So. The missionary life. It's tiring. Very very tiring. But definitely rewarding in it's own way. We wake up at 6:30 and go exercise for 30 min. then have 1 hour to change eat and prepare for the day. Then we do 1 hour of personal study and 1 hour of companion study which is basically reciting a million and a half things and then explaining what we learned in personal study and then discussing about our investigators that we are seeing that day. We then do 1 hour of what is called 12 week which is basically studying how to be a missionary. We eat lunch at home then hop in our car and head out. We either go to appointments or if we don't have appointments then we randomly (with guidance from the spirit) pick names out of a big book of names of people previously talked to (the area book) and go visit them. If they are home we introduce ourselves as the new missionaries in the area and talk with them for a little bit if they'll let us. If they are not home or they don't let us talk we will 2-2-5 which means we talked to the 2 neighbors on either side of them and the 5 across the street. We've had some success doing this which has been great. We never just randomly go door to door which has been nice. We will also visit referrals from people and we also offer our services any time we talk with someone. Around 5ish we eat dinner which is at a member's home, from a drive through, or something from our house. So far with member's I've been fed well. There has been an enchilada casarol, a BLT salad, and meat loaf. After dinner we do the same thing as after lunch. There is lots of talking to people, a little walking, lots of heat, and lots of sweat (it's gross).
So far we don't really have any investigators that I could call mine, but we have several return appointments set up for this week from 2-2-5ing. So I'm really excited to be able to begin teaching someone. This week we visited a lot of less active members and recent converts (larc's). There were two really amazing lessons with two of the larcs we met. One was a single mom who has had a lot of problems and her mom is going in for open heart surgery on friday which has been very stressful on her and she was having a hard time with her kids that day and was in a really bad place spiritually and mentally. We had an appointment with her for 8 but she texted us asking if we could come over at 7ish so we did and we ended up being there at the time when she needed us the most. She was having a mental break down from all of the stress she was dealing with and because we were there at that specific time we were able to help her. We were able to help her to understand that it is OK to have hard times and that's how we grow and we were able to help her realize that she was being helped by the Lord at that moment. When we left her a little bit later she was a lot better, not completely but significantly. It was definitely a tender mercy that we were able to go to her at that time.
Another amazing story was we went to visit this older lady who was having memory loss from an accident she had years ago. She couldn't even remember my companion who she has seen several times. While we were sitting with her she too talked about how stressful life is and how hard her life has been and I was able to share with her what I've been through and how I know that my Heavenly Father has blessed me in those hardest times. Sometimes in the weirdest ways. It was amazing to see how sharing my testimony of God and Christ can affect someone else so much.
Church here was fun. I met a lot of new people as is expected when going to a new place for the first time. I was asked to say the closing prayer in sacrament and so that was weird. In Relief Society they had a visiting speaker come and talk about a charity group here called Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio. He told everyone about how they help to establish refugees in Ohio and it was really inspiring to hear about all that they do to help these poor people who have had to flee from their homes due to persecution. It made me think of how the Saints had to flee time after time in order to escape persecution.
It has been a long but amazing week and I'm thankful for everyday I'm here. I love the people so much and have already gotten used to the humidity but I can't wait for the winter when it will be COLD!!!!!!! I just can't say enough how much I love the people here. Each and every home I go into I come out loving that person in ways that I can't explain. I know that my Heavenly Father is blessing me with love for everyone and I know that without his help I wouldn't be able to do much of anything out here. I know that this is exactly where I need to be and exactly what I need to be doing. I am so excited to be able to help people become closer to Christ and understand how that can bless their lives because I know that it has blessed mine.
I love you all so much!!!
Lots of Love,
Sister Fox
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