Monday, July 28, 2014
pictures
That's a barn. On a trailer. It's cute!
And a pretty sunset. Before the storm.
And me, eating the cosmic brownies in the shirt mom got me! Loved the
package, thank you thank you thank you!!
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And a pretty sunset. Before the storm.
And me, eating the cosmic brownies in the shirt mom got me! Loved the
package, thank you thank you thank you!!
Exciting Week!
Dear Family and Friends and all those wonderful people who have written me letters!
It's been quite a learning week here in Ghettosville... I mean Goodlettsville. (Don't worry, we just spent an hour learning self defense- tae kwon doe and Philippine stick fights- with a leader in our ward. we a prepped, and I'm sore.) I have a few stories to share so I will just get started!
Most exciting is that we have a baptism coming up! The date is August 16th, for a 16 year old named Christian. We helped him quit smoking a few weeks ago, and he has just been on fire since then. We haven't actually taught him a lot, but he has seen many missionaries come and go. His mom and grandma are members, and we teach him when we see them. We have spent a lot of time teaching him on Facebook, and this week he messaged me and told me that he is ready to baptized. We didn't even invite him to it, he just told us! It's really exciting, because this has been a long time coming for him, and a lot of the missionaries who worked with him. So we are really pumped for that!! And the morning we prayed about his baptismal date, we had a lesson with him. We didn't get to talk about it in the lesson, so we were kinda bummed. But then, he texted us afterwards and told us he had prayed about it and that he was ready for the 16th. And that was the day we had prayed about too! So Heavenly Father must be on board as well, right?
What was really crazy was that they day after our awesome lesson with him and his family, and after we set our date, we had probably one of the longest and hardest days yet. We were walking in the heat- probably 95-100 degrees plus humidity- all day, and ALL of our set appointments with people fell through. And it was a struggle to knock on doors because it was the middle of the day, or the area had already been knocked, etc etc. So we were really just feeling not so good about what we had done that day. It wasn't until that night, after we had been walking all day, that the Spanish sisters we live with gave us a ride home. They asked us how our day was, and when we told them about it, they simply pointed out that it was because we had set a baptismal date for someone the day before. They reminded us that the adversary is always there to knock us down after we get up high. It sounds sad and silly, but it really just put things into perspective. We hadn't failed, we didn't just not do what we were supposed to. That day was just supposed to try our faith. And we walked all day, so I think we passed! It reminded me that Heavenly Father is always aware and will give us what we need. And sometimes, the comfort we seek comes from others.
Last night we had a great night, it was basically the culmination of an awesome week. We took the bus to an area we had a few people to meet in. And we get on the bus, and we realize that our month passes expired two days ago. We swipe it, and it rejects it. But, because missionaries work around here so often, the drivers all know us, so the guy just said he would cover us, and he let us get on! It was definitely a tender mercy, because I have seen them kick people off before... Anyway, so we get to the area, and we walk forever it feels like. But then, we start meeting people, and we end up teaching four awesome lessons about Jesus Christ in 2 hours! We walked past this one house with people outside, and this guy runs up to us, and asks us what we are selling. We tell him nothing! We just talk about Jesus Christ! And he starts telling us how he is changing his life and wants to get to church, and all this stuff. So people were literally coming up to us for the truth yesterday! Haha, it was really cool. And then even better- on our way home, we realize that we have to take the bus, and we don't have passes, right? But we get to the stop and we count out our money, and all of a sudden, we see this guy, on a lawn mower, crossing the busy street, comes over to the sidewalk, and starts riding the sidewalk. That's how they get in their lawn mowers here, its hilarious! But man he was the most redneck I've ever met. It just made our night. It was storming last night, but the rain didn't start until the moment we walked into our apartment. Another tender mercy from Heavenly Father! And that's never happened before, honestly, usually we get soaked to the bone before we make it home. So it was awesome!
Yesterday we had 6 people who are learning about the church come to sacrament meeting! It was incredible! And the talks were awesome. All about appropriate music, and service. Christian, the boy getting baptized, actually told us that he is inspired to serve a mission now, because of the talk about service. And his brother, Jordan who is sorta a punk and who I have been teaching on facebook, told us that he was really touched too! And that's really a miracle, because he has been the reason that Christian hasn't gotten baptized before. And our next door neighbor came to church too! She is catholic, and has never attended another church. But she said afterwards that she really felt that God intended for her to be at church yesterday. To which we just said, yes absolutely. So it was just an awesome Sunday at church!
The last incredible story is about someone we met at a door. We had a name and address to try to contact, but it was given to us a long time ago. So we approach the door, and I see a mat that has a letter of the last name on it, so I know not to ask for the person we were looking for. instead, we just ask if the lady, named Ceara, would be interested in a message about Jesus Christ. She tells us yes, he's in my heart, I already believe, yada yada the usual stuff, and then we ask her what her religion is? And she tells us that her dad is an apostolic minister. So of course, it's a little intimidating since we have no idea what that even means. So I ask her! And she tells me this: "We believe that Christ taught the way through Faith, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost." Our jaws practically drop. So we were able to talk to her all about how we completely agree! And that we need to know who has the authority that Christ had to baptize and give us the gift of the Holy Ghost. We left her the pamphlet about those things exactly, and then we set an appointment to come back! So I will keep you updated.
Anyway, it was a wonderful week. Sister Halbeisen and I are loving the area, and the people, even if it is so hot! I have a real good shoe tan now too :) I sure love this work, and seeing people make changes because of their faith in Christ. I love Heavenly Father for the blessing it is to be serving a mission here.
Love you all,
Sister Penrod
p.s. Diane, the lady I helped teach in Hendersonville and went to the temple with? She is speaking in a fireside about family history this week!
Monday, July 21, 2014
Sister Halbeisen- like a bison in a hall. Hall bison. :)
Dear Family and Friends!
Thank you so much to the many wonderful emails I got this week! I TRULY love every little note I receive, it helps me remember there is a world outside of Goodlettsville Tennessee! Shout out to Karma and the Christensen clan, Mrs. James, Erika Hanson, and Monica Ukah for awesome emails!! I love hearing from you all, I miss you so much! And I love hearing your insight on things I talk about, or questions I have, or crazy people I meet!
This week has been INCREDIBLE. So much fun, and a LOT of learning. We had transfers on Tuesday, which meant that Sister Clyde and I had to say goodbye, and I met my trainee- Sister Kori Halbeisen. Saying goodbye was really hard, Sister Clyde and I both felt like we were going to stay together for another transfer, but at the same time, we knew The Lord was in control and this was how it was supposed to happen. So that was a hard day. Also, two of the sisters that I was pretty close with were going home on Tuesday, so it was sad to say goodbye. One of them live in the apartment with us, and the other one I just knew because she was my sister training leader for most of my mission. I love them both so much, and it was sad to see them go. When you live with sisters, even if they aren't your companion, it's really hard to see them leave. And then they post pictures on facebook of them at the airport. and its even more sad. What's worse is that I know Sister Halbeisen and I will be here in Goodlettsville for the next three months, and in that time, I will see both of the Sisters we live with right now, go home. Its not fun! But we love them, and they have a lot of experience, so we get to learn a lot from them.
