Investigators!

Hello, fam & friends. Emailing today because the libraries were closed yesterday for Memorial Day!

Good news! We have a few new investigators! It feels awesome to finally have some people to teach. Trevan, a 15 year old (former investigator) is one of them, and he is SO PREPARED and ready! His parents took the lessons ages ago, but are now uninterested, but they are allowing Trevan to take the lessons. He is fully interested and is super mature for his age. A strong athlete and bold in his beliefs. He said he wants to know the truth so that then he can fight for it. He called this life a "training ground" and we are all trying to get to the "next round." So cool! We had a super solid lesson with him last week and the spirit was stronnnngg. He wants to be baptized when he knows it is true! He even has LDS friends from our ward at school and one of them is in a few classes with him. We are excited to keep teaching him! He is just super busy, but he wants to make the time for this. Exciting! 

Another is Geraldine, the 92 year old. The youth did a service project at her house Wednesday night and mowed her lawn and pulled more weeds. We went, too, and it was a blast working side by side with the youth! They are seriously such good kids. Love them! Geraldine was just astonished at the kindness at the church and couldn't believe all these kid would just freely give of their time like they were. Her heart is continuing to be softened. In another visit with Geraldine, we taught her to pray for the very first time in her entire life. Can you believe it? 92 years of living and never once praying. She thought it was rather silly, but she tried! She thanked Heavenly Father for sending us to her. Her very first prayer! Her question still is "why do bad things happen to good people" but eventually I think she will come to understand the more we work with her. Her husband, Ed, is a good guy, too, we got to know him more yesterday. He is slightly blind and disabled now, but still totally with it at the good 'ol age of 95. He served in the Navy. He's a funny, grumpy old man that has a heart of gold, it seems. We look forward to getting to know him better! We don't know when we'll see them next; Geraldine's doctor thinks she has cancer of the blood. She has an appointment this week, but hopefully this weekend we'll see her.

I mentioned in previous emails about Stormi! She's a previous investigator that we are teaching again and we are SO HAPPY about it! She is ready now to accept more gospel truths. She's living with a member and it's super good for her. :) We love teaching her. She is so enthusiastic and fun to teach. The member she lives with reads the Book of Mormon with her. Good things happening there. We taught her last night and had a grand time. 

So grateful for all these people to teach! It's interesting how missionary work goes. Sometimes there's a whole bunch going on and then other times there's a whole lot of nothing. Kind of comes and goes in waves. Although, Maple Valley is kind of a tough area like that -- not a lot of people to find around here! Good 'ol country side... 

Sister Stewart had a birthday last week! She's 23 now. Wahoo! Birthday's are fun. She got like 3 cakes just like I did. The sweets... they never end... 

Until next week! Normal Monday P-Day next week. And next week is the last week of this transfer already! Holy cow! Almost done with my 3rd transfer. That's weird. Also, how is it already pretty much June? It was just January... 

Love, 

Sis E

 

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

Service softens hearts

Hello! I had an extremely full week! It was pretty awesome, to be honest. We had a lot to do and we did a ton of service!

One cool experience from this week was we went tracting on Tuesday (on bikes because the weather was nice!) and we found this woman named Geraldine. She is 92 years old and a full-time caretaker for her blind, disabled husband. When we first knocked on the door, she was skeptical and was kind of like "what are you doing here who are you" and we asked her how she was doing and she said, "Why?" Haha!! We explained who we were and she said she had no religious background. She wasn't immediately interested in the gospel, but we asked if she needed help with anything and she said she actually needed some yard work done. But she goes, "You can't do it, that's boy's work!" And we were like, "Oh, don't be fooled by the skirts." Heh. So she finally agreed to let us come back, completely doubting that we'd actually be able to do anything, but she let us come back! That night, we had dinner with members, the Bumstead's, and they found out we were going to do major yard work and asked if they could come! Then 3 of her kids asked if they could come! And she totally let her 13 year old son skip school and come because, how cool, an opportunity to go help the missionaries! So they came and brought some awesome equipment and we worked on the yard for 3 hours and pulled out 3 massive bushes. Like, uprooted them. It was intense. Haha. But we got a ton done! We were grateful for the Bumstead's coming, because we wouldn't have been able to do it without them! After we were done, Geraldine came out and was shocked that we actually did it and was like, "I really didn't think you'd be able to do it." Before we had done any of the yard work that day, Geraldine was just trying to figure who we were. She goes,"Who told you to come here? How did you know I needed help with yard work?" And, being the missionary I am, I said, "God sent us." Oh, she looked at us like we were absolutely crazy! :) Didn't believe us at all! But, after all the yard work was done, teary-eyed, she said, "Maybe God did send you." And she hugged us and gave us kisses. Sweetest old lady ever! Service softens hearts, people! It's real! That's a real thing! So look for opportunities to help, because you never know who will accept the help and how it can change their heart. :) The youth are going back this Wednesday for a service project to finish working on her yard (it's really overgrown and needs some attention). So grateful we found Geraldine! We hope to share a gospel message with her soon. 

