Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Another Day, Another Dawn

our awesome trip with the Elders.
Waiting in line at Voodoo Donuts

Hello Beautiful People!
So update on Downtown Portland:
It is so fun! But there are definitely A TON of homeless people! and it kind of smells everywhere... We got permission to drive our car down there and met up with some great Elder's who showed us around. Our mission only goes half-way through the bridges towards Vancouver so we walked half-way on the bridge which was really fun. Then we walked over to Voodoo Donuts. I definitely got a super yummy and filling doughnut with Oreo and peanut butter on top. Let's just say, there was no way we could get any food truck food that day! We will leave that for the next adventure in Downtown. We also went by a homeless camp and as we were walking, I saw Elder Willie (funniest person ever) flinch and then look at me with a smile on his face. I was so confused until I looked down and saw a real life human turd on the sidewalk next to me! All the Elders laughed so hard as I frantically ran away laughing. Powell's bookstore was our next stop and it is HUGE. We saw some other great sights and funny people! Great P-day to say the least!
It ain't downtown without some Voodoo

This week was really weird. We did some service every morning for a non-member couple in Gaarde ward. We walked their dogs at 7:30 and then they fed us breakfast, which meant our studies were pushed back and it just was such an off week. It was a great week though! We were fortunate to provide a lot of service. Including when Elder Jacobson, our District Leader, totally tricked us into cleaning a house for a Jewish couple who use missionaries for service. But it was all good and we did it gladly. We also cleaned out the garage of this old man and then our new favorite less-active sister, P, pulled up and ended up helping us too! She had just gone to the farmers market and bought us flowers! She is the kindest lady and we really love her.

Speaking of P, she has been our little miracle. We have been trying for a long time to get a hold of her and a couple weeks ago we finally did! She had us come over and it was just perfect timing. She has had a hard year and things were finally going better THAT VERY DAY we visited. She has two cats who don't ever come out to see anyone, but they did for us and she was just so amazed and kept saying that we were "special young ladies." The next time we went to her house, she said she was quitting smoking the next day. We definitely have seen so many amazing miracles with her and get to have dinner with her this Wednesday which we are SUPER excited about!!

Sister A and I got to sit in during a Patriarchal Blessing for a lady named Rose who we love. She has come back to church and is just the most amazing person. It was the coolest experience!

Saturday night at around 8 I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament at 9 the next morning. Well, I was one of TWO speakers. I ended up talking for 20 minutes and I prepared for 30! The Lord definitely helps you when you need it because some how that was probably one of the best talks I have ever given in church.

I loved what our Zone Leader, Elder Wilkinson, said in District meeting this week. He gave some really long and seemingly pointless story about his childhood but then related it back to joy and it was great! He talked about how "men are that they might have joy." This life is not a steady stream of sorrow with little intervals of joy, it is a joyful path with bits of trials and sorrow. There will always be happiness right around the corner. ENJOY the path, don't just endure it.
Love you all!
-Sister Waite








1 comment:

  1. How delightful it is to read your blog! Love it! You are awesome!
    Love you!
    Natalie Jacobsmeyer

    ReplyDelete