Hello Hello!!!!
LAST WEEK WAS THE BEST WEEK I HAVE HAD SINCE LAST WINTER IN SHIPROCK!!!!!! We had the best week for missionary work and numbers since I was in Shiprock, and it felt FANTASTIC!!!! We worked our tails off, and it worked. We were able to DOUBLE our numbers from last week, and reach a couple of the mission-wide weekly goals. IT FELT INCREDIBLE! We found new people to teach, taught lots of lessons, and loved the heck out of everybody! Oh, missionary work is so great! Yay life.
(Can ya tell I'm feeling really good?)
On Wednesday we were sure that I was going to be a terrible miserable day. It was nasty hot and we had absolutely NOTHING planned. Not fun.....that is until we got a referral from the mission office to see a family...Mom requested a missionary visit, and she had 3 children, one of which was baptized. Ok, so that's kinda odd, but we can totally work with that. We find the apartment and there is a young girl, around 11 out front. She kinda looked at us funny as we walked up...so I gave her a little wave. Then her face lit up and she waved back. I asked if Barbara live there. "YES!" and she ran to the door. "Mom, the missionaries are here!" We hear a voice from inside: "Oh good, let them in"....IF THAT'S NOT THE RESPONSE YOU WANT TO HEAR THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!!! They had recently moved from a small town by Kayenta on the rez to Farmington. They went to the branch there, where only 20 people attend max, and the missionaries are Senior couples. The daughter (Aviana, the 11 year old) was baptized. I asked why mom and dad were not baptized. "Oh, we're not married. We've been together for 12 years, and he's proposed a dozen times, but we never knew how to do it."
I GASPED! (not internally either) WWHHHHAAATTTT?????
Well guess what, I plan weddings for fun!!!!! And I've done it on the rez too! WOOTTT!!!!
SO, I got my hopes up. We fell in love with the family immediately. The other 2 children, Elijah and Alisia, are dolls. Aviana wants to learn everything, and is one of the most pure and tender spirits EVER!!!! LOVE THEM!! We spent an hour just telling her the stories that go along with the pictures in the Gospel art book. (She like the book so much that we went out and bought one at the mini LDS bookstore in town.) They said to come by again on Friday.
We show up Friday, and the kids come running out to us crying. NOT GOOD. Mom was kicking dad out of the house while we spoke in the parking lot. WOW. But she still wanted the kids to have the lesson. SO we went inside and taught the children, ALL WHILE MOM AND DAD ARE FIGHTING AND DEALING WITH ALL THAT CRAP. My heart just ached and crumbled inside, watching the expressions on the kids faces. They were a mess, but the worst part was, this is not the first time its happened...Oh, I was so ticked at the whole situation. But I had to keep a calm and loving face to keep the children in a slightly decent mood.
There was a Stake Pioneer Celebration at the park on Saturday, so we made sure to get rides for everyone. We were at the apartment when their ride showed up...But you should have seen the look on our faces when dad was there, dressed and ready to go. ...um...ok.....
So we go to the activity. Let me help you visualize...Lots of people, lots of food, lots of kids. Slip 'n slide, face painting, and a zip-line.... A ZIP-LINE!!!!!!!!! Dang, I wanted to ride it BAD!!! But to add to the fun, Sister Rowley and I were dressed up as full blown pioneers! yup! Mom sent my bonnet to me, and included one for Sister Rowley too. We were so tickled with them that we asked President if we could get all dressed up...His face totally lit up and gave us a great big "Go For It!!!" SWEET! We looked so good!!! There was a lady in the ward who let us borrow her daughter's trek costumes, and we had a blast.
The other missionaries would show up, get a look at us, smirk, and then ignore us for the rest of the night. I guess we were just not cool enough for them...But who gives a HOOT!!??!!! Not us! We had fun. We had lots of compliments. The members thought it was awesome. And the families we brought with us thought it was way fun....So, I don't give a rat's patootie what the other missionaries thought.
Well, that was our wonderful week. now the goal will be to try to have this one do just as well!
Love you lots!!
Sister Wilkins
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