Another cool experience: Bro Berezay is a member of the ward that did spiritual tracting. He felt inspired to go to a specific neighborhood by his house. And, he even wanted to go tracting WITH us! So he came out with us, ha! He goes, "In Argentina, ALL I did on my mission was tract, so..." Hahaa. A pro, basically. So we ventured to the neighborhood he felt inspired that we should tract in. And... It's the richest, the most incredibly RICHEST neighborhood ever. We're talking 1.5 mill dollar houses/property here. And it's a gated community. But, hey. Whatevs. So we knocked on the first door and the lady was like, "There is no soliciting in this neighborhood, you might as well just leave because everyone is going to tell you the same thing." And we were like. Nah. We're gonna go knock on more doors. Pfft. So, we did, and we found Hannah, a senior in high school that is now a potential and is allowing us to come back! And, we found Lisa, who is actually friends with like HALF the ward! She knows EVERYONE! She is involved with a lot of the LDS community, but not LDS herself! Amazing that we found her! She talked to us a good long time and is the NICEST lady! She is moving and she is actually selling her house to an LDS family moving into our ward that we met a previous Sunday while they were looking for houses to buy! Amazing coincidence... She has a strong faith in Christ, but not yet ready to meet with us, but SO friendly. Later that night, we get a call from Sister Carnahan, a woman in our ward, who found out we talked to Lisa and said she is buying a weight machine from Lisa and needed help moving it the next day. SURE! So, we actually got to go BACK to Lisa's the next day and help do service and move the weight machine! And the Vach's were there, too. It was just amazing. Getting to chat and get to know Lisa. Her house is gorgeous. She gave us the grand tour. There's literally a theatre room in the basement...with real theatre seats and dimming lights and everything. IT WAS SO COOL! We hope to get to talk to Lisa a little more soon. But, just a cool connection. 

There was a Parenting Night for the Relief Society activity this week and it was really amazing to see everyone's perspectives on parenting and helping their children gain testimonies and how to get along with your mother-in-law, and how to help children prepare for missions, what they did in this situation and that. It was such a huge moment for me to realize how much a blessing a mission is in preparing me to be better mother and wife. The things I learned that night and learn daily about family life are so valuable and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I believe it is needed for my eternal salvation. I need to be a valiant, strong, mother in Zion and this mission is helping me learn more about how to get there, building upon the teachings and experiences from my own family and parents. Missions really train you how to build a family and a marriage. So grateful for that. I thought I was so ready before. No, not even a little bit. The mission is helping me see that. I am grateful to have an affluent amount of life experience under my belt in preparation for my future family and marriage. I needed to understand and gain a greater perspective before I was ready to take on the greatest mission of my eternity: my family.

Before we went to the parent's night, we stopped by the Rojas' house and I got to help her son, Benny, collect the eggs from their chicken coop! I had never done that before!! It was so much fun! And then, Sister Rojas gave us 24 fresh eggs...Aweeessommme...And 2 of them are TURKEY EGGS! I attached a picture! I have never seen turkey eggs before. They're huge. Sister Stewart said they are great for baking. I learn so much in Maple Valley about country livin'. 

