Nine Miracles

To start off, I just want to brag about the training that the assistants gave at transfer meeting.

First of all, instead of excluding the missionaries who are merely companions of "the leaders," the assistants invited every missionary who was not training to attend the "Mission Leadership" meeting. After all, every single one of us is in a position to influence others for good, so we are all leaders.

The assistants passed out pieces of paper so that everyone could take notes, even if we forgot to bring a study notebook with us to the meeting. We then watched President Monson's conference talk on obedience. The Spirit taught me that daily obedience requires discipline. The discipline I learn here will help me be obedient when I get home from my mission. The Spirit also taught me that I was being really negative at the time. I decided that I wanted and needed to change that (i.e. I needed to repent). I learned that it is only possible to be exactly obedient if we are doing it out of love. One of the missionaries in the room quoted the Doctrine and Covenants, which teaches that "no [missionary] receiveth the fulness unless [s]he keepeth His commandments" (Kirtland, Ohio, May 1833). The guide to a successful transfer is obedience to the commandments of God.

I came out of the meeting with a renewed commitment to obey every commandment with exactness, every time. Sister Chausow and I talked today about our zone's culture. She said that she feels our zone is at an 8 out of 10 on the "obedience" scale. That's good. But it's not exact obedience. We have been striving, every day, for exact obedience. We get up at 6:20 so that we can have a full 30 minutes of exercise time every morning. Before her mission, Sister Chausow printed out some "pinterest" workouts, which she keeps in a ziploc bag. Every other day, we draw out a workout from her bag. On the other three days, we walk and jog. Getting 30 minutes of good exercise is something that we can control. When 7 o'clock rolls around, we can feel confident in knowing that so far, we have been exactly obedient. We are starting our day guilt-free.

I have also committed myself to writing a little something in my journal every single night. I am trying to focus on "how I saw God's hand in my life" and "how I got to be God's hands in somebody else's life." It's a good way for me to reflect on the day. And these are the things that I really desire to remember.

Sister Chausow and I have committed to each other that we are going to be exactly obedient. Sometimes we have to problem-solve together to figure out how we are going to be exactly obedient. Like I learned at the transfer meeting, obedience requires discipline. I strongly believe that it is because of our increased obedience (and repentance) that we have seen some little miracles every single day this transfer.

On Wednesday, Sister LeBlanc (active, unendowed convert, needs strenghtening) took us out to dinner. Sister Chausow warned me beforehand that she probably was taking us to dinner because she figured we wouldn't be able to talk about spiritual things at a restaurant. Serendipitously, the hostess seated us in the back in a quiet little booth. We talked with her about temples and found out her real concern. It did not "count" as a lesson, but Sister Chausow said that she had never opened up that much before. (First miracle.)

Then we had a lesson with the Eades (active, need strengthening). We met Sister Eades' teenage son and her son's teammate. We taught a lesson about the little things and the sacrament with a non-member present. (Second miracle.) We need to follow up with Sister Eades to see what Tori thought about the lesson.

During weekly planning, I learned about how Sister Jones and Sister Chausow were using their own version of 5-5-5 to strive for balance in their lessons. Right now, we want to teach five lessons to investigators, five lessons to returning members, and five lessons to active members every week. Once we hit 5-5-5, we will switch our goal to 6-6-6. Once we hit 6-6-6, we weill switch to 7-7-7. Or at least that's the plan at this point.

We took our lunch break on Thursday to take a returning member named Karen out to frozen yogurt for her birthday. She was turning 22, so we taught her a lesson about where and WHO she was 25 years ago. She shared with us that she wants the Book of Mormon and the Church to be true, but she doesn't know if they are yet. Sister Chausow did a great job introducing and using Alma 32:27 to answer Karen's question of the soul. She, too, opened up to us in a way that she never had before. (Third miracle.)

On Saturday a less-active sister named Jennifer called us and asked for help. Right before transfers, this very same sister told Sister Jones and Sister Chausow that she didn't want to meet up with the missionaries any more. We got to deliver her food order to her and share a brief spiritual thought on grace. We also gave her adorable daughter two coloring pages with gospel themes. (Fourth miracle.)

Ever since I have been in the area, we have tried contacting a referral named Lily. We have been calling her every day at a different time. On Thursday and Friday when we called her, we did not leave a message (which is a tip that I learned from Sister Megan Spencer). On Saturday, we left a message. An hour later, she called us back and set up a return appointment for Tuesday. (Fifth miracle.)

Saturday evening, we stopped by the Risutto family. Sister Risutto is a family member and Brother Risutto is a non-member who used to be hostile to the missionaries but who now tolerates us. When we got to their house, we knocked on their door and waited. They didn't answer. We knocked again. Still no answer. Sister Chausow suggested that we call them, so we did. Brother Risutto answered the phone and I spoke to him. When he realized that we were missionaries, he passed the phone to his wife and we set up an appointment for later on in the week. We ended the call in a warm manner and Sister Chausow started writing a note to put in their door. As she was putting the note in the door, the Risuttos pulled up. Now, this encounter could have been really awkward. We were basically "caught" calling them right at their doorstep. But my impetuousness in this case may have helped us as I found myself speaking to the Risuttos: "Oh no! You caught us!" They laughed. I continued: "My dad - he's not Mormon - get's SOOO annoyed whenever the missionaries just 'drop by' to see him! And now we're doing the same thing!" Again, they laughed. And then Brother Risutto asked us if we had to leave, or if we could come in for a bit. (Sixth miracle.) We said we would love to stay, and then we helped them carry in their groceries.

In the past, Brother Risutto has stayed in the living room while the sisters talk to and teach his wife in the kitchen. This time, he came into the kitchen and made small talk. He asked where we were from. It was very hopeful. (Seventh miracle.)

After we read 2 Nephi 8 with Sister Risutto, we went back out to our car. As we were getting in, Sister Chausow got the impression to go talk to the Risutto's neighbors. It looked like they were drinking in their car port, and I really don't like arguing with drunk people, so I didn't really want to go talk to them. I warned her that they were probably drunk, but I said that I didn't really mind getting insulted, since that was the worst we could do (which was a fitting and inspired resonse, given what we read in 2 Nephi 8). Turns out they were just frying fish, and one of the people invited us to pray with her and come back another day. So now we have a PI named Anita. (Eighth miracle).

Yesterday we found out from Sister Tchoukalov that Sister Scott's husband is willing to meet with us missionaries. Here's why this is so cool: Sister Jones and Sister Chausow had identified a "trifecta" of non-member husbands. Brother Scott is one of them. Sister Jones and Sister Chausow had been practicing their teaching skills with Sister Scott by teaching her the first three lessons, and they were starting on teaching her all of the commandments. Sister Chausow thought that Sister Scott was annoyed at them. So the fact that she not only wants to continue meeting with us sister missionaries, but that she also wants us to teach her non-member husband, in another miracle. The ninth miracle, I think. And just to top it all off, Sister Tchoukalov is one of the assigned visiting teachers for Sister Scott. So we are getting this "tip" in the Lord's appointed way. The members of the Church are doing the finding, and then we missionaries will get to do the teaching. That is how we align the keys.

I know I've written a ton, but it's been a really good week. I am thrilled to be here, serving with Sister Chausow. She has opened up to me and helped me *understand* that she needs me to give her words of affirmation so that she can feel loved. I can do that. I like words.