Finding Joy in the Work...

Hellllllllllllo. 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) "Can Mormons tell people their age?" -Charles (investigator) Charles asks questions like this almost every time we see him. Most of the time we answer with something like "Charles, Mormons can do anything anyone else does. We have agency. We just try and use our agency so we do what Heavenly Father wants us to do." BUT this one was pretty random. After he asked this question, we were like "Yep. We're both 20." Then he looked kind of surprised and said, quote: "Really? She *pointing to Sister Golden* seems older. She's more sophisticated." End of quote. Ouch. Haha, what the heck? THEN we talked this past Sunday and Charles came (ISN'T THAT SO AWESOME? HE CAME TO CHURCH! YAY YAY YAY!). When we came down to talk to him after the meeting he said "You did good; she's still more sophisticated though." Then he tried to make me feel better by saying something along the lines of how "it's a good thing" and I should keep my "youthful personality". Yeah, yeah, Charles. I know I act like a 12 year old boy. It's fine. ;) Nah, in all seriousness, I'm thankful I have a companion who keeps me grounded. Maybe someday I'll be sophisticated like her.  

2.) "Okay, bye little nugget!" "This must be Reddish." -Me and Dan (investigator) on the phone Not even kidding you, the same exact day Charles told us Sister Golden was more sophisticated then me, we were talking to  Dan before starting a lesson and somehow we started talking about outhouses and Dan was like "You haven't lived until you've taken a dump in an outhouse!" and I thought that was the funniest thing to ever been said so I laughed pretty good. Then Sister Golden started talking about what we were going to teach him that day and he was like "You're mature. You keep me and Reddish focused." Ha, yep. I'm tellin' ya, she keeps me grounded. This quote is from a phone conversation a few days after the day I got told 2 WHOLE TIMES Sister Golden is more of a grown than me. The good news is that I'm pretty mature once we start teaching a lesson. I promise I'm not just goofing around. We've got souls to save. I'm a serious/not so serious missionary. Does that make sense? Probably not. 

3.) "It's getting late girls." -Everyone One of the real downers to this time of year is that it gets dark at like 6 PM. SO when we knock on someone's door at like 7, people answer their door as if it's midnight and then ask why we're out. Um, sorry, sir/ma'am, people still need the gospel when it's dark outside. ALSO, missionaries can't just casually "go in for the night" at 7. That would be ridiculous. The good news is that people who are prepared in the day time are still prepared at night time, so we're not giving up. Also, Mom, don't worry, we're staying safe.

4.) "Golden and Reddish. I like the color names. This ward needs more color in it." -Sister Capers (the only black woman in the Elyria ward) I don't really think this quote needs an explanation. It's hilarious. 

5.) "We can have confidence and trust that our loving Heavenly Father can and will rebuild us. His plan is to build us into something far greater than what we were—far greater than what we can ever imagine. With each step of faith on the path of discipleship, we grow into the beings of eternal glory and infinite joy we were designed to become." -President Uchtdorf Okay, so, obviously from this email, it may appear like I haven't changed much the past 17 months, but.... I've come to know since being on a mission that the more we study about our Savior, the more we become like Him. Yes, I still think poop jokes are funny and I still goof off a lot, but I do know that I have a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are helping me become who They know I have the potential of becoming. AND I know that to be true for EVERYONE because Heavenly Father loves all of His children and wants all of us to come home to Him someday.

I love all of you loads and loads. Have a good week!

Love, 

Sister Reddish  

"It's mah bifday"

Hello, my sweet family. 

Mom- Thank you so much for the Halloween package. We loved it so much. As I was looking at the pictures you sent this week all I was thinking was "This is what I have to go home to. I'm going to look like a freakin' barbarian next to those beautiful creatures." ;) Thanks for everything you do for me. I love you. Dad- YOU ARE SO IMPRESSIVE. Holy shoot. Congrats on finishing another race that most Americans could not do. You're a super human. I love you. 

Quotes of the week:

1.) "Happy Birthday, Sister Reddish!" -EVERYONE So, the other day, Sister Golden's fam sent her Guatemalan candy. She was like "lets eat this together" and I was like "no, you don't have....yeah, okay." It's not everyday you get to eat Guatemalan candy; I was pretty dang excited. We ate it together and considered it a celebration for my birthday in a few weeks. We had a ward chili cook off that night and told the members we were sitting by about my birthday celebration. THEN, Brother Hess started singing "Happy Birthday" to me fully knowing it wasn't my birthday for quite sometime. I was like "Brother Hess, you stop that right now!" and he did. THEN Elder McInnes stood up and started belting it. AND that's when everyone in the ward (and vistors) began singing to me. People are still telling me happy birthday. Part of me wants to be like "It's not my birthday", but then I'd have to explain everything that occurred and I just don't want to, so I just give 'em a big smile, and that's the end of it. 

