Not cursed and good....

Hiii, fam.

Dad- I really enjoyed the layout of your email. Very nice looking. Good luck with your race this week. You're going to do awesome! I sure love you. Mom- Do you remember that one time we hiked Table Rock, and you and I both basically died? And then we were like 10 steps away from the top and you were like "I'm not finishing. I hate this." Haha, good times. I sure love you, Mom! 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) Better get out of the sun; don't want to get more cursed!" -Leon (investigator) Here's a horribly awkward story: SO, we're teaching this awesome black guy named Leon. We were teaching him a couple weeks ago, and he asked us the oh, so popular question, "Can black people be Mormon?". Sister Grant and I handled the question like a champ telling him that God loves all of His children, and I even sang him the Michael Jackson song "Black and White". Ha, no just kidding, I didn't, but we handled the question well. APPARENTLY the member we brought with us thought we could have gone a bit more in depth with the question, so he decided to squeeze in the comment "Black people weren't allowed to have the priesthood for a while because you guys are cursed." WOW, BROTHER, THAT WAS THE WORST THING YOU COULD HAVE SAID. Obviously that rubbed Leon the wrong way, so we referred him to the lds.org article "Race and the Priesthood" and prayed he would allow us to teach him still. He told us he read the article, and I guess it sat right with him because now he jokes about being cursed. I'm glad he thinks it's funny to joke about because I'm still pretty angry at the member and can still feel the awkward that occurred that hot July day. 

2.) "She called and told me happy birthday, and then I said 'good'!" -Sister Swick (less active) Sister Swick is this crazy less active in the Youngstown ward. She is the shape of a pear, her eyes are always looking in two totally different directions (Sister Grant and I never know who she's looking at and we sit on two completely different sides of the room), and she turned 70 this past week. When she told us this story, in my head I was like "Oh, cool.", then I was like "Wait, that doesn't quite seem like the correct response when someone says happy birthday to you.", and then I held in a laugh for the entire lesson because the more I thought about it, the funnier it got. ANOTHER STORY about Sister Swick that happened this week: She fell and it really scared her. We went over to comfort her and we sang her "Abide With Me". The first line in that song is "Abide with me! fast FALLS the eventide" and then I basically lost it in a reverent manner, and Sister Grant had to go solo for a couple notes. Man oh man, it's never a dull moment when we're visiting good ole Swicky. 

3.) "No thanks. You scared my dog, so I have to go calm her down." -Rando The other day we were tracting and we got to this house with the front door open but the screen door was closed.  I love those doors because it basically guarantees that someone is home. Well, when we got closer to the door, we realized that the screen door wasn't completely closed either. I went to gently knock on the screen door, and this little rat dog pounced out the door and started barking at us. The owner came out PEEVED. We were like "Um, hi... we're missionaries...." and that's when she said this quote. She said this quote in a very mean tone. At first it made me feel bad because I felt like I was the cause for having her dog escape her home. I legit felt like I needed to repent or something because I felt so bad. THEN I started thinking about it, and in my head I was like "That wasn't my fault. I hate that lady, and I hate her ugly rat dog." Then I really did have a reason to repent because that wasn't a kind thought. Daily repentance. my friends. It's what helps us become better and live with Heavenly Father again.  Didn't think I could turn that into a spiritual thought, did ya? Ha, wow, I'm annoying. 

4.) "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" -D&C 18:10 This week all the missionaries in the Youngstown ward (us and the elders) had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting. At the end of my talk I began to talk about how much I loved the people in the ward. My eyes filled with tears, and I could barely say anything, I have truly come to love these people in this crazy area. I know that Heavenly Father loves them too. 

Well, sorry for only 4 quotes this week. If we're being honest, I'm just getting really, really tired of emailing. BUT, I love each of you a ton! Have the best week! :)

Love, 

Sister Reddish