On Thursday we went to visit
Yanedra with Sandra. She had read the restoration packet and part of the book of
Mormon and she wants to learn more but doesn't know how to formulate her
questions into English. We were able to talk a little bit about it and bear our
testimonies about how Families can be together forever and the Book of Mormon.
She had already shared them with a friend who also wants to learn more. She is
already sharing the gospel with her friends:) She is one step ahead of us. So we
are working on getting Spanish translators. We originally thought that we would
have some Spanish missionaries help us through Skype. But we feel that there are
a lot of finding opportunities to have someone from Nantucket help us. Chelsie
asked Ozni if he could help us. She said if he doesn't want to than she will
try. And Celeste also speaks fluent Spanish so we are going to see if she can
help us as well. We are very excited and very grateful to get to start teaching
Yanedra the discussions. She is such a sweet lady.
We haven't heard from Lacy this week. We just keep praying that she is OK,
and has been able to figure out things with Angie. We also weren't able to meet
with Blake but we have had some contact with them. We went to visit Patrick and
Kathleen on Sunday because they
were not at church. Kathleen was sleeping but we had a good discussion with
Patrick. He talked a lot about how he knows that President Monson is a prophet
and his two councilors are men of God. He has done a lot of research on them. He
has such a sweet testimony of the Gospel and of the Book of Mormon. We extended
baptism to him but he says that now is not the time. He knows that there is a
difference in a person when they have decided to get baptized and that blessings
come from the covenants that they make. But he doesn't feel that now is the
time. He knows that he wants it to be in his future. But now is not the time.
They have a lot that they would lose financially if they were to get married,
and they are not ready to do that quite yet. So we are trying to be patient. But
they are such sweet people. Patrick reminds me a lot of dad. He is really close
to the spirit and he really feels things. He has got quite the sense of humor.
We went to the beach for FHE on Wednesday and they brought their dogs. One of them is a
rescue and he one has one eye and he is a white dog. He is carrying his dog to
his car and he yells over to me, "Sister Rushton, Sister Rushton what if Jesus
was holding a one eyed dog instead of a sheep." Oh Patrick, we all got a good
laugh. He is quite the guy. He keeps us all laughing.
On Friday Night one of the
sisters serving in down town Boston was hit by a car. Her name is Sister
Budvarson. She is actually the sister that took my place in Ellington. So was
there for a transfer and then got sent to Boston to finish out her mission. She
was crossing the street and got hit by a car going approximately 40 miles per
hour. She was flipped in the air and landed on the other side of the median. She
was ambulanced over to the hospital. And was checked for hours with cat scans
and x rays for broken bones and internal bleeding but they couldn't find
anything. She is very sore but the only injuries she has are a gash under her
chin which required some stitches, a few fractured nasal bones, a black eye, and
a little road rash. And she has no injuries where the car hit her. It is
miraculous that she is alive and OK. She ends her mission at the beginning of
August and will get to stay to finish. We are all very grateful that she is OK
and the Lord was looking after his missionaries. It was a tender mercy for our
mission.
On Sunday the Milstead's
were out of town for the weekend. It was good that it was high council Sunday because Tim is the only
Melchizedek priesthood holder on the island. It was this man's first high
council assignment, and he got the job of conducting the meeting and being in
charge of speaking in Sacrament meeting:) We had more people than we were
expecting. Rosie brought her friend with her. We had a couple come who are here
to do the Oklahoma play in town and will be here for about 7 weeks.
The High council man is from the New Hampshire area. He joined the church
41 years ago when the elders knocked on his door. He was newly married and said
he would have never let them in but went along with it because his wife was
interested. His wife was baptized and then he followed. 8 years later they were
sealed in the temple together. He said that many years after that he was serving
as the branch president he had a son on a mission in Brazil, and a daughter who
attended BYU and was then married with a 2 year old little girl and living right
down the street. He said that life was good and they were doing everything they
were supposed to. One day his daughter asked him to give her a blessing because
she was having a hard time getting pregnant. He said that her husband should
give her one and she said no it has to be you. So he gave her a blessing and in
it she was blessed that she would rise up and receive her eternal family. So he
thought OK she is going to get pregnant. Two days later she stopped breathing.