We had exchanges Thurs-Fri this week, and I went to Kent with Sister Wright. It was an EXCELLENT experience! Absolutely loved it. Kent is much different from Maple Valley. It's city/suburbia and there are people and houses EVERYWHERE. It was crazy how many people we talked to in a day in Kent in comparison to my own area! I learned so much from Sister Wright. She is 20 and from Provo, Utah, and the sweetest girl everrrr. She taught me how to teach on the spot, how to start gospel conversations, how to pray fervently and mightily with purpose, and to have a passion and love for this work. She was such a great example to me. I had the opportunity to teach one of her investigators, Bro Rug, and we helped him see the beauty and necessity of baptism, and how he is committed to be baptized. :) Happy for the Kent area. Loved to be a part of that man's conversion. We meet a lot of Muslim's in Kent and Sister Wright and her comp are learning Arabic to be able to talk to them more! They teach English to them, too. We were hugged and high fived by like 10 little Muslim kiddos and it was SO CUTE! They were like, "Can we hug you? Can we have high fives??!" Hahaha! So cute! I felt such a love for those kids! Just a great experience with Kent, getting to see a little diversity. Sister Wright taught me so much about trust. She told me that trust in the Lord is a choice. We also met Nina, a new potential investigator that is SUPER prepared, and she made a comment that changed my life: "How can I expect to trust anyone else if I don't trust God first." 

Boom. Light bulb came on. 

That was my hold up. I have struggled for years to trust just about anyone completely and fully. And as try as I might, I just couldn't figure out why I couldn't fully trust anyone. And then, Nina, a stranger we met in an apartment parking lot, gave me my answer. I had to truly, honestly ask myself, "Do I fully trust God?" And the answer was no, not really. It was then immediately my quest to trust God more. To wax mighty in prayer and develop that trust. To trust His promises and understand that they ARE real. That He DOES mean it when He says He will bless us when we are obedient and keep the commandments. That He WILL comfort us when we need it. That He DOES love us... That's something I am still trying to fully comprehend; His love for us. But, I am learning to trust Him more and more every day now. And it all stems to prayer. Trusting that when I pray, He DOES hear me, and WILL answer, but in His time and in His way. I'm learning to trust that more. 

Sister Wright felt inspired to tell me a few things on the exchange. One of them is that there is so much in store for me and that this is all worth it. And second, 2 Nephi 32:9. That scripture was literally exactly what I needed:

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

I need to pray always. I need to do this work, the Lord's work, in HIS way. Not my way. Not by my wisdom and knowledge. His way. And that's what I am trying to do now. 

MORE service happened on Saturday morning! We got wind of a community service project listed in the newspaper from a nonmember we were visiting (not really an investigator, just a nice old lady that likes us named Verla). It was a cleaning of the Maple Valley - Hobart cemetary. We told the district leader about it and it turned into a district service project! So fun! Except...it was POURING RAIN. It was so so so cold. Hahah. We worked on in the rain, though! That's the thing about Washington... Rain is just kind of.. there. You work in it anyway. We got a great picture of us though!! Super rainy! (One companionship is missing.) It turns out that this community project is actually a ward activity through the Lake Lucerne ward that they do every year! So basically it was all mormons there, haha. They were super thrilled us missionaries came!! And confused as to how we found out. :) We told them Verla told us! The little random things you hear and learn from people! That's the mission for you. 

Just really contemplating how blessing I am lately. As I adjust more to mission life, I am more able to see through a spiritual lens just how incredible this entire experience is. It's scary, it stretches me, but I learn every day how vital it is to rely on the Savior. It is literally the only way this is made possible. There are things I literally cannot do myself. Sometimes all I can do is just get out of the car. Then, I have to let God do the rest. Sometimes all I can do is walk around. Then, I have to let God do the rest. But, that's the thing. It's His work and it's done through the spirit. So, really, my chief responsibility, is to learn all I can and live as worthy of the spirit as I can so God can do his work through me. I am working on becoming a more efficient instrument in His hands on a daily basis. That's why you have to leave everything behind. That's why you consecrate yourself to this work. That's why there's so many "rules". It's because it's necessary and vital to have the highest degree of the spirit with us as we can. We don't have to be perfect, because sometimes I mess up. Okay, a lot of times. But, that's why there's the Savior. We aren't asked to be perfect in this work, or in life. Just to STRIVE to be. That's what we are asked. The Savior paid the price. 

