Sister Juliann Eldridge: 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.