Called to serve in Ranch & Cucumbers : Mansoon season, planet of the dogs, and transfer doctrine

June 22, 2015

Ok. so last Monday I had this awesome email and right as I was about to send it but my computer turned off on me because I was out of time. Smooth, I know. So yeah, sorry about that. I know that I spoiled your most exciting event of the week;)

So first off, I gotta tell ya a crazy story! Are you ready for this awesomeness?! Let me hear a YEAH! Ok, so once upon a time in the blistering hot deserts of California there lived two missionaries. One day all of their appointments fell through and they were looking and looking but couldn't find anyone. So they decided to get out of the car and just walk to the next person on there list. Just as they were about 100 feet away the person that they were planning to go see pulled out the driveway. Just their luck eh. but wait! There's more! looking around and concluding that there was only like two houses on the whole street without a fence and a huge dog, Sister Prows randomly decided to go knock on a random door. Her comp cried out "Well that was random" and she smugly replied" Missionary work is random." So they walk up to the door and their two bull mastives the size of elephants start barking there minuscule brains out. We knocked our lucky 7 knocks, waited, waited some more, an ALAS! He opens......only the stinken dogs wouldn't stop barking so they had to yell at his face. So finally after a really awkward first few minute the dogs are finally quiet and they proceed to talk with him. Long story short, they ended up sitting down on the patio and teaching him and now he is an investigator who wants to be baptized! And then they lived happily ever after. Taduh!!!!!! Man, I should write a book. So yeah, moral of the story, follow the little thoughts and never give up too soon. You'll miss out on miracles. I swear though, dogs are taking over the world. (No offense Sarah;D) But man, they are taking over the world. I saw a sign the other day that said "My dogs aren't spoiled, I'm just well trained" ha! No kidding. Na, I'm just bitter because they mess things up all the time and they keep attacking us on our bikes haha. Anyway, now that I'm done with that rant........I will go off on another!

We had a crazy rain storm. If you all didn't know, Cali is in major drought because the East coast is being mean and stealing all of our water, but the other day it rained like no ones business. There was literally rivers blocking all of the roads and main street was completely flooded. It's not like there are any storm drains so it was pretty crazy. It was funny though because my comp hates, and I mean hates, water so she was freaking out. She drove out of that thing so fast. haha. It was funny because we would drive a block to where it wasn't raining, wait 10 seconds and it would catch up. We did it over and over. We thought it was pretty amusing. You get desperate for entertainment out here if you can't tell.

The weather here has been in the 100's every day besides that so no biking this week. We can barely make it to our car without passing out from heat stroke. Actually I'm just a sissy. But when it is super hot and you get into AC it is really hard not to get sleepy. We teach a lot of old people that talk for hours and their homes are always dark so I have this thing were the moment I walk in, all of the sudden I need to sleep. I don't of course but it takes everything in my willpower not to haha. I have to stare at them like a deer in the headlight or I'll fall asleep. They probably wonder why I make such weird facial expressions. haha. But I'm surviving. Just always super super tired. My comp went to the bathroom and by the time that she came out I was knocked out cold on the desk hehe.

So, the work has been kinda slow and I always wondered why. I have an amazing comp and we both work really hard. That should equal lots of work, right? Well, in this area not so much. We haven't been able to meet with all of our investigators for awhile and we aren't having much luck finding. Sometimes I wondered if it was something that I was lacking or I wasn't working hard enough, but God has been teaching me an important lesson. I don't think that I would have grown nearly as much as I have if everything in my life was easy. I wouldn't have to strive to figure things out or improve at the rate I needed to. The hardest times are often the times where I learn the most about God. When I have to get down on my knees, study like no tomorrow and try with all my little might to improve my teaching skills. It was through hard times that I learned the root of my weaknesses and where I need to improve the most, but I also learned how to truly overcome those. He is teaching me hope, diligence and patience. I know that good things always come out of hard times. If God wanted me to convert thousands and get me into doors and make all of those other things happen He could, but H e wants to make sure that I'm converted as well and it is through those hard times, and the good, that I become that converted missionary. I know that I've said this before, but the missions really are for the missionaries more than anyone, but it is through serving and giving ourselves to others that we find that conversion. That's why all of the rules and guidelines are so important, because they keep us focused on others and not ourselves. I would never trade the mission for anything. I can honestly say that it was the best decision of my life

Just so you all know, I'm staying with my same comp in the same area. It will be great. We are going to make miracles happen and turn this area around. It's going to be epic!

Thanks so much for everything!

lOVE ya lots.......and don't you forget it!

-Sister Prows