There's probably more that happened, but there's some cool stuff to start with. I took another picture of a great view we see frequently. Washington, man... So awesome...

Love you all!

-Sister Eldridge

PS: We saw the most beautiful sunset on Friday night...

PPS: HAHA SISTER STEWART. She was leaning her head back and it made me laugh super hard. Thus that last picture.

 Service in the rain!

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

Animals and pretty views‏

Pretty good week! We saw a lot of beautifulness and met a lot of animals this week. Such is life in Maple Valley. I can't believe I've been in Maple Valley for 3 months now. It feels like I've been here for much longer!

Well, the big, giant, sad highlight of the week is that Russell, our only investigator, who is super solid and progressing and on the road to baptism... Dropped us this week. Pretty hardcore. After having an excellent lesson with him in a member's home, in which he made a plan to quit smoking and overcome obstacles to baptism, he texted us a few days later and said he is taking an "indefinite break" from the church. We have no idea why. We asked if we could meet again to discuss it, but he said "no meeting, and don't just drop by either." We are heart broken! Worst break up ever! As sad as it is, since we know he knows it is true, I feel at peace somehow... I know that we did what we could have done as missionaries. And what we can do now is continue to pray. He is on his own journey of conversion. That's something that's hard to realize as missionaries. That even if we do our part, and do it well, following the spirit exactly, the investigator still has their agency and are on their path to figuring this all out. There are many stories of people who investigate for years and years before their truly come to realize and know for themselves (or even find the humility) that what the missionaries have been telling them is true. And I know it's true. It absolutely is. No one can change the truth of God. We hope that Russell finds his way. Until then, we will pray. 

We must never give up on people. We never know what the spirit is doing to work with them or what could touch their heart. The Atonement and God's wisdom is more powerful than human grit and human wisdom. So often we forget that and do not allow that power to do its work, even in our own lives sometimes. 

We did a considerable amount of area book work this week -- finding former or potential investigators. We found success in doing so! We set up three appointments for this week from doing so. A family, the Kim's, who we have an appointment with tonight, and two other former investigators, Nathaniel and Cindy. Cindy was so excited when we stopped by! She really wants us to come! She is the sweetest. We have high hopes that all of these appointments will go through and that we will find new people to teach. :) Since we don't have any investigators! Haha! But, you know, we have much work to do in the ward, even if we don't have new people to teach the gospel, too. We are working with less actives and they are progressing! Really! One of them is getting their patriarchal blessing on Tuesday! Ahhh yeahhh! And the other, Beth (who I LOOVE!) asked us to start giving her the new member lessons! Miracle! So we are doing that now. We are going to start working even harder to work in unity with the Bishop because one of our responsibilities as missionaries is to lift where we stand -- to build up the ward where we are. If we all increase our testimonies of the Atonement, our desire to share the gospel increases. Some members just honestly don't realize that missionary work is most effective when missionaries and members work together. That's how it is meant to be. I just didn't even get that before my mission. At all. It's a joint effort! We are all enlisted in the work of salvation. Some of us are just devoting 24/7, 100% of our time to it for 18-24 months. We know it's exhausting and scary! We do it all day every day! So any help is great for us missionaries. :) #soapbox

SO WE SAW SO MUCH WILDLIFE THIS WEEK. This lady we stopped by to see that is super kind (albeit un-interested in lessons), has 2 miniature deer... and I got to feed them! They were sooo cute! And then, we saw a snake in the road the same day. Then, on the property we live on, literally like 10 feet from us, we saw 4 deer. Right in the planter. It was incredible. I got terrible pictures, because it was dark, but. Look! Annnnd, we had such an incredible view (which is actually pretty normal, but it was a pretty day) from tracting the other day. Seriously, this is like my normal life here in Maple Valley. 

