Dearest family,
How are you?!
I am SO excited for McKenna! and Berk! They are going to be some amazing missionaries!
Boy oh boy has this been a crazy week!
So remember how last week I said it was getting hot? Well that morning it was SO hot and humid and by the time we left the computer lab and walked outside it had rained and gone down to 55 degrees. It was cold!? What? Weather here is so weird. But I'm totally ok with it cooling down because it pushed back summer a bit.
It's warmed up now and it's back in the 80's but it's been really nice.
We've seen a lot of miracles this week! First was Patricia. She is one of our new investigators. We've been trying to meet with her for the past... mmm... probably about 8 weeks. She is a hair dresser and she works from home and the only day she has off is Tuesdays so we tried her on Tuesday. Well she let us right in but she was in the middle of doing someone's hair! I felt so bad! I was worried that this woman would be upset that we were intruding on her hair appointment but she was really nice. Well Patricia continued to work on her hair and talk to us and after a time she said "Jill (the woman's whose hair she was working on) is a member of your church!" Oh my it was so awesome! Jill lives closer to Houston. She's actually not even in our mission but she happened to come get her hair done at Patricia's on the day we stop by?! Amazing! God is so good. Well Patricia started sharing more with us about her life. Basically she's really prepared for the gospel. Many things have happened to her since she last met with the missionaries that have had a profound effect on her and changed her perspective. She asked us questions about our missions and our beliefs - All while dyeing Jill's hair and wrapping it in tinfoil (i was a little worried by the end that Jill's hair would turn out to be some outrageous color but Patricia can do that stuff with her eyes closed obviously). We taught her a very brief overview of the restoration and Jill helped. Patricia said it was more believable to her now than it was before when the missionaries shared it. All this going on while Jill's hair is still being wrapped in tinfoil. Definitely the most interesting set up I've been in when teaching the Restoration. '
Well to make a long story short Patricia wants us to come back next week and share more. She requested that we bring the Restoration video because she really wants to see it. haha
I can't wait to see her again. She is amazing and so prepared. She has been surrounded by members recently and she recognizes that because of that God is trying to tell her she needs to learn more.
We also met with Rosa this week and we had an absolutely incredible lesson with her. The spirit is always so strong with Rosa. We taught her about the Fall, our purpose, and the Atonement. Rosa felt the spirit. This is the first time in her life that she's been taught these things with the full truth. She didn't have a full understanding of why we need the Savior and what it was that He did for us. It has been really eye-opening for her. She thought it was very profound and there where moments where we sat in sacred silence as she pondered on something that we would share. It felt so good to bear testimony of the Savior. Sister Howard and Sister Hardy also bore powerful testimony of Him and Rosa was just in awe. She really wants to be better at following Christ more fully in her life. This next week we will be going on a church tour with her and I can't wait for her to feel the spirit there!
After the lesson Rosa said the closing prayer. It was the first time she prayed out loud the way we'd taught her and she said the most beautiful and sincere prayer. I love her so much.
We were also able to share the because of Him video with her and she loved it.
Kaylee is doing awesome! She was able to go to youth conference this week and that was a huge miracle in itself. Well out here for youth conference they did what they call Moroni's Quest. It was a three day camping thing kind of like trek only what they do is reenact the stories of the Book of Mormon. This was perfect for Kaylee since we just started reading the Book of Mormon with her. They even had a part where during a dance all the sudden the lights cut out and they heard thunder and then Christ appeared to the youth just like in the Book of Mormon. They all got to see and touch the prints in His hands. I am so excited to hear Kaylee's experience there. It sounded like an incredible Youth Conference.
Well now for the crazy part of the week.
