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Our Mini-missionary, Sister Tanuvasa
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Elder Kyler Pugh came into the Visitors' Center and I was floored! He was called to Spain, but is here waiting on his visa.
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| With Richard |
Family and Friends,
This week has been wild! The Visitors' Center has been insanely
busy since the lighting and concerts began. I'm exhausted, but we're having a
lot of fun! The reception went over well although there was more excitement
that night than I ever thought I would experience on my mission. Maybe not
more, just a different kind. The Visitors' Center was transformed into another
place with well dressed caterers serving everyone hors d’ oeuvres, a band of
guitarists in the corner playing Jazz standards, and all these people from the
Chilean Consulate, to representatives from the FBI. The program preceding the
lighting was all opera and because I was given the job of shadowing the
photographer I was the only missionary that got to go in. This is good because
I'm probably the only one that would have appreciated it :) The whole night
felt like a movie. I followed the photographer around and took down everyone's
full names so they could match the pictures up with the right people. It was
all very glamorous and overall a fun night, but I have to say I felt more like
Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada" than a missionary. It's just
not something you're anticipating when you fill out your papers you
understand.
Anyway, back to the real world. Richard is... well he's
Richard! There aren't words to describe. It's a joy to teach him. Missionary
work can be challenging and I can honestly say that it is mentally and
emotionally the most difficult thing I've ever done, or tried to do in my life.
But, when I'm sitting in a lesson with Richard there is honestly nowhere else I
would rather be, and nothing else I would rather be doing. He made my day
yesterday. It was fast Sunday and I was remembering that the last testimony
meeting he had said he wanted to go up the next time. I was crossing my fingers
that he would, but wasn't going to pressure him. Halfway through the meeting I
decided to nudge him. I just had to. I said, "Your turn," to which he
replied, "I wouldn't know what to say!" I pointed emphatically at his
Book of Mormon plastered with sticky notes each representing an answer to
prayer and responded "You know what to say." He gave me a look
and returned to listening. A few minutes later he shot up and walked toward the
pulpit. The first thing he said was, "I came up here for a lot of reasons,
but in the end I just can't tell my missionaries no." Ha ha! I don't take
no for an answer :) He bore a powerful testimony about the changes that he has
undergone in such a short amount of time and summed conversion up as "not
a change in our behavior, but our very nature." I could go on and on about
his testimony, but for the sake of time just know that, he KNOWS. When he sat
down I just said "Excellent"(one of his favorite words) and he replied,"
It's your fault you pain in the you know what." and smiled. After Sunday
school he told me that he wanted to thank me. I guess that morning he was
feeling a little low. He felt distanced from the spirit and wondered where the
fire had gone and how to get it back. He said that me nudging him was a very
specific answer to a very specific prayer. I was beaming. Best feeling in the
world. Apparently the reason for me being the "bad cop" is that I'm
always "nudging" or making uncomfortable suggestions, but he didn't
think that was a very accurate title so he has now changed it to "The
Conductor." I didn't really follow the explanation behind it, but it had
something to do with attention to detail and the power of persuasion... He told
me he was going to pull a "Sister Davis" and invite me to "own
it." Calling me to repentance, ha ha, he's a character. He never ceases to
amaze me. For Christmas he gave us each a rack of ribs that he smoked himself.
Not bad! We were also discussing families and he expressed how eager he was to
meet ours. He wants to invite you all to his baptism. We explained that that
wouldn't be possible, but I mentioned to him that I would be coming with my
family next summer. He was thrilled and even said that he would want to come to
Idaho for Isaac's baptism. Can you say too good to be true? I'm trying not to
get my hopes up, but it doesn't get better than that! Everything is ready to go
for his baptism. He had an interview with President White that I guess was very
unique (are we surprised?) Apparently Pres. White just asked him how he felt
about what he had been learning and he ended up answering all of the questions
before they were even really asked. Long story short he passed with flying
colors. He asked me to sing at the baptism and surprise him with the song
choice. I'll be singing "Savior Redeemer of my Soul" and Sister Jones
will accompany. We will also do a little "Missionary moment" which
I'm honestly a little nervous about seeing as he has invited everyone in Culver
City! It will be great. I could go on about him all day.
We have two new
investigators that I'm really excited about. We were originally teaching their
dad, but he kind of lost interest. We taught Angel (18) and Enrique (20) on
Wednesday and they were at church and the Christmas devotional on Sunday. They
both loved it and Angel specifically mentioned that he is wanting a change and
willing to give God his life. Cool! He has been reading and they both have
committed to pray.
We finally heard
from Susan. She was MIA for about a week and we thought she was just dropping
us. She kind of still did, but only because she is very sick and recently found
out that she won't live much longer. We are praying for her and trying to help
in any way that we can, but it sounds like finishing the lessons will be
impossible.
I almost forgot!
We had another mini-missionary this weekend. We had a lot of fun together. She
is 20 and is turning her papers in this coming January. We tried to give her
the best advice that we could as you can see from the picture. She'll be great!
We had a high stress tour with a group of university students studying the
bible and she handled it very calmly. We did witness something a little crazy
while she was with us. I was stopped on Santa Monica Blvd. and some guy ran
across the street. He was running fast enough that I barely saw him. The car in
the lane next to me was coming at about 35 mph and hit him!! I couldn't believe
it! He went flying up over the car, cracked the windshield, and then landed on
his feet! I was in shock all day and I'm surprised our mini wasn't hit since it
happened right next to her window. This whole week has just been like a movie!
I'm out of time.
Happy Holidays!!
Thank you Kelli
and Michael for the 25 days of Christmas. It makes our apartment feel like Christmas
:)
Love you!
Sister Davis
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