though I always promise that, and it doesn't always come through, does it? Ah well.

UPDATE:

We're doing great! This ward is really awesome. Let me list, however, all the ways that it is the opposite of Clearview ward:

CLEARVIEW WARD:

Demographics: Upper-middle class, not a lot of transition (people got there and stayed there)

Member breakdown: Lots of very powerful established families, huge and vibrant youth program

Attitude toward missionary work: "Scary. It doesn't happen here."

Leadership of ward: Beureucratic, hard to get anything done, rigidly organized, spend entire ward council discussing events

Challenge of the missionaries: How do we spend our time well when there's no one to see? (Answer: TRACT ALL THE TIME! :) )

BEVERLY PARK WARD:

Demographics: Lower class (if you want to say it that way), mainly in apartments, extremely transient (I heard 300 in and 300 out each month; not sure if that's true.

Member breakdown: Lots of nontraditional families, hardly any youth (12 young women...4 young men?)

Attitude towards missionary work: "Yes! Let's get going!" (:D)

Leadership of ward: Rather disorganized, laid back, spend entire ward council discussing people (vs. activities, logistics, etc.)

Challenge of missionaries: How do we get everything done that we need to get done?! (Answer: You don't! But you try anyway. ;) )

And...I guess that's kind of like the profile for the day, but it's very interesting to see such difference ward to ward. I love it though, sweet sweet people and loads of work to do. None of this 'I'm going to do all the work there is to do in 3 months!' attitude that I had in Clearview. ;)

EXPERIENCE: (switching this out today for the profile, because this was pretty great)

This was pretty awesome. Last Saturday night we had an hour left and not much to do. The last hour of the night is a challenging time when you don't have plans, because people aren't always super eager to see you at 8:45 at night, and Satan works on  you pretty hard to tell you that there's no where to go and nothing to do to be productive...anyway! But we proceeded forth with faith and pursued the plans we had set. Which were! To go and see this family with a couple kids that hadn't be baptized yet. So we went! Annnddd...Mom wasn't home, but Amy (one of the unbaptized kids, 17) was. And as soon as she saw us, she was like "No way. God is sending me a sign right now." We talk to her a little more, and apparently she's had a pretty rough time as of late. A bad experience with her former boyfriend had landed her back at her mom's house and looking for help. And apparently last transfer the Sisters had run into her and her boyfriend on the street, not knowing that her mom was a member etc., and they had left her with their card (number, address to the church, etc.). And (this is awesome) she had actually been looking for that card, and praying for the past few weeks because she'd been having such a rough time. And we found her! And set up an appointment! And it was awesome and a miracle! We'll be seeing her on Tuesday and we're really excited. I think she can totally be ready to change her life for the better, and I'm super pumped to have the Lord trust us enough to lead us to her. Woot woot!

THOUGHT:

This is quick and simple, but I liked it when I read it, so here you go:

Moroni 7:3

"Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven."

This stood out to me this morning. We're often promised as members that eventually, after all the strife and crazy troubles of this life, we will be able to 'enter into the rest of the Lord.' You know, maybe finally get a little nap or something. :) But! Here it says that we don't have to wait till the end of our crazy lives to enter into the rest of the Lord. When's the actual starting point of this rest? According to the verse "Obtaining a sufficient hope." Hope in what? Later in the chatper (vs 41) it says "that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." So, hope in Christ that eventually you can attain that rest, I guess. But even having that hope opens the door to rest and peace in this life, from the moment that hope is developed. And what does that rest feel like? Like a calm beneath the surface. Like an abiding assurance that everything--even through the craziness of life--will be okay, and that ultimately you will find complete joy and peace through him that loves us best. The blessings of the Gospel aren't eventual; they are immediate for all who will turn and look. So just do it! Check it out if you haven't! Worst that can happen is that it didn't work right? But you won't know until you try, so, you know...try! :P

Anyway, enough flippant pushy missionary for the day. A great picture! (see below)

PICTURE:

Alright, not that cute, BUT! A good evidence of what missionaries wear on lazy weekly planning mornings. ;) CHRISTMAS TOE SOCKS AND FLOWY PANTS FOR THE WIN!!

Love you all. Don't be afraid to write (ANNIE PULSIPHER). :)

Sister Hale