FAMILY!!!!
Thank you so much for your emails! They always make me tear up. Have I ever told you all that I LOVE YOU?! Because I do... so much. I always enjoy reading your testimonies. They definitely strengthen mine.
It is so good to hear that everyone is doing well. Please give everyone a hug and kiss for me. PLEASE know that I am praying for you all. Dad, good luck with those bids. Just know that Heavenly Father is in this. His will will be done. Just have faith and keep praying. Mom, good luck with those 3rd graders. I admire you for your patience. That is the biggest thing that I have had to work on in my mission. It definitely isn't easy. I bet Preston is the best dad. I always knew he would make a great father. After all, he is an AMAZING brother. Keep working on the "Auntie Catey" with Codie. :) Haha. I'm so glad that James and Deann are doing so well. I hope they know that they are in my prayers. I am so grateful for their amazing examples. I am so glad that Grandpa and Grandma are doing well. Give them a hug and a kiss for me. Also, tell Auntie Kay Kay and my cutie pie cousins that I love them. :) I miss you ALL tons, and am so grateful for such an AMAZING family.
So... This week has been crazy! We taught 35 lessons last week and are EXHAUSTED!!! Which is a good thing. :) We currently have about 20 investigators, and are prayerfully trying to get them to progress (to come to church). It has been crazy, but I can definitely see the Lord's hand in His work here. When we first got here, we only had like 6 investigators, so the work is coming along. :) We had interviews with President Sonne this week and he told me that I looked exhausted, which is true. :) And which is GOOD. I would be worried if I weren't exhausted! :) So... I had to go to the doctor's AGAIN this week. Here is the story:
Spider Bite Story
The other day I had this little red dot right above my lip, on the right side where my top lip meets my bottom lip. I didn't really think anything about it, but the next morning, I woke up and my lip was SO swollen, hard, red and sore, inside and outside. I couldn't smile, eat, talk or anything. I was pretty miserable. Well that morning was the morning of interviews. So when Sister Sonne saw me, she was pretty worried. She called Mission Medical and they told her that I needed to see the doctor. So, being the obedient missionary that I am :), my companion and I headed on over to the doctor. The doctor told me that it was a spider bite that got infected. Apparently my body didn't handle it like it should of. So, he prescribed me some steroid medicine to make the swelling go down and the pain to go away. The steroid medicine makes me REALLY nauseous, which makes it hard to sleep at night. And it makes me really emotional. But, my zone leaders came over the night I went to the doctor and gave me a blessing, which helped tremendously. So now, I just have a red, hard bump on by lip, but it doesn't hurt anymore, and I can SMILE!!! :) My companion and I now have an inside joke that I got kissed by the spider, since the bite is right above my lip. We find it pretty humorous...Haha. The things that entertain us missionaries.
Anyways, the work is amazing, and sick or not, I LOVE being a missionary and serving the Lord. I have a very strong testimony of this Church. I am so grateful for the Lord, and His mercy. I am not by any means a perfect missionary or person (in fact, I am so far from being perfect), but I know that because of
Christ's suffering, I can repent and be cleansed and purified, and feel of the joy that comes from doing so. I am so grateful to be His servant and to give a MINISCULE of what He did for me back to Him. I LOVE Him so much. I pray that we will all do everyting we can to bring JOY to this Christmas season. Here's my thought this week: The word "JOY" is an acronym for... READY???
J - Jesus
O - Others
Y - You
I know that as we make Christ the center of our lives and serve others, we will have so much joy in our lives. I have seen that first-hand as I serve a mission.
I LOVE you all so much. Thank you for ALL of your amazing support.
Love,
Sister Stroud
P.S. Last transfer, my companion and I taught this family. After many years of meeting with missionaries, the father (Tyson) and the son (Tyler) were baptized. They are now preparing to be sealed in the temple in a year. The following is an email that I received from Destanie (the mom) today. I loved this family...
Hey Sister Stroud,
I know that I should of emailed you a few weeks ago, but we have been so busy with surgery's and what not. You know how our life goes! I really miss you coming over and giving Tyson and I a hard time. Tyler and Wendy sure miss you coming over too... The other sisters have stopped by a couple of times since you left, but it just isn't the same without you.. I do hope that you are liking where you got transferred to. I hope you and your new companion are doing well and liking each other. I know that sometimes it can be hard. Tyson is still doing good on his non-smoking life. It has been about 6 weeks or so since he had one. He says its hard somedays but he likes being smoke free.
I don't ever want to loose contact with you. You changed our lives so much in just the short time we got to have you here. I feel a close bond with you and the teachings you taught my husband and son. We went through several missionaries to finally get Tyson and Tyler to commit to getting baptized. I know that Tyson said it was you that made him really want to finally stop smoking and finally commit. I just want you to understand the kind of person you are to of helped my family get closer to God and the temple. Thank you! Your family should be so proud of you and what you are doing, and how many peoples' lives you have helped change for the better.
I miss you tons, but I know that God had a purpose for you to ge elsewhere. Someone else needs your teachings like we did. And I know that you are doing what one day maybe Tyson and I will be able to do when it is time.
Love you tons,
Destanie
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