Miracles

Dear everyone,
This was a pretty big week here as you can imagine with the
inauguration. It's pretty exciting to be in the capital of our country
where everything is happening. Because my area isn't as close to the
city where everything was happening we were still able to go out. We
went to go check on a family that came into the Festival of Lights
that lived in a big apartment right on the Pike and had to be careful
where we walked because of how many big groups of not so happy people
with signs were around. There's still no snow which is surprising
everyone here. It's just been dark and rainy everyday for the past 2
weeks. So this week Sister Stevens and I had to move out of our
apartment to a different one that is not too far away. They had us
move because we have been sharing an apartment with two other sisters
in our mission and they only want one set of missionaries in each
apartment. We feel kinda silly though staying in a two bedroom
apartment with only two people. Anyways, we packed up all of our stuff
and the zone leaders helped carry the big things and took some of the
stuff we couldn't fit in our car..the apartment we are staying in now
was a disaster haha, elders used to live in it and idk how they were
able to live there...there were bugs (dead and alive) everywhere,
cobwebs, dust and I don't even know what else on the walls. Sister
Stevens and I were determined though and scrubbed every wall and
cleaned ever inch of floor...literally. haha. We both decided our moms
would be pretty proud😉. Then we moved furniture around, put all the
furniture that was there before in a back room, threw out 6 huge bags
of trash and finally got to use a vacuum that works. We haven't had a
vacuum since I've gotten here on the mission and I didn't know that I
would ever love to vacuum so much haha! We love where we live now
though! And I'm just grateful that I have a roof over my head!
Anywaysss, an update from last weeks email...unfortunately Fayiah had
to cancel on us but we are going to keep trying. We had that miracle
with him for a reason and he will hopefully get back to us soon. So on
Friday we went to a lady's house who came into Festival and it said
that she wanted a Book of Mormon. Sister Freeman and I had tried about
3 other times to give it to her but she was never home. When sister
Stevens and I got there, the house was completely dark and no cars
were there. We were pretty bummed and we weren't sure what we should
do since it was getting late and we couldn't knock doors anymore. So
we said a prayer that Helen (that's the name of the lady that wanted the Book of
Mormon) would be home and if she wasn't, then that we could find an
effective way to spend the rest of the time for the night. We got out
of the car and I looked at the house 99% sure that they weren't home.
I shut the door of the car and looked up and saw a car pull up to the
stop sign and go right into the driveway. Sister Stevens and I just
looked at each other surprised and started laughing. We walked over to
the little family getting out of the car and gave them the Book of
Mormon and asked if we could come back another time to teach them
more. She said that we could come back on Sunday night! On Saturday we
checked up on the Loreno family that hadn't ever answered either. They
wanted a Book of Mormon and so we tried again that day. They were home
and invited us in. They are from Japan and the Philippines and have
been living here in the US for about 2 months. They loved hearing
about eternal families and how they can be with their two little boys
forever. They kept telling us how busy they are with work and
activities that their boys are involved in...so I'm not sure how
interested they are, but i know that learning about eternal families
really touched their hearts. After that we went to the visitors center
to meet a family that sister Freeman and her companion had run into
while they were tracting. When missionaries find people who are
interested but they aren't in the missionaries boundaries, they can
have a pass off lesson with the missionaries who are in their area so
that the people feel comfortable with the new missionaries that will
be teaching them. We met them, his name is Hermoze and he has 2
beautiful little girls who came and gave us the biggest hugs. He told
us that he loved the feeling he had at the visitors center and when we
talked about baptism he was very interested in it, just he wants to
learn more first! We are so excited to go to their house and teach
them. Then on Sunday after church we finally got to meet with Michael
and his 2 boys!!!! (The family that sister Freeman and I had the
miracle with 2 weeks ago). We went over with sister Olsen who is close
friends with them and have kids the same age. Michael had made dinner
for us and we got to know them better. Michael is divorced and he is
one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He has a family
mission statement on their wall with the three of them in the
background, he coaches their basketball and soccer teams, he's a
personal trainer, he always has the best things to say about others,
is constantly helping their neighbors, and is one of the nicest
people. (He reminded me a lot of my uncles and even his boys are a lot
like some of my cousins) Sister Olsen had made him and his boys a
little #lighttheworld Christmas tree with stars to put up when they do
any act of service. When we were at their house they showed us it and
every star (all 25) had acts of service they did every day such as
"gave food to the homeless shelter", "prayed for grandpa Bob",
"visited Mitchell at the retirement home and played cards with him".
It was amazing!!!! While we were talking after dinner Michael told us
that he had grown up Catholic but he still felt like he was looking
for something and is interested in what we had to teach them. We gave
him a Book of Mormon and he was really looking forward to reading it.
They are planning to come to church this Sunday and we are so
excited!! After that lesson we went back to Helens. After visiting
with Helen and her daughter we came to find out that it was really her
8 year old daughter that wanted the Book of Mormon and learning more
when they came to the visitors center. Helen told us that she was
Buddhist, but that her daughter kept talking about the feeling she had
at the visitors center and she wanted her daughter to choose her
religion and not be forced into one. So we are teaching her daughter
Joyce! We ran to the car and got a children's Book of Mormon as well
and she loved it. She such a smart and sweet little girl and I know
she is setting such a great example to her family. We have had so many
miracles this week and can't wait to keep teaching all of these
amazing families. It is great to see how many people Heavenly Father
has prepared and I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to be His
mouthpiece and to love and teach these people here. I hope you all
have a great week!!
Love Sister Haertling