Just a note from me, Alysa's mom, we left for holidays Monday morning shortly after receiving her e-mails, so this post is late. There will be another Monday or Tuesday:
July 15, 2013
Thanks for all of the e-mails! I don't know if I will have time to reply to all of them because today we are meeting with out zone and another zone to have a water balloon fight. It is so hot outside and I am getting pretty tanned. (My face has also broken out...it's probably the stress + weather + the fact that maybe God wants to help out with our problem of being hit on constantly by creepy men + I needed to be humbled...)
Oh, and Happy Birthday yesterday mom! In honour of your birthday, I spoke in sacrament meeting about Faith and how God can do anything (Mosiah 4:9; my favorite scripture) and THEN, upon request of Brother Appleby, the 2nd Counselor, Sister Jodicke played an arrangement of Come Unto Jesus and I sang a solo for the first time ever, and not the last because the Zone Leaders asked us if we would do it again tomorrow...(they didn't hear it, they claim it was 'inspiration' that they happened to ask us for a musical number this morning...ahhh). Anyway, I thought it fitting seeing as how my mother loves music and sings all of the time. It made me feel close to you on your birthday. :) (I was absolutely terrified once I got up there, and at the beginning I was super shaky but I got through it okay. I felt good about it afterward).
This week has probably been the hardest so far. We were dropped by the mom and son who we had scheduled the week earlier. She felt like she didn't want to leave her comfort zone, and we tried to address her concerns but she just told us that she doesn't want to have lessons any more. It was really sad but I guess people have the ability to choose. They have so much potential though, which makes things hard.
(I'm sorry this e-mail will be all over the place)
Last week at the library, a short black man came up to Sister Jodicke and asked if we could speak with him outside after we were done e-mailing. Hesitantly, she agreed and we went out to speak with him. We had no idea what to expect, but maybe he'd be a miracle investigator of some sort. Well...it was not a t all what I expected. He asked us, "Would you know Jesus if you saw him?"
We replied that we would hope so. Then he said, "Well, today you are lucky because here at the Bramley Library, you have come face to face with Jesus Christ."
I was quite taken aback by this comment...NOT expected.
We politely told him that Jesus Christ would come in a certain way and that he would manifest himself in the same body that he had before, but perfected. The man told us his side of the story... that Christ was re-incarnated into this new body... anyway..it was interesting.
I expected something like that to happen in Salt Lake on Temple Square but, outside of the Bramley Library? (It is the equivalent of that happening at the Magrath Library...)
Next story:
We went on exchanges last Monday night / Tuesday with Sister Leaders, Sister Melander from Idaho, and Sister Kinikini from Utah / California. We had a great time with them. Monday night while we were getting ready for bed, we spotted a HUGE spider in the corner by the bathtub (not as big as the tropics but definitely bigger than anything back home...like, its legs are probably 1.5 inchesa long and you can see the hair on them from across the hall...it could have used a shave).
Needless to say, there was a lot of screaming going on. Also, Sister Melander was standing in the bathtub with the vacuum cleaner hose and one of my running shoes, Sister Jodicke was ready to turn on the switch for the vacuum and was holding a flash light because the light in the bathroom is burnt out, I was perched on the banister of the stairs, and Sister Kinikini was documenting all of this...
After that whole adventure we didn't even get it. It is still living in the crack that is in the corner by the tub, and we've tried to vacuum it up on multiple occasions now. Sister Jodicke was tired of it staring at us while we were in bathroom and so she put a bottle of facial cleanser in front of the crack to block its access. Oh, and we named him Hugo.
On a less exciting note, this week a lot of people flogged (mission lingo for 'didn't show up / forgot about appointments.') It was so hot outside too, which just made us more tired and walking up hills even harder. Saturday evening we ended up walking for hours in the heat because the bus system isn't the greatest, and we had walked a really long way for one appointment, and they flogged us as well. I was more exhausted than I have ever been and I just wanted to lay down in the grass and sleep. We tried our best to keep going and I said a lot of prayers to have the strength to do it. I had to keep thinking about how the pioneers had to keep walking and so I had to too. It reminded me a lot of Zion's Camp. It was the next morning that I woke up with a face full of spots. However, don't think that I am being too negative, I am just letting you know that when we have challenges, we need to keep pressing forward and remember why we are doing what we are doing. I really do love the work and I have become great friends with so many of the members, less actives, and investigators Some of the people I visit make me feel like I am at home again. I will send you some photos of them soon. :)
There were some great miracles this week too. Fiona is really progressing. She has accepted the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. Out of everything involved in those, she was having a hard time understanding why we can't drink on social occasions. We told her to pray about it and to have faith that God can help her to understand. She prayed, and she came to the conclusion that alcohol on any occasion isn't good for anybody. I am so grateful that I have been able to see someone progress this far from the very start. She is really incredible and she has a lot of faith. We also looked up where in South Korea she could attend church (that's where she'll be returning to in August). There is a church building 10 minutes away from her house and the temple is even in her city! (Seoul). Anyway, I love her to death.
I really love teaching appointments. Tonight we have on with Joseph and Chido, a father and his daughter, who are very strong Methodists. We started teaching Chido but then lost contact and decided we should probably talk with her parents too. Joseph refuses to look at anything but the Bible so it is a little frustrating, but the last appointment went okay. It just takes preparation and reliance on the Spirit.
Also, last week we went to a Bible Study with some people from another church (I didn't understand what church, but it's a "Hallelujay! Praise the Lord!" type ones with the majority of the people being black). It was really neat to see how Christians can be close because we all believe in Jesus Christ and all strive to follow him. The opening prayer was somewhat different than how we would do it. We sang "How Great Thou Art!" (Sister Jodicke and I being the only white people there) and then everyone prayed separately out loud (Sister Jodicke and I said our prayers silently). It was a very cultural experience I guess. The topic that we all discussed was about how people have the Light of Christ, and we need to let our light shine. Sister Jodicke and I were even able to share a few scriptures from the Book of Mormon which was cool. The people there were super friendly and considerate.
Anyway, things are going really great. I can't believe another week has gone by. Transfers are next week! (I do not think I will get transferred and I don't necessarily want to, it's just weird that I'm almost done my first.)
Love you all and I am grateful for your support. I am learning so much and look forward to this week's experiences and opportunities to teach people. It is an incredible work that is going on in the mission field.
Love,
Sister Lybbert
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| Sister Lybbert with Anthony, Nicola, Amy, and Chantel (I'm not sure who is not in the pic) |
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| Sis. Lybbert & Jodicke |
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| Sis. Jodicke, Sis. Lybbert, Kia, Jess and Lucy |
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| Kia's cat likes to dring out of the fish tank. |
Oh, and I forgot to mention, St. Bartholomew's church is not the one I have the picture in front if. St. Bartholomew's is a lot bigger.The one I'm next to is a small chapel at the Armley Cemetary in Bramely.
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