What a week this has been! This was Sister Moser and my
first week as biking missionaries! Oh what an adventure it has been! I have a
new appreciation for people who ride their bikes everywhere! I have to say that
it is fun that I am getting to know the streets better! I might know the
streets of Springfield better than the streets of Twin Falls!
Monday- On Monday we had P-Day! We spent a good chunk of the
day going to bike shops trying to figure out Sister Moser's bike. On her first
day as a missionary Sister Moser was riding in a car to her first area when all
of a sudden she saw her bike fly off the bike rack on the back of the car onto
the freeway! No one was hurt but her bike is in rough shape so we decided it
would be good to get it looked at and fixed up before she rode it. When we took
it to the bike shop the guy priced it at $250.00 to get it fixed.... that's
basically a new bike. She said no thank you and a member lent us one that she
is using until she figures out if she wants to get it fixed or buy a new one or
buy a used one. So anyway that was fun! Monday night the missionaries were in
charge of FHE! We had a missionary boot camp and we had different rotations
about how to do member missionary work in a non scary way. It was really
awesome and we have heard several people tell us that since then they have used
the things we talked about to share the gospel! It was awesome! We then rode
our cute bikes onto campus and talked to people.
Tuesday- On Tuesday we had an awesome day! We had service in
the morning and then we went onto campus. While we were on campus I started
talking to this girl about her cute laptop case and then casually worked the
conversation to gospel topics. It was a really good conversation! Not gunna lie
it was one of my better experiences I have had trying to casually talk to
people on campus! We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment!
After that we had a lesson with two of our investigators. Katie and Julia. They
are really nice, they just don't actually want to learn. They meet with us and
just ask us a lot of questions trying to prove us wrong. It's a little
frustrating because we have so much to offer people and so much to teach and
they won't even give us a chance. But that's okay. Later that night we had
another lesson with our investigator, Brad. Brad is awesome! We showed him
President Monson's talk from last General Conference about the Book of Mormon
and we asked him what he thought. He said "I wish everyone talked like
that! That totally makes sense!" We asked him if it answered any of his
questions and he was like "yeah! I'm not worried about Joseph Smith
anymore. I thought maybe you guys saw him on the same level as Christ but now I
understand that you don't!" I was really excited! We hope to set a baptismal
date with him this week!
Wednesday- On Wednesday we started out day by going on
campus and talking to people. After that we had a lesson clear across town. We
biked like 7 miles there (which I understand isn't that far) and we were both
SO TIRED and just dripping sweat. I felt so bad because I can't imagine anyone
wanted to talk to this tired, sweaty girl with helmet hair but we had our
lesson anyway. After that we had another lesson scheduled but when we got
there, they weren't home. Bummer! So we went and tried to visit other people in
the area. That night we had two lessons, a dinner lesson with a less active
member who is working on coming back and one with our recent convert trying to
help him find names to take to the temple. While we were helping him do family
history we HAPPENED to figure out that Sister Moser and I are 5th Cousins (once
removed but we don't talk about that). We were so excited. We frequently refer
to each other as cousin now.
Thursday- On Thursday we spent a lot of time biking all over
Springfield trying to find people on our ward roster that we didn't know. It
was not all that eventful. Honestly, the most disappointing thing is biking to
find someone, getting there, and having no one be home. It's a bit of a bummer.
BUT that's okay. That night we had an awesome lesson with our new investigator,
Justin. Justin is the one who used to be an investigator but couldn't quit
smoking. We biked to Justin's lesson and he looked at us and with one eyebrow
raised said "well, I give you props. That's a long bike ride." We
just laughed. We had a really awesome Restoration lesson and talked about
priesthood. Our member who was there gave him a blessing and it was really
spiritual. He told us that he is excited to quit and he wants to stop smoking.
As we were leaving he said "I just want y'all to know that I appreciate
y'all coming. I met with missionaries before and I have listened to the
missionaries that come to visit my mom, but y'all are different and you have
brought me something different that I really needed." I just started
crying. It was so good to hear that, at least for him, I was making a
difference. After that we biked home.
Friday- On Friday we had Zone Conference which was so good.
We talked a lot about joy which is something that is very special to me and it
was really cool. We talked about all of the joy that comes from serving a
mission. We talked about the joy that comes from being obedient. We talked
about all sorts of things. The spirit is always so strong and it is always fun
to see missionaries I haven't seen for a minute. After zone conference
everything we had planned fell through so we did a lot of biking around and
trying to find more people on the ward roster and contacting less active
members.
Saturday- On Saturday we had weekly planning. It is a long
day of being inside and staying focused but I always feel so good at the end of
it when my whole week is planned. We had one lesson scheduled but it fell
through which was a bummer. We did weekly planning so there is not a whole lot
to tell about Saturday.
Sunday- Happy Father's Day Dad! We went to church and it was
awesome. All three hours were just so spiritual. In Gospel Principles we
watched my favorite Mormon Message, about the gardener and the currant bush.
Makes me cry every time. We biked around and found a lot of the addresses on
our ward roster which was awesome. We only got to talk to a couple of people
who lived in them, which is a bummer. After that the bishop and his wife fed
us. They are so awesome! Sunday night we had a lesson with a less active member
and the spirit was so strong. We showed him the Prince of Peace video. He
opened up and told us he is going through a really hard time and when he was
watching that video was the first time he felt peaceful and calm in a long
time. We had a really good discussion about how Jesus Christ can bring peace
and following the commandments brings joy. It was a really good day.
This week I have been thinking a lot about obedience and the
promised blessings that come from obedience. I thought a lot about when I first
felt like I should go on a mission and how hard I fought that. I thought about
coming on a mission and how much I didn't want to. I thought a lot about waking
up at 6:30 every morning and how much I don't want to do that every morning and
as I have studied obedience I have been so very humbled. Whenever the Lord
tells you to do something it's a commandment and we are supposed to act. I was
told to go on a mission and I didn't listen for a long time and the whole time
I fought it I was miserable. I finally came on a mission and I was a little
grumpy I had to be here. I was happier than when I was disobedient but I still
wasn't happy, especially because they were asking me to wake up at 6:30 in the
morning (not that early, I know, I just really like sleep). As I have studied
obedience and the blessings that come from being obedient it's very interesting
to me the pattern that has always been there but I haven't always noticed. We
can do what makes us "happy" but if it's not what God wants us to be
doing we aren't ever going to be truly happy. We won't ever have joy. If we do
what makes us grumpy or uncomfortable momentarily and know that we are doing
what God would have us do then we may be momentarily grumpy or uncomfortable,
or even angry! But God will always give us joy. We will be happier doing what
God would have us do. I love the Mormon Message I mentioned earlier about the
currant bush because I have often cried out in frustration and anger "why would
you do this to me? I was doing so well!" and then heard the soft reply
"I am the gardener here. I KNOW what I want you to be." I am so
grateful to be the spirit child of such a wonderful gardener who knows exactly
what he wants me to be and who loves me enough to cut me down so that I can
fulfill my full potential. I hope y'all feel the same way and are doing
everything you can to follow His plan. I love y'all so much and I hope this is
a great week for y'all!
~Sister Maddie Lloyd
Pictures!
Picture 1: After Day 1 of biking Picture 2: After Day 2 of
biking (we didn't like it quite as much) Picture 3: We also had a lemonade
stand where we handed out free lemonade and pass along cards!
--
~Sister Madisen Lloyd
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