The Week that Went By in a Blink‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-the sisters
contacted a man who insisted that Sister Cale must have kids (nope,
really...yes I know that I seem old enough to have kids...but I
currently am a missionary...and I lack a husband), the Sisters bought
donuts after their second return appointment bailed on them, Sister
Cale had the scary realization that she doesn't hate knocking on doors
anymore, the Sisters went berry picking at the Bishop's Berry Farm
(fresh raspberries and blackberries for days), and the Sisters used
all the sticky notes (not really, but we used a ton, but conveniently
we have a lot left).

Hey Friendlies!

I think I spend the beginning of every e-mail talking about how weird
time is. So perhaps we'll skip that part today and get on to talking
about the life and times of the week.

Adjusting to a new area can almost be like a game if you choose to
make it one. And I typically do because I want to be happy. I think as
a missionary that I've been learning a lot about how we choose to look
at the experiences that we're having and the stories that we tell
ourselves and others. I'm getting a lot of really good practice
telling myself the missionary story with an eternal perspective in
mind that allows even moments that would otherwise feel like outright
rejection feel like seeds planted and a job well done. I think that
one such instance that highlights that this week is a man that we met
while out contacting doors. He was really nice, but once we started
talking about the Book of Mormon he was completely disinterested. He
said that he doesn't need another interpretation of the Bible and
wouldn't stop talking long enough for us to explain that the Book of
Mormon is not an interpretation of the Bible, but is instead another
book of scripture like the Bible. I think that particular contact was
really frustrating for Sister Wolf because he was so unwilling to
allow us to explain that his was simply misinformed about the Book of
Mormon. Strangely enough I ended up walking away feeling totally okay
about things. I was grateful that we had the opportunity to testify
that The Book of Mormon is the word of God and has blessed our lives.
I'm growing to love the opportunities that I am given to share my
testimony and don't really mind if those that I share my testimony
with are not at a place to hear more than that at that point. Of
course I want everyone to learn more about the gospel, but I also know
that there is a timing in all things and that sometimes all people are
ready for is a tiny sampling of the gospel. I'm grateful for
opportunities to have any part in this work.

One of the coolest moments this week happened with our new friend A.J.
We had the opportunity to invite him to read the Book of Mormon and
pray about it last week and were really excited that when we came back
that he said that God has a sense of humor. As he explained he said
that he had sat down and had decided to randomly flip to a page in the
Book of Mormon and start reading to decide if it was true or not. He
opened to Alma 22 when Aaron is teaching King Lamoni's father and
began reading as it said "And behold this is the thing that has
troubled me...". Aaron goes on to teach King Lamoni's father about the
nature of God, the plan of redemption and Jesus Christ's atonement.
The beauty in this is that is exactly the lesson and conversation that
we had had with A.J. and his family the night that we invited him to
read the Book of Mormon. When we asked him if he had prayed about it,
he said that he didn't need to, because clearly this was his answer.
Obviously it will still be good for him to pray about it, but I do
love that he had an opportunity to see that God answers the questions
of our hearts and does indeed have a sense of humor.

Other awesomeness this week included getting to help answer some of
Sydney's concerns regarding baptism. I adore Sydney so much. She's a
total kindred spirit and she has a pet wolf. So that's pretty dang
cool. We got to teach an awesome lesson to a ten year old about
teaching a learning in church using origami (thanks for the directions
mom, they were perfect) and almost managed to get to bed on time (but
not quite, because the missionary struggle is real and it's one of our
goals for this next week).

The Church is True, Life is Good, God's in Charge, and Satan hates you.

Love,

Jessica