We had ZONE CONFERENCE on Friday! It was soooo good! It was about repentance. About how repentance is not just a "check list" of things to be forgiven of, though that is definitely part of it all. It is change. It requires clean hands (our actions) AND a pure heart (our thoughts/intentions/desires/etc). This life isn't just about getting back to Heavenly Father, or else why did we ever leave? It's about changing our very natures and becoming like Him and His Son (paraphrased from D. Todd Christofferson). What are we becoming? A good way to measure this is to look at what direction our faith is taking us. Repentance is a positive thing. It is an opportunity for us to utilize the Atonement, which is the Plan. The Savior IS the plan. Come unto Him. He wants to help us. He can alleviate all guilt, all heartbreak, all hurt, all sin. May we all take a personal inventory and identify if our choices are taking us closer or farther away from the Savior and becoming like Heavenly Father. It helps me to remember that Heavenly Father promises us wealth untold; something greater than anything we could possibly imagine in this life. Repentance is the price. And it's not repentance that gets us salvation -- it is the grace of the Savior's Atonement. I'm super grateful for repentance! Because I need it. And I am grateful for the Sacrament that cleanses me weekly and brings the spirit into my life more fully each week. These gifts are vital for our salvation. To not use them would be a hindrance to our eternal progression. More happiness awaits by living the gospel than by anything we could do ourselves. The gospel will always and forever be the thing that people think are "missing" from their lives. It is the love of God and living the Savior's gospel! And it is available for all, not matter who. God loves all of His children, not just the "righteous". He can only invite, though. It's up to us to claim the blessings He wants and is ready to give us. 

On a non-repentance related note...funniest story of all time on the way to Zone Conference... 

So, I made a green smoothie and put it in a mason jar. I brought it with me in the car to drink on the way there. I stuck it in the cup holder for just a minute while I was getting situated and did a few things before getting ready to leave (can you see where this is going?). Well, we sit down and get ready to leave and the music is playing all peacefully and we feel the spirit and, "ah, yes, time for zone conference, this is good." ...And not 2 seconds later, Sister Stewart takes a right turn and.... "AHHHH! IT'S COOOOOOLD!" My green smoothie spilled ALL OVER SISTER STEWART'S SEAT! EVERYWHERE! There was green everywhere! And it was COLD! In not so happy places! Hahahah! We frantically drove back to the house (we weren't even out of the property yet, it's like .1 mile to the gate) and screamed and ran upstairs and got towels and I was freaking out because I needed to be there early to play prelude because I was asked to play piano and I was like "We're gonna be late!!" and it was just chaos. All before 9am. Hahahaha. It was just the funniest ever... So we cleaned it up best we could and zoomed to conference and actually got there on time, somehow. Haha. Yup. Leave it to Sister Eldridge to get green smoothie all over her comp. Classic. There's a picture of her poor skirt. Hahaaaaa... 

Oh, and I had a great birthday! I had 3 birthday cakes throughout the week, plus cupcakes from Bishop's family! They were so sweet! We showed up for our Bishop's meeting Thursday night and when they opened the door, they surprised me!! They starting singing Happy Birthday and had cupcakes with lit candles on the table!! They are soooo sweeeeeet!!! It made me so happy! :) So I had 3 sets of candles to blow out on my birthday. Thanks for the funfetti cake, mom! I made it and put the candles on. :) You are the sweetest! Loved all the birthday goodies! Tell your YW thank you for the card! :) I felt very loved this week! We had dinner at the Holt's on my bday and she made me a chocolate cake! And the Roxtrom's made me a strawberry cake. SO MUCH CAKE OH MAN. Need a sugar break... :) So, yup. Who would have thought that on my 25th birthday I'd be on a mission in Washington? I certainly NEVER thought I would be... But here I am! A missionary! And at Zone Conf they sang to all the May/June birthdays and they let us choose a present from a basket. I got this legit temple recommend holder with Mt. Ranier on it and the mission name. :) One of a kind!

Well, hope you all have a wonderful week. The rain has returned here and it's pretty coooold! 

Love you all. :) 

Love,

Sister Eldridge

 

I FORGOT ONE MORE MIRACLE STORY! 

Woah woah woah! 

So on Saturday, we had a pretty crummy day. We walked for hours and talked to maybe 3 people and didn't really do much of anything, we thought. It was raining and cold. Just an eh day. But, first miracle, just as we were discouraged and about to take dinner early at 4:30, one of our FAVORITE members, the Vach's, called us and asked if we had a dinner appointment and we said we didn't and then they invited us over for taco soup! They saved the day! 