So, Sister Halbeisen!!! Is so awesome. And such a prepared missionary. She is practically training me. Like seriously. We were on the bus one day, and I didn't talk to this guy who said hi to us, and she looked at me, and then just turned back to him and starts talking and eventually finds out he is totally interested, looking for a new church to go to, and grew up with a Mormon best friend who never told him anything about it. So no big deal, but she's already an incredible missionary. She is from Broomfield, Colorado! North of Denver. She went to BYU for a year before she came out, and just turned 19 in May. She is studying special Education, and has got it together. She is the oldest of 5, a little sister who is graduating this coming year, then two little brothers, then a little sister. Her Dad was a convert, and her mom was raised in the church. And the very best part about her is probably that she likes to keep our apartment CLEAN!! ok, that's not the best, but its definitely up there on the list. I love her so much!!! She is a great teacher, and is so laid back, its amazing. She just goes with things, and is awesome. A perfect match for my craziness :) We are so excited to have three months together, because we can already see the potential in this area.
Crazy things this week: we got another set of missionaries in the area we are working in. It's
great because we could never get out to the far side of our ward, but now they live there, and are taking care of it!! It's awesome. but also a lot of work for our ward mission leader.
We tracted on Sister Halbeisen's first day, and man she was so great! And we had a miracle. Seriously, miraculous. We knock on our like fifth door, and we meet a lady named Nora. We tell her we are talking about Jesus Christ, and she invites us in. And since it's the South, she's a talker. So she starts going on about her faith in Christ, etc etc, and the next thing we know, she is talking about how she and her husband completely believe in paying tithing- ten percent of your income. She tells us a story about paying it, and a cheap car they found, and all these amazing things happening. And we are kinda just both there in shock, completely amazed that we just found someone who 1- invited us in, and 2- believes in paying a one tenth tithe. It was cray!! We find out she had an aunt who was Mormon, and she tells us she is super open and willing to learn about other religions, and we explain the Book of Mormon and prophets, and she says yes its totally possible that those are real. So we meet her husband, Dennis, and we set a time to come back a few days later. A lot of the time, when we do that, they don't actually show up for their appointment. But, we go back a few days later, and there they are, waiting for us. So we teach the Restoration and commit them to read the Book of Mormon, and they say we can come back next week and go over the Plan of Salvation. It was SOOO cool!!! We are so excited for them. They are really neat people, and really have seen God in their life, and have a strong faith that he is watching over us. It was amazing!
But then, I realized that now sister Halbeisen thinks that's how tracting always go. Which it doesn't. Usually, we knock on a door, and ask if we can share a message about Jesus Christ. Then the person responds with "oh honey, I've got him right here, in my heart" or "Oh darling, Ive already been saved" or "No, I'm not interested" or "Are y'all the Mormons, or the Jehovah's witnesses" and they slam the door according to whichever one they were hoping for. But it really is about two thirds of the doors that at least talk to us about what church they go to, and their faith in Christ. And what's really interesting is that I have learned the three step checkmate for door approaches- not that I am trying to checkmate anyone. But in about three questions regarding them, their church, and their faith, I can pretty easily bring up a question that they have had in life about religion, and may have suppressed. It's really neat because it is so clear in that moment when they are responding to see those who are
open, and those who are not. It is easy to see who is receptive and ready for the restored gospel, and those who are still content with not getting questions answered, and so they don't ask questions. I don't know if that made a lot of sense, but I just enjoy tracting and meeting all the faithful in the South! It's always an adventure. On a typical day we meet- a Catholic, multiple Baptists, a Presbyterian, Jehovah's Witness, non denominational, Church of Christ, missionary baptist. all within one hour of tracting. It's fascinating!
Funny stories from the week:
So we get to church yesterday, and we head to the foyer to wait for our ward mission leader, and I see a lizard on top of the couch! And I was just so not in a brave enough mood to touch a lizard right then. Normally, its no big. But it was actually a big lizard, and i was just not gonna have it. So, we run into the chapel to grab the elders, and ask them to catch it. And it turns out they are bigger wimps than we are! So they kinda chase it around the couch- mind you now we have rearranged the whole foyer, moved all the furniture, opened the door, letting hot air inside the nice cool building, trying to chase it outside. And then it makes a 180 and heads for the chapel. And we can't have a lizard running around in sacrament meeting right? So, I go grab a paper towel, since the elder (he's a greenie, just came out this week too), is telling us that it's poisonous, which it definitely wasn't. So the elders wouldn't touch it. So wen I come back with a paper towel, they have lost the thing. Except for it's tail. Because one of the elders almost had it, and pulled it by it's tail. And anyone who has ever caught a lizard knows that you don't pull on its tail, because the tail comes off. So all we caught was it's long tail, which was still wriggling as we threw it outside in the grass. Quite the adventure on a quiet Sunday morning :) Lesson learned: never leave it up to the Elders?
A picture will suffice for the fun time we had shopping at our brand new super Walmart this week! Gotta love Hot Pockets!
One day this week, we were walking to the bus, it's about 20 minutes from our apartment. We pass another apartment complex that the missionaries used to live in. So we get on the bus, and when we hop off at our stop, we hear a ton of sirens and see police and firetrucks all headed back the way we came. When we turn around, we see a plume of black smoke rising in the air. We watched it for a few minutes as we waited for our ride to find us, and we kept wondering what it was from? Two hours later, as we are riding with a member back home, we realize the turn off of main towards our apt was blocked off. So we go the back way, and it's still blocked! We saw all the firetrucks and
police cars on this corner of the old apartment complex, and they tell us that a building caught on fire! It was crazy!! We must have literally just missed the whole thing happening, because we were walking right past it just minutes before we saw the smoke in the air! Pretty crazy, and definitely how Heavenly Father intended it to be. We are always careful, and we know Heavenly Father protects us too.
As far as people this week, I'll just include an update on Terry, for time and length of email sake!
He is doing well, and hopefully quitting his job soon. He works 80 hours a weeks and doesn't make a lot, and is just exhausted all the time. He slipped a but in his scripture reading and tobacco chewing, but he could easily recognize there was a correlation there, and he knows he needs to change something, cause its not working. So, we are being patient, and just praying that it works out soon! Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to share more, but the people we are working with are truly so prepared and incredible, I am so happy to be out on a mission, and serving the people of Tennessee! I love this Gospel, and all the happiness it brings, even when you have to chase lizards!
Love you all,
Sister Penrod
1- us at the temple on transfer day; the transfer meeting is held in the building next door. this was my 6 months birthday and her 4 and a half month birthday!
