Sister Missionaries are Unicorns

The title of this post comes from members visiting a ward that meets in the same church building as ours and said "unicorns" to us.  He was referring to the fact that there are a lot more elders than there are sisters.  "You always hear about sister missionaries but never see any."  This week was transfer week, so of course, it was very long.  So much just happens in one day that the days seem like weeks.  Here are some highlights of what is happening in Memory Lake:

Sister Williams' Funeral:  Sister Williams went home Thursday morning so we gave her a proper funeral on Monday.  We had some of the elders speak and I sang a rap that I changed the words to fit with Sister Williams.  It was a lot of fun and we all were laughing so much.  We will all miss Sister Williams.  We did journal signing as well before half the zone left.  We played a little B-Ball too.

Transfers:  We swapped companions at the Eagle River building and the first thing we did when we came back was help finish Bobby's lawn.  Because of lack of time, Sister Williams and I weren't able to finish mowing Bobby's front yard, which looked kinda funky.  It was mainly just the ditch that needed to be mowed. We had borrowed Brother Henson's week whacker and because Bobby ended up working on the blade of the lawn mower we used the weed whacker for as much as we could to cut the grass down.  Finally we went over it again with the lawn mower he fixed.  He never seems to stop surprising me of how much a blind person can do.

Four Lessons in a Day:  The following day we had a lot of appointments that got pushed to that day because we were going to be busy until after Wednesday because of transfers, so it was really cook that we taught four lessons in one day.  We even did service.

Service Galore:  We did our weekly service over at Hannah's and we got so much stuff done.  Hannah came out and realized nothing was really being done in between our weekly visits so she started directing us on what to do.  We did more in 2 1/2 hours that a crew she hired for 4 days to do did.  The day prior we received a call from this lady who was referred by her aunt who needed help with moving things around and cleaning.  We got everything taken care of and got the whole district involved to find out later the address is in Palmer.  Whoops.  So we had to call Colony and our district leader to figure all the logistics out.  We still ended up going but then with Colony's district.  She fed us hamburgers which was awesome and we played tag with her kids. I hope the missionaries in her area keep in contact and hopefully one day be able to teach them the gospel.

Lonnie's Baptism:  Susie, his wife, has been a recent convert for a few months now and Lonnie was a member way back in the 1970's.  The sister missionaries found them tracting and taught them the gospel.  Lonnie finally got baptized yesterday and it was wonderful.  The program was put together so fast and both Sister Pike and I gave talks at the baptism.  I love it when people get baptized and truly have a testimony of their Savior, Jesus Christ, and you can see the light in their eyes for the joy this gospel brings them.  Moments like these are why I am out here.

It is not about baptizing the nation, but it is about helping others gain a firm testimony in Jesus Christ and what that can do for them and their family.  Baptism is just the first step.  There is so much more than the gospel has to offer and bless our lives.

Sent from Alaska!

Sister Shelley Willden  

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