That's not the greatest miracle, though. It's what happened later. At 8:40, we decided to do phone contacting, where we just called random numbers in our phones of old investigators or potentials and try to find someone that way. It was interesting because we both had the prompting earlier in the day that we needed to do phone contacting. So Sister Stewart scrolls down in the phone and comes across the name "Dianna". We thought, why not, let's call her. 

So we call her and she seems nice and we ask if she met with the missionaries and she says, "yes." and she asks, "Where are you calling from?" And we say, "Washington..." and she goes, "Ah! I moved to California." And we were like ah okay so she moved, oh well, next person. But then, Sister Stewart asks, "Did you find missionaries in California?" And she goes, "I have been trying to! I have been searching for them for a long time and can't seem to find them! I went to the church and there is no one there and I just can't find the missionaries! I want to!" And we were like what! Oh my goodness! 

And she says,

"It is a miracle you called... I have been praying for someone. I am just so alone right now and then you just called me! I am struggling with bone cancer and I feel like I'm fighting it alone..." 

Oh. My. Gosh. It was a miracle. MIRACLE! She was so grateful we called her and it was seriously an answer to her prayer. We felt the spirit fill the car. It was INCREDIBLE! We immediately said we will send the missionaries to her and we got her address and such. It was even more a miracle because she has a California number now, but her Washington number is forwarded to her new number. Or else we would have never found her! Those missionaries in Bell Gardens California are about to get THE golden referral! Dianna was just so sweet. She kept thanking us for calling and she started crying and then at the end of the call, she asked if we could pray with her, and she said the sweetest prayer, thanking Heavenly Father for sending us to her. 

You guys. It doesn't matter that Dianna is in our area or not. We helped her. The missionaries are going to find her now. Her life is going to change. All because we made a simple phone call. All because we followed the spirit. It is amazing.

This work is amazing. It's moments like this that make me go, "This is why I'm here. It's for people like Dianna." 

JUST HAD TO TELL YOU ALL THIS!

OKAY LOVE YOU ALL! 

BYE!

 

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

Don't know what to title it so, yeah.

Soo... I turn 25 tomorrow... What. That's weird. Anyway.

Hello, everyone! First off, it was just amazing amazing amazing to skype home yesterday!!! I love you all so much! It was such a treat to see everyone! I love my family! And I am so happy I got to talk to my dad!!! It was crazy, literally a second after I hung up on skype, we had to run to an appointment and my mind was EVERYWHERE and ahhh haha it was so hard to focus! But, it was alright, it was with a family in the ward. :) We were following up with them with an assignment we gave them. We are trying something called "spiritual tracting", where we ask a family to pray over the map of the area and wherever they feel inspired we should go, we will go there and tract! The family that did it this week, the Garvins, took the challenge above and beyond! They took it as an opportunity to teach their kids how to receive revelation and how to pray specifically. It was really cool. And we got their answer: 3 different areas that we will go and try out. :) And if we find someone, that family that did the spiritual tracting will be their fellowship! This is the first time we have done this, so we'll see how it plays out. 

This week was an interesting and different one. Sister Stewart was mega sick for 2 days. She had some sort of intense cold and it just made her sleep for days. Apparently it's going around. So she literally just had to sleep. I spent that time thoroughly going through the area book and really seeing what and who is in there (essentially getting well versed with the area, too) and studying preach my gospel. I also deep cleaned the apartment. Like, we're talking white glove status here. All those white gloves I had to do over the years really paid off! The apartment is so clean! And you can actually feel the spirit stronger, too. That's not to say our apartment was all that messy, but after really cleaning it, the spirit was noticeably stronger. It made me really appreciate the apartment we are given to live in, too, because it's a huge blessing! We live in a pretty nice place. I also cooked delicious homemade soup for my sick comp. And it was bomb, not gonna lie. Basically I spent two days being a house wife... :) Good practice, right? Sister Stewart is feeling better now! We were able to go out and work Sunday. 

