Hey!
FIRST THINGS FIRST. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANT!!!! I
hope ya'll (remember how I hate the word "y'all"? Yeah well.
President is from Texas so him and his family say it all the time. Also, all
the missionaries say it. SO I'VE STARTED SAYING IT. But at least I don't have a
sister missionary accent yet!) Anyway, I hope all of you are having the best
time at Bear Lake! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sending me pictures!
Maggie's haircut is so so cute. I can't believe that Grant is 11! HOW IN THE
WORLD DID HE GET SO OLD????? Something I love about Grant is that he has such a
big heart. He loves everyone no matter what and I love him for that. He's such
a sweetheart and I miss his hugs! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUD. I LOVE YOU! (Ps. I hope
you got the card that I sent!) The sisters and I made him a birthday video but
for some reason it won't send, but just know that everyone in Darien,
Connecticut says "Happy Birthday!"
So I basically love being a missionary so much
and I feel like I'm living in a dream because of how great life is. There is SO
much to tell you and so little time! AAAAHHHH. I never knew emailing was so
stressful. WOW.
Every Thursday Sister Sam and I get to go and
serve at the food pantry here in Darien! It's so awesome. They have this cute
little church that members of the community donate food to! It's all run by
volunteers and I LOVE IT. We are there to help the people do their grocery
shopping and make sure they have everything they need to provide for their
families. It's a really cool program! Sister Sam and I were there last week and
this lady was asking me where I was from and before I could even answer she
said "Let me guess. You're from Utah. The God Squad around here is always
from Utah." HAHAHA everyone at the food pantry refers to us as "The
God Squad". There are so many good people here!
BRIDGETTE. Bridgette is so wonderful. She's
getting baptized on August 6th! She's been meeting with missionaries on and off
for about 2 years, but she is GOLDEN. We were talking about the temple last
week and she was telling us about how excited she was to be baptized so that
she could go to the temple. I wish all of you could be here to meet her. She's
very sensitive to the spirit and she's very very smart. She bascially knows
everything and teaches me all the time. I love her.
OLIVER. What a guy. His wife is a member
(SOLID.) and his little girl is probably the most adorable girl I've seen here
in Connecticut so that's cool. Something I've learned from Oliver is that we
have to be humble to learn from the Lord. That's something that he's working
on. He comes from a Jewish family so it's interesting to see his faith grow
every day! He's not quite ready to be baptized, but his faith and his diligence
amaze me every time we meet with him!
I feel so blessed to be here in CT and to have
the Lord trust Sister Sam and me to teach His children the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Someone else that we have the opportunity to teach is Monica. She is so
brave. She's been going through a really horrible divorce and so she stopped
meeting with the missionaries about 2 years ago. BUT. On Thursday, Sister Sam
and I were planning AND SHE TEXTED US SAYING THAT SHE WANTED TO MEET WITH US.
We met with her last week and we were able to testify to her that she can find
peace and healing through the His gospel. The spirit that I feel here in the
mission field is something that I wish I could describe in words. IT'S
INCREDIBLE. Being able to testify to Monica that her pain can be taken away
through Jesus Christ was one of the most powerful experiences I've had as a
missionary. Hearing her pray for the first time out loud made my heart burst.
HOW GREAT IS THIS GOSPEL.
On Friday, Sister Sam and I got to go to a
meeting with President and Sister Smith in Scarsdale, New York! I learned A
LOT. I feel like a huge part of why I was called to the NYNYN mission was
because of President and Sister Smith. I love them! Something that I've been
praying for is for Heavenly Father to help me recognize my weaknesses and what
I can improve on. There's always room for improvement! Something I know is that
Heavenly Father answers prayers. So I know a lot of my weaknesses now and I
know what I need to improve on! HAHA I've been humbled FOR SURE. While I was at
this meeting with President and Sister Smith, I was asked to list some of my
strengths. It's funny because the night before I had made a list of my
weaknesses. SO. What I'm trying to get at here is that if you're going to make
a list of your weaknesses, YOU BETTER MAKE A LIST OF ALL YOUR STRENGHTS TOO. We
all have them! We can always improve, but I feel like our weaknesses are gifts
from our Heavenly Father. This past week I've been able to recognize my
weaknesses and ask Heavenly Father to help me make them into my strengths. I
don't know if that makes sense but just go and read Ether 12:27. Something else
President said really hit me. I've been thinking a lot about Grandma Bain. I
was worried about her health and I just wanted Heavenly Father to reassure me
that she was fine. President called on me during the meeting to read Doctrine
and Covenants 100:1. It says "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my
friends Sidney and Joseph, your families are well; they are in mine hands, and
I will do with them as seemeth me good; for in me there is all power." So
I'm not worried. I know that my Heavenly Father is taking good care of all of
you! God is so good.
