Sunday, April 19, 2015

Week ending November 17th, 2014

This was an amazing week in Edmonds! I have so much to tell you all!
So I wrote a stickie note because I have so many things to say ha ha so bare with me... 
1. So our Recent Convert Doug had a tough week this week.... His wife is sick in the hospital with 3 different staph infections... and this week she also got pneumonia.... :( The poor guy his late wife Shawn had an infection worsened by pneumonia and that is how she passed away :( So it was a bit close to home.... I felt so bad. This man that I have come to know and love was going through so much pain and he was crying... hard... and all that Sister Bunker and I could do was stand there and tell him we were there for him :/ I learned a lot from that experience... Satan fought Doug hard the day of his baptism... All of his family cancelled coming to see him getting baptized at the last minute and one of his cats passed away that day... So the poor guy had a rough day but he was determined to make his promise with God and so he was baptized.... I realized this week though that Satan DOES fight us to not make promises with God... but not has hard as he fights us to break our promises with God. It is so much worse to break a promise and curse God then it is to never make a promise... So even though we do our best to follow God and make promises with him that DOES NOT mean we will be trial free! Satan will CONTINUE to try and tear us down and we cannot let him! We have to hold to the strength of our promises with God and Not let Satan win! Doug was an amazing example to me... while he was standing on his porch in tears he kept saying : "I am just one man.... one soul... why does Satan feel that he must fight me so hard? I know he wants to tear me down... but he isn't going to... I just want to stand up and fight him" I hope that we all get the strength that Doug has and choose to stand up to Satan and not let him win. \
2. Our Investigator Jill quit Coffee this week! She told us that she prayed to know if it was something that she needed to do... and she quit a week ago and never told us! She told us that she is "ready" for baptism and she has been waiting for this for a long time and she can't wait for December 6th! Aw i love her and I am SO excited for her... She deserves so much happiness in her life and home and I know that the Holy Ghost in her life will really help with that. 
3. So we were in an appointment with a new investigator on Saturday and we were answering his questions. We let him know that we do tours of our church and he asked when... We let him know that we can take him on a tour whenever he wants and he then said "can we go now? " we were so surprised ha ha no one has ever asked to go on a tour right then and there... so we got in our car and he followed us and we gave him a tour of our church! He loved it and really felt the spirit. It was a great opportunity to help others to know more about what we believe and what our Sunday services are like. 
4. So We have a sister in our mission named Hermana Pier (Spanish sister) Her Father Passed away on Saturday night... She is the third sister in our mission to lose a parent. I can't even imagine what she is going through and feeling.... We were in a meeting though and she stood with confidence in front of a crowd of 700 people and testified of the importance of families and how she know that she truly will see her family again because of the restored gospel and the authority given to bind families together for eternity. She spoke powerfully and with so much love. It really touched me and It made me think a lot of my family and how grateful I am to have them I know that I truly can be with them forever and I know that God is watching over them while I am away. I love this Gospel. I love that no matter what happens to my family while I am on my mission, they are mine forever. This is a promise and gift from my loving Heavenly Father and I truly will be able to see them again not only in this life, but for all of eternity. The strength of Hermana Pier and the two other sisters that have chosen to STAY even though their families are going through a difficult time is such an example to me. I am so grateful for my family and I am so grateful that Death loses it's sting and has no power of families.... Death is temporary.... Eternal life is not... I am thankful that this will never be the end. 
5. so... training is hard... ha ha so good but hard. Training really pushes me to be so much more diligent and obedient... i really honestly think this is the most obedient I have been on my entire mission... I have tried to be obedient my whole time... but training and being the first example a missionary sees... has really pushed me to be on my best behavior.
6. Johnaton Fellah Tengbeh!!!!! I got to see Johnaton last night! I have not seen him in over a year! Oh it was sooooo good to see him! If anyone wants to know what Heaven will be like I will tell you! Think about your family.... now think of those people who are not blood relatives... but you love them so much that they are without a doubt your family.... now think of not seeing them or having any contact for quite a while.... Now imagine them walking into a room full of people that you also love..... you can't help but so loved and so full of joy! AH!!!! Heaven will be the BEST family reunion ever! With no drama... just Joy :) I found out that Johnaton is doing sooooo good! He is now TEACHING a Sunday school class at church! Oh I am so happy for him :)
7. I am learning a lot about helping my companion. I have not ever felt homesickness before and it is very difficult to know how to help with something you have never felt but I am turning to the Lord and we are having a great time! 
8. I am learning A LOT about Christ and how he taught... Christ did not have to say much... He was an example to all. I have a quote on my planner that I love right now... It says : "At all times proclaim the gospel... and when necessary... use words" That is what I am trying to apply to my life. 
Okay funny things that happened this week:
1. So Sister Bunker and I were headed to an apt. We got there early so we were waiting for the member that was coming with us... and well our inv. came outside got int heir car and left.... We were confused so we texted them to see if we were still meeting. well we told them we would be a little late since the member was not there yet.... 2 min. later our inv came back... Because we told them we were going to be late we tried to hide in our car. We were hiding behind books and we had our hoods up... well it did not work ha ha oops... they saw us and just laughed and laughed that we were hiding. 
2.So also in the car... Sister bunker left her water bottle in the car over night. She pulled it out to get a drink and it exploded all over her.... The cap built up pressure and when she took it off... water.... everywhere... Way funny. I felt bad but she just laughed it off ;0
3. So apparently I have a second cousin out here... and Elder Hillman... It is Aunt Sally's Nephew... He came up to me and said :"are you sister franzen? I'm your second cousin... you have cousins name Tyler and tori franzen at u-dub?" I was so shocked... so that was fun. 
4. I got asked if i was a nun.... again.
So this week was awesome! i love you all and I hope you have a great week! 
I love you all!
Love Sister Franzen

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