Its a new dawn.
It's a new day.
It's a new life, for me...
And I'm feeling good.
Hello hello hello! A lot has changed in my life this last week, but I love it! I am now in Kearny with Hermana Hopson. She is just lovely, and my shortest companion yet. She only beats me by three inches, unlike the previous three, the shortest of which was a solid 5'8. So happy day, we can share clothes! She has been out for 6 months and is from Salt Lake.
We have seen a lot of miracles this week, I know we are being guided by the Lord to do His work. Before I got here Hermana Hopson went through all the potential investigators in the area book and made a list of those who looked the most promising. Everyday we have been praying over this list and then choosing 3 people to go out and find throughout the day. We have seen a lot of success from this.
The first day as we were out finding, we were both prompted to change our plans and go look for the family first that we were originally planning to pass by last. When we got to their house, it was vacant and none of the neighbors knew who they were. But the feeling that we needed to be on that street didn't go away, so we pulled up the area book to see if there was anyone in our records who the Lord was directing us to on that street. After a minute or so I looked up and was startled to find a woman standing on the sidewalk just five feet away looking at us. We started a gospel conversation and ended up giving her a Book of Mormon (a miracle that we even had one to give her, because we don't usually carry English Books of Mormon with us, but the spirit had prompted us to put one in our bags that morning). Unfortunately, she wasn't interested in meeting with us again, but did allow us to say a pray with her before with left
On Saturday, we weren't originally going to have time to go out finding because of all the appointments we had set. But then all of our plans for the evening fell through. I feel bad that I was upset about this at the time, because now I can see that it was by divine design and the Lord was just opening up our evening so we could do His will. After praying over the list, we set out to find Elva. She talked with us on the doorstep for a little while and then when we explained that we would like to come back another time to teach her she invited us in right then! She is not a member, but her mother used to read to her from the Book of Mormon when she was little, so she was very excited and accepted one immediately. She told us about her 9 year old son Kevin, explaining that she is trying to raise him right and teach him about religion, but that he has a lot of questions about Jesus. When she introduced him to us she said "Kevin, these girls know about Jesus. Ask them your questions, they can help." Without hesitation he sat down and told us that since his grandma has died, he has been trying to pray every night, but he doesn't know if it is working. We spent the next hour talking to her and Kevin about the Plan of Salvation. At the end her husband came home from work and we got to meet him as well. We have an appointment with them this coming Saturday, and Elva promised to read and study the Book of Mormon this week!
Everything about this lesson was a miracle. I could feel the gift of tongues working in me throughout our whole visit and was able to understand almost everything she said. The light of Christ in her was unmistakable, I could see it shining in her eyes. I am so humbled that God trusts Hermana Hopson and me enough to lead us to this wonderful family that is so prepared to learn the gospel.
Also, as I have had to speak more Spanish because both Hermana Hopson and I are relatively new, I have felt the Lord's help. I can point to a time everyday this week when I have been blessed with the gift of tongues. And when I do still struggle, Hermana Hopson is in tune and steps in to help. The Lord is matching up our strengths and weaknesses so we really have to rely on one another, and it is awesome! Even though we still don't know each other very well right now we work well as a team.
Here are some fun facts about Kearny New Jersey:
- We are in a walking area! Yay! (And no, that is not sarcastic. Although there are some challenges involved with not having a car, namely grocery shopping and getting to the church, I have actually thoroughly enjoyed walking every where. Of course, we will have to see if that continues to be the case come winter...)
- I can see the New York skyline!!!! I can only see it from certain places, and apparently the view is better if you are serving in Union City, but I will take what I can get.
- Kearny is a suburb of Newark. They don't have sisters serving in Newark because it is too dangerous, however there isn't a chapel in Kearny. So we still have to go into to city 5 times a week for various meetings. It is about a forty minute walk, or a 15 minute bus ride (but the bus can be a little unpredictable in its timing). I love it.
XOXO
Hermana Croft
So for Halloween obviously we didn't get to go trick-or-treating. But we did get candy... A member of the English ward decided to treat all the sister missionaries. Just for reference, each package is 3 feet tall and has 18 full sized candy bars a dentro. The Lord provides. Doctrina y Convenios 78:19 #hundredfold
Saying goodbye to Hermana McCoy
We came across that little guy just 30 minutes ago. I have never heard a squirrel sound like that. We decided he must be a Spanish squirrel.
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