I've been asked to play the piano a lot while
I've been here. I've played at mission meetings, district meetings, sacrament
meetings, Relief Society, and ward council. It's been really good. I've missed
playing! I was also asked to say the prayer in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday
AGAIN:)
There have been so many miracles this week. My
favorite one was Homer. We were having kind of a rough day. All of our appointments
cancelled and nobody seemed to be home when we were out finding. Something
Sister Sam and I have been working on is including the Lord in everything that
we do. This is HIS work after all! So we pray before we do ANYTHING. I feel
like we're praying all the time. Which is good! But anyway, we prayed to
Heavenly Father asking Him where we should be spending our time. We felt like
we should go through our area book and find someone who hasn't been visited in
a long time. So I was looking through the area book and the name Iliana came to
my head. I looked for an Iliana and sure enough, she was in the area book. It
gets better. Sister Sam had the same impression! So we asked Heavenly Father if
Iliana was who we should visit and we felt good about it. We drove to the
address that our trusty GPS took us to, and GUESS WHAT. It lead us to some
random parking lot on Main Street. We were tired and hungry and very
frustrated, but we kept driving. Sister Sam saw some apartment buildings behind
this school next to the random parking lot so we decided to check it out. WE
FINALLY FOUND HER HOUSE! We knocked on the door super pumped to teach the
Restoration and she opened the door and before we could even say "hi"
she slammed the door. We still don't know if she was Iliana or not, but that's
fine I guess. I really just wanted to cry right there on the doorstep. Sister
Sam was done and as she was getting in the car I got this thought "Sister
Bain. There's someone here." I told Sister Sam that we should knock some
doors. We crossed the street and knocked 7 doors. Nobody answered. So that was
a bummer. I was reminded of Alma 26:27 "Now when our hearts were
depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and
said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine
afflictions, and I will give unto you success." MY HEART WAS PRETTY
DEPRESSED. But cute Sister Sam looked at me and said "Let's try C19."
So we went to C19, rang the doorbell, and waited for a solid 5 minutes on the
porch. THEN. Someone answered! It was this HUGE man covered in tattoos and his
house smelled like hardcore drugs. We were able to teach him the Restoration
and testify of the Book of Mormon. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and
said that his sister is an active member in Honduras! HOW. COOL. On that day,
when my heart was depressed and I was about to turn back, the Lord humbled me
and showed me that this is HIS work. He knows who is prepared. He knows where
Sister Sam and I should spend our time. I know that God knows us individually
and He knows our hearts. HOW GRATEFUL I AM that I get to be here in Connecticut
and dedicate my life to Him.
I wish I could tell you every detail of every
day, but there's so little time! It's time to get back to His work! I hope you
know how much I love you all. I pray for you. I think of you often and I hope
you know how much God loves you. If there's one thing I want every person in
Connecticut to know, it's that God knows them individually and that He cares
for each of us.
I love this gospel. I love that I get to wear
His name on my chest every day. The miracles I've seen, the spirit I've felt,
and the people I've met will forever hold a special place in my heart. THANK
YOU for helping me get here.
I love you so much!! I hope you're having a
good time at the lake! Send me some more pictures and keep smiling.
"His example points the way.
When faced with temptation, He shunned it.
When offered the world, He declined it.
When asked for His life, He gave it."
-President Thomas S. Monson
Love always,
Sister Bain
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