This week was a really good week! Full of sunshine and
missionary work.
Tuesday: On Tuesday we had exchanges! I went to the Orchard
Hills area with Sister Blackwell and she is SO AWESOME. I love her. We ended up
not having the phone and so that was crazy but through a crazy string of events
we ended up placing a Book of Mormon with the guy who cuts the grass for their
apartment complex. We went to borrow the phone of a member who lives in that
complex and while we were walking to her building I found a Book of Mormon on
the drainage pipe that was outside the complex. I was sad it was left there
overnight but I picked it up and just carried it and thought "that's okay!
We can give it to someone else." The member wasn't home so we walked back
and the guy who cuts the grass had just pulled up and was on his phone outside
his truck. Sister Blackwell went up to him and asked to borrow his phone and he
said yes! After that I was left to talk to him. We talked about him and how the
Holy Ghost told him to start his lawn business and the huge role that Christ
has played in his life. Sister Blackwell finished up on the phone and brought
it back. He asked if he could pray with us and we accepted and he said a
beautiful prayer. After that I KNEW why I had randomly found that Book of
Mormon. I ended up thanking him for the prayer and telling him that the Book of
Mormon has drastically improved my relationship with Jesus Christ and that I
would love to leave him with a copy. We talked a little bit about the Book of
Mormon and then he said he would read from it and Sister Blackwell said she
would probably come talk to him the next time he was there. It was a really
neat experience. The rest of the day was good! We did a lot of service and we
tracted a lot. I still don't enjoy tracting but I'm getting better at it! A lot
of times I still feel uncomfortable but I just pray that I will sound confident
even if I'm not. Preach my gospel taught me that and it works pretty well!
Wednesday: On Wednesday we had District meeting which was
just where all the missionaries in my district meet... Go figure! We talk about
how we can improve and we did a lot of really good role plays practicing how to
work with members. It was really awesome and I learned a lot about how I can
better work with the members of our ward. We taught Audrey and she accepted and
invitation to baptism... but she is going home for the summer so we have to
pass her off to other missionaries :/ we were really bummed about that. We did
a lot of talking to people on campus and that was really cool! Nobody was
really interested but we did pass out a lot of pass along cards and had some
really cool conversations about Christ. That's one of my favorite things about
this area, most everybody loves and knows Christ and even if they aren't
interested in learning they are more than happy to talk about Christ!
Thursday: Thursday was the roughest day of the week. We had
the table and there was next to no foot traffic because of finals. We did have
a lesson with Will right after the table and that was really good. We committed
him to be baptized... but he is going home for the summer as well. So we have
to pass him off to other missionaries too. Summer stinks in a YSA. Sister
Sanders and I had two lessons at the same time so we found two female members
to do "splits" with. Splits is where the missionaries split and each
go with a member as their temporary companion and teach a lesson. We were
really excited! We ended up having both lessons not show up which was disappointing.
After that we made a thirty minute drive to our next lesson in Willard
Missouri, who wasn't home for our lesson. So we made some visits to less active
members in that area and then made the thirty minute drive back to Springfield
just in time for our last lesson with Olivia. Olivia is our investigator who is
Catholic and very convinced it is the true church. She has been investigating
out of curiosity and hasn't been willing to consider the fact that it could be
true and then can't figure out why she isn't getting answers to prayer. We
finally had a "do or die" lesson which is where we sit down and
kindly, but boldly explain that if she isn't willing to change when she
receives answers, she won't get them. It was uncomfortable to say the least but
Sister Sanders did a great job of saying what needed to be said. After that she
admitted that she wasn't really open to receiving answers. We asked her if she
would be willing to start being more open and she said yes, and then said she
wasn't willing to come to church when we invited her... so we will see how open
she ends up being. Being open is crucial to receiving answers. God isn't going
to tell you the Book of Mormon is true if you aren't willing to change your
life with that information. It's kind of that concept of "don't cast
pearls before swine" if you aren't going to value what God tells you, he
won't tell you.
