Rawlins Letter #8

Advise from Sister Hoer: always take a jumping picture

Lake Marie, Wyoming - on the way to Zone Conference in Laramie

Lake Marie

This is the last Zone Conference for the four of us

Watermelon!

This is the "small shopping cart"

Last Monday I got a letter from Sister Grammer, my last companion. I was so excited to read it but we were on our way to the store. I tried to read it at red lights but stoplights in general are few and far between and they never last long, making my attempt to read futile. We got to the store and I thought, "I don't need anything, I'll take this in to read while I follow my companion around" (shopping is not my favorite thing to do, ha-ha). It was a normal, extremely windy Wyoming day. We got out of the truck and I locked it just as a gust of wind came and snatched the two precious pages from my grasp. I watched them tumble and dance away from me at an impressive speed. I yelled, "Nooooooooooooooo!" Without communicating, Sister Waite and I broke out into a full sprint after them. I caught up with one and was able to step on it. This resulted in me almost doing the splits in the parking lot. I was laughing so hard already! Then, I looked up just in time to see Sister Waite dive into a planter. When she emerged she held up the second page of the letter. Victory!!! Wyoming wind: 0, Sister Missionaries: 1.

We've met with the most amazing families this week. A couple less-actives that we have been trying to meet with for forever it seems like. We enjoyed dinner at the Smiley's. We have a new Ward Mission Leader, Brother Bobik. He and his family are great. We just feel like we have so much support out here. So many other families have just been answers to prayers this week. The Rodriguezs, Birds, Brights, Faveros, Bates...they are all fantastic! We had a Zone Conference on Wednesday. It was my last one. We took the scenic route to Laramie through Medicine Bow National Forest. It was gorgeous!!! The focus of the meeting was on the importance of families. It was really powerful, but kind of hard to discuss. I feel like I already think about my family all of the time these days.  

I gained a stronger testimony of revelation through scripture this week. I've been reading the Book of Mormon trying to read it again before I get home. Saturday morning I was reading and was able to have a question answered. One that I've had for a long time. I was not reading about this topic, I was just reading through 2 Nephi Chapter 2. I know that scripture study invites the Spirit and that's where real and lasting knowledge comes from. Such a cool feeling.

We got a referral for a man that lives on the fourth floor of an apartment building. That is all the information we got. We got it on Friday, and Saturday we had plans to visit one of our investigators. We pulled up to the house and I said, "This isn't where we're supposed to be." Sister Waite agreed and said "Let's go try to visit that guy." I was thinking the same thing, so we went to the apartment building to find out you need a code or someone to buzz you in the door. Not knowing which room was his, I started guessing codes. No luck. I started pushing room buttons. No luck. I don't think Sister Waite liked my idea of trying to get in so we were about to give up when we heard the door make a weird noise...someone buzzed us in!! I opened the door and we got into the sketchy elevator to go to the fourth floor. When the door opened, there was a man standing there that looked very surprised to see us. Nearby was an abnormally small shopping card. We introduced ourselves and he responded with, "You must be the Elder's replacements." I think we found our guy!!! Well, he kind of found us. He looked down the hallway and said to someone we couldn't see (the person that buzzed us in, probably) "Trust me, this has nothing to do with you." Ha-ha! We were just confused at this point. He walked past us, taking the shopping cart into the elevator and said, "Excuse me, I just need to take this downstairs. Would you like to come?" We hesitated...he continued, "Oh, that's right, you can't come in elevators," and the doors shut. Hahaha! When the doors opened again, he and two other men came out. They introduced themselves as Brothers so-and-so. Two members of the Church had decided to visit this man, their former co-worker at exactly the right time! We were all able to go in and have a lesson. This is the most intelligent and interesting man I've met. He wants to get baptized as soon as possible!!! He is moving to Chicago so it'll probably happen there, but we are still so excited! Apparently he met with the Elders quite a few times. He invited us to all go to dinner sometime this week before he leaves for Chicago. Sister Waite and I left before the other gentlemen and we were in the elevator talking about how weird and wonderful and strange and spiritual and awkward and miraculous everything was. The doors of the elevator opened and right there in the doorway was that little shopping cart. We just burst into laughter.

I gave a talk in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. I related rollerblading adventures in San Diego to the gospel. I think it went pretty well. People in the ward seemed to like it. We also got to teach the youth missionary prep class. That was a little crazy. I think a few of them had a good experience, which made the slightly frustrating time worth it in my opinion. Hats off to all of you who work with the youth. Respect.

Love, Sister Rashauna Hoer

PS: Did I mention that people keep giving us watermelons? Livin' the dream, as Moriah Mason would say!