Hey everyone!
This week has been pretty different. One Elder in our Zone got pneumonia and it spread like wildfire throughout our zone. Sister Kennar got really sick this week so our work was less than impressive. I did get a lot done while she was sick though. Last transfer was really busy with work and I got really behind in my journal writing. Luckily we have our daily planners that hold all of the information of what I had done every hour since I entered the mission field. Well I was about a month and a half behind so the time that Sister Kennar stayed ill in bed I was able to catch up with that. It made me remember helping mom write a bit of Great Grandma Leona's journal. I write a lot about the weather just like she did. It will be one week of solid sunshine and sweat as we bike and then it will be a sudden downpour of rain for like 3 days straight. Well we work through everything. I've been blessed with an awesome immune system from living in St. George and always going out and playing in the summer rains, staying outside when it's hot, and just being a St. George child. Sister Kennar has been sick because her body can't adjust to the crazy bipolar weather. She gets massive migraines that leave her out flat. This week she caught a cold with a nasty cough. I don't know how I've managed to stay healthy. I credit it to being obedient and still waking up at 6:30 every morning for my 30 mins of daily exercise. It isn't much but I know that that is my reward for being obedient to that one little mission rule. I've gained quite a bit of kilo's being on my mission but I'm hoping that if I keep running in the mornings it will come off. You would think biking all day would do it but it doesn't. I'm still planning on running dad's 10th marathon with him a year after I get home. I'll really get going on that when I get home but my 20 minutes runs in the morning are a good start I reckon.:)
There were two stories from this week that I want to share that bring about the other 2 parts of the subject to this letter. The first experience was with our investigator, Peta. She is in her 60's and has 2 daughters and a granddaughter that live with her. We've only caught her about twice but we have feeling that we aren't supposed to let go of her quite yet. We went and had an awesome visit with her on Wednesday. She opened up to us and we learned HEAPS about her. I would have never guessed that she had been through as many things as she has. She is a crazy strong lady. When we were doing our weekly planning on Thursday we looked at her past teaching records and tried to figure out what she needs to know. As we went through the records all of the passed missionaries have tried teaching her the same thing over and over again. It seemed like they knew that they needed to teach the Restoration and get her to read the Book of Mormon. Which don't get me wrong they definitely do but they were just teaching lessons and not teaching her as a person. She has a strong catholic background so the Book of Mormon is hard for her to accept. From that lesson we had with her we realized that we need to take an approach that will show her that this gospel can bless her life and that we aren't just there to teach her what we know, baptize her, and leave her to endure on her own. She loves her family. She would do, and has done, anything so that her daughters could have a better life. We realized that eternal families is where we need to focus with her. We know that if we teach according to her needs that she will be more willing to listen to the rest of what we have to share. I'm really looking forward to teaching her this week and seeing how we go.
Our miracle came about on Saturday night. We got a call from Elder Beck that went like this:
Elder Beck: Sisters are you busy right now?
Us: No, not really we were just heading to a dinner appointment.
Elder Beck: Okay well Sisters we need your help, well actually God needs your help.
He then proceeded to tell us about this girl that they found while they were street contacting the other day that lives in our area. They had given us her information the day they met her but for the last week we hadn't been able to get a hold of her. She had called the Elders just in tears. She said that she needs to change her live and get rid of the things she's done in the past. They told her that we would be over as soon as we could. We fulfilled that promise. We called Fab and Ibby, the investigator and less-active that we were having dinner with and asked if they could help us before we came over to eat. They picked us up and dropped us at Saba's house. They also picked us up after our lesson and still fed us dinner :) It was great. Saba is an 18 year old from Ethiopia. She has been betrayed by friends, been down some dark paths, and is ready to turn her life over to the Lord. She just openly wept with us. We cried with her as she talked to us. We promised that what we know can help her not only be clean from all the things that she's done but it will continue to help her draw closer to the Lord. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. She said that she would give her life over to God if she could. I told her that He doesn't want her to give her life. All He asks of us is to repent, be baptized, and use the Holy Ghost to guide us back to Him. Her answer was, "When can I do that?" We set her baptism date for the 5th of October. (Because we get General Conference a week later here so that is a normal weekend for church) She accepted and came to church yesterday. She loved every second of it and all of the testimonies, talks, and lessons given were exactly what she needed to hear. It's amazing to know that the Lord has people prepared. I feel blessed to be able to help her repent and turn to the Lord. It's an incredible feeling.
