Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Holy Loaves and Fishes, Batman!

Sister E and I got to tour the Yorktown battle fields today! That was pretty cool. This was kind of an intense p-day though to be honest.
I had to spend some of my mission provided money (the 150 bucks the mission gives me to buy food and stuff) on unforeseen expenses, like mini scriptures and stuff like that. I didn’t buy any groceries today because I only had $2.50 left in my account. On my mission I’ve developed an apple obsession. I’ve gone through a 5 pound bag of apples each week haha. Sister E makes fun of me for it. I didn’t have enough money to buy even one apple this week, but after we got home from Yorktown I’d gotten a package in the mail from mom! Not only did it have apples, but other fun food which was such a blessing. I have enough food right now to eat oatmeal for breakfast everyday the next week, and enough bread for a turkey sandwich every day the next two. But that package meant I’ll be able to have snacks in between those meals which was such a blessing haha. Mom and Jeff were definitely inspired to send me that! I love mom so much. 
                Today we got to heart attack a member’s house because it was their daughter birthday! To “heart attack”, means that we cut out paper hearts and tape them all over the front of their house and yard.   You could tell it meant a lot to them so it was definitely a great use of our time. After that, we tracted a street in Kiln Creek. We kept getting dirty looks and almost every single house we went to people yelled at us because soliciting is against the neighborhood rules. Well… Missionaries aren’t selling anything. We aren’t solicitors. We aren’t breaking any laws haha. That was incredibly frustrating.
                We had a loaves and fishes miracle! I thought I’d be living off of nothing but bread, turkey, and oatmeal these next two weeks. We were supposed to have dinner with the C family tonight, but they called around 3 to let us know they actually had a meeting to attend and they had to reschedule, but they brought us Café Rio for dinner! That Café Rio burrito will last me another 3 meals. On top of that, before they brought us the food, another family texted us asking if we wanted to eat dinner with them tonight! So I’ll get to have Café Rio for the next 3 days. The Lord has definitely been blessing me with food, what with the apples in the care package from mom yesterday and the unexpected meals from members! And setting a financial goal for myself is what has brought these miracles to pass! The Lord will always help you achieve the goals you set.
                That reminds me, yesterday brother M told us that in every apartment he was in on his mission, he hung the number 69. He never told his companions why, but he put up 69 every where. Why? Well, the person who had baptized the most people in his mission of all time had baptized 68 people. He set that goal for himself, and he saw that number on a daily basis. By the end of his mission, Brother M baptized 69. He bore his testimony on the importance of setting goals that seem impossible, and Heavenly Father will help you reach them!

Sunday, August 28, 2016

Holy Technicolor Dream Coat, Batman!

 I forgot to write about a miracle that happened last week! As we were planning one  night, Sister E was like “Huh. I want to stop by a former investigator. But last time we saw him, he told us not to come visit him anymore.” Usually we listen to people when they request  us to stop contacting them, but she couldn’t deny the prompting she felt to visit him. The next day, as we pulled up in front of his house, Sister E felt a bit uneasy. Since he had told her not to come back she felt concerned he’d start hating Mormons, or yell at us or something like that. Well, when we knocked on the door his face lit up. He was so excited to see the missionaries again. He doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to give up drinking, so he felt ashamed to see us which is why he requested us to stop coming by. But he takes care of a man who has later stages of Alzheimer’s. That man is really starting to struggle with his memory. And it just so happens that the day before we stopped by, he asked “So, when are those two missionaries going to stop by again? They haven’t been here in a long time” which is a miracle in and of itself. The man with Alzheimers who barely remembers his own name asked about us the same night that Sister E felt prompted to visit him the next day. His patient asking him about us also inspired him to read from the Book of Mormon that day. Some people might say all that was not a miracle, but I know it was all because of our Heavenly Father. He knows us so well!

Today right after district meeting Alex  brought me a CD full of the soundtrack for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and I basically cried hahaha. On the ride home, Sister E and Sister K and I were all jamming out haha. It was so much fun, I was so grateful!
                District meeting was great. Pretty crazy that this was my last district meeting with my first district!  Every six weeks, the missionaries are assigned to new places and companions to better serve the area, and we call these Transfers.  We’ll get called tomorrow to hear about transfers. Sister E and I for sure won’t get transferred.  President Weed will be inspired to do what the mission needs!  I am both excited and nervous.  But change is good.  

I love letters, packages and cds of music.  Please send them to Sister Jessica Fisher, 1400 E Piccadilly Loop, Apt E, Yorktown, VA  23692.