2- walmart and a hot pocket. nbd #whatislyfe also, that's sister Halbeisen!!
3-Hermana Knecht, who went home! :(
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Thank you so much to the many wonderful emails I got this week! I TRULY love every little note I receive, it helps me remember there is a world outside of Goodlettsville Tennessee! Shout out to Karma and the Christensen clan, Mrs. James, Erika Hanson, and Monica Ukah for awesome emails!! I love hearing from you all, I miss you so much! And I love hearing your insight on things I talk about, or questions I have, or crazy people I meet!
This week has been INCREDIBLE. So much fun, and a LOT of learning. We had transfers on Tuesday, which meant that Sister Clyde and I had to say goodbye, and I met my trainee- Sister Kori Halbeisen. Saying goodbye was really hard, Sister Clyde and I both felt like we were going to stay together for another transfer, but at the same time, we knew The Lord was in control and this was how it was supposed to happen. So that was a hard day. Also, two of the sisters that I was pretty close with were going home on Tuesday, so it was sad to say goodbye. One of them live in the apartment with us, and the other one I just knew because she was my sister training leader for most of my mission. I love them both so much, and it was sad to see them go. When you live with sisters, even if they aren't your companion, it's really hard to see them leave. And then they post pictures on facebook of them at the airport. and its even more sad. What's worse is that I know Sister Halbeisen and I will be here in Goodlettsville for the next three months, and in that time, I will see both of the Sisters we live with right now, go home. Its not fun! But we love them, and they have a lot of experience, so we get to learn a lot from them.
So, Sister Halbeisen!!! Is so awesome. And such a prepared missionary. She is practically training me. Like seriously. We were on the bus one day, and I didn't talk to this guy who said hi to us, and she looked at me, and then just turned back to him and starts talking and eventually finds out he is totally interested, looking for a new church to go to, and grew up with a Mormon best friend who never told him anything about it. So no big deal, but she's already an incredible missionary. She is from Broomfield, Colorado! North of Denver. She went to BYU for a year before she came out, and just turned 19 in May. She is studying special Education, and has got it together. She is the oldest of 5, a little sister who is graduating this coming year, then two little brothers, then a little sister. Her Dad was a convert, and her mom was raised in the church. And the very best part about her is probably that she likes to keep our apartment CLEAN!! ok, that's not the best, but its definitely up there on the list. I love her so much!!! She is a great teacher, and is so laid back, its amazing. She just goes with things, and is awesome. A perfect match for my craziness :) We are so excited to have three months together, because we can already see the potential in this area.
Crazy things this week: we got another set of missionaries in the area we are working in. It's
great because we could never get out to the far side of our ward, but now they live there, and are taking care of it!! It's awesome. but also a lot of work for our ward mission leader.
We tracted on Sister Halbeisen's first day, and man she was so great! And we had a miracle. Seriously, miraculous. We knock on our like fifth door, and we meet a lady named Nora. We tell her we are talking about Jesus Christ, and she invites us in. And since it's the South, she's a talker. So she starts going on about her faith in Christ, etc etc, and the next thing we know, she is talking about how she and her husband completely believe in paying tithing- ten percent of your income. She tells us a story about paying it, and a cheap car they found, and all these amazing things happening. And we are kinda just both there in shock, completely amazed that we just found someone who 1- invited us in, and 2- believes in paying a one tenth tithe. It was cray!! We find out she had an aunt who was Mormon, and she tells us she is super open and willing to learn about other religions, and we explain the Book of Mormon and prophets, and she says yes its totally possible that those are real. So we meet her husband, Dennis, and we set a time to come back a few days later. A lot of the time, when we do that, they don't actually show up for their appointment. But, we go back a few days later, and there they are, waiting for us. So we teach the Restoration and commit them to read the Book of Mormon, and they say we can come back next week and go over the Plan of Salvation. It was SOOO cool!!! We are so excited for them. They are really neat people, and really have seen God in their life, and have a strong faith that he is watching over us. It was amazing!
But then, I realized that now sister Halbeisen thinks that's how tracting always go. Which it doesn't. Usually, we knock on a door, and ask if we can share a message about Jesus Christ. Then the person responds with "oh honey, I've got him right here, in my heart" or "Oh darling, Ive already been saved" or "No, I'm not interested" or "Are y'all the Mormons, or the Jehovah's witnesses" and they slam the door according to whichever one they were hoping for. But it really is about two thirds of the doors that at least talk to us about what church they go to, and their faith in Christ. And what's really interesting is that I have learned the three step checkmate for door approaches- not that I am trying to checkmate anyone. But in about three questions regarding them, their church, and their faith, I can pretty easily bring up a question that they have had in life about religion, and may have suppressed. It's really neat because it is so clear in that moment when they are responding to see those who are
open, and those who are not. It is easy to see who is receptive and ready for the restored gospel, and those who are still content with not getting questions answered, and so they don't ask questions. I don't know if that made a lot of sense, but I just enjoy tracting and meeting all the faithful in the South! It's always an adventure. On a typical day we meet- a Catholic, multiple Baptists, a Presbyterian, Jehovah's Witness, non denominational, Church of Christ, missionary baptist. all within one hour of tracting. It's fascinating!
Funny stories from the week:
So we get to church yesterday, and we head to the foyer to wait for our ward mission leader, and I see a lizard on top of the couch! And I was just so not in a brave enough mood to touch a lizard right then. Normally, its no big. But it was actually a big lizard, and i was just not gonna have it. So, we run into the chapel to grab the elders, and ask them to catch it. And it turns out they are bigger wimps than we are! So they kinda chase it around the couch- mind you now we have rearranged the whole foyer, moved all the furniture, opened the door, letting hot air inside the nice cool building, trying to chase it outside. And then it makes a 180 and heads for the chapel. And we can't have a lizard running around in sacrament meeting right? So, I go grab a paper towel, since the elder (he's a greenie, just came out this week too), is telling us that it's poisonous, which it definitely wasn't. So the elders wouldn't touch it. So wen I come back with a paper towel, they have lost the thing. Except for it's tail. Because one of the elders almost had it, and pulled it by it's tail. And anyone who has ever caught a lizard knows that you don't pull on its tail, because the tail comes off. So all we caught was it's long tail, which was still wriggling as we threw it outside in the grass. Quite the adventure on a quiet Sunday morning :) Lesson learned: never leave it up to the Elders?
A picture will suffice for the fun time we had shopping at our brand new super Walmart this week! Gotta love Hot Pockets!