That's the summary of this week. Hope all is going well with everyone. Keep smiling.
Much love, Sister Shayne
Sorry it's so long. We went to a better library this week that gave us 2 hours tops to write. It's great. I hope we can come here more often. First off dad Happy Fathers Day! Yesterday was Father's Day here in Australia which now makes sense why we only call home on Mother's Day because it's the same around the world. Thanks for all of your weekly updates. I'm glad that all of the adults were able to go have a fun weekend together. I'm sure you'll heal quickly. You aren't that old. Don't take in mind that your oldest child will be 20 in a few weeks :) I had a question for you. I had a lot of time to study this week while Sister Kennar was sick and I came across fore ordination as I was reading in Jesus the Christ (Which is an amazing book that you need to read if you haven't). I was just curious if you knew more about it. Would you say that you were foreordained to be a Bishop while you were here on earth or could even being the worlds greatest dad be a fore ordination? Random question I know but studying a few books only gave me so much information.
Mom thank you for your blog updates! I cried as I read through the blog about Zack's endowment. I miss you more than you know. I love being with the mom's in the ward. Sister Berryman came and sat by me at church yesterday and just put her arm around me. It's little things like that that make me miss you and grateful for all that you've done for me. Another experience was taking care of Sister Kennar this week. Cleaning up after her, making sure she drinks enough water, helping her feel better, I really do feel like a mom most days and I feel bad for such a rotten kid I was.
Sophie, all the missionaries say that you look like my twin when I show them the picture of your back to school photo. (I take pictures of the pictures on the blog so I can show you all off to my friends here in WA :D ) I hope the high school is treating you well. I haven't gotten your letters yet but I'll let you know when I do.
Josh thanks for caring on the Scooby-Doo lunchbox tradition. You're the best :)
Ben I love the Monster's Inc backpack! I can't believe how big you are getting. Keep smiling and showing off your straight teeth :D
David I think wins for the coolest lunchbox with Sophie in a close 2nd. Those are the cutest and most awesome lunchboxes I've ever seen. I hope you are all loving school and settling in just fine. I love and miss you all like crazy. I pray for you daily and feel your prayers for me. Love you all!!!!
Much love,
Sister Shayne
1st- The scarf that girls wear in Iran. Sadaf and Monia had us put it on to show us what it is like in Iran.
PS mom, Rebekah is a less active member that we are working with. Please add her on Facebook.
PS mom, Rebekah is a less active member that we are working with. Please add her on Facebook.
2nd- Our not so little spider friend. We had a house inspection on Friday. Everyone who rents in WA has quarterly house inpections from their landlord. I've had 2 since I've been on my mission. One thing we have to do is clean all of the spider webs off of the house and back yard. I had killed about 7 little spiders as I took down webs and then I came aross this guy and decided that my work there was done. I let him be. I wasn't going to mess with him. We just make sure that our back door is always closed tightly :)
3rd- This is Jesse Pappas, our Ward Mission Leader :) I love this guys. There is never a dull moment around him. This was taken before we started our Missionary Correlation Meeting at his house with the other missionaries and ward missionaries. .JPG)
My awesome rain coat given to me by a member. Notice how dark and wet it is outside in the picture of me on my bike. This picture doesn't do justice for how soaked we were this night when we came home. I reckon it's a pretty good look though :)
This cute quote came from a Fab and Ibby's home. Ibby is a less-active and his wife Fab is a non-member. They are an awesome couple. This quote just made me smile and laugh. I had to take a picture.
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