Well winter is here in St. Joseph Michigan! This week was like a night and day difference in the weather and the way the area looks! It went from fall color explosion to winter wonderland literally in one day. On Monday when we went shopping it was a little chilly but not cold, didn't even need a jacket and then we woke up on Tuesday morning and had just over a foot and a half of snow outside! We almost couldn't get the car out of the parking lot of our apartment because the snow just kept piling on! It was wild, but it didn't stop us, barely even slowed us down. And then yesterday we had a huge wind, thunder, lightning, rain storm. There were tornado warnings all day long. We were all over our area yesterday and there were trees, full grown trees, ripped out at the root and houses getting siding and chimneys torn off. Most places lost power for a couple of hours at least but the city acts quick out here so it didn't last too long. I thought I had experienced and wind storm but I was so wrong. There are a few places where there is a good amount of damage, but I don't think we had any actual tornado touch down. It was exciting and now there is no snow left on the ground.
Tuesday we had a Half Mission Training with a General Authority, Elder Golden of the Seventy from South Africa! It was amazing and he was so funny. He taught with so much power, the spirit in the chapel was one of the strongest times I have felt since coming on the mission. He spoke a lot about the importance of being equally yoked with our members as we find and protect our investigators for the influences of Satan. It was everything we needed to hear in St Joseph. There were a lot of positive things that he said to us but he was not afraid to throw down when it came to areas where we needed to improve. I don't think there was one missionary who left that day without feeling a little burn from his fire, which is good and helps us to stay really working and diligent. It was awesome.
Wednesday all but one of our appointments cancelled so we had a day full of door knocking, which, after the 17 inches of snow that fell
on Tuesday, meant snow boots, gloves and golf balls for knocking the doors. It was really fun to be tracking around in the snow but because of the drifts my poor companion, Sister Greene who is super short, was knee deep in the snow all day. I don't think she thought it was as fun as Sister Jensen and I did. We had a lesson with Chris, who is getting baptized on the
30th of November, and it was the best lesson I have ever ever had. We had planned a pretty simple one and really just talked about writing down and sharing our testimonies and the lesson just kind of turned into a testimony meeting. You could almost see the spirit in the room it was so strong and Chris told us all the things that missionaries pray to hear with the people we are teaching. That this gospel has changed not only the way he thinks, but also the way he feels. That he is finally able to say, for the first time in his life that he can feel his Savior and Heavenly Father's love. He told us about a couple of the experienced he has had with his prayers since he started taking the lessons and coming to church. We were all crying by the end of the lesson. That is what missionary work is about. If I serve the rest of my mission and Chris is the only one we teach and have baptized, it will be worth it for me. Sitting in that room on Wednesday, I got to witness the way that the Atonement not only soothes but actually heals wounded souls. To be able to see a child of God turn into the embrace of our Heavenly Father that is ALWAYS waiting for them has been the greatest blessing I could ever receive, and is a fervent reminder for me just how saving this work is. At our lesson with the chris' family
on Friday night, his wife Lori told us that Chris had kept her up half way through the night talking about how strongly he finally had felt the spirit and how he wanted everyone to feel what he had felt.
Thursday we got to do some more door knocking and finding because we had our appointment for service shine us. I don't know who doesn't want service done but such is mission life haha. We also got to visit our mission grandpa, Harold. I don't know if I have told y'all about Harold before but he is literally the sweetest old man ever. We usually see him on Tuesdays but had to switch this week because we were out of town for the training this week. We love to visit him in the nursing home, he will always tell us stories about his life and we read him stories from the scriptures. Plus, whenever we go into the nursing home, it's like we are celebrities! All the old people just wheel out to the hallway and watch us walk by, we have made quite a few friends there just talking to them in the hall or in the dining area. Sometimes, if we are early we have to wait for Harold to get out of dialysis so we will chat with Robert or Bill. Robert is a sad one, he tells us about his wife leaving him whenever we talk to him and we don't really know what to say anymore so usually we just sing to him and Bill tells us about all of the adventures he has been on in his life.Bill is pretty funny except in the mornings apparently. Harold used to be his roommate and told us that he used to wake up super early and yell swears at all the nurses that walked by so Harold requested a room change. We get filled in on all the elderly drama, it's the highlight of our week ha!
Friday was TRANSFER CALLS!! Sister Jensen is leaving as expected but Sister Greene and I will both stay here and get a new companion.. which we did not expect. We were both pretty bummed that there wasn't more change but we are excited now. It was funny because when we got off the phone we both just looked at each other and were like "Dang it." But as the day went by we started planning out the transfer and now we are pumped for all of the miracles we are going to see this next month or so. Plus, holidays in St Jo are going to be awesome because the members here are the BEST! Literally, the best in the whole mission.. I may be biased but we go maybe, tops, one day every two weeks without dinner.. The elders have it a little worse.. they have to go one day every week without dinner, it's a hard life out here. not. we are stuffed like turkeys and we love it.
Saturday, more door knocking and lessons, nothing too exciting happened but we did get to go to my favorite place in the whole world, the projects of Benton Harbor. I seriously love that places, we always meet funny people and get good stories and Patrica, the member we visit there, is a hoot and MAN is she sassy!! She is so loving and kind though, to everyone, so there are always neighborhood people running through her doors. Hoodrats and hooligans, she helps them all and so we get to have lessons with all kinds of people. We need more people like her, she is truly amazing. I'm not exactly sure what her condition is but she gets a nasty, debilitating pain in her legs and hips, some days she can't even get out of bed. She is caring for her twin grandchildren who are 8 because her son died of cancer a couple of years ago. She will get up every day to get them food and dressed and off to school, then spends the day playing mother to everybody and their dogs, solving their problems, listening to their issues and even feeding them. When the kids get home she takes an hour with each of them, tutoring them with their homework, making sure they understand. She always gets her visiting teaching done, and she does it all with a smile, never complaining, always grateful for what she does have though she can barely walk most days. I am so inspired by her example every time we go to see her. Her faith in Heavenly Father is unwavering and that is so amazing to me because a lot of people could find things to complain about in her situation. Whenever we ask what we can do to help her, she just shakes her head and says "keep helping others, the Lord is taking care of me just fine." We had to stop asking and just do or she would never give us anyway to serve her. I just think about how important it is to be grateful for what we have. No matter how big or small, they are there. No matter the trials we have, we have infinitely more blessings and if we stop and look at them we will be able to see just how much Heavenly Father is working to support us.
I hope that you all have a great week and really strive, as we are preparing for Thanksgiving this year, to look up and see the blessings that we all have been given. And as we identify the blessings, let us thank our Heavenly Father in our prayers everyday. Like is says in Psalms 92:1, it is a good thing to give thanks to our Lord.
I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!
te amo
Sister Seagraves
P.S. -Yes it's true my family is moving away while I'm on my mission! Contact them now via stake directory to find out their new address and such.
