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| Me and my new companion, Sis. Crandall. |
My new address:
Sis. Heather Salmond
109 Frost Circle Apt Z101
Sheffield, AL 35661
Saying Goodbye to Sylacauga and the people I love there is always hard. I never want to leave my newly acquired family! However, I know it's a good thing, full of new opportunities of growth. Before I left though, we were able to do a few fun things as a final Hoorah! Monday, after emailing, Justin took us on a hike with the Elders! The four of us hiked around and along the way we came across a huge Rattlesnake! Ah! Justin shot the snake several times until finally he was down. It was a heart racer, let me tell ya! We all came out safe though. The Lord (and Justin) definitely protected us. :)
Also, Tuesday, we had my last mutual with the girls! Taylor is back in town from the whole summer and was able to join us. Sis. Shattuck and I taught a lesson on modesty and then all of us piled in the car and headed to a thrift store! (Thrift stores are huge here and you can find real gems!) We had the girls find clothes for school that could be modest. I found a real gem in the kid's section, ironically. I couldn't help but try it on! It was so GIRLY! It would've been a keeper, except that it wouldn't zip all the way. (Pretty good though considering it was a kid size...) I still flaunted it, as long as my back was to the wall. Pretty soon all the girls wanted to try on a fun dress. They all picked one out and put them on in the dressing room. We all took a picture together. Funny enough, everyone ended up being in an immodest dress (in at least some small way), which was opposite to our original purpose. Either way, we posed, had lots of fun and not one of us left with any of those dresses. haha.
Now I am serving in Russellville and overall, it is great! We have an amazing ward with incredible missionary support system. We are kind of starting from scratch, since there haven’t been sisters in the area last transfer full-time. It is kind of a weird situation... We have only one investigator, Tom, who is scheduled to be baptized on Aug. 23rd! Besides that, we have a clean slate! There is much work here for us to do!
Really quickly: Tom totally reminds me of Paul Theodore! He loves Native American stuff and told me the story why bunnies have short tails! I told him briefly the story of the skunk and why it has the white stripe. It was so fun! I felt like I was 6 or 7 again!
The other day, Sister Crandall and I saw a man playing catch with his girl outside. We spoke with him and asked if we could come back and share a message with him and his family. He agreed and told us we could come back Sunday afternoon.
Sunday afternoon rolls around and we gear up and get on our bicycles. The weather is beautiful with a mild breeze. A little toasty, but good biking conditions. Little did I know, in just a matter of minutes, I would once again discover God's beautiful sense of humor. haha.
We bike down the road on the sidewalk. It seemed like everything was torn up and having construction done. SO hard to bike on! I just told myself, it's ok. After this road, things will be a piece of cake. Turned left at the railroad tracks. Kept going. A guy in a car pulled up to me and asked if I had Christian literature that he could read. I told him sure and to pull up ahead. My companion warned, "Be Careful Sister!" Not gonna lie, we were in a sketchy part of town and he looked a little sketchy, but I can't turn down an opportunity or God may not be so quick to give me another one. So I took her advice and was cautious, but pursued on. I gave him a Restoration pamphlet. He asked if I could read the word with him. It was quite apparent he was more interested in me than the doctrine we shared. I gave him the number and told if he called, we would have someone come teach him more (aka. the Elders). Just then, a crack of thunder and a few sprinkles began to come down. Of course! My hitter then asked if he could give me a ride. "No way buddy!" At least that is what I was thinking, but instead I politely smiled and said, "No thank you, it's just down the street." We got back on our bikes and booked it! As we proceeded, the road did not look familiar. Did we go too far? Did we turn at the wrong place? We turned around. The rain was coming down in sheets. We pedaled hardly being able to see in front of us and hysterically laughing. This would happen to us!
A few minutes later, my dear friend pulled up again. Dang it! He found us! "Do you want a ride? We can go to my house right there and read the word?" Normally this would be very sweet and a great missionary opportunity; however, his intentions were clear as he looked me up and down. Once again, I denied him with water dripping down my face and rain pouring around me. Probably wasn't very convincing, but better safe than sorry!
We got back onto the main road to make the correct left turn over the train tracks. Oops! That was my mistake! Randomly, the rain stopped! Yippee! It became clear skies and the sun was beating on us once again. It was hot now! (This Alabama weather is crazy!) Only five to ten minutes later, we felt another drip. Uh-oh Sister! Here it comes! The rain dumped on us AGAIN! We arrived at the house as it poured. We were drenched with some NICE helmet hair, makeup running down our face, and mud all over our legs and skirt. I can assure you, we smelled great. ;)
We knocked. A dog barked and then nothing. THERE IS NO WAY! I knocked again. No response. We totally got stood up! After all that! haha. Life is hard. ;) We didn't come all this way for nothing! The Lord sent us here for nothing and it's our job to find out why. We contacted people all up the street and finally came across a sweet girl, April. She has a friend that's Mormon! We sat and talked with her, sharing back and forth a few basics of what we believe. She said we could come back and share more!
The whole situation, leading up to this man's house seemed like a big joke. We actually laughed a ton because of the irony of it all. Yet, the Lord blessed us to find April cuz we trekked through it and had the faith to find the one.
The Lord, regardless how ridiculous situations may seem, will support us in our righteous desires! I love being on a mission and hope y'all are having a great week! Take care!
I love y'all lots! Send me letters! ;)
Sister Salmond
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