Friday: On Friday we started our morning with service and
then we had a lesson with a new investigator, Noah. He dated an LDS girl a
while back and her family gave him a Book of Mormon that he started reading
until they broke up. Then last week he was biking to work and needed a drink
and saw the LDS church and stopped and asked for a drink and a new Book of
Mormon because his old one got wet biking. The Elders were excited to hear
someone ask for a Book of Mormon! They gave him one and set up a meeting
for us! He was super cool. We basically talked about prayer and how he can
receive answers to his prayers. We were planning on teaching the Restoration
but he basically told us the whole thing when we asked him what he knew about
it, so we went a different direction. He told us he really likes reading the
Joseph Smith papers so he knows A LOT. But he is super sincere in wanting to
learn which is awesome!
Saturday: On Saturday we had weekly planning! This week we
did half of weekly planning on our back porch so that we could be outside in
the sun. It was a really nice break from being in the apartment. After that we
went to a baptism of the father of one of our investigators. It was really cool
and when we got there we shook his hand and introduced ourselves. When he shook
my hand he said "oh my gosh! YOU'RE Sister Lloyd? You're name is mentioned
in my house more than mine is!" I laughed pretty hard. After that we
texted James to set up an appointment. Up till this point we have let James
pick which members come to his lessons because we want him to feel comfortable.
But about a week ago we figured out he was asking us to invite all of the girls
he has crushes on. OUR LESSONS AREN'T A DATING SERVICE! So for our last
lesson when he suggested a girl we just said we had someone lined up and moved
on. He wasn't super happy when he walked in and it wasn't who he wanted, but
the lesson was really awesome so we didn't stress about it. Well, when we
texted him Saturday he told us the girl he wanted at his lesson and we said
"we have someone lined up already but we will definitely keep her in mind
for future lessons!" he responded with "that was a contingency"
I asked him what he meant and he said "well if (insert girl's name here)
isn't coming, then you've lost my interest and the answer changes to a
no." Not going to lie, I was a little irritated. I responded "Well
that's a bummer! We were excited to meet with you. Well I guess we will see you
Sunday then! Have a good day!" and left it there. So we are going to ride
this power struggle out and see what happens, what he doesn't know is it
doesn't matter if I have lost his interest, the Lord hasn't lost interest in
him.
Sunday: On Sunday I had to give a talk. My topic, as
assigned by the bishopric member, was "something about mothers... and
missionary work... I'm not going to tell you a topic, but something like
that." I ended up deciding to speak about the things that you have to do
when you are a mother that you also have to do when you are doing missionary
work. It ended up being a really interesting topic to study and talk about. I
really enjoyed it. THEN I got to skype home after church. It was the best. It
was so good to see my family and talk to them. I miss then and I love them
dearly. I'm so grateful I got to see them! After that we came home, had dinner,
went and knocked some doors and then went to bed.
It was such an awesome week. Lately I have been struggling a
lot with feeling lonely and like I'm not good enough to be here and honestly,
it's been really hard. But Throughout these hard times my testimony that God is
aware of me and has a plan for me has been strengthened so much. I have been so
blessed with people and opportunities that bring light into my life when I'm
struggling and I feel so blessed to have a loving Father in Heaven who blesses
me with little things, like a gardening service opportunity, during a week when
I feel overwhelmed with missionary work and think I'm going to die if I have to
knock one more door. He has blessed me with an amazing companion who loves me
so much and is so patient with me and I try to figure out how to be better than
I am. He blessed me with a mission president who reads my emails and genuinely
wants to help me. I am so blessed. I have no doubt in my mind that Heavenly
Father is just as aware of all of you as he is of me. I know that he blesses
you with little tender mercies as well. I also know that the Book of Mormon is
the word of God. It testifies of Jesus Christ and it builds our relationship
with him. We have been doing a really cool Book of Mormon marking activity as a
mission and it has really helped me to see how much truth and light is in it. I
love this gospel and the peace it brings to my life. Rely on your Heavenly
Father for anything you might need. Don't be afraid to share this light with
others, it only brings blessings. I love you all! Have a great week!
~Sister Madisen Lloyd
Pictures: Picture 1. Me by the MSU fountain (again!) this
time with less hair. Picture 2: Me and our investigator's dad who got baptized!
We are buddies now too!
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