The Three Nephites

It feels like it's been forever since I last sent an email.  Sorry I missed last week, but transfers were hectic!

 To catch you all up, I am in the craziest trio ever. We've been referred to as the three Nephites more than once.  

 Sister P is actually one of the prettiest humans on planet earth. When we got the news that I would be staying in the northern part of the mission and began the debate about who I could be going to, it was pointed out that Sister P and I could go to a new area together.  I said no thanks because then I would always feel ugly. And now we're companions, and I might as well not shower. Although she has this weird magical power to somehow not make you feel like a frumpy mushroom. I don't know how she does it. I am grateful to be her companion at this time; she has a lot of gumption for the work. 

 Sister H is like a cartoon character and makes me laugh all day long. We bring out the crazy in each other. Between the three of us, it's quite the party. 

 The main highlights of the week were Nina*, Lucas*, Gary* and the Reed* family. (*names have been changed.)

 Nina is our main investigator in the area. Poor Nina had two types of cancer raging in her body, so she's just finished going through chemo. Her's is quite the story. 

 Having lived around Mormons her whole life (she's about 45ish now), she assumed that she knew what we believed in and didn't really care to think about our religion further. When she was diagnosed with cancer, she really started asking questions about general religious truths. One day she was driving by one of our chapels and was prompted to pull into the parking lot. There she met a random man and ended up asking him to send the missionaries to her home. A request that he promptly fulfilled.  

 Sister P and I met her on Tuesday. She has a weak immune system, and so we taught with doctor masks on.  She is in great need of comfort at this time. Something that the Savior and the scriptures can certainly provide. 

Lucas is a referral from some other missionaries who stopped to talk to him. We met him yesterday, and he is super open, so we are super excited. 

 Gary. Freaking Gary. One of the most awkward encounters. And so so funny. He was outside in his garage so we stopped to talk to him, and he made it quite clear that he was very uncomfortable. He kept purposely doing this weird twitchy rolling thing with his eyes and was so vague with everything he said. He was such a crackup. We left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon and told him we would come back another time. 

 The Reeds are an awesome family in one of the wards. Their son just came home early from his mission in Peru because he caught some weird stomach thing and needed more care than he was getting there. Our Bishop told us that it would probably do the boy some good to talk with some fellow missionaries, so we stopped by and introduced ourselves. It turns out the whole family is T A L E N T E D in the music department. We had a spontaneous jam session and were then serenaded by this boy, and now we all have lock it problems. 

 Maybe you don't understand what I mean by a "lock it problem." Let me explain. There was a talk given to missionaries in the MTC that we all read when we get there. The basic idea of the talk is to lock your heart away, keep your hormones to yourself, and focus on the work. A lock it problem is when some member of the opposite sex makes it really hard to do all of those things. As in the Reed boy, who is very attractive and has a pretty smooth voice. We left that house and decided that none of us could ever go back in, it was way too treacherous. 

 SOS everyone. SOS. It's been almost 11 months since I danced with a cute boy. And it will be at least seven more. 

 Anyways....

 Back to the work. 

The work rolls forth. Slowly, but still rolling. One of the hardest things for me when it comes to being a missionary is to keep up the faith. The days are so long, and it's hard to keep working with faith. But God always provides some sort of faith promoting miracle exactly when I need it. How grateful I am for His perfect awareness of us all. 

 Much love, 

Sister Barlow