New Companion! Lots of Rain! Loving Missionary Work!

Hermana Madsen, Maria, Sindy, Hermana Macfarlane

So it rained a lot this week and we were on bikes WOOHOOO. It was so fun. Well, the first day Hermana Madsen's bike broke so we decided to take our first walk day in Memphis. It was at least a solid 95 degrees outside and Hna Madsen was like "I hope it rains today" and then 5 minutes later it DUMPED on us, hahaha! But, God is good and we weren't really getting that wet and then this nice auto-shop man ran out in the pouring rain and basically threw two of those giant plastic ponchos at us and ran back inside. We quickly put them on (seeing as we were still 45 minutes away from our destination) and enjoyed the shelter and humidity of free ponchos. And then a giant semi-truck came rolling by on the river of water in the street and we were suddenly 100Xs more grateful for the ponchos. We got to the house we were going to and the person we were looking for didn't live there anymore so we knocked around the neighborhood, and no one was home. As we left for the library, a nice older man stopped us and said we could come take shelter on his porch as we wait for the rain to stop. (And the thunder was soooo cool. I don't know if it's just like a Tennessee thing or
because we were outside right under it but it was rolling all over the sky. Super cool.) We weren't sure about trusting a shirtless old man but we decided to give him a card anyway. He in turn gave us cold water and a referral for his Hispanic neighbor. God knows where His missionaries are!

Rain ponchos 

I had the pleasure of riding an Elder's bike this week Hna Madsen is too short so she used my bike (which was still a bit of a stretch). The next day, we were trying to figure out how to plan our day because most people want us to come over at the same time of day. Thankfully our dinner appointment wanted to move earlier so they could go to the TEMPLE. Yay. So we had an early dinner with them and right as we left it DUMPED on us again! But this time it was so hard and the wind was so strong we were teetering on our bikes. So we pulled over and the Angels that fed us dinner then followed us to pick us up on our bikes because they knew the rain would be bad and they would have to come rescue us.

Shrimp Cocktail Salsa

Probably the most fun thing of the week is that Jose Ramos was ordained as a Teacher this week! He was so excited, and next week he will help pass the sacrament.  Then Sunday evening, Maria and Sindy came teaching with us for the first time. Sindy has told us since the second lesson that she wants to be a missionary and Maria recently decided the same. Sindy borrowed one of Hna Lewis' old dresses (AWWW) and they were AMAZING HOLY COW. Their mom has some friends she used to work with and we have been teaching the friends and their daughters. The daughters were outside and Maria and Sindy were like "hey! Let's go see them!" So we did and we taught the plan of Salvation outside in the parking lot. As we invited them to be baptized they again said no. Maria and Sindy (who had been sharing experiences and their testimonies throughout with no cues from us) told them that Jesus Christ will be coming soon and they don't want to be found unbaptized. And it's a commandment and they have to do it and that it's just the beginning of starting on the right path. Then Maria kind of threw down a little bit and said you have to do it and you will know when you come to church that it is the true church and you will know when you read the Book of Mormon that it's true and when you get baptized you will want to come to church even more. THEY ARE ANGELS. And they accepted baptism in August.

The church is true. Sometimes I'm like "this is hard" and then I remember how fun it is to be a missionary and I get happy again. This is so fun.

Hermana Macfarlane