Two for One Post!!

August 11, 2014

Hermana Kingsley did my makeup!

New Haircut - shorter on the sides

This week has been interesting! The first part of the week was really rough, but about mid-week it picked up and has been a lot better. We've been teaching more and found a lot of new people to teach. 

The coolest experience ever happened this week! We had an appointment with one of our new investigators in the trailer park, but he wasn't at his house, so we went to go see if he was playing soccer with everyone. He wasn't, so we started back to our car. Well, as we were walking, a white lady (one of two white families in that whole trailer park) was just getting out of her car with some Cookout (a wonderful/cheap fast food place) and her Hispanic husband was getting out as well. We said hi to her and she was just like, "Hey!" So we told her we were jealous of her cookout but we were just going to walk past because we had some other people to go see but she was like, "So where are you from? My name's J." and so we told her and it started on this conversation and of course we told her about who we are and what we do and that we teach in Spanish, normally. She got really excited and said, "No way! My daughter who is five doesn't speak Spanish, but I really want her to learn since she is half Hispanic. She won't listen to her dad. We also really want her to learn about God so she can grow up with good traditions and stay away from drugs and all that bad stuff. But of course we would want to sit in on the lessons and know what you teach and stuff." And the conversation went on and it turns out she thought we were Jehovah's Witness (despite us having said the name of our church twice and such, but oh well) but we explained we were Mormon and she perked up and was like, "Oh I used to live out in Amelia and I knew a bunch of Mormons and they were really good people, and hardworking, too." We talked about that for a minute, then she said, "You know, I love my church (then she went on about the pastor for a while) but I really don't like the way it is set up, and none of the people are very friendly. I feel like I don't really do much, you know. I want one that is more like a family and stuff." And so on and so forth. Basically, the most golden conversation you've ever heard of. So we got her number and they are moving in the next couple weeks (closer to us, even) and their new address, and it was so exciting! They were pretty much begging us to teach them and their whole family. She was like, "I just know God sent you here. He sent you from Utah and Alaska, all the way to Virginia, speaking Spanish, just for me." And it was cool that, even though our appointment cancelled, we had such an amazing experience! It is really amazing how much Heavenly Father's hand is in this work. And they had just been getting home and walking the six feet from their car to the door right as we were walking right in front of their trailer. And something definitely prompted her to talk to us, because there are VERY few people that would normally voluntarily approach missionaries of a different church if not to bash. Like, ever. We mentioned to her how prepared they were and she was like, "I know we are. He's been preparing us for a long time for this, and now I can feel that it is my time." Then she showed us the goosebumps she got right after she said that and was like, "I got a confirmation, right there. That's a confirmation from the Holy Spirit! I know this is right." She is SO ready! I am so excited to teach her and see her progress and in the Celestial kingdom! She's got a long way to go, but I know she can do it through Christ. 

Also, it was kind of cool how we found another new investigator (the one that cancelled on us before we found J and her husband). We went to go to our appointment with our recent convert, R, and he was kind of avoiding us because he was with his friends and embarrassed, so we were walking around waiting for us (he said five minutes, but never came. Psh.) And we were playing with some dogs at a member's house right next door and the member's 13 year old grandson, C, who is a former investigator who was going to get baptized but didn't want to because he felt too pressured came outside. I had never taught him before, but we are over there a lot so he knows us and we were talking to him and eventually started teaching him! How cool is that?! Then he came with us to go find R (40 minutes later) and we talked to them and then their friends were all around and being super crazy ninos and so we invited them all to pray with us. So we were all standing in a circle in the middle of a trailer park at like 8:45 at night with a bunch of loud teenage boys, saying a prayer. It was hard to get them to settle down, but eventually they did (mostly) and we prayed. Afterwards (they were joking, but kind of not) some of them were like, "Oh, I felt something! I felt something!" and unfortunately they dispersed pretty quickly, but Hermana Kingsley was talking to one of them (named R) who was a lot quieter and asked him what he likes to do, and he said draw, so she said, "Hey! You should draw me a picture of me!" And he was kind of shy and awkward so we didn't think we'd ever see him again but we went back the next day for R (who wasn't there) and he'd actually drawn a picture!! It was really good, too. Then he showed us his other drawings (which were also WAY good. This kid has talent.) and we talked to him about them for like 20 minutes until he felt a little more comfortable and was starting to come out of his shell. Then we started turning it to the Gospel, because some of the pictures were about Jesus Christ and stuff. He is really interested in learning more and I think he is really really ready. He is very humble and nice. He really wants to learn more, he just doesn't know where to go to learn more and is just confused. Kept from the truth only because he knows not where to find it? You decide. But it was cool! And we might even be able to teach his parents, too.