Her husband called her father who rushed down the street to give her CPR. She
died in his arms as he was performing CPR. And he was reminded of what she was
promised in her blessing. They found out she died from a rare heart disease
which later they found out was passed down from him. So they brought their son
home from his mission to make sure he was OK. He had the disease but was fine so
they sent him back on his mission to Michigan. He was the first Spanish speaking
missionary in the state. He trained 9 missionaries and opened up 11 Spanish
branches. He returned home from his mission and later was also taken back to
live with his Heavenly Father. He spoke a lot about the will of God and how
things are played out. He looked me and my companion right in the eye and said
that you only have to find that one person. Just that one and it will affect
many generations and people. He talked a lot about those beyond the grave. And
how much of a part they play in our lives. He said that his grandfather died
before he joined the church and he has no doubt that it was his grandfather who
brought the missionaries to him. And know his daughters little girl who was 2
years old when she passed is serving a mission in the highest baptizing area in
the whole United States. She also has a heart problem and was starting to have
some pain so they set her up with a doctor. She thought her appointment was a
day earlier than it was so she went in on the wrong day. They sent her home but
on her way out she started to get really light headed and dizzy so they took her
in right then and found that something was wrong with her pace maker and if she
would have done any cardiac activity it probably would have caused her to pass
away. I bet that her Mom is looking out for her.
Our lesson was on trials and Chelsie was sharing her story of how she is
having to raise her two boys alone in the gospel. The other day she asked Ozni
if they could say prayers together as a family and he got really made at her.
She said that she was praying and crying and telling God that it was hard and
she was having to do it all alone. And she got this strong feeling that she is
not alone. That her and the Lord are raising the boys together in the Gospel.
She got a blessing after church from the high councilman and was promised some
pretty amazing things. I was reminded of how merciful our father in Heaven is.
Even though Chelsie married a non member the Lord does not expect her to have to
do it alone. And she is very blessed in her efforts to raise her kids in the
Gospel. We went over that night to help her clean her house, because they were
having an inspection on Monday,
and then we had dinner together. We don't ever get to pray or share a lesson
when we are there but we get to spend time with their family. Ozni is a very
nice man, just doesn't like the church. But he is very nice to us, he teaches us
Spanish whenever we have dinner there. And he always stops to talk to us when we
see him around town. He is a good man. I think the church just scares him more
than anything. I think that one day he will surprise everyone and decide he
wants to be a part of the gospel.
Sunday was a good day. It feels really weird to think that I am 22, but I
am getting used to it. I had that Taylor Swift song about being 22 stuck in my
head all day:) On Sunday Morning I woke up and my companion was still asleep. I
opened up my card in the kitchen my self and had a good laugh. I was having my
own little party. Sister Packard really likes birthdays and makes sure that
every one knows that it is your birthday and sends out a little bio about you to
all the missionaries in the mission. Their was five of us who's birthday was on
Sunday. They make exceptions that anyone can text and call you on your birthday
even if they are not in your zone. So I got to talk to a lot of missionaries
that I served with in past areas which was really fun. It was a very normal but
a good day. We didn't really get time to celebrate. But we are going over for
dinner at the Milstead's tonight
and she wants to celebrate then. They have two nephews living with them, who are
working here for the summer. And one of them has the same birthday as me. I
think that I will also make my cake today to, because you can never have too much cake. Thank
you for the birthday package, it made me really happy. My companion is really
excited for the light up start necklaces for the fourth of July:)
It has been a very good week, with a lot of good things happening. There is
something very special about this island. I hope that I get to stay here for a
while. I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's
restored church on this earth. I know that he is at the head of it. I know he
has planned a way for all of us to be able to return to Him and it is up to us
if we want to be a part of it. I know that God loves us more infinitely than we
know. When Elder Holland was here he told us that we are the Lord investigators.
As missionaries we should want to do anything for our investigators to help them
progress. And the Lord will do anything for us. He wants us to progress, he is
patient with us, and he tries and tries again, and gives us as many chances as
we need. He will never give up on us. I know that God wants us to be happy and
to enjoy this earth life. The high council man talked about how in the Lords
time most of us will only be on this earth life for about 20 minutes. Crazy to
think that our earth life is such a small fragment of eternity. It kind changes
things a little bit. I know that families really can be together forever. I am
grateful for my family and to be a member of this gospel. I love you all, and
hope that you have a fantastic week.
Love Sister Abbey Lou Rushton
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