2.) "Now, anyone who showed up tonight can dance in the circle." -Rabbi Lori We were looking in the area book one of the first weeks we were here, and there was a Jewish potential. We were like "Heck yes, lets go teach a Jew." Her name is Vera and she was happy to listen to us. The hard part was that they don't believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, so basically everything we taught contradicted what she believed, but she really liked us so she invited us to her Jewish temple (church) for their Friday night service. We walked in and everyone had there cool little caps on. There was a part of the service where this lady sang in Hebrew and then different categories of people danced around the room. I got up and started clapping like Michael Scott and saying "Skip around the room!" Ha, no I didn't. I just thought of that right now and I wish it wouda happened, but it didn't. Anyways, I was for reals like "Mm-mm, not tah-day. There is no way I am dancing in front of these people." This quote from Rabbi Lori was the final category. Sister Golden felt the same way I did so we just sat in the middle of the circle while Jews danced around us. It was pretty awkward. The good news is that they offered me a can of Diet Coke at the end and I gladly took it. So, we walked outta the Jewish temple with Diet Coke in hand, thankful that we belong to Jesus Christ's church. 

3.) "Okay, after your done with car inspections, go in and get your flu shot." -Doctor/Elder Lewis We had to get flu shots at Zone Conference this past week. I hadn't been that scared in quite sometime. There was like 30 elders and sisters in line. You could feel the fear when you walked into the gym at the church. I wanted to go up to Doctor Lewis and be like "I have a blood disease, so I don't think this is very good for my health." but I knew I needed to do it. SO, after saying like 10 prayers (not even a little kidding. I was scared.) the fear left me (Heavenly Father answers prayers) and I was able to successfully get the flu shot. I tensed up pretty hard core during the shot though so my arm was pretty sore for a few days, but I didn't die. Thank the heavens. 

4.) "God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son." -The Living Christ This past transfer, President Brown committed us to memorize The Living Christ. I'm still working on it, but holy moly is that thing powerful. I've learned a lot on my mission, but one of the greatest things I've learned is that Christ DOES live. He's a real person. He knows me and He loves me. This quote is the last sentence in The Living Christ and it's my favorite. When I think of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, I fail to remember that there would be no Atonement if Heavenly Father didn't give us the gift of His Son. God loved us so much that He gave us His Son, and Christ loved us so much that He died and and suffered for each of us. Isn't that so awesome? Like I can't even handle how awesome that is. I'm so happy that through the restoration of the gospel we can know more about our Heavenly Father and His Son. They love all of us so much. 

Hey, have a good week, okay? I love all of you so much. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish 

DROPPED

 

Hey, Fam. Remember the good ole days when you wouldn't tell me anything about your week because you were scared that I would feel sad or homesick? Man, whatta a life that was. ;)  I loved hearing about your week and seeing the fun pictures. I'm excited to hang out with all of you again.  

Quotes of the week: 

1.) "I don't want to do this talking thing anymore..." -Lola This week we were tracting a neighborhood and this lady was sitting on her front porch (those are the best because they can't pretend that they're not home). Anyways, it was this cute older lady named Lola. We taught her the whole Restoration and tried to commit her to begin reading the Book of Mormon. Well, Lola is basically all the way blind, so that was sort of awkward. Could we give her a pamphlet? No. Could she see the large print Book of Mormon? No. Could she listen to it on the internet? No, she doesn't have internet. I think we just committed her to pray about what we taught her or somethin' of the sort. THEN we made a return appointment for the next day. When we got to her house, she opened the door with a pass-a-long card we gave her with the Salt Lake Temple on it. She was like "Here take this. I can't see it." That's when I was like "Oh, do you want a bigger picture?" NOT realizing that she hated us because she got anti-ed super hard core. That's when she said this quote. I wanted to be like "Hey, buddy, I don't like doing this talking thing either, but I got to and so do you. It's how we communicate." BUT she was obviously not in the mood for some sass, so we left. Dropped. 

2.) "These flies are really concerning me." -Mary Scott About three weeks ago we found Mary Scott tracting. She's an old, black woman. Well, this week when we went to go visit good ole Mary, there were flies all over her house. ALSO, Mary was going to drop us this lesson (you could feel it in the air), and so she was acting really awkward. After she said this quote, she smacked her arm with her other arm... I'm pretty sure she was "smacking" a "fly", but that "fly" didn't exist so she was just smacking herself. I wanted to laugh, but I just sucked my lips into my mouth so she wouldn't know I was laughing at her. THEN the quote from Elf came into my head "Why don't you wipe that stupid smile off your face before I come over and smack it off." and that made my face look even more stupid. What if Mary said that to me? Oh man, that woulda been funny.  Anywaysss, I guess long story short: she likes her Bible and that's all she needs and she didn't want us back over.  Dropped. Again. 

