Monday, April 20, 2015

Letter 77 - Enjoying EVERY aspect of missionary work.



Hello Everyone!

As you can probably tell from my header, things are going great here and Sister Chelson and I are enjoying every aspect of the missionary work. Including this.... I got bit by a dog!!!! What a privilege. The little guy LOOKED harmless. He was sitting outside all alone on a leash so I walked up to him very slowly, knelt down, and stuck my hand out like a little angel ;) He backed away and we stared at each other for about 5-10 seconds. When he didn't make a move I decided to get up to leave. Next thing I know I hear a growl, a rustling, and a pain go into my leg. The little guy bit me! Hahahaha Sister Chelson and I were so shocked that we kind of stood there in silence looking at each other for several seconds, then we bust up laughing. It broke the skin so we were advised by our mission nurse for me to go home IMMEDIATELY and wash my leg out excessively as well as go to the emergency room if I see any signs of infection or weird occurrences on the wound (no need for that now- I am fine. Just an awesome bruise). Funny thing was it was one of our days where we decided to walk to the other side of the world haha so we looked in the direction of home, took a deep breathe and began to speedwalk. Such a great way to end a wonderful Friday evening :)

Sister Chelson and I felt that we needed to spend more time in Mississauga this past week. As we did that, we found a lot of people to teach! Someone that we are very excited for is S.... S... is from India, his family is Hindu/Sikh but they didn't practice it very much. He told us that he always felt that there was something missing in his life. His friend at school introduced him to Christianity and he told us that hole was filled with the Savior. He loves EVERYTHING about Jesus Christ. And with it being so new in his life he is just soaking up every opportunity to learn more about Christ. We met with him at a Dairy Queen (we obviously had to buy some ice cream while we were there :)) and taught him the Restoration. He loved it all. It made so much sense to him and he told us that he just felt so much peace. Sister Chelson did an AMAZING job in that lesson. She teaches with so much power. Please pray for S...!!

I just love listening to the stories of people's conversions and testimonies and faith-building experiences. Espcially Jamaicans'. They have SO MUCH FAITH. We visited our friend P... - she is a devout member of her church with a strong love for everything in the Bible. She started sharing her experiences and it was easy to see that she was never going to stop :) I wish we had a lifetime to listen to her experiences! The coolest thing was hearing her bear her testimony about the Book of Mormon. She doesn't plan on changing her religion right now, but she told us about how she has felt as she has read from the Book of Mormon. She took it to her church and all her friends were appalled. She showed them the King James Bible that we gave her as well and they grabbed it out of her hands and told her that they would show her how "our Bible was wrong". They opened to a passage and began to read. It was the same as theirs. Then they opened to another passage and began to read... it was the same as theirs. P.... told us that she smiled and told them, "You see? It's the King James Version. Now give me back my Bible, quit complaining, and read the Book of Mormon as well." haha she is great. Please pray for her!

Sister Chelson and I were blessed to go to Niagra Falls today! That has been on my bucket list for many years now,  so that was a major treat. It's definitely one of the 7 wonders of the world for a reason. It's amazing. And the Canadian side is GORGEOUS. I was on cloud nine the whole time. God created a beautiful world. Sister Semyroz took us - she is a wonderful older woman in the ward and we just love her so much. We asked if she would join us, and she said she would love to but it would be hard for her to walk that whole way because of her knees. So what did we do? We got a wheelchair! Not to mention, Sister Chelson has been having a hard time with her heel and ankle lately and it tends to be hard to walk sometimes. So we got a cane for her! We were a pretty funny sight, two missionaries, one with a cane and another pushing an older woman in a wheelchair. And we were just smiling the whole way. We woke up this morning and it was pouring rain. Sister Semyroz didn't look very excited to go when it was raining, but we assured her that we had full faith that things were going to work out. We said a prayer, and on our drive there it went from pouring rain, to a strong mist, to a deep fog, to clouds without rain. It was perfect weather when we got there. And because of the weather, it was pretty much baron so we got a great parking spot and didn't have to walk very far. We were very blessed. On our way out, a woman came up to us and told us with a huge grin that she was a member from the Phillippines! We got to give her a big hug and took a picture with her. Tender mercies at Niagra Falls.

I think one of my favorite things this past week was helping members feel the spirit in their homes at dinner appointments and other lessons. Sister Chelson is getting so good at asking people inspired questions to help them open up. Our Bishop heard about me leaving so he actually announced it in Sacrament meeting, and as a result, we have dinner and lunch appointments every day for the next couple of weeks. More time to get to know the members :) we are excited. We have let them know that we don't need dessert haha. But the members are definitely beginning to trust missionaries. It is amazing. They have been inviting us over when their less-active friends were visiting, when they had non-members friends hanging out, etc. It's wonderful.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Good luck with finals and work and family and life and everything else that is happening! Happy Birthday if you had a birthday recently! And give yourself a hug from me if you are having a bad day. Keep your standards!! I STILL LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS CALLING!!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Bodine

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