One day this week, we were walking to the bus, it's about 20 minutes from our apartment. We pass another apartment complex that the missionaries used to live in. So we get on the bus, and when we hop off at our stop, we hear a ton of sirens and see police and firetrucks all headed back the way we came. When we turn around, we see a plume of black smoke rising in the air. We watched it for a few minutes as we waited for our ride to find us, and we kept wondering what it was from? Two hours later, as we are riding with a member back home, we realize the turn off of main towards our apt was blocked off. So we go the back way, and it's still blocked! We saw all the firetrucks and
police cars on this corner of the old apartment complex, and they tell us that a building caught on fire! It was crazy!! We must have literally just missed the whole thing happening, because we were walking right past it just minutes before we saw the smoke in the air! Pretty crazy, and definitely how Heavenly Father intended it to be. We are always careful, and we know Heavenly Father protects us too.
As far as people this week, I'll just include an update on Terry, for time and length of email sake!
He is doing well, and hopefully quitting his job soon. He works 80 hours a weeks and doesn't make a lot, and is just exhausted all the time. He slipped a but in his scripture reading and tobacco chewing, but he could easily recognize there was a correlation there, and he knows he needs to change something, cause its not working. So, we are being patient, and just praying that it works out soon! Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to share more, but the people we are working with are truly so prepared and incredible, I am so happy to be out on a mission, and serving the people of Tennessee! I love this Gospel, and all the happiness it brings, even when you have to chase lizards!
Love you all,
Sister Penrod
1- us at the temple on transfer day; the transfer meeting is held in the building next door. this was my 6 months birthday and her 4 and a half month birthday!
2- walmart and a hot pocket. nbd #whatislyfe also, that's sister Halbeisen!!
3-Hermana Knecht, who went home! :(
Monday, July 14, 2014
It's not that long, just a talk attached
Dear Family and Friends,
Right now I am sitting in a great clips, getting a thirteen dollar haircut. I truly never thought I would have been in this situation in my life.... I'm so nervous! You know it's not a good sign if they can't get your hair to stay in top of your head right?....yea it turned out not so good. I'll send pictures if I ever get it fixed.
This has been quite a week. Lots of tracting and referral contacting, and then all of a sudden when we find these amazing families, we get transfer calls, and guess what? I'm TRAINING. ISN'T THAT INSANE? I have to teach a new missionary how this life works! It's crazy. All weekend I've just been saying, I'm gonna kill her, I'm gonna kill her! Because I'm so crazy that she will probably want to die. But I think I got most of the crazy out, so now it's all good. It's so exciting. In mission lingo, we say I'm expecting! Because I'm about to have a missionary baby :)
But that does mean that sister Clyde will be leaving Goodlettsville, which is really sad. This was her first area, so I know how hard it is for her to leave. I'm really going to miss her, I definitely wasn't ready for her to be transferred. She taught me a lot about myself, and I feel like I learned a lot from her. I really love her, and I hope that we will get to be in a zone again. She is actually going to be where her previous companion is, so that's kinda weird! Not the same area, but the same stake. She's really excited.
As far people, we are continuing to make good progress with all those that we are meeting with. Terry's date is pushed back, but he is still so set to get baptized, so we aren't worried. He has to kick a roommate out, someone he's not involved with relationship wise, but he is such a nice guy that he wants to wait until his lease is up. It's sad cause he understands why it needs to be done. She is religious and agrees they shouldn't be rooming together either, but she doesn't know what to do. We keep praying something will change sooner than the lease expiring in September. But we love meeting with him.
The craziest thing we did this week was our tea party! So here's the explanation. Hermana Rich, one of the sisters we live with, goes home this week, as in tomorrow. So in celebration of that, we held a tea party. Because apparently she loves them, and she holds one every year at home. It's weird, I know, but we had to just love her enough to do it. So we went to goodwill and bought these amazing 50s ish hats, and cut up some pound cake we were given, and poured some orange juice in the tea cups we bought at goodwill, and spoke in British accents. It was a jolly good time. We feel ridiculous so many time on our mission, it's almost like normal now. Haha!
The other exciting news of this week was that they are splitting our area!! Which is crazy! Because we need more missionaries here and now we have them. It's going to be a whole new game, figuring out how to work in our area and especially our ward with man other set of sisters! We are excited because we haven't been able to work in those areas, but now we will be able to. We expect to see some major growth in our ward.
I also had to give a talk this week! And the thing about giving ten minute talks as missionaries is that you actually don't have time to prepare, ever. Because you don't have any fee or down time. So I woke up half an hour early to try and write my talk on Sunday morning. It was supposed to be about missionary work, but I really didn't want to be THAT missionary. So I kinda changed it. I'll attach it, so you can read it!
I know this is kinda a short and lame letter, but we have a lot to do on this day because of transfers! Two out of the four sisters in this apartment are leaving, and one is going home for good. It's crazy busy, and always a party. Never any privacy, or time to cry about getting a bad haircut from great clips. Haha, it's strange how the smallest things can set us off. I'm sure I've had a haircut I didn't like before, and yet, you would think the world is ending. (Obviously my hair is pretty important to me, right?) all for The Lord I guess....
I love you all so much for the support you've given me. The letters, and emails, and Facebook comments and likes, are so extremely appreciated, I just don't think any of you will ever know. I sure love this work, and the incredible people we get to work with. I love Heavenly Fathers guiding hand, and all the help he gives us, if we just ask!
Love,
Sister Penrod
Today I would like to talk to you about how we let our faith show. If it were appropriate, I would remove my name tag for the remainder of this talk, so that you wouldn't recognize me as only a missionary, but rather as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one of you! And more importantly, someone who is striving to live as Christ did. But I'll leave it on. And I ask that instead of viewing it as indicating me as a full time missionary, you view this badge as a way that I am letting my faith in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, show.
So what does it really mean to let our faith show? Well, if we dissect the phrase, the word let is a verb, which implies action. And "show" implies something that can be seen. So in essence, if we are "letting our faith show" we are acting in such a way that allows others to physically see our faith in Jesus Christ. Fortunately for me, everyday begins with that action of faith- I put this badge on. But I know it isn't that easy for all of us. Believe it or not, there was a time when I didn't have this badge to put on. But I have learned that whether or not we have something that has Christ's name right next to yours, our choices and actions show others the faith we have in him.
For example, attending church each Sunday is an action of faith. For any families, it's not easy to get all the kids ready, in the car, and to the chapel on time every Sunday. But the effort is the action of faith. And as D and C 4 says,"O ye that embark in the service of your God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." I have four sisters, and one brother. So every Sunday growing up, my mother had 5 hairstyles to do, 12 socks and shoes to find, and 6 teeth to brush. I know that even when she wished will all her heart, used all her might and strength, and planned with all her mind, it wasn't easy getting 6 kids to church. How grateful I am that she showed me her faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and in her Heavenly Father through her actions, and her willingness to do His will. For others, attending church may be uncomfortable because of being new in the ward, or not having attended for some time. But I know that every time we act, and let our faith show, we are blessed, and more often than not, our faith is able to bless others.
