Hello wonderful people!!
The life of a missionary is sometimes quite unpredictable. You never know when you could be called upon to speak at church, or give a training in a missionary meeting, or be asked to help someone move out of their house, or babysit dogs, or have conversations with crazy people about vowels and consonants meaning something significant.. The list is endless, but you know, I wouldn't change a single thing! There are things we get to experience as missionaries that we really couldn't really experience anywhere else. For example: We went over to a member's house, the Wettengel family, and they have about 6 kids. The youngest two are 4 and 7, and they were kind of shy at first. But after about 10 minutes or so, they come running into the room with these latex gloves blown up and they say:
"Look! We made you hand balloons!!" Sister Peterson and I about died laughing, they were so adorable haha. I think one of my favorite parts of being a missionary is getting to know so many people and their families and seeing how they raise their kids. It gives me a lot of ideas on things I want to do or don't want to do when raising my own family. And it gives us a never ending list of friends and family :)
We've been trying to spend a lot of time with members this week to let them know how much we love and care for them and that we're here to help strengthen their families and their faith. We have had many opportunities for service doing moves and cleaning houses, and we've had the opportunity to make them cookies and take them to different people in the congregation. That has worked pretty well, but our goal in doing all of this is that they trust us enough to tell us about their friends or family who would be interested in learning the message that we have for people which is all about Jesus Christ! It's awkward or frightening for a lot of people to tell others what they believe to be true, which we definitely understand. It's still frightening for me sometimes to talk to complete strangers about what I believe and ask them if they'd like to learn about it and know for themselves if it's true. But it's important, and everyone deserves the chance to know for themselves. Ultimately though, love for God and for others is our motivation in sharing our beliefs. I don't think that people go out into the world looking for "religion" necessarily but what they ARE looking for is lasting peace and joy. And knowing what we do about Jesus Christ, his teachings, and his restored gospel is what will bring people that lasting peace and joy that they are looking for. But it only works if they are willing to have an open heart and mind, and honestly seek to know the truth. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink; it's a choice that everyone deserves, always.
There's much more to tell, as always, but I'll leave it at this: God is real, He loves you and knows you; Jesus Christ is the person who knows how to help us best, but only if we let him in; miracles are happening every day, we just have to open our eyes :) Ya'll are wonderful and I love you! Have a wonderful week! And as one of my missionary friends likes to say: " Hasta La Pasta! "
Love,
Sister Torkildson
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