October 21, 2013

Dear family,

The first week of the transfer is over. It's gonna fly by! I think this is my last one with Sister Margaritis-it will be our 4th together! Anyways, great things are already happening! Oh, and guess what. We are taking over Glacier Park ward again. So many mixed feelings! First of all it was not communicated to us very clearly that we were in charge there. Second of all, they took missionaries from there, because there "isn't a lot of work there." So we aren't sure if that makes sense to have us only giving half our time to the area, but that's what' s happening. It will be a little more stressful, a little more demanding, but that's all part of the adventure! I am excited to be serving the ward members there again! They are wonderful people. We developed some great friendships just from the 3 weeks we served there a few months ago.

On Sunday, a lady named Mari (short for Marianne) showed up to church. Her humble and meek spirit made it easy to love her right away. She just moved into the area and is trying to get settled. She said she is looking for a church. After sitting through sacrament meeting, she expressed how good she felt there. She really felt welcome, and we could tell she felt the Spirit.

We have had many experiences this past week with less active members. We talked with Cynthia about feeling peace that only comes from the Savior. She shared a personal experience about peace she felt after receiving a blessing when her daughter was born. Frank told us he felt he needed to start coming back to church. And he did! (This is the same guy who crashed his bike a couple weeks ago and said he would rather bless his bike before he buried than get a blessing for himself. He's a funny guy). A less active father and his 2 kids came to church so that his son could be ordained to the Aaronic priesthood. And a man named Mike is coming back to church and is accepting a calling. We had a great discussion with him at his doorstep this past week. It's such a blessing to see the lord working in these people's lives.

I don't know if I ever told you about Trish. She is going through an awful divorce. We haven't actually "taught" her, but we are trying to be a support to her through this hard time. She is one of the most selfless mothers I have ever met. She is doing all she can to save her son from the trauma of the situation. She lives to serve him and teach him and love him. This past week, after she told us all of the recent horror that have been going on, Trish asked if she could get a blessing, and if homes can be blessed. We were so thrilled that she would ask and that she has faith in the priesthood. We told her we would definitely find a brother in the ward who could give her a blessing. We came back on Thursday night with brother Thompson and his wife. They are righteous and Christ-like people. Trish told them most of her story and just opened her soul to them. brother Thompson gave her one of the most inspired blessings I have ever heard. After the blessing, Trish's countenance was one of peace. Time and time again, I have seen the truth of the priesthood as I have listened to and received priesthood blessings. I know that the authority to act in Christ's name has been restored to the earth! I know that the power of the priesthood is real! I know that Heavenly Father wants all of His children to be blessed by the priesthood by receiving the restored gospel. God is so good.

As we have strived to talk with more people, we have had some funny experiences. The two young men cleaning out their garage were interesting. We tried multiple times to relate the gospel to their lives and each time we were shut down by pessimism and skepticism. It was kind of comical to us how ridiculous they were being. Then there was the man we tracted into who, after we asked if there was anything we could do for him, exclaimed, "Seeing as I am a man of my own destiny, I can do things for myself!" And then he promptly shut the door. And there are many other instances which I could relay. Although we often get a chuckle out of these situations, it is always sad to think that we were not able to help these people come closer to Christ.

We have had wonderful experiences with service this week. We have been helping a lady named Pearl clean her house and hang paintings everywhere. Pearl is lonely and lives in a huge house (maybe I already told you about her). She has been opening up to us the more time we spend with her. She still doesn't believe in Jesus Christ, but she has a lot of faith in God. She has a beautiful spirit. Another experience of service was when we cleaned our ward mission leader's kitchen for her! That was probably the highlight of my day. We stopped by to drop off some fliers and asked if we could do anything for her. She said "Oh, I wouldn't ask you to do that. " We knew she needed something. She has 3 little crazy boys and a 4 month old baby girl. There is always something going on in their home! I have grown to love that family so much. I love their kids, and Brother and Sister Hinton truly invite the Spirit into their home in the way they teach their children and in the way they treat each other. Anyways, we convinced her to let us "sweep her kitchen," but we ended up doing the dishes and cleaning the counters too. I cannot tell you how good it made me feel to help her do that. She literally could not do it herself while she was trying to take care of her 2 year old and new born. It was such a blessing to us to be able to serve her. We had dinner with them on Sunday, which is always fun with Gordon and Hyrum. They always have something great to say. Hyrum was so cute as he told us about how he is scared the sun is going to over take the earth. He has had to pray a lot so he won't be scared so he can go to bed each night. He says he really tries, but it is just so hard to get that feeling of faith! His dad helped him recognize that since he has been praying about it, he has been able to go to bed a lot easier. What cute little Hyrum failed to realize (what I think we all fail to realize sometimes) is that faith isn't always just a feeling-it's a decision (Elder Anderson). Hyrum chose to act in faith by praying about his fears and then by acting and trying to do his best. He may still have that fear sometimes, but he does his best to act. And that is all Heavnely Father asks of us. just act, even when we don't get that "feeling of faith." The feeling will come after we decide to have faith. And then I just ahve to tell you what Gordon said in sacrament meeting one day. His dad was telling him to settle down and stay quiet for the sacrament and Gordon said, "Enough of this Heavenly Father and Jesus stuff!" I'm telling you these boys are a riot!

Well, I love you! Have a glorious week! I know I will, because my feet will be warm and dry with my new shoes! And Oh yeah, I'm a missionary!

Love,

Sister Mecate