If we know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and is in control, then why do we have a tendency to hold back from allowing our faith to show? The answer I believe is found in a law of physics. For every action, there is a reaction. In Spiritual terms, that means that every single action we take for good and in faith will cause the adversary to react and push back on us. That's the reason that often when we are doing the very best spiritually in our life, things get harder for us. And that is when our fear creeps in. I have struggled over the though that our faith replaces our fear. Fear is part of our life! How can we truly have no fear? As President Monson puts it "Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with faith have COURAGE as well."
I would like to share the story of my great great great great grandmother. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a hold of her exact words, but I have read the story many times and I feel that I can do
it justice to paraphrase. My Grandmother lived in Nauvoo with many other members of the church in the mid 1800s. The contentious spirit towards Latter- Day Saints around the area at the time led to much persecution and many struggles for them. At one point, a mob entered Nauvoo and began to force people out of the homes and across the river with only the clothes on their backs and the things they could grab. My grandmother wrote of the many struggles she had already endured to get to Nauvoo, and how hard it was for her to leave so quickly. After they were pushed across the river, the saints made camp and tried to recoup, and prepare for their eminent move. My grandmother explained that she had a handful of children, and absolutely no food. She said that the first thing she did when she recognized this predicament was to pray with all her heart that Heavenly Father would provide. The next thing she knew, she saw a miracle. Dozens of quail flew into their camp, and more than that, they literally flew into their laps. She said they simply fell into their hands. She recognized this direct answer to her prayer, and I believe a direct blessing of her actions in Faith. She could have simply renounced her faith in the Savior, and the mob would let her alone. But she stood firm in her beliefs, and I believe she faced her fears with faith. Her courage was, and still is an example to my family, of letting her faith show.
Whether we recognize it or not, we all have opportunities to let our faith show. Everyday we are in the world, trying our very hardest to not be of the world. In D and C 4 it explains that we are qualified to be disciples of Christ, and share his gospel on the condition that we strive for "Faith, hope, charity, love, with an eye single to the glory of God..."
I believe, because I have seen, that every single person here has these attributes. Some may have more hope or charity, and others may have more faith and love. But the fact that you are letting your faith show by being here today shows that you have an eye single to the glory of God. You have aligned your will with His. And you are allowing him to work in your life for the better.
That, brothers and sisters, is the blessing of missionary work. Not only do we get to experience the extreme joy of helping others find their faith in Jesus Christ and build their relationship with their Heavenly Father, but WE too strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and build our relationship with Heavenly Father.
If you think that we as missionaries wait to share the gospel with people when we feel we know everything about the gospel, or when we think that we can answer all the questions we face, or when we have strong, perfect testimonies of what we share, then you are largely mistaken. I can testify that The Lord qualifies us for the work, when our desires to serve him are acted upon. In the past 6 months of my life, as I have striven every day to be a servant of The Lord here in Tennessee, I have received more guidance and spiritual direction than ever before. And that is not because I am a missionary. It's because everyday, I learn more and more how I can let my faith show. The blessings are immense, both for myself, and my family, and for those around me. And you are all qualified to receive the exact same blessings.
I plead with you to ponder over the next step of faith in your life. For some it may be working towards being baptized, or receiving your endowments in the temple. For some, it may simply be restarting scripture study or family prayer. For me, it will be training a brand new missionary! But for all of us, I pray that we can align our will with Heavenly Father's, and learn to let our faith show. And learn that our fear and faith give us the courage to stand as a disciple of Jesus Christ, always.
You don't have to wear a tag to be a missionary!
Right now I am sitting in a great clips, getting a thirteen dollar haircut. I truly never thought I would have been in this situation in my life.... I'm so nervous! You know it's not a good sign if they can't get your hair to stay in top of your head right?....yea it turned out not so good. I'll send pictures if I ever get it fixed.
This has been quite a week. Lots of tracting and referral contacting, and then all of a sudden when we find these amazing families, we get transfer calls, and guess what? I'm TRAINING. ISN'T THAT INSANE? I have to teach a new missionary how this life works! It's crazy. All weekend I've just been saying, I'm gonna kill her, I'm gonna kill her! Because I'm so crazy that she will probably want to die. But I think I got most of the crazy out, so now it's all good. It's so exciting. In mission lingo, we say I'm expecting! Because I'm about to have a missionary baby :)
But that does mean that sister Clyde will be leaving Goodlettsville, which is really sad. This was her first area, so I know how hard it is for her to leave. I'm really going to miss her, I definitely wasn't ready for her to be transferred. She taught me a lot about myself, and I feel like I learned a lot from her. I really love her, and I hope that we will get to be in a zone again. She is actually going to be where her previous companion is, so that's kinda weird! Not the same area, but the same stake. She's really excited.
As far people, we are continuing to make good progress with all those that we are meeting with. Terry's date is pushed back, but he is still so set to get baptized, so we aren't worried. He has to kick a roommate out, someone he's not involved with relationship wise, but he is such a nice guy that he wants to wait until his lease is up. It's sad cause he understands why it needs to be done. She is religious and agrees they shouldn't be rooming together either, but she doesn't know what to do. We keep praying something will change sooner than the lease expiring in September. But we love meeting with him.
The craziest thing we did this week was our tea party! So here's the explanation. Hermana Rich, one of the sisters we live with, goes home this week, as in tomorrow. So in celebration of that, we held a tea party. Because apparently she loves them, and she holds one every year at home. It's weird, I know, but we had to just love her enough to do it. So we went to goodwill and bought these amazing 50s ish hats, and cut up some pound cake we were given, and poured some orange juice in the tea cups we bought at goodwill, and spoke in British accents. It was a jolly good time. We feel ridiculous so many time on our mission, it's almost like normal now. Haha!
The other exciting news of this week was that they are splitting our area!! Which is crazy! Because we need more missionaries here and now we have them. It's going to be a whole new game, figuring out how to work in our area and especially our ward with man other set of sisters! We are excited because we haven't been able to work in those areas, but now we will be able to. We expect to see some major growth in our ward.
I also had to give a talk this week! And the thing about giving ten minute talks as missionaries is that you actually don't have time to prepare, ever. Because you don't have any fee or down time. So I woke up half an hour early to try and write my talk on Sunday morning. It was supposed to be about missionary work, but I really didn't want to be THAT missionary. So I kinda changed it. I'll attach it, so you can read it!
I know this is kinda a short and lame letter, but we have a lot to do on this day because of transfers! Two out of the four sisters in this apartment are leaving, and one is going home for good. It's crazy busy, and always a party. Never any privacy, or time to cry about getting a bad haircut from great clips. Haha, it's strange how the smallest things can set us off. I'm sure I've had a haircut I didn't like before, and yet, you would think the world is ending. (Obviously my hair is pretty important to me, right?) all for The Lord I guess....
I love you all so much for the support you've given me. The letters, and emails, and Facebook comments and likes, are so extremely appreciated, I just don't think any of you will ever know. I sure love this work, and the incredible people we get to work with. I love Heavenly Fathers guiding hand, and all the help he gives us, if we just ask!