Bro Work is doing awesome and is totally enveloped into the ward now. He sits with members and just does his thing. We still have to remind him what time church starts every week cause of his memory, but he faithfully comes and loves it! Every time we stop by, he is reading the Book of Mormon. He is visibly happier. In his new member lesson last week of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he basically taught us everything. The spirit really is helping his memory more than he recognizes. It's so incredible. This is the result of the gospel changing a life! He is so happy! He is working on getting the priesthood soon, but it kind of makes him nervous because he's afraid he won't remember everything, but we are working with him. He is so happy, though! 

Russell didn't end up going to treatment after all, so we'll hopefully be starting to teach him again. He was going to come to church on Sunday, but at the last minute he had a family issue. But the important thing is, he wanted to go. He was like, "Yeah, I want to go to that quorum thing... what's it called? I really liked that." He was talking about Elder quorum! Haha, so great! His struggles in life are difficult ones, but we know it is the gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ that will help him above all else that he could be doing. We hope he will choose to continue to meet with us. I think that's the hardest part about this all... Trying so hard to help someone, only for them to choose different. But, we can only invite and help. It has to be their choice. Because, agency is an important gift from our Heavenly Father. He wants us to choose good, not evil. Because there really is only one or the other. There are no fence sitters. You're either in the boat, or you're not. I invite all of you to stay in the boat. No matter the waves and the storms, stay in the boat. It will keep you safe, even when the world around us is in turmoil (and it is in turmoil). The gospel, the church, the Savior, is our safe foundation that we need to build. If we do not have this foundation, we will fall. Feast upon the words of Christ! 

Something I have been pondering lately is obedience. Perhaps surprising to some of you, obedience is actually something I struggle with. Not in the sense that I break all the mission rules and am a complete apostate. Nah. But, I struggle with exact obedience. I have a bad habit of trying to find the little ways to get around the rules and look for grey areas. I justify myself with lame excuses that weaken my character. Because any excuse, no matter how good, weakens character. I struggle with complete honesty with myself. Have I really done all I could today? Have I really made all the right choices I could have? Have I been exactly obedient? Sometimes, the answer is no, sometimes the answer is yes. I figure that the little variances in my obedience don't really make an eternal difference and since no one knows about it but me, it's not a big deal, because no one will find out! Except, Heavenly Father knows. Even if (for example) no one will ever know if I get up 1 minute late in the morning, my Heavenly Father knows. And He knows the intention of my heart. If I get up a minute too late on accident with a resolve to do better tomorrow, that is a wonderful attitude to have. But, if I get up 1 minute late with the attitude of, "Pfft, whatever, it doesn't make that big of a difference anyway, and no one even knows, I deserve the sleep...", I don't think Heavenly Father would be pleased. The point is, my attitude is what needs to change. I need to be obedient out of love. And Heavenly Father will bless us according to our obedience to His laws. If I try to be disobedient, Heavenly Father won't try and bless me. I want to strive for all of the blessing available to me. Heavenly Father wants to give them to me and all of us. But, we have to choose to be obedient. It's against the natural man, but we must pray for help. May we all ponder something that we could be doing a little better at (in essence, "What lack I yet?"). Satan makes obedience seem super lame and unnecessary (especially if there are rules we don't think are necessary to follow). But, he is only trying to rob the rich blessings in store for us. I want to fight against that influence and see what more abundant blessings flow into my life this week as I strive more for exact obedience. I'll follow up with you all next week! (Oh man, now I'm being held accountable! Scary!) 

So, yeah, Maple Valley hasn't seen much action lately because of sick companions, but we're gonna hit it hard this week and go out and find people to teach! Cause we literally only have one investigator... :) 

On Saturday morning, we helped Sister Roxstrom, one of our FAAAAVORITE people of all time, plant some beautiful flowers! It was a fun little service project! Sister Roxstrom is totally our momma. :) When we called her the other day and she found out Sister Stewart was sick, she told Sister Stewart to get rest and such and she goes, "MOMMA HAS SPOKEN!" Hahaha! We laughed so hard. She's the best. (She's in the background in the picture I sent.)

Love you all! Have a great week! 

Love,

Sister Eldridge

PS: Uhhhh... I'm 25 tomorrow.... Since when was I so old? 

