March 25th Post and Pics from Jessica

This week has been pretty good. Last Monday was super crazy and busy. We stopped by an antique shop that was super cool. I didn't find anything that i could use on my mission but had i been home there would have been a ton of cool projects I'd be doing. :)  Monday night we went over to a sweet family's house for dinner. The husband made us a super yummy stew. Can i just tell you that these people are feeding us super good. My missionary 15 is going to be more like missionary 25! After dinner we taught "J" again. I love the guy but he isn't progressing and I'm not sure he is even ready but he continues to let us come back, so we'll see. We've been praying for him a ton in hopes that he will realize the importance of this gospel. But after 4 lessons and no progression we are pretty sure we are going to have to drop him.

Tuesday we went and saw a lady that used to be a potential investigator and taught her the message of the restoration. The lesson went really well but we are pretty sure the only reason she lets us come over is because she likes the company. She is 85 years old and has no family around so she was just happy to see someone. After her we called "S" to confirm her appointment with us and she wanted us to come over early. It was her husband's birthday and she was making him a cake and wanted us to come help. She really is such a sweetheart. She has been through so much and is just trying to do what is right. We had a really nice conversation about Alma 32:27-37 with her and what she can do to increase her faith and help that seed grow. She is really into the book of Mormon and is loving reading it. I love going over there to see her and to help her progress. She is moving slowly but surely. That night for dinner one of the members took us out to eat at a local place called Poppa's. It's actually a restaurant owned by one of the families in our branch. They have pretty good food and we were excited to go there again. That night we went to our landlord's daughters house to visit with her family. The thing about Albany is that EVERYONE is related! So we are finally starting to get every one's family tree's untangled in our brains and keep everyone straight.

Wednesday we were supposed to teach a less active lady about family history but she flaked on us so we spent the morning in Albany visiting people on the roster that we had no clue who they were. :) Then we planned to go to "*" house to help her clean and organize her upstairs. She had a stroke shortly after moving here so her house is pretty much still in boxes. We've been going over once a week and helping her unpack and get things in order. We got about halfway done with one of the rooms upstairs before we had to go to dinner. We went to dinner with a sweet older couple to Poppa's again. It's a good thing that they have a variety of foods to choose from there! That night was the ward relief society dinner we were hoping "C" would come but she ended up having to work and couldn't make it. But it was still lots of fun to be there and better get to know the women in our branch.

Thursday we had a team up with two of the women from the ward...i mean branch. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that. :) We were able to visit some women on their visiting teaching route. One of the women we met has a tracheotomy and had to talk through a device. It was super hard at first to understand her but its amazing what things can strengthen people's testimony of Jesus Christ. She is such a strong women for someone who has gone through so much. We went and taught "J" one more time. We were hoping that hearing these women's stories of their conversion would spark something with him, but it didn't so we are most likely going to drop him as an investigator. We stopped by "C's" again to see how she was doing and so she could meet other women in the brach. She is doing so much better than last week and still reading a ton. It is so rewarding to see someone progress in the gospel. That night we had dinner with a part member family. The wife is a member and she has been through so much. It is

so great to be out here helping bring not only new people to the gospel but to help others return and to help strengthen their testimonies.

Friday we had district meetings in St. Joe. The meeting was really great. we talked about ancient missionaries and how they brought others to Christ and how we can learn from their examples. We also talked about the Christ-like attributes in PMG. After district meeting we went to lunch with some of the Elders and then to Stanberry to track down some former investigators. We didn't find anyone at home but we did talk to one of the formers' son and he seemed pretty interested. We are hoping to go see him again this week and teach him a little more.

Saturday...hmm even though it was a couple of days ago i don't remeber what we did that day. :) That night however we went to a members home and had super yummy lasagna. It would give dad's a run for his money :) After dinner a snow storm came in so we went home early. The senior sisters are both from AZ and don't drive in the snow. So we went back to our apartment and worked on calling unknowns and stuff like that.

Sunday, on saturday night the sisters called us and said that church meetings were canceled becasue of the snow so we stayed in all day. We got a lot of work, and studying done. I found it pretty funny that things would be almost shut down with the tinyest amount of snow on the ground. If that had been Utah no one would have blinked. We were supposed to have dinner with the Poppa family but because we couldn't go anywhere we went upstairs and had dinner with the Smith's. They are such a great couple and have done so much for us. I don't know what we would be doing without them and the senior sisters.

My time is up here but know that i love all of you dearly and i'm loving the work that is going on here!

-Sister Randall