3.) "We're missionaries for the....are you picking up trash?" -Me Here's a story that won't end with "Dropped." We were walking down a street trying to find a potential investigator, and this black man was walking towards us in the distance (the race of this man isn't important for the story, I just really love black people). When we finally got to where he was at, I began talking and then I realized that his arms were FULL of trash. Guys, this man was just picking up trash because he thought the street looked "filthy". Isn't that the cutest?! Who does that? Shanon does. Whatta a cutie. Also, Shanon is totally taking the lessons now so that's a really good thing. YIPPEE. NOT dropped. Ha, take that Satan. 

4.) “What shall we give in return for so much?”-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf This week was kind of hard. Ha, ya win some and ya lose some, I suppose. You know how people say "there's always something to be thankful for". Well, there is. Sometimes when I feel like my life is hard and sucky, I begin to think of the Savior. His life was far more hard and far more sucky. SO, for now, I'm going to be thankful for my life and enjoy serving Him, because it's the least I can do for someone who made it possible for me to experience ultimate happiness. My life is so good. 

Have a good week. I love all of you. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish 

Josh the lady....

Hey, Mom and Dad. Thanks for your emails and for being the best parents around. I'm going to Cleveland for Preparation day, so I don't have to much time to email, but I hope you two know that I love you both more than I can say. 

Quotes of the week: 

1.) " Hi, I'm Josh! This is my wife, Peggy." -Josh This quote probably seems normal. A nice man named Josh has a wife named Peggy and they're happy and married. Plot twist: THIS Josh was a woman. A WOMAN. When she told me this, I tried to make it seem like I wasn't judging or that I didn't feel uncomfortable. I wasn't so much judging cuz like whatever "we all sin differently" and "Jesus loves everyone", but I DID feel uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure when she told me this I smiled, but then my eyebrows slanted down in a concerned matter and then all I could get out was "ohhhhh." What made this more uncomfortable is that we were doing a service thing, so my companion (we were on exchanges so I was with a sister named Sister Bussell) was talking to someone else while we served food to the less fortunate. I didn't have a companion to help me not be awkward. AND now I'm concerned because while typing this I realized that I won't have a companion to help me not be awkward when I'm home. Oh dear. I'm going to stop because I'm stressing myself out. The end. 

2.) "Trust me, I'd have to be dead to know "Him" more." -Random lady The other day Sister Golden and I went contacting on Main Street in Oberlin. This is sometimes a good idea, but most of the time we just talk to super liberal people who don't like us at all. Anyways, this lady looked like she was in a hurry, so we were like "Hey, can we give you this card with Jesus Christ on it." She was like "I already know Jesus." (you have no idea how many times I've heard that phrase come out of people's mouths) and we were like "Wow, cool. This card has a link on the back to a short video to help you know Him more." AND that's when she said this quote. She said it mysteriously, so it was pretty weird. Then we kinda just didn't say anything and she finally just took the card. Then she walked away briskly. Lame story? Maybe. I thought it was funny though. 

3.) "That bird's poor digestive system..." -Me So, every time Sister Golden "backs" me, I have to roll down the window so she can alert me of any potential accidents. The other day I turned my body in the drivers seat (because that's what people do when they put their car in reverse) and I began to roll down the window. That's when I saw somethin' sick on the back window. I was like "Sister Golden, what the heck is that nasty crap?" and she was like "I think it's bloody bird poop." That's when I replied with this quote with a single tear falling from my face. Ha, just kidding. I didn't cry, but I did feel kind of sad for the poor bird. When I got out of the car, I went to go examine the poo. After some close examination, I realized that it wasn't bloody bird crap.. someone had smashed some sort of berry on our window. Betchya you weren't expecting that plot twist, huh? Seriously though, who the heck does that? You don't just "accidentally" smash a berry onto someone else's car. That doesn't happen. I laughed for like 10 minutes. This happened on sort of a crap day, so I would just like to publicly thank whoever smashed a berry on our window.  

4.) "As we embrace the gospel in faith and deed, each day and every hour, we will draw a little closer to our God. Our lives will be better, and the Lord will use us in remarkable ways to bless those around us and bring about His eternal purposes." -President Uchtdorf Conference was so, so good this last weekend. Lately, I've been sort of worried about coming home and not really knowing what to do with my whole life. Throughout conference, I felt like Heavenly Father was telling me "Hey, you don't need to be a missionary to help those around you." I realized that even though I'm not going to be passing out pass-a-long cards and trying to teach the Restoration to everyone I see in a few months, I can still help people around me because your not just supposed to represent Jesus Christ when you have a black name tag on. SO, I guess moral of the story is that everyone who talks in General Conference is inspired, and they really helped a sista out. I love being apart of Jesus Christ's church. General conference is remarkable.

I love this gospel, I love being a missionary, and I love all of you. Have a dang good week. 

Love, 

Sister Reddish