Hi friends! :) Happy Labor Day...Sister M and I still aren't entirely sure what the significance of Labor Day is just yet, but we figured wearing red, white, and blue was a pretty safe bet. Haha. And it's definitely a BBQ day! We have two to attend today. So I'm excited.
And...Happy September!!! Best birthday month out there :) With it now being September, I was thinking this morning of previous birthdays...and I got thinking about my birthday last year! Where Erin, Brantley, and I got stranded in southern Utah and walked in the rain at midnight to find a hotel and ate soggy tacos for dinner...That was certainly an adventure! Haha. And a memorable birthday. The same probably won't be happening this year, but we did almost run out of gas yesterday, so it could've been close! When we went to get gas on Saturday night, the only gas station near us was mysteriously closed, and we were already hitting close to curfew...And then the next day was the sabbath, so, of course, we couldn't go get gas! Let's just say we did a lot of walking and were late to a lot of appointments...But we did not run out of gas! :)
Also, I definitely got asked out by an Indian man over text at 11:30 last night...There was this man that Sister C and I met at Walmart a couple of weeks ago, who had recently moved here from India, and he just started up a conversation with us! We told him what we do as missionaries and gave him our card if he wanted to learn more. So he texts us last night, four times, and in the end, he says "Lauren, I want to be your friend. I want to go out with you..." ...I don't think he entirely understood our purpose as missionaries. It was oddly reminiscent of the Indian man at Pizza Hut up at BYU who gave me unnecessary discounts, Vera and Breanna...haha. But maybe this man will be more prepared for the gospel later! It was just kind of an odd thing to wake up to this morning. Haha
But real things have happened this week! I promise Sister M and I haven't just been partying, although we do get along great, we have actually done real missionary things. While going through some lists and trying to organize our lives, we felt impressed to go see a family where the husband was not a member, and the children were over the age of 8 but not baptized. E wasn't entirely welcoming at first, but as we started a normal conversation with her that had nothing to do with church, we were able to build a strong connection and help her know that we really just care about her and her family! She and her daughter were super great, and they even invited us back to meet the baby that is due any day now. If we had gone a day later, the baby might have been born already, and then she definitely wouldn't have wanted to talk to us on the porch for an hour! God's timing is so perfect and we must always listen to the promptings we receive through the Holy Spirit. And then act on them right away! I love all the cool people I get to meet on my mission and how The Lord directs us where we need to go. He has it all figured out, we just need to trust Him and listen to Him and we will be so much happier :)
A similar experience was this couple named C and D! We were trying to find a less-active member of our ward that we had never met, so we find her address and knock on her door. A lady pops her head out of the upstairs window and says "What do you want?" Thinking that she's a member of our ward, we say "The bishop's wife said you might like a visit, so we came by!" They came down and invited us in automatically. During the course of our conversation, Sister M and I begin to realize that this is not the lady we are looking for. This is a catholic couple that had recently moved in...Oops! We ended up introducing the Book of Mormon to them and explaining how it came about and how it can give them greater peace and direction in their lives! And we still found the lady we were originally looking for! The crazy part is that it was 15 minutes before our lunch break. And we were 15 minutes away from home. And we were hungry. So we very easily could have just decided to head home and eat instead of making one more visit! But I felt like we should go find J first. Once again, as we put The Lord's will above our own and we trust in His timing, we will be so remarkably blessed and be led to where He needs us to be! This mission that I'm serving is so not about me. It is about my Savior and my Heavenly Father and my brothers and sisters. These people need the truth that we have, and I get to spend a whole year and a half sharing it with them! Best job ever :)
Even if sometimes we have to look a little crazy...For instance: yesterday, as we were walking all around town to save gas, I needed to use the restroom. And we passed this lady out in her yard, just as I'm bursting into song singing "TOMORROW!" at the top of my lungs. At which point, she turns and chuckles and we awkwardly walk away. And that's when my stellar companion goes "I bet she would let you use her bathroom...we could use it as a great way to share the gospel with her!" So we turn around and ask her to use her bathroom. She said she normally wouldn't, but she trusted us, and I promised not to burst into broadway in her house. Haha. We ended up having a really great conversation with her and making another wonderful connection! She was super nice and, like many others, was surprised to see sister missionaries around, even though we've been out in the world for 116 years :) We were able to resolve some questions that she had about what we believe and it was just all lovely! Yay for CJ :)
And yay for all of you! I got a couple of seriously stupendous letters this week (some of which I was just really shocked and elated by!) and I am still, and always will be, so grateful for each of you. I continue to pray for you, and I have loved to hear how many people still read these emails! I love it, and I hope it helps you somehow. Because I'm sure loving the experiences I'm having. Even if it is sometimes stressful and crazy. Haha.
Have the very best week and keep being happy and awesome! Good luck to everyone starting school! Study hard, work hard, play hard...all that good stuff :) LOVE YOU!
Love,
Sister Partridge
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