So, blonde moment time. It was pretty dumb... I was laying on my stomach during nightly planning last night and Hermana Kingsley was on one side of me and dropped her pen or  something on the other side of me, so I reached around to get it and handed it to her, then I am not sure what I was thinking, but I guess I thought the carpet would be soft or something, because I just let myself fall back down flat on my face and like SMACKED my face on the floor, right on the cheekbone. It hurt! Hermana Kingsley just DIED laughing. For like 15 minutes. She was crying, she laughed so hard. I was laughing too, though, so it's fine. And now I have a bruise on my face. Luckily you can't really see it, but it hurts. I guess I can just tell people I got punched in the face. Oh, the struggles. 

Oh and C, Hermana M's grandson, came to church yesterday! It was so cool because he was really reluctant because he feels awkward in the classes, especially young men's, but he still came! And we didn't get to talk to him afterwards, but the Elders took him to young men's and said he was fine. So we are excited! 

Oh and a member that is transferring from the English ward to our ward cuts missionaries hair for free, so she cut ours this morning! Finally! It was getting really long. So that was exciting too. 

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you! Careful not to bang your faces on the floor! The floor is probably not as soft as you think it is. 

Love,

Hermana Emily Pratt

Ps Dad remember when you got hit in the face with the frisbee? And squirted your water bottle all over the floor when it was falling? And Ryan when you were just making weird noises all alone in the kitchen making up a weird song? And everyone with their awkward moments. I challenge all of you to tell me/remind me about an awkward story by next Monday. Or whenever. But I could use a good laugh, so let me know! :) I'll share more too, but I'm out of time for now. 

Pps Love you!

August 4, 2014

Birthday Party Photos

So we had kind of a cool experience this week. Hermana Hiebert was getting transferred so on Monday night we visited E and her family and the guy they got to rent a room to help them have enough money while A is in jail whose name is T  sat in on the lesson. He is SUPER shy but pretty nice and he seemed to enjoy the lesson. It was kind of an awkward first lesson to join, since it was the farewell lesson for Hermana Hiebert so everyone was all emotional and we had planned to teach the Priesthood but we thought that would be a really weird first lesson so we switched it up and just read a scripture with them. I had a feeling that great things would come of it, which was weird, because he wasn't like overly interested and Hermana Hiebert didn't feel anything, but I just felt like it was important. And then, yesterday, T took K and T (the 4-year-old who is CRAZZZZZY to church on Sunday and went to all the classes and stuff! It was exciting! And he is still just SO shy so we couldn't get him to talk about it much, but he said he liked it and learned some interesting new things.  So that was cool.

So my new companion is named Hermana Kingsley and she is so great! She is hilarious and super nice and I think it will be a really good transfer. She has been out about 4 months (she just finished training) and she had been at the Mexico MTC to learn Spanish. She is 20, she went to BYU-Idaho, she has lived pretty much everywhere on the planet (not really but her dad is in the airport so she's lived a lot of places but claims Alaska because it's her favorite and a lot of her siblings live there still and stuff. She is the 9th of 10 siblings. But yeah. She is great. She also has a great voice so sometimes she sings songs to me. Which is exciting. And we quote Disney movies and such together. And she is determined to make our district more exciting, which is good because right now it is pretty boring. Yesterday she had the Elders assign everyone in our district a character from Toy Story. They put me as the green aliens.  Haha ok, whatever, Elders.... In Mechanicsville the Sisters assigned everyone a Disney character and I was Jesse. I like that one better. Oh well. Sisters are just way better, I guess... But we all knew that. 

Not a lot of other excitement has gone on this week. I can't really think of anything that happened. Just teaching people. Our investigators are doing well, our Recent Converts and Less Actives are doing well, things are just overall going pretty well. So that's good, I suppose. 

Oh darn it! I am out of time all the sudden and it's not letting me extend! I'll try to get back on in a minute, but if not, bye, love you!

Love,

Hermana Pratt

Ps tell Miss J thanks so much! I love her!