September 18, 2017
Hello,
everyone! It's been awhile. Sorry I wasn't able to email last week.
As you probably know, Florida had a big hurricane and it put quite a lot
of excitement into our lives. Here goes:
On
Monday the 4th, we had dinner with Sister T and her daughters.
One daughter is less active and the other is very curious to learn more
about the gospel. She had a lot of questions. The food was delicious
and we had a nice visit. On Wednesday, we were asked to prepare for the
hurricane so we did a little last minute food shopping. We also taught
D and were able to get more of a feel for how much he wants to
know if God is there. He feels he needs some big sign. He came up with
his own goal, though! It was really awesome. He said he would pray
and read the Book of Mormon every day for 7 days and if he got an
answer, he would be baptized. Unfortunately we haven't been able to get
in contact with him since. After that we taught K, T, J,
and F again and they all said they wanted to be baptized! We set a
date but they're not going to make it with everything that happened with
the hurricane and last we heard K is in the hospital.
Here's
where all the fun starts! On Thursday all of the sisters in our zone
were asked to sleep in our apartment and then we would evacuate to the
mission office in Tampa the next morning. So we had 7 sisters in our
tiny apartment and then the evacuation was postponed a day. So we had
some crazy exchanges and split up around the area. On Saturday we
headed out. We were in the church until Monday night. The storm was at
its worst on Sunday night and we really didn't see much of it. We were
sleeping :) On Monday night when we got back, there were tons of trees
and power lines down and a little street by our apartment was flooded.
Our apartment didn't have power. We were going to just deal with it,
but when the night came, it was really dark and we only had one candle
and a couple little flashlights. So...call us wimps, but we ended up
staying at the mission home with President and Sister Cooper for 4
nights! That was really nice. I really love the Coopers and their
house is really nice!
There
have been so many cool service opportunities from the storm. We have
been doing service all week, just going out in our jeans and t-shirts.
On Tuesday, we helped an older couple in our ward clear out their banana
trees that had been destroyed. Then we were going to go help at the
Bishop's house, but on the way we saw some people cleaning up their yard
and offered to help. They accepted and were very grateful. Their
names are D and B, and they said we could come back anytime! It
was cool because their neighbor came out and saw us working and came
over to help. After that, we helped the H family clear out
their backyard. The Vs, who we had helped with the banana trees,
let us come over that night and shower and eat and do some laundry.
They are some of the kindest people!
On
Wednesday, President Cooper suggested I stay with Sister Cooper for the
day so I could help her and have my last interview with him. My
companions went with the Tampa 2 sisters back to Gibsonia for the day,
and I helped sort through leftover hurricane supplies at the mission
office. I had my interview and it went really well. It was mainly
about goals and things to focus on upon returning home. Sister Cooper
and I went home for dinner and I helped her make some delicious
tortellini soup and ate it with her and President when he got home. It
was really special to get some one on one time with them and get to know
them better.
On
Thursday, Hermanas Anderson and Mortensen came with us to Gibsonia
because they had been staying at the mission home too because their
power was also out. We saw a yard that had a lot of debris in it and
went and knocked on the door but there was no answer. So we decided to
clean it up anyway! Then a man and his mother saw us working from
across the street and came to help. It was really cool. That day our
power came on, but then went off again.
On
Friday, we left the mission home for good because our power was back
on. We went to a church near our apartment and helped pass out food and
water to people. That night we went to a fall wreath making activity
that the Relief Society president had put together. On Saturday we
helped clean up the church in the morning but I wasn't feeling well so
we got some herbal tea and headed home. I slept for a long time. I'm
still sick, but I think it's just a nasty cold.
Well,
that's about it! It has probably been the craziest 2 weeks of my
life. I think I have whiplash from the roller coaster, haha. But it
has been good. We couldn't know joy without knowing adversity, and
Jesus Christ has suffered all and can strengthen us through all of our
trials. That is how we can have hope.
Pictures!
1. Boarding up windows at the Ls
2.
We stacked all our mattresses and put the bikes in the kitchen.
Everything was away from the windows and put up high. We were prepared!
3. Lakeland sisters represent!
4. Heading out to Tampa!
5 and 6. All the missionaries in the shelter
7. Sister Robertson and I
8. Getting a taste of Irma
9. Banana tree debris at the Vs
10. Huge pile at the Hs
11. Us with the Hermanas at the Coopers
12 and 13. Sunday selfies
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