I don't really feel like writing this today... sorry guys... I'm just having a hard time figuring out what to say... this week has been a crazy whirlwind and kinda stressful. Sister Gage and I doubled in to the area, and we've just been trying so hard to figure out where people are and meet everyone so it's been a bit exhausting.
But one funny part of the week was Thursday morning when we were going to go meet our investigator, Gloria. We left our ward mission leader's house from a meeting and got in the car only to realize... we had no idea where Gloria lived. We didn't even have an address. Haha we got back out and went to go ask Brother Johnson if he knew, but he didn't. No one answered their phone and so we decided to just head to a member's house we knew lived down the street from Gloria. But then our GPS died. Lol we were at a complete loss. So we pulled out a couple maps from our notebook, figured out where the address was (thank goodness Sis Wright used to be in this area, so the notebook is fully color-coordinated complete with detailed maps and information. she's the best.), and then realized we had no idea where
we were. Oh man. It took us 20 minutes, but we finally located ourselves and found our way to Gloria's street, where she finally answered the phone and we made it inside. Haha what an adventure, but we are getting much more confident with our geography skills!!! :D It was impressive that we wandered that long, because our area is less than 10 minutes long.... but that pretty much sums up our week. Life's no fun without a little confusion. ;)
Really the only super exciting thing this week other than that was last night and this morning we had a huge thunderstorm!! In fact, it's thundering and raining outside again right now!! I know this might not seem like a big deal to y'all, but a member told us last night it's been two years since she heard thunder. It's literally as exciting as waking up to snow on Christmas morning. We are LOVING IT!!!!!! The thunder woke me up this morning 10 minutes before my alarm. I almost died and went to heaven it was such a dream come true. We sat and watched the lightning for 20 minutes before starting our morning. The lightning was so close I could see the bolts of electricity! It was seriously right on top of us! It set off a car alarm haha. And we have been desperate for this rain. It's finally here! :D
Our ward here is a bit.... "mature." Meaning, the majority of the ward is a large retirement community. But it is such a sweet blessing to visit so many widows, elderly, and faithful members who have sacrificed and learned so much in their lives. It's a bit slow at nighttime, everyone's in bed by 7... but the women we visit are angels and it is such a privilege to be able to be connections for them to the gospel and bring them messages when many of them are too ill to come to church. It's basically like we have 50 grandmas :) how could it get better than that??
I am loving life back in Laguna! But the best part of being a missionary is getting to see people of all backgrounds and ages learning about the amazing blessings God has given us. My favorite lesson this week was when we taught a young member family at dinner. We sang the primary song "do as I'm doing, follow, follow me," and talked about "
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/4.18?lang=eng#17" Matthew 4:18-20 when Christ invites the disciples to follow Him. Then we talked about how we can follow Christ more and leave our "nets" behind. I know when we choose to follow Him, we in turn can be lights and examples to others in our lives who will follow us and learn of their Savior by seeing His light in us. This is what it means to truly take His name upon us - to live as He lived, and lead our brothers and sisters to Him by shining His light through us. Our examples are powerful! We can be a light to the world. I have a testimony that it is not just the missionaries' job to lead others to Christ. It is our purpose as children of God to "invite others to come unto Christ, by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost." How great is our calling!!
I love y'all!
Sister Heather Bambas
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Sister Heather BambasCalifornia Irvine Mission
heather.bambas@myldsmail.net
I have enjoyed reading all your letters and can feel the Spirit in your heartfelt expressions of love for our Savior and His work! Enjoy these last weeks and days on your mission!