Raise your hand if you think that conference was the jam. the correct answer is your hand should be in the air. There were so many amazing talks on topics that were great for me to hear not only as a member, but as a missionary. I'd be interested in hearing what some of your favorites were!
This week the Lord blessed me with two very special tender mercies. The first of which were in the boondocks of Umatilla. It was rainy, which made the greenery pop and even the trashiest of trailers look quaint and whimsical. However it also made the dirt roads there precariously muddy, which Sister Phelps deftly maneuvered while I stared out the window, gushing over the picturesque scenes. Bless patient companions.
When we found who we were looking for (a members inactive daughter), she was uninterested in meeting with us or coming back to church. We began to discuss meeting with her just to help spiritually uplift her in her life, when a lovely calico cat came into my view. "IS THAT YOUR CAT." I left four cats at home. and two dogs. and two rabbits. But I see dogs every five minutes, I love it, but I haven't seen any cats. and I was desperate for cat cuddles.
The woman we were talking to didn't even jump when I yelled my question, she just looked and said, "Yeah, that's Peaches."
"Can I pet her?" I asked reverently as I was already on my knees beckoning the cat toward me. By the time she said I could I already had the cat in my lap.
"You should see my other cat, she's the real lover." she said, then she called out to the direction of her house, "COBBLER!"
"She comes when she's called?!" I asked excitedly
"Yeah she's a funny one." She said as her fiancé came around the corner, holding a cat in his arms like a baby, belly up. I start making happy squealing noises I'm not proud of making in front of strangers, but then when she put the cat in my arms everything became still, and it was just Cobbler and me. Cobbler was so chill and sleepily putting while I held her like a baby in my arms. I told the woman she had to let us come back so I could at least see her cats again. She laughed, but she also didn't say no so I'm going to keep that in mind.
The second was at the door of a less active before a scheduled lesson, there was an old couch sitting in the driveway and while we were waiting for him to answer the door I gazed over and saw two kittens. tiny. adorable. kittens. I spend the entire lesson with one in my arms at all times. The kittens were so small that when they purred their entire bodies shook. Our less active said he didn't even know where the kittens came from, and said I could probably just take them. It took every single thing I had in me to say no. Missionaries aren't allowed pets for fairly obvious reasons. That was the biggest trial of faith while on my mission thus far.
It was just a reminder for me that the Lord is so mindful of each of us that he even gives tender mercies like cat cuddles and kittens to a quirky sister missionary in belleview florida.
This week we provided a lot of service, doing some yard work and making more hats (I'm up to 6!). We also had a lot of meetings all over the place which meant that we didn't have as much time to go finding this week as we would have wanted. But we still had some great lessons, including one with Amy, and a lot of member meals. At the end of a member meal/lesson with a couple in the ward, the Gallups, Sister Gallup brought out some peach cobbler from Publix (a grocery store that's like Harmon's). Sister Gallup was saying how Publix has a really great bakery and was excited for me to try something from it. When she started serving up the cobbler, she started looking at it funny and poking it with the knife. We realized that most of the crust in the cobbler was super doughy. like it was dough. She was so embarrassed because she had just been singing praises about he bakery. Brother Gallup and I didn't especially care and had some anyway, but Sister Gallup and Sister Phelps didn't want any.
It wasn't bad.
A cool experience we had this week happened a little after dark, and a little too late for sister missionaries to be going door to door in the rain. After no luck, we made our way to a house I had my eye on the last time we were in the neighborhood. It was simply adorable in every way and I said I wanted to go there just because it was so cute. When we made our way to the door, a man answered and invited us to come in out of the rain. We were pleasantly surprised and happy to oblige. He went and fetched his wife and she came out and identified us almost immediately. "Oh you're missionary girls! We had some missionary girls come a year or two ago, don't y'all have a prophet?" Sister Phelps and I were taken aback and answered yes, and asked her more about her previous experience with missionaries. We were surprised that we had no idea missionaries had been there before. They are Jack and Brenda Rowe, and after we left with a good discussion about faith in Jesus Christ and a prayer, I checked the area book once we got back to the car and started driving home.
Apparently the missionaries had gone once a year, around the same time, the last two years. They were pretty invested in the faith they have with their church, even though they never attend. "Visited twice by missionaries in the last two years and 'coincidentally' found by us? That's it Sister Phelps, we're baptizing them." I declared.
So the Rowe's don't know it yet, but they're getting baptized.
I hope you all had a lovely conference weekend surround by family + the spirit. and even if you couldn't be with your family like me, knowing that they love you and you'll all be together forever anyway.
My challenge for you this week is to apply Elder Ronald A. Rasband's talk and record a spiritual experience that you've had. Either recently or an important one you've had in the past.
Drink your milk + respect your elders,
-Sister Olivia Petty✨
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| Lovely green road 9.29.16 |
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| a selfie for fun 10.2.16 |
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