Week 37, 6/21/2021

SOCIAL EXHAUSTION TO THE MAX

I got sad news my family cat died of VERY old age...so we honored Kipp😢

Ok just a heads up: this email might be kind of long.  So if you are in the middle of something or you're pretty busy, I give you full permission to skip to the pictures today. If you are lazy, however, I don't give you permission! We had some suuuuper cool experiences this week, you're going to want to hear about them I promise!

This was one of those weeks where all the missionary things threw up on us all at once 😅 

We had: 

-tradeoffs

-zone conference

-a ward party

-the craziest volleyball night ever

-and a zoom call with a general authority 

Let's get to it shall we!

Tradeoffs: they were pretty average. I stayed in Waycross with Sister Gamble for Wednesday and part of Thursday, and personally I don't love tradeoffs. They are slightly stressful, and exhausting when you're leading the area and they just get in the way of the normal missionary work you and your companion could be doing. Anyway those are just my thoughts on tradeoffs. 😬😇

Trade-offs with Sis Gamble;  Its not official without some form of ice cream!

The craziest volleyball night ever: Thursday we had our Bible study/ volleyball night but we had a slight disaster. While we were changing into our volleyball clothes, some of the kids thought it'd be a GREAT idea to set up the net for us! Well they actually ended up breaking the whole thing, so Sister Graf and I spent 40 minutes trying to fix it for everyone. Usually we get around 12-15 people at volleyball night, but this night we had around 40 people show up!! Literally everyone we've been trying to get there showed up on the same night....and invited friends....and the net was broken 🙄 Eventually we got it fixed and we had a pretty good/super chaotic night. It was awesome that so many people showed up, but this lead to Sister Graf having somewhat of a mental breakdown. (in a funny way not a bad way)  We got a milkshake at the Dairy Queen after and guess who we ran into: a less active member! We talked for a little bit and she said, "hey when's church on Sunday? I want to come this week" we didn't even have to invite her, so that was super cool! Therefore: Sister Graf's mental breakdown lead to a Dairy Queen miracle. 

Zone Conference

Zone conference, ward party, and a zoom call with a general authority: yes we did all of this in one day! I just about died from social exhaustion, but it was definitely the best day ever. 

Here's the story with the zoom call: the elders from the other ward have been teaching someone named Gunner. And recently he started coming to our Bible study so we've gotten to know him pretty well. During one of the studies it came out that he really loves Brad Wilcox (like really loves him) and it just so happens that sis Graf's family KNOWS Brad Wilcox. So she was able to set up a zoom call for him and Gunner! We all got to be there at a members home when he called and it was a very powerful experience. Gunner asked Bro Wilcox questions about the gospel and the Book of Mormon and he was able to answer them in a way that none of us missionaries ever could have. 

Zoom call with Gunner and Brad Wilcox, General YM Presidency

It was such a powerful experience for Gunner as well! In fact, we had to leave after the call, but later that night he set a baptismal date! I know that it was no coincidence that Sister Graf came to this area at this time right when Gunner was investigating the church. And I know it wasn't a coincidence that we met him through Bible study and we were able to set up that zoom call for him! I know that this was all part of God's plan and I'm so grateful I got to be apart of it and see God working through us to help bring others to the gospel. Gunner is getting baptized July 1st and we are so excited for him! This story is to be continued so stay tuned next week for more details😉

Besides some more brutal service projects, that was about it for the week! I love this work so much, I know that there is nothing more important than bringing people to the gospel and teaching them about Christ's restored church. I know that it has the power to change lives and I'm so grateful I get to see that in people everyday. ❤

We had 0/3 investigators come to church so I thought this meme was hilarious 😂

I love y'all so much! Also shout out to the most legendary dad ever. He's the best mountain biker, slalom skier, snow skier, golfer I know and I love him so much. Hope you enjoyed the adventures of Waycross, until next week! 

-Sister Bonny ❤