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Holy Lightning Strike, Batman!

8/1/16   Today was p-day! I love p-days. We had the hermanas come over and we ate popcorn and chocolate and watched 17 miracles! They’re really great girls, I really liked them!
 Tuesday was interesting hahaha. When we started biking, it was pouring rain. We had just barely gone onto 17 when lightning struck a tree that was basically 10 feet away from us. Our hair stood up, our joints were aching, and I was freaking out haha. We were soaked from head to toe, and I no longer felt safe biking  in that weather so we pulled into Wendy’s and had the elders pick up our bikes.
Thursday was a rollercoaster of emotions! We just kept finding things to do though, and we ended up teaching three lessons and we got one new investigator! the things we teach here are true! That was a major blessing. Though the beginning of the day was rough, we actually ended up seeing a ton of success which was wonderful.
Friday  I can now say I’m a real missionary. I crashed my bike for the first time today haha. For no reason I suddenly slammed on my front break and I flipped over the handle  bars hahaha. I was lying on my back with the bike right on top of me and I just started laughing hysterically. I got a pretty bad gash on my knee, but other than that I’m unscathed. The Lord protects His missionaries!
Saturday: Tonight, Sister Eddington and I had a batman party! We played with the batman masks mom sent me and used the batman fliers and fun stuff.
 Fast Sunday:  Church was amazing, though. I got to play “Redeemer” during relief society which was amazing! I made people cry, in a good way hopefully. I love how powerful music is.
We had to figure out how to reach the ceilings, when washing walls for a Sister.  This was our genius idea!  Once a cheerleader, always a cheerleader?
Tomorrow morning we’re going to the beach to watch a sunrise! It’ll be super, super early so I hope we have enough energy to make it through the day. This was a fantastic week, though. So many answered prayers. I love Yorktown, and I love love LOVE the members in this ward. Seriously, they’re some of the most amazing people I’ve met! I feel so blessed to get to serve them J

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Holy Rain Ponchos, Batman!

P-day is wonderful haha. We took a two hour nap, played with a puzzle, wrote home, etc. It was super nice. Back to work tomorrow though! Woot woot!
Today felt super long for some reason. Nothing necessarily bad happened, but I just felt dead tired. We went to Sister M’s house to discuss the sisters who aren’t receiving visits from visiting teachers. We had to take our car to a dealership to fix our battery, which kind of threw off everything we had planned. Not the most productive day, but it was because of circumstances outside of our control which was kind of a bummer. Hopefully tomorrow goes more according to plan!
We then biked to the W’s house and at that point in time we were both dripping with sweat haha. It’s super hot, and all that biking makes us incredibly sticky. We were able to take a water break at the W’s house, then we helped a girl move her stuff into her car. She kept talking about how this is the thing she’s been needing in her life to help her change. And that’s exactly what  the Atonement does!
Later we stopped by a woman who converted over 30 years ago with her mother and sisters. Her mother died a loyal, active member of the  church, however Sister stopped attending our church about 3 years ago and she started going back to her old Catholic church. We were told that she stopped attending ours because she missed the Catholic culture she had grown up with, but we got the truth out of her today and it was honestly pretty heartbreaking. She told us about how her husband wasn’t a member, and she was able to remain faithful when her mother was a member and as she took her kids growing up, but now her mother’s dead and her kids left the church. She was tired of going to church alone. The only way her husband said he’d go to church at all is if it were the Catholic church. She faithfully went to the LDS church alone for years and years, but finally gave in. I admire her strength. I’ve made a promise to myself that I will have a temple marriage. If I ever find someone crazy enough to marry me, he’s going to have to be a worthy priesthood holder. And although I do hope he loves me more than anyone else, I hope he loves the Lord even more.
                We exchanged back today! It was so good to be with Sister E. Though one of the first things that happened is it started pouring rain, and I dropped my planner. As I type this, Sister E is ironing my pages for me since they’re all wet and curling and runny. When it happened I just started crying so she got me a peanut butter fudge milkshake. Sister E is the best. Milkshakes fix even the worst days.
                After dinner it started raining, so Sister W brought Sister E and I trash bags we fashioned into ponchos since we were biking haha. It was super glamorous. I’m sure I’ll find a way to send pictures home soon. Biking in the rain at night was kind of scary, but we have a ton of lights on our bike so we’re pretty safe. I love biking! I want to have a bike when I go back to BYU. It’s pretty great exercise, and it feels so free. I love Yorktown! J