Mission Newsletter #36

Tom got Baptized this week in Russellville! We are so happy for him! We all wore the Indian items he gave us to the baptism. Sister Crandall- Dream-catcher beaded earrings, Sister Platt (the Sister who was there before me teaching him)- Jean painted shirt of the famous Trail of Tears picture, and Me- Buffalo Necklace. So fun!

Tom's gifts to All of us! (Also, Sister Lewis was down for the day so he gave her a necklace too with Indian beads.) Love it!

So, I love picking up pennies off the floor. Always have. :) They are a simple way to make your day! While being on the mission, I've kind of turned them into my little symbol that a miracle is just around the corner. When you are out walking and tracting, it helps give that extra needed motivation.

This week, we decided to tract a neighborhood we hadn't before. A sweet Shaved Ice truck stopped and gave us a free cone. How sweet! However, as we finished our cones, we had a problem. Our hands were super sticky! We didn't have any place to wash them. We decided to eat the TOAST (a phrase in our mission that represents: Thrive On Awkward Situations with an awkward T at the end), and go up to one of the doors and ask to wash our hands and have that smoothly introduce what we are doing out here and our message. Let me make this clear to you: It. Was. NOT. Smooth.

I got a Hair Cut! The Bangs are Back! (I just couldn't do it anymore. Love them too much.)

Knock, knock. An older man with a cane answers. I explained the situation and asked the man if we could wash our hands. The man looked dumbfounded and like we were idiots as he asked, "Are you kidding me?" "...No?" I responded. He then just walked away from the door. The wife came. Sheepishly, I had re-explain our situation. She cocked her head and gave us that look again. After a few moments of awkward silence with our hands out and questionable cheesy smiles, she pointed to her bathroom door and walked away.

We were given two Teddy Bears, which we needed to donate to the Salvation Army. They were stinking up our car a little bit so we put them on our front porch. When we came back at the end of the day, the bears died from the heat. haha. Was too funny to pass up! 

Yep, it was one of "those" tracting days. We were a little defeated to say the least. haha. We were just like, let's just go down this way, see if there's anyone and then call it good. As we walked to this next area, I saw a penny. "Oo! A Penny Sister! It's a sign!" I exclaimed. But then there was another penny and another! There were 6 pennies! I then told Sis. Crandall, "Sister, this means the Lord is going to lead us to 6 people. Maybe it's a family or something! All I know is that there'll be 6!" Sis. Crandall just kind of chuckled at my ridiculousness and we crossed the street. As we went around the corner, there were indeed 6 Hispanic Construction workers! Normally, we wouldn't do much but wave, since we don't speak the other's language, but there were 6! I couldn't ignore the sign God just gave me! We marched up to them and discovered only one of them could speak broken English. He said he knew us and the church. He joined last year in Texas and moved to Decatur just a few months ago. He doesn't know where the was church here! We got his number and have passed it along to the missionaries there. I know the Lord leads us to him to help him find his way back to church. Our God is a God of signs and wonders. Just look for His hand and you'll see it, even in the simplest things (such as pennies.) "Seek and ye shall find."

I love you all and hope y'all have a fantastic week!
Remember, Every Penny Counts!
Lots of Love,
Sister Salmond