On Friday morning Sister Hardy started having some pain in her upper back and stomach. It lasted for a short time though and by 10 she was fine and we were out the door headed for an appointment. Well once we got in that house the pain hit again but worse this time. She was having shortness of breath and she got really pale and shaky. The woman we were visiting was so kind. She had Sis hardy lay down and took good care of her. She threw up and was in a lot of pain. Well we just had her lie there for a few hours while this woman - Kathy, took care of her. Then she was fine again but we just took her home to rest. Well she slept for a couple hours and then was good to go again. (See this is the problem with missionaries we are stubborn and even when stuff like this happens we still try to go out and work and it's not usually a good idea but we can't help it! It's the Lord's work!) So we had a service project that night. Nothing too crazy just helping serve food at a stake activity. Well when we got there Sister Hardy was still feeling fine but we asked Bro Wake to give her a blessing and he did. Well she started feeling weak so she sat down and then the pain started to return. One of the members of our ward is a paramedic and he came and checked her vitals and everything was alright there but she was still in a lot of pain. She couldn't hardly move out of the chair. Well the ward members helped me get her to the car and I got her home and in bed. We knew we needed to take her to the doctors so we were calling sister Pingree to get the ok. Sister Hardy got in a hot bath and was doing alright but when she got out she started throwing up again and was just pale as a sheet. She was shaking and was in so much pain she was almost delusional. Finally I got a hold of sister Pingree and she agreed that we needed to get her to the ER. I was so scared. She was literally writhing in pain. The ward knew what was going on and almost immediately after I got off the phone with sister Pingree Bro and sis Williams called and said they wanted to come with us to the ER. I was so relieved. Well I drove like a crazy woman to the ER while poor sis hardy was just crying out in pain. We got to the ER with the Williams and waited and waited. Finally they got us back there to run some tests and they got some pain medication in her. They ran some tests and did an ultrasound. At about 1 am the Williams had to leave. I was so grateful they came, it was such a tender mercy. Then at 4am they finally got us a room. I was so tired but I had gotten my second wind so I couldn't sleep plus I was worried. My first all-nighter as a missionary wasn't all that fun I'm not gonna lie. Well Saturday was just a waiting day. We were waiting for the Doctor to come tell us the results of the ultrasound. The ward has been so good to us though. Sister Williams came to visit at the hospital and left us with her tablet so we could watch Mormon messages and Bible videos. Sister hardy was on a clear liquid diet but the ward brought me breakfast lunch and dinner. Finally at 4pm the doctor came and told us the ultra sound was inconclusive and that they would need to do an MRI. So at 7pm she went in for the MRI and sis Williams went with sis hardy and sis sowers took me home to shower and get stuff for sis hardy and me. Like I said the ward has been SO SO good to us. They have helped us SO much! That night in the hospital we had a room full of members joking and laughing. It reminded me so much of when the whole family came to visit me in the hospital and we were so loud.
Well the next day - Easter Sunday (the ward members also brought us an Easter basket) was our last day in the hospital. We found out that sis hardy had had a stone in her gall duct. They believe she passed it but they need to do one last procedure - endoscopic ultrasound- to make sure there is no further problems. They sent us home with medicine and the procedure will be on Wednesday morning.
So like I said it's been a crazy week and I'm exhausted. I feel so tired but my body won't sleep. Hopefully we'll be able to get back in the groove of things and go out to work. We're not going to push it though I want to make sure sis hardy gets her rest. Plus even if we wanted to go out and work right away I literally think the ward would chain us to the wall in our apartment.
So with that experience we saw a lot of miracles! We were able to talk to a lot of people in the hospital about the church and what we do as missionaries!
The ward prayed for us and has done so much for us I can't even name all the things they've done.
I wanted to share one last experience that I had.
So like I said Easter morning we were in the hospital. Sister hardy was asleep and so I took some time to study the resurrection of the Savior. It was such an amazing experience to be in a hospital on Easter. I was in a place where birth and death happen on a daily basis. A place where there is a lot of fear, a place where a lot of peoples bodies are failing them or causing them despair and pain. A place where hope can be hard to find. Being there and studying about the Savior's resurrection was a powerful sacred experience for me. I read the words in John "in the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world." And he did. I felt the spirit reconfirm that to me so strongly. Christ lives. He lives! I know it. He died for us and now He lives for us. Because of Him we can have hope. Because of Him all those people in that hospital will live again and will have perfect and healthy bodies. I cannot express to you the love I have for my Savior. I feel so grateful to have this chance to serve as one of His representatives, to be a witness of Him, and to have this hope in my life. I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us and because of him we all can be healed, whole, and live eternally with our Father in Heaven.
I'm sure you've all seen that "Because of Him" video on the church website and if you haven't watch it. We've been sharing it with as many people as we can.
I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and support!
He lives!
The Kingdom of God or Nothing!
Love, Sister Gregson
Hospital pics- So you can see that Sister Hardy is alive!
Pics with Missionaries
Beautiful Texas
Shelby got BAPTIZED!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment