It's Nothing Less Than Scandelous, That Jesus Took Our Place. Just Call It What It Is; Call It Grace.

Monday, May 20, 2018

Burke, Virginia

Things are hoppin' here in Burke! 

We had a tornado warning on Monday night and thunderstorms. It was so pretty outside! We were eating with a member.  Their power went out , and our car coordinator told us to not drive for a while, so we stayed for FHE with them. 

Waiting out the storm with the S* family during FHE.

So, to start off on a happy note, our downstairs neighbor is psychotic. Just kidding. That's not happy.  Last week, on Monday night, we went to bed and did our journal writing and scripture reading and all that fun missionary stuff from the comfort of our beds so that we wouldn't walk and incur the wrath of our buddy downstairs. Well, it didn't work. You see, apparently he could hear us breathing, so he decided that he needed to bang on the ceiling with a hard object every twenty minutes from 3:30 am to 6:30 am. We counted, and he aggressively made sure we weren't able to sleep NINE times. Needless to say, I was a little grumpy when my alarm went off that morning. We talked to the senior couple over housing, and they said they would talk to the leasing office and potentially have us moved. I'll keep you posted. 

Good news, though! That morning, we got up and got ready and went to "Train the Trainer." It was good. I learned lots. Although, when President was in the middle of bearing his testimony to us about the importance of being a good example so that the Spirit can be with us, my alarm went off SUPER loudly and it started playing "Through Heaven's Eyes" when Jethro (or Brian Stokes Mitchell) is singing his little chanty thing around the fire. I thought it was the person sitting next to me, so I was a little bit miffed. I was like "Dude. President is speaking." But then I realized it was, in fact, coming from my tablet, and that it was my responsibility to end the loud interruption. Everyone just looked at me. *facepalm* Sorry, President! I promise that this slight mishap does not reflect my ability to train! (It's a good thing that Sister Merritt is training with me, or I don't know how I would do it. I'm not old enough for this!) 

Sister Anderson is super excited to be a missionary! She was originally supposed to go to Turkey, but when she was in the MTC, the missionaries were pulled out of Turkey, so she was reassigned here temporarily! And we get her! 

Sister Merritt welcoming Sister Anderson to the Trio.

The Trio!  Kleven - Anderson - Merritt

The Trio after meeting with A*.

 I wonder what they clean these keyboards with.  I do not want diseases.  There is a sticky-fingered baby in a stroller next to me, and we keep making awkward eye contact.  We keep catching the other one looking and then quickly look away.  I'm pretty casual at it, though.  I've got some sweet skills.

We've done a lot of work with the members this past week. One of the sisters in the ward just got surgery, and she hasn't been able to clean her house for a while, so she asked us to help her with that. We got to wear pants and play in her ball pit for a second. How cool is that? Speaking of, remind me to invest when I come home. Incredibly therapeutic. But man, she has the best story ever. Probably the strongest and bravest person ever. Also, she has the cutest 3-year-old down-syndrome son that I just want to cuddle. They have a much greater capacity to love than the rest of us. Isn't that just special? 

This picture is special, too.

We had a Bring-Your-Friend-to-Church Day yesterday, and there were a grand total of 0 non-members there. It's okay. I know a lot of members invited their friends and neighbors, but none could make it. We did get to go into Primary and share a message with them, and that was enjoyable. I miss Primary. 

Anderson & Kleven - finding investigators and sharing The Book of Mormon.

The Trio - finding investigators and sharing The Book of Mormon.

I have been studying more about grace recently. Isn't it a fascinating topic? In 2 Nephi 25:23, it says:  "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." We know that through grace, we are saved. Jesus Christ is the one who made it possible. I've always thought that the "we" in "after all we can do" is talking about people in general. I've come to the conclusion that I believe the "we" is talking about me + Christ. After I have done everything I can do and after Christ does all he can do, that's when we are saved. I love grace. 

Whelp, I think that's all. Love you all! 

Love,

Me

PS - Here are pics of people in Burke, all of whom I love:

At M*'s house.

With M* at the home of the A* family.