Hatcher Pass: We plan to go hiking almost every P-day because Sister Williams does not want to be doing anything she can be doing back in Utah which mainly consists of playing anything in the Church gym. Almost the whole zone came and we hiked Hatcher Pass. We were told that we could get free parking if we parked by the lake, but because there was still snow on the mountain that path was closed and we had to pay to park by the mine. This, by far, was my favorite hike. The snow added a different experience. Elders being elders starting a snowball fight that would continue on for the duration of the hike. We hiked around this old mine which was very cool. We took a bunch of pictures. Also, it hailed on the last part of the hike down. Really strange.
Bobby Gone: On Sunday, Bobby's mother passed away so Bobby got himself a ticket to Kentucky and will be staying for a month. Saying goodbye was really hard because he may or may not see Sister Williams again before she leaves for home.
TIWIs: At our tri-zone conference, they installed in our cars, TIWIs, which is a device normally used for teenagers to help coach them to be better drivers. The reason we are getting them is to help keep the cost of vehicle damage down to a minimum to save on tithing funds. We, thankfully, are the last mission in the United States to get them. They were ready this past Winter, but nobody wants to be installing those in to every car in negative 30 degree weather, so they pushed it back until this past week. We call our Zina (it was a name I saw on somebody's license plate). She will yell at us to "check our speed", if we are going over the speed limit and if we are being "aggressive drivers". Fun.
Service at Hannah's: We had quite a few elders come and help out over at Hannah's. The elders were mainly working around the fire burning stuff and we were clearing out space for a shed to be moved because they sold a car that is parked behind it. We got rid of the trash and then we whacked the weeds. I didn't necessarily wanted to whack the weeds with this manual weed whacker, but Sister Williams made me. If felt so good, thought, just hitting something that hard and that did a lot of damage. We got all the weeds out of there in no time. We then had some of the elders helping to move furniture and organize stuff to put into another trailer they had because of a leak.
Lessons: We had lunch and dinner over at the Henson's and while there we were able to teach 4 people. They invited Miriam and Aaron over for a bible reading so we read 2 Nephi 2, with them and talked about our agency; our ability to choose. Miriam felt comfortable asking questions about life after deaths and why we have certain trials which was great. We love questions because 9 times out of 10, we have an answer. She has been less active for some time now and has forgotten a lot of the stuff she was taught before getting baptized. I love this scripture that highlights on the importance of continual learning: 2 Nephi 28:30, "For behold, thus saith The Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have." She is trying to learn more and come back to Church. We also taught the Henson's grandchildren when they came over after dinner. We did an object lesson with pencils and numbers helping them to look to God and avoid the distractions of the world. They are still kids and kids will normally put their friends above any Church requirements. We are slowly working on it with them.
Teaching the Lesson: We got asked to teach the lesson in Sunday School 10 minutes before we left for Church because the teacher's wife and newborn baby were sick. It's a good thing we are missionaries and we do this all the time with minimal preparation at times that this was a piece of cake. The lesson was on service which seemed to go well mainly because it was being led by two others who had a lot to share in participation.
Christ's teachings and other doctrines of the Church cannot be learned all at once. Just like a muscle that takes quite a bit of time to tone and shape, and constant working out to keep its shape or even increase in size, the same is with our testimonies. Our testimonies will wither away if we don't have our spiritual "exercise" by continuing to study the scriptures and increase our knowledge of the gospel. It is, simple, our testimonies of Jesus Christ that keeps our faith and creates a desire in us to want to change. We go to Church every Sunday because we want to change.
Sent from ALASKA !
Sister Shelley Wilden
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