Love,
Sister Penrod
Today I would like to talk to you about how we let our faith show. If it were appropriate, I would remove my name tag for the remainder of this talk, so that you wouldn't recognize me as only a missionary, but rather as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, one of you! And more importantly, someone who is striving to live as Christ did. But I'll leave it on. And I ask that instead of viewing it as indicating me as a full time missionary, you view this badge as a way that I am letting my faith in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father, show.
So what does it really mean to let our faith show? Well, if we dissect the phrase, the word let is a verb, which implies action. And "show" implies something that can be seen. So in essence, if we are "letting our faith show" we are acting in such a way that allows others to physically see our faith in Jesus Christ. Fortunately for me, everyday begins with that action of faith- I put this badge on. But I know it isn't that easy for all of us. Believe it or not, there was a time when I didn't have this badge to put on. But I have learned that whether or not we have something that has Christ's name right next to yours, our choices and actions show others the faith we have in him.
For example, attending church each Sunday is an action of faith. For any families, it's not easy to get all the kids ready, in the car, and to the chapel on time every Sunday. But the effort is the action of faith. And as D and C 4 says,"O ye that embark in the service of your God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day." I have four sisters, and one brother. So every Sunday growing up, my mother had 5 hairstyles to do, 12 socks and shoes to find, and 6 teeth to brush. I know that even when she wished will all her heart, used all her might and strength, and planned with all her mind, it wasn't easy getting 6 kids to church. How grateful I am that she showed me her faith in The Lord Jesus Christ and in her Heavenly Father through her actions, and her willingness to do His will. For others, attending church may be uncomfortable because of being new in the ward, or not having attended for some time. But I know that every time we act, and let our faith show, we are blessed, and more often than not, our faith is able to bless others.
If we know that our Heavenly Father has a plan for us and is in control, then why do we have a tendency to hold back from allowing our faith to show? The answer I believe is found in a law of physics. For every action, there is a reaction. In Spiritual terms, that means that every single action we take for good and in faith will cause the adversary to react and push back on us. That's the reason that often when we are doing the very best spiritually in our life, things get harder for us. And that is when our fear creeps in. I have struggled over the though that our faith replaces our fear. Fear is part of our life! How can we truly have no fear? As President Monson puts it "Remember that all men have their fears, but those who face their fears with faith have COURAGE as well."
I would like to share the story of my great great great great grandmother. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a hold of her exact words, but I have read the story many times and I feel that I can do
it justice to paraphrase. My Grandmother lived in Nauvoo with many other members of the church in the mid 1800s. The contentious spirit towards Latter- Day Saints around the area at the time led to much persecution and many struggles for them. At one point, a mob entered Nauvoo and began to force people out of the homes and across the river with only the clothes on their backs and the things they could grab. My grandmother wrote of the many struggles she had already endured to get to Nauvoo, and how hard it was for her to leave so quickly. After they were pushed across the river, the saints made camp and tried to recoup, and prepare for their eminent move. My grandmother explained that she had a handful of children, and absolutely no food. She said that the first thing she did when she recognized this predicament was to pray with all her heart that Heavenly Father would provide. The next thing she knew, she saw a miracle. Dozens of quail flew into their camp, and more than that, they literally flew into their laps. She said they simply fell into their hands. She recognized this direct answer to her prayer, and I believe a direct blessing of her actions in Faith. She could have simply renounced her faith in the Savior, and the mob would let her alone. But she stood firm in her beliefs, and I believe she faced her fears with faith. Her courage was, and still is an example to my family, of letting her faith show.
Whether we recognize it or not, we all have opportunities to let our faith show. Everyday we are in the world, trying our very hardest to not be of the world. In D and C 4 it explains that we are qualified to be disciples of Christ, and share his gospel on the condition that we strive for "Faith, hope, charity, love, with an eye single to the glory of God..."
I believe, because I have seen, that every single person here has these attributes. Some may have more hope or charity, and others may have more faith and love. But the fact that you are letting your faith show by being here today shows that you have an eye single to the glory of God. You have aligned your will with His. And you are allowing him to work in your life for the better.
That, brothers and sisters, is the blessing of missionary work. Not only do we get to experience the extreme joy of helping others find their faith in Jesus Christ and build their relationship with their Heavenly Father, but WE too strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ and build our relationship with Heavenly Father.
If you think that we as missionaries wait to share the gospel with people when we feel we know everything about the gospel, or when we think that we can answer all the questions we face, or when we have strong, perfect testimonies of what we share, then you are largely mistaken. I can testify that The Lord qualifies us for the work, when our desires to serve him are acted upon. In the past 6 months of my life, as I have striven every day to be a servant of The Lord here in Tennessee, I have received more guidance and spiritual direction than ever before. And that is not because I am a missionary. It's because everyday, I learn more and more how I can let my faith show. The blessings are immense, both for myself, and my family, and for those around me. And you are all qualified to receive the exact same blessings.
I plead with you to ponder over the next step of faith in your life. For some it may be working towards being baptized, or receiving your endowments in the temple. For some, it may simply be restarting scripture study or family prayer. For me, it will be training a brand new missionary! But for all of us, I pray that we can align our will with Heavenly Father's, and learn to let our faith show. And learn that our fear and faith give us the courage to stand as a disciple of Jesus Christ, always.
You don't have to wear a tag to be a missionary!
Monday, July 7, 2014
Awesome Week!
What a week. From a 911 call to the Fourth of July, to rotten fruit and fruit flies, to a dobro, to a doughnut eating contest. Here we go.
So our week started out wonderfully. We had a lesson with a new member, who has epilepsy. And there are a ton of details it's not really worth explaining, so the gist of it was that she didn't take medicine for a week, so as we were meeting with her she had a seizure. Which then became five seizures. At number three, I called 911, and the member we were meeting with was a nurse, had her lay down. And then we found a priesthood holder to give a blessing. It was all crazy. So then the ambulance gets there- we are at the church- and they tell us which hospital they are taking her too. So then we sit down and try to figure out what to do. And so we call our whole bishopric, who are all at the temple, along with our whole ward, cause it was ward temple night. So then we decide to go to the hospital because her visiting teachers were out of town and no one else had answered and told us what to do or not do. So we get to the hospital, and they can find her name, and they tell us that she hasn't been at the hospital that day. So we just start waiting and waiting and eventually they find her, and then they tell us only one can go see her, etc etc. It ended up being a long night, but then we got sonic shakes so everything worked out. Oh And she was fine.
