This week opened with a throwback to Belleview feat. my beloved first companion and trainer, Sister Phelps. She is now my Sister Training Leader and we got to go on exchanges and spend the day in her new area together and it was splendid! Mostly because I was with her again; we didn't find much success and got lost several times, just like old times! We started the day in the hot, humid warehouse of a small community donation center sorting through boxes of miscellaneous donations to see what was decent enough to sell in the adjoining thrift store.
If you have ever gone to D.I. or goodwill and thought "Wow, who would donate this and why?" just think, that was the stuff the employees/volunteers deemed sellable. Imagine all the stuff that didn't make it to the shelves and you will have a newfound appreciation for the blessed individuals that are tasked to go through what is essentially donated boxes of trash. Granted, as there almost always is when thrifting, there were a few genuine finds. I felt like a steampunk archeologist.
The exchange ended with dinner at a small british woman's equally petite apartment. She was a riot. Sister Phelps and I thoroughly enjoyed being together again, it was a day very well spent.
While I was gone Sister McCullough stayed here in Lake Crescent with our other STL, Sister Larsen. They met with Le Thanh and went over a calendar timeline for her baptism. While they were looking at it, Le Thanh asks, "Can I move my date up?" The Sisters were so shocked and they said something like "Okay! When do you want it?!" She answered "Either the 20th or the 27th (of May)." The Sisters said that we'd pray about it and then she folded her arms and bowed her head and waited for them right then and there. After the prayer, she looked at the calendar and said definitively, "The 20th." SHE MOVED HER OWN BAPTISM DATE UP TWO WEEKS! Sister McCullough and I are overjoyed! We're so excited for Le Thanh, she is so prepared.
Sister McCullough and I were asked to give a training on companionship unity during our weekly district meeting. Thanks to prayerful preparation, it was a smashing success. Afterward we went to the local burger restaurant and met up with a senior missionary couple, Elder & Sister Corder, who are currently serving in Daytona. They were in Orlando for the monthly senior missionary temple trip and they decided to treat us to ice cream. I love them. I love everyone and anyone who treats me to ice cream.
Speaking of, members are so nice to missionaries. We went to a food truck night taking place next to our apartment building, there were vendors and live music (if you are from Pleasant Grove, it's pretty much the Promenade) and so we decided to have a look around and introduce ourselves to people. As we were doing so, a young mother approached us and said she was a member in the ward next to ours and she offered to buy us food from any one of the trucks. We were so surprised and grateful!
Someone asked us once if we can tell if someone is a member of the church. I immediately told them yes, and they asked how and I said that members come up to you no matter where you are and are overjoyed and start geeking out because you're a missionary. It's so nice. Members treat missionaries so well, primary children look to us like super heroes and mothers treat us like their own. I'm so humbled to be so loved by faithful saints who love the Lord and His work as much as I do.
We try to pay it forward and serve our members as well. On Wednesday it was our recent convert Heather's Birthday and so we brought her a cake with candles and had party hats and bubbles in tow. It meant so much to her and we were so happy to celebrate with her!
Remember to take your vitamins,
-Sister Olivia Petty🍦
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| Jeremiah's courtesy of Elder & Sister Corder 5.4.17 |
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| Heather, her husband Jason, myself and Sister McCullough on Heathers birthday 5.3.17 |
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| A normal Florida thing 5.4.17 |
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| Us at a Members home for dinner 5.5.17 |
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