Happy Independence Day!

Wow. another week down, another transfer done.... well not yet technically. this is the last week, but by the time i email you next week my fate will be decided. where i go, who i am with, what i do, who i teach, whose doors i bang down. ha wish me luck! so i won't email you till next tuesday, but DON'T think oh i will email monday get busy and then forget about me haha

idk if it is politically correct, but i am definitely going to celebrate the 4th of July so correct for me!

  

this week has been great. 

some highlights were International night!! it was so fun.  it was a pretty big success i would say. people really enjoyed it.  for the American 15 mins I taught line dancing and the cha cha slide. thank you stake dances for permanently engraving those in my mind. it was hilarious to see the bishop and older members up there doing their best to keep up.  I don't know if dancing the line dance and teaching it is allowed because technically i think as missionaries we aren't supposed to dance, but i am the only american in the ward, and they were depending on me, so i decided to do as dad always says: ask for forgiveness rather than permission. (As we read Rachel's letter togehter, Ed asked, "Since when did I say that??")   The food was really good, except they don't have rootbeer here, and at this special store you can buy it and it is advertised as "American Rootbeer"..... but it is disgusting. poor English don't get to have the blessings of rootbeer.... for one of the entertainment sections they had ballroom dancing.  It made me think of you guys.  They were trying to find a couple who would get up and dance in front of everyone, and they were having difficulty finding someone to do it.  Dad i knew that you would have been up there so fast. twirling mom, showing off, being the life of the party ha

anyways it was a really fun night for the members but it was sad as well. we had a few investigators there and it was so disheartening the way the members didn't really interact with them. Even after we went up and specifically asked them to go talk to them, they would go say hi for about 5 seconds then go off to their own friends and families.  I think that as members it is really easy to fall into just doing what we are comfortable with.  and yes maybe it is not as comfortable for us to have a conversation with someone new who isn't a member rather than just be with our normal friends and family, but just imagine how the new person feels.  In our next lesson with one of the investigators, we asked him about it and he said he felt not at home and that he felt as if he stuck out like a sore thumb.  It was so disappointing and sad. Luckily he agreed to give church a try and see if he felt any more welcome. 

I loved the fireside we watched yesterday that was so bold and so clear. our greatest and most important duty as members of the Church is to preach and share the gospel.  It is not enough to be a member and to live and enjoy the blessings.  We must go out and share the truths that we know.  The people around us are our brothers and sisters. we need to love them enough to want them to have the knowledge and blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  This gospel brings us such peace! it brings us such happiness and such an everlasting joy.  We need to follow in Jesus Christ's footsteps and share the source of this peace and joy.  It sounds like you guys are trying to do that and I am so proud of you!! so true mom about your prayers for me to find a family, when the moms of the missionaries in your ward are saying the same thing.  

Another highlight was the fireside. I wish it had been shown to EVERYONE! it was so great! it truly spoke the truth about mission work and how it is most effective.      

Some of my thoughts during the fireside were:

 just found out the library is closing!! i will share my thoughts next week i promise!! i am so sorry!! 

The scripture for the week is all of D&C 31 haha i love it.  the doctrine and covenants is soooo inspiring for missionary work. man it just makes you want to go and tell the world!  about Megan's thing, it is funny you  mentioned that because Sister Benetti and I have done something very similar! i will give you more details next week.  haha give you something to anticipate in my email.  i love you so much and your emails and letters and support and strength help me more than you know! love ya Rachel      

Megan is Rachel's cousin, serving in New York City, New York Spanish speaking mission.  She wrote in her blog about them doing a flashmob on the subway train.  I'll include it for those who are curious.  It sounded unique and fun!   

"I love Jamaica, there really is no place like it. Sadly,  it also is one of the "harder" areas of NYC. Sister Missionaries just barely returned to the area after a few years of not being allowed for safety reasons. In the subway station, there are all sorts of preachers calling people to repentance and "Black Jews" shouting and chanting in their long purple robes. We decided to practice it once in the subway station. We sang, "A child's prayer." While one of the Elders played the guitar. There were at least 26 missionaries all singing, and you could feel the spirit fill the station. Many people walked by, some people stopped, but you could tell that they were all listening. It was powerful. We then got on to the subway. Some of the Elders dressed in their normal clothes to try to "blend in", but a bunch of bright eyed kids, most of which are white, kind of stand out on their own in queens, especially in Jamaica haha. Anyway, as the train moved, 4 elders started singing with the guitar while kneeling in the middle of the car, then us sisters stood up to sing, then more and more elders came into sing. The spirit filled the car, and many people took out their ear-buds to listen, and even were taking pictures and video. Angels must have been singing with us too, because we sounded really good. After we were done we would all hand out mormon.org cards and invite people to church. Some of course didn't want anything to do with it, but you could tell many people felt something and wanted to come. Our mission president is trying to get us away from knocking doors and out trying new things.