Cassidy's Letter 5-19-14 Undercover Boss and Miracles

Hey!

Well. AWESOME WEEK. Again. I actually feel like I say that about every week but honestly it is just impossible to have a bad week. But this week really was super cool. I witnessed one of the biggest miracles of my mission. And had some pretty funny happen too.

So I will start at the beginning.

So in the beginning... haha okay so yeah last Monday night we had no one to see, so we spent the night tracting. And naturally it started raining right when we started. Classic. So we were tracting.. and basically had no success. One house we stopped by to see this lady missionaries had met before and  would could hear a dog barking right behind the door.. and then a guy said "Go to your room" to the dog.. and the dog listened. Who knew dogs had rooms? Then the guy opened the door and said "What do you want baby" and I was like. Well, first of all... I am a representative of Jesus Christ and you cannot call me baby... second I am looking for Regina. And he was like "Well Regina died".... so yeah that got awkward. Poor Regina.

Anyways so we tracted and not much happened. At one door this young mom opened and was in her pajamas and basically said it was a bad time.. so I gave her little daughter a mormon.org card and when we were walking away we heard her say "Mom what is a mor-man?" it was super funny. But yeah so we kinda felt like we accomplished nothing. Little did we know. Stay tuned.

So Tuesday we spent the day in Conneaut... which is like the ghetto of our area. One of our investigators told us that her downstairs neighbor just got kicked out because he was operating a meth lab down there... so that was never pleasant to find out about. But it was our investigator who is super into dungeons and dragons and that stuff. And she said the funniest thing. She said "Conneaut brings out the weird people. I mean, I am weird. But I am not dangerously weird." Hahah all I could say was amen. Because I have met the weirdest people in the world in Conneaut and some more dangerous than others. But it is always entertaining.

We have been able to teach this kid named Ethan the past few weeks, and he is getting baptized this Saturday! So that will be fun. I think he is 10 or 11. But yeah that is exciting.

So Wednesday we headed up to Kirtland. And then... THE BIGGEST MIRACLE EVER. So this guy who lives/goes to the church in Kirtland came into the visitor center and found us and said. 

"Did you go tracting in Jefferson on Monday night?" and we said yes.. and he said "Well you tracted into my friend" and then he told us how there is a lady he works with named Karen, and she had come into work and asked him if he had sent the missionaries to her house. And he told her no because he didn't know her address. So she told him that we came to her door but she didn't let us in. And okay this is the crazy part. So I guess she has been struggling, and so this guy (His name is Brother Jones) put Karen's name on the temple prayer roll on SATURDAY night... and then on MONDAY night we tracted into her. He was just amazed because clearly we were led to her house.. and he told her about that and she said she wanted us to come back over and teach her! So... basically the coolest thing ever. Turns out.. she was the woman who was in her pajamas with the daughter who asked what a morman is. How amazing is that? We were completely led to Karens house. There is no way in the world that was a coincidence. All I can say is, 1. THE TEMPLE IS so cool and prayers are totally answered. and 2. This church is true and my mission is real and God is leading us. And also it is so clear that God knows every one of His children and is aware of what they need, and he will do anything to help and answer their prayers.

So yeah basically the best thing ever. And we went back to Karen's house last night.. and it is confirmed. She is the coolest person ever. She doesn't have a church or really any relationship with God, and she is going through some tough stuff right now... and she really needs the Gospel. And she is so open to learning. So we are teaching her now! So exciting. And such a huge blessing. While we were at her house talking about how Heavenly Father knows her and loves her... I just felt that love so strong. It was one of those times that made me love being a missionary so much. I am so grateful that I get to spend this time helping other people find peace and comfort in Heavenly Father. I am going to be devastated the day I am not a missionary anymore. I love it so much.

So yeah. that is that cool miracle. So while we were at Kirtland this week... well let me back up. For the past 2 months they have been talking about how this guy named Jason Mitchell was coming from Salt Lake to give us training on how to be better visitor center missionaries. So he is like one of the main guys in charge of all that stuff. So they have been making a huge deal out of it for a long time. So we had meetings with him Thursday and Friday. Well Wednesday night, me and my companion get called to take a tour. And we come down and it was this guy named John and he was just like an average guy said he was in town for some business from Oregon. So we were like cool... so we took him on tour. And the whole beginning was basically a train wreck because it was some kind of massive storm and the power kept going out during the movie so we couldn't even finish it.. and then while we were walking outside it was pouring so hard. But we had a pretty good tour.. nothing too special. . so yeah turns out this "John" fellow was actually  the famous Jason Mitchell in disguise. It was like undercover boss. He wanted to come a take a tour and see how we do without us knowing who he was. And OF COURSE of all the missionaries... it had to be me to take him on tour. Once I found out I just hit my head on the wall and asked to get sent home. Not because the tour was bad but that is just like nerve racking I mean talk about pressure. Haha it was a nightmare. So I was really nervous for the training with everyone... but the good news is he told us we were perfect (which is not true) but he said he absolutely loved the tour, and he told our site director that there was not a single thing that we needed to change. So that was really pretty cool! Even though it was terrifying I guess we passed the test. The only problem is now the senior missionaries think we are "heroes" and keep asking for autographs.... hahahah. Yeah missionary problems.

Friday.. super embarrassing. So I was getting ready and curling my hair... when I somehow dropped my curling iron onto my leg... and well basically I got this huge nasty burn that turned into this huge blister.. yeah super dramatic. And naturally my mission president asked what was wrong with my leg when I saw him... and I had to shamefully admit that I am apparently not old enough to curl my own hair without burning my LEG (who does that. I swear I have a talent for dumb injuries).. and then he had to tell everyone about it over the pulpit at conference. So now my burnt leg is the joke. That was fun and embarrassing.

Saturday I was on exchanges and it was really fun. We got to do service for this guy and then for lunch we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows and it was so fun. It is starting to feel like summer! We also had some cool experiences tracting and we met some really nice people. It is so cool how we end up at places where the people are ready and need the Gospel. And I got yelled at by a sweet little old grandma. All I did was ask her name.. and she stops and goes "WHY? WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW THAT?" and I said I was just trying to be friendly and she said goodbye and slammed the door. I think she thought I was trying to steal her identity. I mean let's face it my presence just screams identity thief.

And then yesterday in church.. it was so funny. So we are in relief society and the teacher is up front teaching her lesson, and this old lady in front of me pulls out this huge bag of marshmallows and was trying to open them for literally 4 minutes. Finally she broke into the bag. Then in the middle of a serious conversation she just raises her had and the teacher goes "What" and she said "If anyone wants one of my pink lemonade marshmallows I will be passing them around". I died. Only out in Ashtabula. Hahaha.

Basically I love it out here. Lots of funny people and I am seeing lots of miracles. And every day I have my testimony strengthened so much. A few things that I have really come to learn on my mission is that above all God loves us and He want to help us and be a part of our lives. And I've really learned that putting Him first will always make us happier. It is interesting how sometimes we think that we are only happy if we are doing what we want... but that doesn't really last. The only way we can be truly satisfied and happy is when we are doing what God wants and including Him and letting Him be in charge of our lives. Because I have learned that God only wants for us what will make us actually happy.. and only He knows what will make us happiest.. even when we don't realize it ourselves. So I am constantly learning how to have more faith and trust in God. But I am grateful that we can develop a personal relationship with Him, and that strengthens me more than anything.

And everyone can have that personal relationship. And it can always be stronger. So don't forget to include Heavenly Father in your life and let him direct you. And I know you will be happier. Okay sorry now I  will be done with my missionary rant.

I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love Cassidy