Hi ,
So just to forewarn you this email will probably be a little short. Anyway, wow I can't believe it another week has gone by. We are in finding mode, and the Lord is providing! A couple of our appointments flamed us so we tracted down Felton Rd. (yes I picked that one because of Tom Felton plays Draco Malfoy in Harry Potter) oh and also it just felt like the right street to tract. We tracted the whole street in 2 hours and we found 1 GOLDEN investigator. He is Presbyterian, his name is Moses Wambui and he is from Kenya, he has one of the coolest accents ever, we made him do all of the reading in the intro to The Book of Mormon just so we could listen to it. But seriously, we tracted this whole street just to find him, I know it, he is so excited to meet with us again, he had so many questions, they were perfect. We also have 2 member referrals, and we took a lady on tour the other day who referred herself and asked for a copy of the Book of Mormon. We are having a movie night at our church building, we will be watching the Joseph Smith movie so we can show non-members the "reel" story about the restoration! The work continues to roll forth, there are so many people out here that need to hear the gospel, with need a hundred more missionaries in our area to find them all!!!! Oh well we will try to make a dent :)
Want to hear a sad story? It's not really that sad but at 2a.m. it is. So I woke up the other day around 1:45a.m. to a text message from one of our less actives asking what time church started. Anyway, still half-dead I wandered into the bathroom, when I went to flush the toilet it wasn't working. I was soo confused, and frustrated because I was tired and I just wanted to go back to bed, the last thing I wanted to do was fix the toilet (it wasn't the first time this had happened). So not worrying about it that's what I did, back to sleep I went. At 6:30 my companion asked me if I was okay, I responded, "yep!" "are you sure?" "Yeah why?" "Because you were yelling at the toilet in your sleep last night." Whoops.
So to get to your questions...There are 12 sets of sisters, and about 4-5 work a day depending if it's weekend or weekday. Member to Non-member ratio is about 80-20, however we have seen more and more non-members coming in who have driven past so many times and felt inspired to come and learn more. Coincidence? I think not, that would be them being prepared to receive the good word. Lives are changed here in Kirtland. Most members that have come through, it is their second or third time coming, however it usually was like 20 years ago, so everything has been changed! The Edmans have been here almost 18 months, they serve a 2 year mission, so they will leave in January. President Sorensen leaves in 4 weeks and we will meet President Vallinga (sp?) the day after he leaves! So I will live through a president and director change! There are about 12 senior couples as well! Except they serve at the farms as well as the VC so we don't see all of them all the time. Jenna told me about aunt Susan, that is saweet! Jenna is now companion's with Shalyse's older sister Lacey! I refuse to let Sister Hatch get trunky, We will work until the last hour she is a missionary, she is getting a little anxious and has started to worry about things like school, I tell her to chill out! The Lord will help figure it out! I have not yet had a chance to drive, I got a call from the fleet coordinator asking how I felt about driving in the snow, apparently none of the sisters like it here. I mean it's not my favorite, but heck the gospel still has to be taught in 6 feet of snow. I am hoping next transfer is my transfer to drive, Cleveland traffic is CRAZZZZY! There are cars everywhere! Yes the Mission office is on the East Side of downtown. So as for the sisters who were in the MTC with me, 2 are training other missionaries (crazy, but they are rock solid, such good little missionaries) and then all of the other missionaries stayed in their area but got new companions! I still see them all the time! Which is good. They keep me sane, our DL however got transferred and so did one of our ZL's so sad. They were out zoned, so we really never get to see them:(
Also...we have a mission blog, www.kws-ohiocleveland.blogspot.com. You can check out what the mission is up to, pictures from our festivities and what not. I don't know what is on there as I have yet to be able to check it out. It's sadly against the rules.
So cool experience for the week and then I have to go. The church has recently acquired the Joseph Smith Jr. Home here in Kirtland, Ohio. It was the home longer than anywhere else they lived. A few revelations were given there and some significant events as well, such as the organization of the first stake (which is Kirtland) and the first high priest meeting, along with the display of mummies and papyrus! Anyway we had our training meeting there this morning, all of the missionaries we up there, it is completely empty so some of us were sitting on the floor, but the spirit was so strong. We started out by singing 'Praise to the Man' and then they did a little narrative of things that happened there, and then a few of the sisters sang 'Joseph Smith's First Prayer' everyone was crying, it was the sudden realization just how true the gospel is and how lucky and fortunate we are to know about the restored church! So wonderful. One of the Brethren are coming to talk with Karl Anderson so they can start on the restoration of the home this week, perhaps just maybe it will be done in a year, but probably not! I am coming back for the dedication though! I get to walk where the prophet walked everyday! OH yeah, I serve in the coolest mission ever!
Whelp Gotta run,
love,
Sister Hillman
