Me Again!

Norfolk is such an interesting city. It is so different everyday. One day we love the area and the next we're like this place is crazy! We had a lot of that this week. We taught a member referral this week named Rebecca. She seemed just a little off, but was soaking up what we were teaching. As we were teaching she randomly told us she had HIV. That's not so uncommon to have that dropped here, so we just moved on. Then a little while later her cat came up and jumped on her and the claw went into her arm and it was so sudden that we all jumped and the cat ran off. Meanwhile her arm starts bleeding and in my mind I'm like, oh no, she has HIV. It was so weird and she just kept apologizing for her cat. Haha. We taught her again this week and she was loving it and then she was supposed to come to church with the member and we saw her yesterday and hands us the Book of Mormon we gave Rebecca and said she decided to stop learning. Weird! I don't get people, but what's new. Something funny about Rebecca is that she kept asking me if I have ever thought about becoming a pastor. I think she asked me like 15 times. Haha. Well I guess that's an option for when I get home....haha

Sis. Mundy in the ward (who makes delicious scotcharoos) was telling us about a friend that she used to be a crossing guard with that she wants to share the gospel with. Well she didn't necessarily want to at first, but she felt prompted by the Spirit to and I think that helped her have the desire. So we had a lesson with her and practiced role playing with her. I don't know if I ever told you that we have to role play everyday. It helps when we have to give committments that make us nervous or when we are teaching something that we aren't sure how it'll go over. It was fun with Sis. Mundy and she is really good at it!

We had a zone meeting this last week and we talked a lot about ward mission plans. As missionaries we have no say in them, but it's our responsibility to help the members to know about it and to support it. I have no idea what the Norfolk 2 plan is. I think it's something that the Stake is going to be meeting with the bishops to get it rolling. But something that Sis. Vawdrey and I have decided to do was to introduce the idea of a family mission plan to our members in the meantime. Some members already have one, but most do not here. It's such a good idea and I cannot wait to have one of my own! Basically what it is are goals for how to be involved in missionary work as a family. The suggestions are for there to be 3 or less items on the list and for those 3 to be simple and actionable. So basically pick a few things that you think you can do as a family that are realistic. Some of the takers have been to invite other families over for FHE, pray (for missionaries all over world, missionaries in the ward specifically by name, and missionary opportunities), give away 1 pass along card week/month, study Preach My Gospel together (a guide to missionary service!), etc. If you don't already have a family mission plan, it might be something to look into. It makes for a fun FHE and helps to teach kids about member missionary work. The earlier they start the easier it will be for them to share the gospel.

Saturday was Leano Book's baptism. She turned 8 and had such a fun baptism. We gave the message while she was changing and talked about how the gospel brings us joy. Leano is one of the girls that lives below us.

This week we also met a girl named Erica. The elders in N1 gave her a pass along card at a bus stop and she called for a Book of Mormon. When we got the text for her request we just coincidentally were near her area, so we went by the drop it off and walked in a taught her a lesson. She has some mental health issues, which has resulted in a really hard life. She says she is Christian, but she doesn't really know much about religion at all. She never prays, but at the end of the lesson she said she would. It was great. A few days later we went back and taught another lesson and she prayed again. Then she came to church yesterday and really liked it. We are going to see her again on Wednesday and teach her more about the Book of Mormon and why it's important to read. The other 2 lessons we focused on faith and repentance and building a relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I haven't had many of those lessons here because most people already strongly believe. I like these lessons!

Well I guess that's all for now! I love you!
Sister Talbot