So the next crazy thing that happened was actually a miracle! We were trying to meet this family who hasn't been to church in a while, who I haven't ever met. But we saw them outside one day, and we wanted to stop by, but we couldn't at that day. So this week, we drive to their house and knock on their door. And no one answered. So we walk towards the car, and sister Clyde asks if we should knock a door on the street. So we do, and talk to someone who "has already been saved"- side note: it's really funny to hear that, it's like they think we are offering to save them right then and there or something- so we head back towards the car. Then I ask if maybe we should try the first door one more time. So we do, and still no answer. But as we walk around the house towards our car, we see the mom coming out of the house, to come talk to us! It was so cool, because she told us she had just been changing out of her pjs after she heard us knock, but didn't see anyone outside after the first knock. It was really near to see how when we act on promptings, good things happen! We had a great lesson with them.
For the Fourth of July, we did something really crazy, and rather pathetic. We were supposed to be in our apartment by 8 pm that night, so in preparation for the extra hour inside, we decided to have a doughnut eating contest! Since there is a brand new Krispy Kremes right by our apartment! So Sister Clyde and I bought a dozen doughnuts, and split it half and half. We wanted to enjoy them, so it wasn't a competition of who could eat it fastest, but who could eat more. It's good to know that although I ate all 6 of my doughnuts, I don't think I will ever eat more than three in one sitting in the future. I needed to know my cap, so it was great! Sister Clyde puttered out at a measly three. But that's ok, we all know I have an extremely high tolerance for sugar. And we had a great time on the fourth.
As far as some of the amazing people this week:
We saw Mike and Patty and in one week, Mike had gone from smoking two packs a day to not at all. It was amazing!!! We were so proud of him. He did slip up a few times here and there, but when we saw him one week later, he hadn't smoked for four days. Crazy!! Only possible because of his faith in Christ. We are continuing to teach him, but he still hung up on the concept of the trinity, and how he can't see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as separate beings. Man oh man, whoever came up with the trinity, I would just like to have a talkin with!! But that's ok. He'll figure it out one of these days.
Terry, the guy who is supposed to be baptized any day now, told us that he gave up coffee cold turkey, and he is working on the tobacco. He went from a can a day to a can in a week, so he has been doing awesome. We taught him about the Law of chastity, and all about eternal marriage in the temple. It was an amazing lesson, the spirit was so very strong. It is so inspiring to see these good people make great changes in their lives. It's so clear to me the difference it makes in them both physically and spiritually, as they try to draw closer to Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary and helping them grow their faith!
As far as Nash goes... he told us he doesn't want to meet with us anymore, but we were surprisingly ok with that. He was very real, and explained how he just hasn't figured out how to find his faith in God yet, but that he wants it. We both have a feeling that this won't be the end of meeting with Nash, just a break for him to figure some things out. He has had a lot of things happen in his life that have confused him, but because he went to youth conference, and made awesome friends with good people, he is hanging out with all the church kids, and he has never been happier. He even told us about the prayer he offered before he met with us, and how much he meant every word he said. We tried to help him see that saying that prayer was an act of faith, but he can't quite grasp it yet. I know it'll come for him, and we are going to keep teaching him on Facebook. So we are ok with it for now.
We also met this awesome guy named Michael. He is really old, and the most petite man I have ever met, it's truly strange. But, we left him the Book of Mormon, and later went back and taught him about the Restoration. Everything we said made so much sense to him, he was totally going along with it all. He said he will have to read and study the Book of Mormon to know if it is true, but that it makes total sense. So, we will see how it goes this week! It was almost too easy with him, so we are kinda skeptical. Sad, right? But he is a nice old man, very lonely, and a Vietnam vet. Just a neat old man who likes the color orange.
The last thing about this week was the Patriotic Fireside our ward put on last night. A fireside is like a devotional, but this one was all musical, cause hello its Nashville. So we had been asked to put together a missionary choir, so we sand the battle hymn of the republic. We just arranged it ourselves, it wasn't anything special. I'll try to send the recording of our practice before hand. It went all right, but really nothing special. But the other numbers were fabulous! There was a violin solo- I almost cried I miss the viola so badly- and a violin and guitar duet, a piano duet, and there was supposed to be a horn solo! But the guy chipped his tooth that same day and the dentist said it would blow of the piece he glued back on if he played so that was super lame. But it was still a wonderful night, and we had a few non members come, by invitation of ward members, so that was awesome!! Especially cool was that I was introduced to a new instrument! Something called a dobro? It's like a guitar, but it has a metal center, and you play it with some type of metal pick on the strings, to create a specific sound. We didn't get to hear the sound it makes, cause he played it just like a guitar, but he was really nice and let us hold it and play around with it. The fiddler was awesome too, I love Nashville! Where else do you get a fiddle in the chapel. And totally reverent too?
Speaking of which!!! I heard that the Nashville Tribute Band was going to be in our stake this coming week, or possibly the next week. Does anyone know about that? And is anyone going to be home? If yes, PLEASE GO. They are pretty good, but more importantly, I KNOW LIKE HALF OF THEM. The couple, Matt and Cardin Lopez, were in Hendersonville, and we watched general conference at their house and met with investigators with them all the time. The other members, last name of Truman- Ben and Chad?- are in Goodlettsville right now, where I am serving, and they have helped us at lessons too! So if you go, and meet them and tell them you know me!! You will probably have to explain, but they will definitely know who i am. Well, Ben Truman might not, but i have met him a few times. Chad would. And the Lopezs definitely will. Anyway, go to the fireside so you can at least here what my life is like all the time.
Other than all of that, this week has been of the wall crazy. It just went by so so so fast. We get referrals of people we could teach all the time, because there are so many people to teach here! We are really excited about some of the people we have met, we are just figuring out how to get everyone else excited too! I love missionary work!!!!!
I hope everyone had a good, safe fourth, and know that I love and miss you all so much!
Love,
Sister Penrod
p.s. these are some pics of the week. Today, our ward relief society president took us to the Carter House, an old historical house where the Battle of Franklin happened. It was really cool, and we learned a lot. Did you know that it was the bloodiest battle in the terms of time? 10,000 casualties in the space of 5 hours. Also, good to note that I have never been to any museum of the "losers" in my life, until today. Tennessee fought on the Confederate side..... and although they were the last to secede, they were the first to join the Union! It was a fun time!
The wall is the most shot at building still standing in the US.
the movie is us doing our fireworks on the fourth!
the pic in front of the house was the slaves cabin, not the house. I didn't get a pic of the house, sorry!!!
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So our week started out wonderfully. We had a lesson with a new member, who has epilepsy. And there are a ton of details it's not really worth explaining, so the gist of it was that she didn't take medicine for a week, so as we were meeting with her she had a seizure. Which then became five seizures. At number three, I called 911, and the member we were meeting with was a nurse, had her lay down. And then we found a priesthood holder to give a blessing. It was all crazy. So then the ambulance gets there- we are at the church- and they tell us which hospital they are taking her too. So then we sit down and try to figure out what to do. And so we call our whole bishopric, who are all at the temple, along with our whole ward, cause it was ward temple night. So then we decide to go to the hospital because her visiting teachers were out of town and no one else had answered and told us what to do or not do. So we get to the hospital, and they can find her name, and they tell us that she hasn't been at the hospital that day. So we just start waiting and waiting and eventually they find her, and then they tell us only one can go see her, etc etc. It ended up being a long night, but then we got sonic shakes so everything worked out. Oh And she was fine.
