Sunshine Sentiments: SISTER DeGOOYER - WEEK 63

"The world is indeed full of peril and in it there are many dark places. But still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands, love is now mingled with grief, it still grows, perhaps, the greater." -The Fellowship of the Ring

[We had transfers this pday, which meant we had to start a new district chat and end the old. I finally got my every time petitioned name: The Fellowship #bestdistrict #wearegonnakillit]

This week passed by slow, but quick. I'm sure y'all can understand and relate. Sometimes I feel as if I am in the shire, living a happy, peaceful life. I eat sometimes more than one dinner at night. I read the best books and spend my time doing the best kind of work. I am wholley detached from the bigger world. We hear bits and peices, but not a ton. What we do hear is tell of war, suffering, and pain. Someday, I will have to return to the land of Gondor.

Welllllllll, that's the end to my middle earth ramblings. Troubles find you wherever you may be, even in the shire, this week I spent a good chunk throwing up. Oooooh, but I hate being sick, specifically because it stops me from working, so I pushed through. Honestly, I probably would have gotten better quicker if I had taken a break but it was more along the lines of: eat something; throw it up; go out and teach a lesson; come back; throw up; go out and contact. For all of you paranoid of germs, I washed my hands often; always wore a face mask; and I did not get too close to people. None of my roomates got sick, and so I think it was just a four day fluke. It was miserable, but I got a blessing and I am doing much better now.

Despite that setback, this week was incredibly good! It was transfers and our whole house stayed which was a blessing! I love these sisters

Transfer day, I spent cleaning the heck out of a new sister apartment. It had been inhabited by Elders and... it sufficeth me to say that it did stink and that it was quite gross. #lifeofanstl

I had to drop a sister at the transfer site and I figured I would just go in my service clothes. I smelled like cleaner and looked anything but clean. So, I tried to remain unobtrusive, BUT Elder Robin was there and I just could not stay in the car. Oh goodness, I love that Elder, he's my fam. I saw a number of other old acquaintances and companions, who somehow picked me out of the crowd of nicely dressed missionaries. Maybe wearing my DeGooyer Day shirt that day wasn't the most genius of ideas.

We found 4 people this week! 3 of them just last night! I will tell you about them, without disclosing too much. #iwishprivacylawsweren'tathingordoi

We have started teaching a man we shall call Stanley. He has a Sheep named Sheep, who is indeed housebound. Stanley isn't the biggest believer of Jesus, but I threw in the parallel between him and his sheep and Jesus and himself. I think it softened his heart quite a bit.

[sidenote: we split our area with the Elders soooo, they now have Stanley. RIP. We brought him fresh corn on the cob as a goodbye gift]

Elizabeth is next (again, I must disclose that this is not her actual name). We met her last night, it was our second to last contact of the night. We were trying to come up with a subtle, but good excuse to be at her door. Right as we were walking up to her door I swallowed a bug. Therefore, as I tried coughing it up, I came up with the genius idea to ask for water and compare Christ to the living water. It was a bit on the nose, but life is best lived that way.

My plan unfortunately, is not worth sharing, because I did not get the chance to execute it. Elizabeth opened the door and she was crying. We stood there on her porch for nearly an hour, telling her how much God loves her. We told her that God specifically sent us to her, and He did. We picked her home out of a number that we could have chosen. By the end numbers were exchanged and we told her we would come back on Wednesday. My heart was breaking by the time we left and my companion was nearly in tears.

Spencer and Sam

Sam is a member and she is just wonderful. We were sent to their home by our wonderful YES list #iloveourmembers We talked with them about modern day revelation. The Spirit was there as we talked about prophets throughout time and even the opportunity to recieve our own guidence through the Spirit. Spencer listened and in the end they both invited us back. :)

We knocked on Ben's door a week ago and he told us his parents weren't home. We knocked on his door last night and he said his parents were busy. We came back 30 minutes later and knocked again and he let us in! Hallelujah! Ben is about 11 years old and he is the funniest kid I have ever met. We were in their home for almost an hour. It was so fun, and they are such a good family. We talked a lot about Jesus Christ being the greatest leader to have lived, especially since Ben is a "student leader." It was fun and I almost died laughing about 5 times. It was a home where you walk in and feel instantly comfortable. We asked if we could come back and teach their family the series of lessons we teach, both Ben and his mom said yes. Again, this one came from the members!

We split our area with the Elders, which was sad. We knew that it would happen all of last transfer and we knew which wards we would be giving them. We put a lot of prayer into it, but ultimately the answer was clear. We gave them whitaker and canterbury. We decided that we wanted to hand the Elders solid wards though, so that they could hit the ground running. We lost more than half of our teaching pool, however, God is already helping us rebuild. :)

Y'all it was a great week despite the opposition!

Rando scripture: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 The war is against sin, not each other. Now go to people, be unified, and spread goodness wherever you can. Heaven knows our world needs more of it.

Love ya much, Sister DeGooyer

P.S. last week was so good too! We had MLC, it was military themed. We had to run through an obstacle course and then carry our companion back. It was so much fun! Also, I got to see Sister Horton!! She sang, dang, I miss hearing her sing. She gave me my bubbles. She broke her foot or something, I don't know, just keep her feet in your prayers. Danke!

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