Hey y'all,Not much has happened this week.
From Tuesday to Wednesday we had exchanges. This time I got to go to Bardstown with Sister Barnes, that was really nice! She told me I better be prepared to bike and I was so excited for this. Both of us spent quite some time in bike areas, so it was a lot of fun to bike around with someone comfortable on a bike. I actually miss biking through town y'all! It was taken from me too soon!
While exchanges was fun for me, Sister Johnson had a very different experience. Let me just say that I am so grateful that Heavenly Father let me have one last good exchange! I never have to do one ever again and I am SO RELIEVED.
We have been doing a lot more finding this week, so that's been a blast of course. You get to meet all kinds of interesting souls out there. One gal we met was super open and told us she was looking for a religion, but she was visiting her parents home and actually lives in Louisville! Kinda sad, but then we got her hooked up with the YSA sisters up there and they have already been able to talk to her!
The best part of the week was Friday when we got to drive up to Louisville to hear from Elder Stansfield of the Seventy. He was awesome. He said we (the missionaries) need to enjoy the conversation more. Oftentimes when we meet people we just run through the typical missionary contact approach and that seldom ever works. I have been fighting that my whole mission. The best contacts I have ever had with people was when I nerded out with them about Batman or gardening or chickens, or talked about favorite bands and cartoons. When they saw that we were real people behind the nametag, they were no longer scared of us and we could actually share a message with them. It's harder to treat someone like they aren't human if you are walking and talking like any other normal person. Yes, we represent Christ and yes, we have a purpose behind everything we do, but that doesn't mean we can't be ourselves. The Lord needs us to be ourselves, to be His servants in our own unique way. That's the only way we can actually bring people unto Christ.
I think missionaries de-humanize themselves too. It's easy to be numb to everything. There's so much pressure, everything is so repetitive, and it feels like we're expected to do everything perfectly- even though we're not, and for some that can cause them to become "robotic." A hard working, diligent and obedient missionary does not equal being a robot, but a missionary that is doing all those things out of fear or out of obligation loses all purpose behind why they are on a mission. Sometimes I have felt the robot come out in me, but this last Mission Tour we had helped me realize what I was doing, and to knock it off. Honestly, I started being afraid of talking to people again. I hate feeling like I have an agenda behind every contact. And after that tour I felt new again, like I remembered how to talk to people, like I could find the joy in missionary work again.
Also, when it's a missionaries' last Zone Conference you get asked to bear your testimony. I thought, for some reason, that I would get out of it since a Seventy was coming and it wasn't a normal Zone Conference. Nope! I was wrong! Nearly all my girls that came out with me were up there with me and it was the most surreal experience ever. All I could do was cry. I can't believe I'm leaving Kentucky in 3 weeks.
So yeah, that was great. Saturday we just seemed to be in the right places at the right times. We tried to find this one guy named Scott, but his house looked kinda abandoned. We asked his neighbors, they looked like they were having a family reunion or something, and they said that no one lived there anymore. So then we explained who we were, and one of the ladies wanted us to pray with her. Her daughter had returned home after years of not seeing one another, so we prayed with them and thanked God for answering their prayers. It was so sweet and it was so crazy that we met them all when we did.
After that, we went to this other place to try and meet this gal named Lori who the sisters had taught a little bit before. We met some of her family, but when she pulled up she ran right inside. So, that was weird. However, her dad came and talked to us for a good long while and turns out he knows the Fawbush's from our branch! We had a great conversation with him, and he opened right up. We didn't get to talk to Lori, but we got to know her family better so I'll take it 😁
Sunday was a good day, we sang with the youth at the Linger Longer after the meetings which was so much fun! We were legit! We had a bass, guitar and ukelele. On top of that we found out that the Pearson's all got their temple recommends and they are planning on going this Saturday and we got permission to go with them!!!! I am so excited!!!
Anyways, I feel so scatter brained today, so hopefully this email makes sense! I love you all! Enjoy the rest of May! It's ending soon! To all y'all in school, you'll be free soon, hang in there!
With love,
Sister Wilcox ❤❤❤
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