So the next crazy thing that happened was actually a miracle! We were trying to meet this family who hasn't been to church in a while, who I haven't ever met. But we saw them outside one day, and we wanted to stop by, but we couldn't at that day. So this week, we drive to their house and knock on their door. And no one answered. So we walk towards the car, and sister Clyde asks if we should knock a door on the street. So we do, and talk to someone who "has already been saved"- side note: it's really funny to hear that, it's like they think we are offering to save them right then and there or something- so we head back towards the car. Then I ask if maybe we should try the first door one more time. So we do, and still no answer. But as we walk around the house towards our car, we see the mom coming out of the house, to come talk to us! It was so cool, because she told us she had just been changing out of her pjs after she heard us knock, but didn't see anyone outside after the first knock. It was really near to see how when we act on promptings, good things happen! We had a great lesson with them.
For the Fourth of July, we did something really crazy, and rather pathetic. We were supposed to be in our apartment by 8 pm that night, so in preparation for the extra hour inside, we decided to have a doughnut eating contest! Since there is a brand new Krispy Kremes right by our apartment! So Sister Clyde and I bought a dozen doughnuts, and split it half and half. We wanted to enjoy them, so it wasn't a competition of who could eat it fastest, but who could eat more. It's good to know that although I ate all 6 of my doughnuts, I don't think I will ever eat more than three in one sitting in the future. I needed to know my cap, so it was great! Sister Clyde puttered out at a measly three. But that's ok, we all know I have an extremely high tolerance for sugar. And we had a great time on the fourth.
As far as some of the amazing people this week:
We saw Mike and Patty and in one week, Mike had gone from smoking two packs a day to not at all. It was amazing!!! We were so proud of him. He did slip up a few times here and there, but when we saw him one week later, he hadn't smoked for four days. Crazy!! Only possible because of his faith in Christ. We are continuing to teach him, but he still hung up on the concept of the trinity, and how he can't see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as separate beings. Man oh man, whoever came up with the trinity, I would just like to have a talkin with!! But that's ok. He'll figure it out one of these days.
Terry, the guy who is supposed to be baptized any day now, told us that he gave up coffee cold turkey, and he is working on the tobacco. He went from a can a day to a can in a week, so he has been doing awesome. We taught him about the Law of chastity, and all about eternal marriage in the temple. It was an amazing lesson, the spirit was so very strong. It is so inspiring to see these good people make great changes in their lives. It's so clear to me the difference it makes in them both physically and spiritually, as they try to draw closer to Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary and helping them grow their faith!
As far as Nash goes... he told us he doesn't want to meet with us anymore, but we were surprisingly ok with that. He was very real, and explained how he just hasn't figured out how to find his faith in God yet, but that he wants it. We both have a feeling that this won't be the end of meeting with Nash, just a break for him to figure some things out. He has had a lot of things happen in his life that have confused him, but because he went to youth conference, and made awesome friends with good people, he is hanging out with all the church kids, and he has never been happier. He even told us about the prayer he offered before he met with us, and how much he meant every word he said. We tried to help him see that saying that prayer was an act of faith, but he can't quite grasp it yet. I know it'll come for him, and we are going to keep teaching him on Facebook. So we are ok with it for now.
We also met this awesome guy named Michael. He is really old, and the most petite man I have ever met, it's truly strange. But, we left him the Book of Mormon, and later went back and taught him about the Restoration. Everything we said made so much sense to him, he was totally going along with it all. He said he will have to read and study the Book of Mormon to know if it is true, but that it makes total sense. So, we will see how it goes this week! It was almost too easy with him, so we are kinda skeptical. Sad, right? But he is a nice old man, very lonely, and a Vietnam vet. Just a neat old man who likes the color orange.
The last thing about this week was the Patriotic Fireside our ward put on last night. A fireside is like a devotional, but this one was all musical, cause hello its Nashville. So we had been asked to put together a missionary choir, so we sand the battle hymn of the republic. We just arranged it ourselves, it wasn't anything special. I'll try to send the recording of our practice before hand. It went all right, but really nothing special. But the other numbers were fabulous! There was a violin solo- I almost cried I miss the viola so badly- and a violin and guitar duet, a piano duet, and there was supposed to be a horn solo! But the guy chipped his tooth that same day and the dentist said it would blow of the piece he glued back on if he played so that was super lame. But it was still a wonderful night, and we had a few non members come, by invitation of ward members, so that was awesome!! Especially cool was that I was introduced to a new instrument! Something called a dobro? It's like a guitar, but it has a metal center, and you play it with some type of metal pick on the strings, to create a specific sound. We didn't get to hear the sound it makes, cause he played it just like a guitar, but he was really nice and let us hold it and play around with it. The fiddler was awesome too, I love Nashville! Where else do you get a fiddle in the chapel. And totally reverent too?
Speaking of which!!! I heard that the Nashville Tribute Band was going to be in our stake this coming week, or possibly the next week. Does anyone know about that? And is anyone going to be home? If yes, PLEASE GO. They are pretty good, but more importantly, I KNOW LIKE HALF OF THEM. The couple, Matt and Cardin Lopez, were in Hendersonville, and we watched general conference at their house and met with investigators with them all the time. The other members, last name of Truman- Ben and Chad?- are in Goodlettsville right now, where I am serving, and they have helped us at lessons too! So if you go, and meet them and tell them you know me!! You will probably have to explain, but they will definitely know who i am. Well, Ben Truman might not, but i have met him a few times. Chad would. And the Lopezs definitely will. Anyway, go to the fireside so you can at least here what my life is like all the time.
Other than all of that, this week has been of the wall crazy. It just went by so so so fast. We get referrals of people we could teach all the time, because there are so many people to teach here! We are really excited about some of the people we have met, we are just figuring out how to get everyone else excited too! I love missionary work!!!!!
I hope everyone had a good, safe fourth, and know that I love and miss you all so much!
Love,
Sister Penrod
p.s. these are some pics of the week. Today, our ward relief society president took us to the Carter House, an old historical house where the Battle of Franklin happened. It was really cool, and we learned a lot. Did you know that it was the bloodiest battle in the terms of time? 10,000 casualties in the space of 5 hours. Also, good to note that I have never been to any museum of the "losers" in my life, until today. Tennessee fought on the Confederate side..... and although they were the last to secede, they were the first to join the Union! It was a fun time!
The wall is the most shot at building still standing in the US.
the movie is us doing our fireworks on the fourth!
the pic in front of the house was the slaves cabin, not the house. I didn't get a pic of the house, sorry!!!
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