Mission Life!

Dear Family,

So much has happened, I don't know where to begin! We had so many
miracles and funny stories and everything in between this week. And
basically at the end of each experience the only way to describe it
was simply saying, welcome to mission life! Haha! So, get ready for
story time!
Miracle 1: Kristen
So, last week this lady showed up at church with a less active. We
thought that she was just visiting for the day and was going back home
that week. Well, this past Sunday she was there again, without her
friend..., hmm...., So the bishop met her after sacrament meeting. We
found that her name is Kristen and she actually lives in our area! She
came with her friend last week, and she was so interested that she
came again this week. She asked if there was anyway she could learn
more about the church. Of Course! We started teaching her and her 4
children this week! They are awesome! The Lord really does prepare
people to hear about the gospel!
Miracle 2: Sister Boyle
So, there's a completely inactive woman in our Ward named Sister
Boyle. She hasn't come to church in about 35 years, even though her
husband is the Ward Sunday School President. So, of course we have
been trying to get her to come back..... It's hard! Hahaha! Well, we
were talking to her this week about her Book of Mormon reading and
once again, the conversation was going absolutely nowhere. Then I
randomly blurt out, "Are you still smoking?" In my head I think, 'oh
crap! I just ruined it! Where did that come from? Why did I say that?'
Shockingly she answers back, "Yes I am and I am so tired of it! I want
to quit so bad, but I'm scared and I don't know what to do." Wow!!!!
No way!!!!!! Brother Boyle has been trying to get her to quit for
years! So, we are going to get her into the Quit Smoking Program as
fast as humanly possible! We are so excited that she wants to take
this step! It will be awesome!
Miracle 3: Stacey and Penny
We have a new investigator named Stacey. She is so sweet and so ready
to learn! We have only taught her once before. We felt inspired to
bring a less active woman from the Newark Ward, Penny, teaching with
us. (How random is that?) We managed to get it all figured out, and
Penny even left work early to come with us! So, we get there and
Stacey shares with us that one of her biggest problems is that her
daughter died in a tragic car accident last year and she is still
trying to deal with the grief of that. Well, Penny lost her daughter
in a tragic accident about 20 years ago. It was almost the same
situation! The rest of the time we were there, Sister Schettler and I
basically sat there in silence while these two women shared their
stories and comforted one another and cried together. It was
beautiful! And then Penny bore the most beautiful testimony of the
plan of Salvation. It was incredible! The Spirit was so thick you
could cut it like butter! It was truly Heavenly Father who
orchestrated that. I know that both of them were changed for the
better that day!
Miracle 4: Mary and Jason and Tobie
Remember Bill? Well, we have been teaching his daughter Mary and his
granddaughter Tobie. Yes, Tobie is a girl. They had originally planned
on being baptized with Bill, but some things slowed them down. Well,
we had an appointment with them this week, and we were going to see if
we could help them understand more about the Book of Mormon. Once
again, the lesson was going absolutely nowhere! Then, out of the blue,
Sister Schettler blurts out, "Do you still want to get baptized?" Mary
replies back, "yes! Of course!" Wow! "Okay, when do you want to shoot
for?" Asks Sister Schettler. "November 6." Okay! Then, Tobie says,
"Maybe I could be baptized that day, too!" Wow!!!! Sometimes I am just
blown away! Well, this week, Mary and her fiancé, Jason, decided that
they want to get married soon! They asked if they could do it at the
church and if Bishop could perform the marriage! The answer was Yes
all around! They are getting married next Saturday and we now have a
wedding to plan! Yikes! And we have two weeks to do it! Man.... I'm
getting a little bit too good at weddings! Hahaha! We can't wait!
Funny Story 1: Ann
So, there's a recent convert in our Ward who gave us a referral for
one of her friends. So, we went to go see Ann this week. We get there
and we find out that she's a Born Again Christian and self appointed
Minister and Missionary. Yikes! Hahaha! Seriously, her license plate
says, I am Saved! Luckily, she liked us and had a lot of respect for
what we are trying to do. But she jumps into this forever long story
about how she has saved thousands of people and she can speak in
tongues and how she has the gift of prophecy and she knows that the
world is going to end this year and so many other crazy things! We just
sat there, not really knowing what to do. Haha! Finally, we convinced
her that we had to go, but she insisted on praying over us first. So
she said the longest prayer I've ever heard! Haha! It seriously lasted
for at least 20 minutes! She didn't even take a breath the whole time!
And she blessed us up and down with everything, while simultaneously
quoting scripture and basically giving a sermon at the same time. It
was nuts! Haha! But I loved it!
Anyway, mission life is the best! I love Bayview! I love the gospel! I
love my Family! Have a fantastic week!

Love,
Sister McGuire