Hello from Nebraska :) 9/21/2015

My wonderful family and friends,

What a great week it's been! Didn't start out the very best, but I have definitely learned the importance of opposition in all things! Last Monday was pretty great. Sister Strong and I both got haircuts from this lady in the Old Mill ward for free. So wonderful! I got 2 inches off...I'm pretty daring ;) Then we just relaxed and took a nap the rest of the day. That night we tried some unknown people on the ward list with no answers, then Sister Strong started bringing up some concerns that she's been struggling with and we had such a great talk and were able to really come closer in unity as a companionship. Open communication is the key in every relationship! 

Tuesday...oh boy, where do I start. It was a pretty rough day. Started out pretty good. We decided since it was such a lovely day outside, we wanted to have a picnic! So we got a great lunch together and found a nice park to eat our lunch at. Then we saw Gary and Dusty and taught some of the commandments, then after that....we were pretty stuck. We tried calling several different members to have a lesson with with no luck, then tried several unknown people from the ward list as well with no luck. We were both getting pretty discouraged and didn't really know what to do. We were going to go to the RS activity, but couldn't get anyone to come with us and that was going to be our dinner. So, we had hardly any money on our cards, no dinner appointment, and our only appointment for the night cancelled. We decided to take a couple minutes to read from the Book of Mormon to seek some encouragement and revelation and were able to feel so much better. Cynthia who we were going to have an appointment with ended up being available so the Corbitts picked her up and we met them at their place and then Lana Corbitt asked us to stay for dinner. Heavenly Father is so aware of us! Miracle! Our lessons with Cynthia was wonderful, and even though we didn't teach very many people that day, it ended up being a good day. 

Wednesday we had district meeting and then TC. Not too interesting! But, after shift we dropped some sisters off at their apartment that's close to the TC and we parked while they showed us some pictures from their camera and this creepy old guy with this huge beard came and knocked on our window. We rolled it down just a tad and acting drunk he said that we had a really nice car and nice close and he thought we were "smokin." He went on about some other random stuff when we finally just had to say goodbye and roll up the window. It was so creepy and the sisters waited until he went inside before they got out of the car. Gotta love North Omaha!

Thursday we saw a less active named Richard who just got kicked out of the YSA ward. That was interesting. He is a very negative person who basically hates the world and everyone in it so had to try to just be bold but loving with him. I don't really know what to do with him. Then we tried a bunch of other people with not much luck. After that we were able to serve at the clinic and had such a great time doing that. I haven't been there in so long so it was so fun to see Dr. Fischer again and all the other volunteers there. 

Friday we were at the TC in the morning, then had dinner with Gary and Dusty. Didn't stay very long because Dusty was struggling with her depression and really needed some sleep, so we went and tried a referral at this retirement home that we had gotten from some other missionaries and met some really kind people. 

Saturday we weekly planned and then tried some people at Jackson Towers but no one seemed to want to see us there that day. Had an excellent meal with the Scholls from the ward, then saw Dusty since we had to reschedule. Finished teaching her the commandments, then saw Cynthia again with the Corbitts. She is so wonderful, I just feel so lucky to be able to teach her. She has had absolutely no problems with anything and is so prepared! It was a great lesson about the commandments as well and she will be getting baptized this Friday at 5 since the church building will be occupied all of Saturday. So excited! 

Sunday we decided to join the ward choir, so we went to practice, then performed during sacrament meeting which was lovely. Had a great dinner with the Mattsons and then had another FHE with the Scovills that they planned. It was so much fun! I absolutely LOVE the Scovills. They have a blended family so Brother Scovill has a daughter from a previous marriage, and Sister Scovill has a son from a previous marriage. Then they got married and had a son together and they are just adorable. Reminds me of my little brothers :) I have really been enjoying getting into members homes and getting to know them better. I feel like we've been able to build a lot more trust with the members and I know good things are going to come from it. I am so looking forward to this week and I hope you are all doing well! Love you so much!

 Picnic in the park

The retirement home has a "bird room" that they showed us :)