Omaha NebraTHka

Hello!!

What a WEEK!! oh my goodness i can't believe all that has happened this week. Miracles are real. and the Lord is so good to us.

First off:

thank you for the sweet notes/gift cards/sister socks!!/goodies/skirts that i received this week! receiving packages is always so great and fun, and makes my day. so thank you for thinking of me! it was also a miracle to receive it straight from the hands of Mom and Matthew. man. that was incredible. I love you both and am so grateful that we experienced that small bit of heaven together! 

i'll start with the fun facts first today since i have been laughing about it for the past two days haha:

Fun Facts:

1. The Otto tribe named this area of the Americas after their word for "flat water, or river". The word for that in Otto is "NebraTHka". hahaha. it was eventually americanized with an S. So, yes. I am serving in the Omaha NebraTHka mission. haha.

2. This week we were trying some less actives in the ward, and we decided to try a man who we had never seen. He answered the door, looked at us, and said "who are you?" i then began to say "we are missionaries from the..." and he interrupted me by yelling "i know who you are! get off my property and NEVER come back!" haha. that one has never happened. it was awesome.

3. We spent a few hours this week pulling weeds around the temple/visitors center. never have i loved doing yard work so much. it was the first time i had worn jeans in 4 months - they still fit. miracle right there haha. it was so fun, and i am now even more grateful for the blessing i have to serve next to a temple! 

4. CLARK - I chatted yesterday with a girl named Avia from Scotland! We set her for baptism over chat and it was incredible! she expressed how she felt like no one in Scotland needs religion, and how she feels so alone. I was able to bear testimony to her, and told her about how you served a mission there and how she is not alone. it was incredible and i was thinking of you the whole time!

Miracles of the week!!

This has been a crazy week, but so full of miracles it's insane. You know how the saying goes, "when it rains, it pours"? that is what Heavenly Father has been doing this week and i am so grateful. last week was a rough week, but this week was SO much better and i know that I needed last week to be grateful for this week. 

We went over to Ty and Troy's this week to teach Ty about the word of wisdom. I was really nervous, just because i know Troy has major word of wisdom problems. It is never easy to call people to repentance haha so i was anxious. I had been praying all day for it to go smoothly, and had confidence that the Lord would provide. We walked into their house and it was so amazing to see how the Lord had prepared them that day to hear what we were going to teach. Ty was super preoccupied (no coincidence at all) so we really just taught the lesson to Troy. He opened up to us and expressed how he is struggling with having hope that he can change, and that he can actually receive the blessings of the gospel. We were able to commit him to living the word of wisdom. It was incredible, and he is willing to continue progressing so that he can be fully active again. I am so grateful that the Lord is SO aware of us. and doesn't it blow your mind how He is able to set everything up JUST right so that miracles can happen? It is amazing.

So on Saturday we were supposed to meet with our new investigator, Danielle, but she cancelled last minute. So sad. We had a team up to go with us so we were bummed. But we ended up eating lunch at Sister Quennett's (team up) and she was so gung-ho about finding people that we decided to do just that. We went around her trailer park to every person she knew in it haha and knocked on their doors. Sis Quennett would get so antsy at the door that she would knock 5 to 6 times and ring the door bell at least 3 times. hahaha. i was biting my tongue so hard so i wouldnt laugh. it was hilarious but also amazing. She had caught the bug of missionary work and she was so excited to see any success. She prayed before we knocked on one door that she would be able to give out her pass along card. No one was home, and she said "i guess my prayer wasnt good enough". we told her that her prayer was perfect, we just need to keep knocking because obviously that wasnt the door we needed to go to. sure enough, the next door we go to we were able to talk to the man and she was able to pass out her card. she was ECSTATIC. i love seeing people catch the missionary wave! she bore her testimony on sunday about it hahaha and it was incredible.

On Saturday we were on exchanges, so i was with Sister Harrison. she is an INCREDIBLE missionary. we came out together, and so it was so fun to get to spend the day with her. after we left sister Quennett's we had a dinner appointment with a member. We showed up, and it was the member's son's graduation party haha. talk about awkward. but it was amazing because we were supposed to be there! we sat on the couch and started talking to the man next to us. His name is Kevin, and after a few minutes were on the floor laughing. He is probably in his late 70's, and he is cracking jokes about old people and how "they" do this and "they" do that. He also talked to us about how Omaha steaks are the best in the world. I told him that i hadnt had a steak since being here and i literally thought i gave him a heart attack haha. (oh by the way he isnt a member) He instantly says, "well you two are coming over next weekend and i am making steak!" little does he know that he will get salvation out of it too. haha. it was SO awesome and i cant wait to see where it goes!

Sunday morning, i called our investigator Danielle (who had cancelled) and asked her if she was coming to church. She was already planning on it and was on her way! that NEVER happens so i almost dropped the phone! haha. it was fast and testimony meeting, which is always scary, haha but it was the most incredible meeting i have had on my mission. i know that the Lord helped prompt the testimonies given because they were so inspired. Danielle LOVED it. ah. it was amazing. She will get baptized.

k well i could tell story after story, but i am running out of time! I love you all so much. The church is true. Our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can even comprehend. I don't know how i got so lucky to be serving here in Nebraska. Nebrathka. ha. I love it.

Let's do this!

Sister LP