PPS: Thanks for the birthday wishes in advance! :)

 

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States

Transfer #3

Wow, I'm in my third transfer already? That went fast. And, the verdict is: Nothing! I am staying in Maple Valley another 6 weeks with Sister Stewart. Phew. No big changes. I didn't want to be transferred because way too lazy to pack... :) Haha. As of yesterday, I've been in Maple Valley for 3 months. And it's BEAUTIFUL HERE IN THE SPRING! Man oh man. Washington really is a beautiful as they say.

Last week was a SLOWW one. We called it "the week of cancelled appointments." Pfftt. It really was true. And Randy is out of town so we haven't been able to teach him! It was a tough week with a whole lot of not a lot happening, but I suppose we have weeks like that here and there. It was difficult, because I started feeling down again, but this time it wasn't as bad as it normally was. I could actually get up and work this time, unlike last time. So that was a little better. It's still a struggle, but I usually feel better. And I do feel better now. 

By far the biggest miracle this week is that Russell has a baptismal date! It is amazing! He came to church on Sunday, too, and he was even fasting because he wanted to get the full experience. He made comments in Sunday School and said he really enjoyed Elder's Quorum. Sooo good! We had an incredibly spiritual lesson yesterday about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power the Atonement has to change our very nature. Amazinggg. He agreed to June 17 as his baptismal date! He goes into treatment for the next 3 weeks today so we won't be able to teach him, but he is bringing his Book of Mormon and really wants to find an answer. We will be praying like crazy for him for the next three weeks, that's for sure... He is so solid, though! We are excited for him. This will change all eternity for him. That's what we do as missionaries... we change peoples' eternities. Think about that... (though, they, of course, have to choose it.)

So yeaaaahhh, not many cool stories for this week! But the weather, as said, is gorgeous and the rain is gone for a bit. We are blessed, we are like probably the only missionaries in Washington that have A/C in our apartment, haha, most everywhere here doesn't have A/C. I'm grateful for that. 

Something I have been pondering lately is how quickly we forget spiritual experiences we have, even if at the time they deem to change our lives. We are such forgetful beings. I was reading in Alma the other day about how Alma is telling the people, "How could you have possibly hardened your hearts after this experience and this experience and this and this and this..." And I thought, wow. I do the same thing in my life sometimes. I have life changing spiritual experiences pretty much on a weekly basis, yet sometimes I still murmur and complain and forget the amazing things the Lord has done for me, and further, forget the power the Lord has to deliver me from whatever I may be going through. The Exodus is brought up more than once in the Book of Mormon, saying things such as, "Look what God can do! He delivered the people out of Egypt! Don't you think he can help you, too?" May we never doubt the power God has and the power of the Atonement readily available in our lives. It is the hardening of our own hearts that denies these things. We are to knock and we are to remember. This is why scripture study and prayer and church attendance and temple attendance and FHE and mutual and institute and family prayer and so on are so important: It's so we REMEMBER! Constantly. Every day. All the time. Remembering the Savior. Building our relationship with Him. Becoming like Him. I hope that when the day of judgement comes I can stand in front of the Savior and be like Him. That he will shine in my countenance. That is hard to do in this mortal life, full of the natural man and temptation and tired minds and annoying people everywhere. But may we ever try and depend on the Atonement to make it happen, to turn from natural man to saint. 

Hope you all have a good week! New week ahead and our only investigator is in treatment for three weeks... Haaahaha. Better find some new people to teach, eh? 

Love you all.

AND HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU WONDERFUL MOTHERS. <3 

Love,

Sister Eldridge

PS: talk to you soon, family! skyping on Sundayyy!

 

Pictures!

1. Sooo we planted some ferns in a member's garden and I didn't have gloves. I got muddy hands!!! 

2. Our legit district! My fav district so far, by far! Looove them! (Sister on the far right is Sister Erickson and she's being transferred sooo saaad!)

3. My goofy comp... I don't know what to do with her sometimes... her ears were cold?

Sister Juliann Marie Eldridge
Washington Federal Way Mission
23175 224th PI SE Ste E
Maple Valley, WA 98038
United States