GOD IS LOVE

Hello loves!!

Another great week! And, once again, Tuesday was the highlight!!! 

My comp and I ended up with 4 pairs of the same boots..it's a long story (shipped a few sizes before we got the right fit!)

 

Christmas music and Disney music is approved in this mission. We are happy campers ❤️

 

Our schedule this Tuesday was exactly the same as last: we met with the man who is a recovering alcoholic, we met with Aminata, and we met with Kara!!

Meeting with the guy who is a recovering alcoholic (sorry, I don't want to use his name. Sometimes I feel like missionaries include too much personal info about those they work with so I want to keep things pretty anonymous.) was amazing as usual!! He is inspiring, and deems me as someone who walked right out of a Mormon message. Ah!! Amazing amazing amazing.

Aminata is an angel sent from heaven, and so is Emmanuel. She told us "This church is home. This church is my church forever." I wish you could hear her speak in her African accent and see her mannerisms. She is the SWEETEST. And Emmanuel absolutely loves church!! Aminata couldn't come yesterday because one of the other kids was sick, but Emmanuel really wanted to come so he came alone!!! Ah! An EIGHT year old who has only been to church once came...ALONE!

The lesson with Kara...oh my lanta. It was our first official she-let-us-inside-sit-down-lesson. She has two daughters who joined our lesson, and they are 10 and 13. I don't even know how to describe Kara with words. Where to start? She adores us. Absolutely adores us.

Why? I DON'T KNOW. She tells us how much she loves us, she brags about us to her kids, she cries when she talks about us....I don't know what we did to deserve teaching her. We were able to teach the restoration and she just LOVED it. She soaked everything in. GUYS, I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT. After the lesson we asked the 10 year old how she felt. After a moment of silence she whispered, "I feel like God is in the room." Woah.

If I knew this is what being on a mission would be like I would have had a much easier time deciding to serve. Seriously.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention, we had lesson on lesson Tuesday so things were tight. Kara's lesson was at 6:15 and Marcus' baptism was at 7.

CRUNCH TIME. Long story short, we were late, the Zone Leader's investigator was late, and Marcus was even more late. SO it all ended up working out. It was a wonderful baptism, and a wonderful wonderful day.

We also got a new referral! His name is Richard, and he has met with missionaries before. He walked into one of our church buildings asking for missionaries!! He wants to be baptized and we are so excited!

We currently have 19 investigators, and 6 with a baptismal date. :) we are so pumped! It's amazing to meet people who have such a desire to follow Christ.

Yesterday Kara texted us saying that her friends were telling her that Mormons were awful, and she wanted to know why. That broke my heart.

There is so much negativity spread about the Mormon religion, and the irony is that a lot of it is spread by those who have never turned a page in the Book of Mormon, or stepped foot into a Mormon church. It seems that in today's world we are so worried about respecting and not offending any religion/culture EXCEPT for Christianity. If that isn't an omen to the fact that Christianity holds truth, then I don't know what is. (I am very passionate about respecting religions and cultures, I don't wish to sound like I am against that, I just wish Christianity was included.) ANYWAYS. Are there problems in the Mormon religion? Yes! There are problems in any religion, there are always problems when man is involved. But in this mortal life, we cannot let imperfections lead us away from truth. Because, HELLLLO, mortal life is full of imperfection! That is quite literally the whole point. And if we let imperfections get in the way on our truth seeking path, we won't find much.

THANK YOU for the support and love you all show me. I mean that.

Serving a mission is not easy. Sometimes I feel as though I'm slowly dissolving into my surroundings. Sometimes I feel drained, frustrated, and heart broken. I will never deny the pain that comes with serving a mission, but I will equally never deny that joy that comes as well.
I love you all. A whole lot. ❤️



If any of you were wondering what my hair looks like blow dried....now you know. It's a mess.
Sister Pugmire

P.s. Random thought I wrote down last month that is applicable to us missionaries in the holiday season:

Missionary: "Aww....I'm not with my family."

My brain: Neither is God. That's why you're here.

We are out here serving missions to bring God HIS family back. We leave our earthly families for a SHORT time to unite God with His family.

Just a thought that came to me, and helped me put things into perspective. :)