Tender Mercy: Little Teachers
Sister Wagner and I were walking down the street to an investigator's house one day. We spotted some people sitting in front of their house and, like the good little missionaries we are, we walked up to them. There were a bunch of little kids playing around outside, and they swarmed us as we introduced ourselves. Turns out, these were the same kids that Sister Hale and I had given Jesus cards (Book of Mormon cards) to a few weeks before. (For future missionaries, always give Jesus cards to little kids. It's so genius.)
The people on the porch were a black couple. They introduced themselves as Duke and Cookie ("Our real names are John and Natalie, but we go by Duke and Cookie"). We started talking about how we believe Christ's church was lost but has been restored (i.e., the Restoration!) and were giving Restoration pamphlets to them when all five of the little kids started asking for Resto pamphlets too.
Sister McKay (to self): We're almost out of Restoration pamphlets, what are you doing?!
Sister McKay: Everyone deserves the gospel!!
Sister McKay: Well, there goes our supplies. Oh, well. You're right. Everyone deserves the gospel. We'll make it!
The little kids were all over us. Apparently, because of the Jesus cards and pamphlets, we had become some sort of idols to them. We asked them what their names were and how old they were. Two of them were neighbor kids named TJ and Jaliyah Goodwin. I think Jaliyah was around 8 or 9 and TJ was probably 7-ish. Their three kids were 9-year-old twins named Ja'Layia and Ja'Koby and Zaden, who's around 6. Okay, so. We have TJ, Jaliyah, Ja'Layia, Ja'Koby, and Zaden. You know how hard it is to keep those names straight? But hey, I remembered them all! The only reason I know how to spell them is because, as we were leaving, we were trying to get their names down, and one of them suggested that they could write them down for us somewhere. Of course, out came our planners. We gave them our pencils and let them write their names. Now I have the handwriting of 5 little kids in my planner. It's adorable.
We set up a return appointment (we're seeing them on Wednesday!) and kept walking towards our investigator's place. She couldn't meet with us right then, so we turned around and headed for the car. On our way back, we passed Duke and Cookie and the kids again, and you'll never guess what we saw. 4 of these kids were sitting on a bench in front of the house, their backs facing us, and one of them (I think it was Jaliyah or Ja'Layia) was reading from the Resto pamphlet while the rest of them followed along! Yeah, our hearts melted. They spotted us and called out, "Heeeeyyy!! We're reading your books!!" Of course, we called back, "Good job!! Keep reading!" It was totally adorable, and that was a tender mercy that lasted about the whole week.
Bucket List: Lightning Bugs
Ever since I was little, I've wanted to see/catch a lightning bug. It made it to the bucket list a while ago. Well, there aren't really lightning bugs in California (where I was born) or Utah, but when I got called to the South, that dream was suddenly made possible! What I didn't know was that lightning bugs only come during lightning bug season (a.k.a. summer). I had kinda forgotten about them until a few nights ago.
We were on our way home from bible study at the church when Sister Wagner said something. The sky had been overcast all day, so I thought she said, "Oh, I just saw lightning!"
Me: "Lightning? Where?"
Sister Wagner: "No, a lightning bug! OH I JUST SAW ANOTHER ONE!"
Me: *almost dies* "WHERE?!"
Sister Wagner: "They just fly around and light up sometimes- OH LOOK RIGHT THERE!"
Me: *GASP* "I SAW THAT!! WOW!"
I think I had a spaz attack. It was hilarious. I haven't seen one since, but they were everywhere that night! It was so. Cool.
We're hopefully teaching Millie again this week, along with Duke, Cookie, and the gang, and hopefully another investigator named Nikki and maybe a guy named Rayvis. Whoo! The members have been a lot better about helping us out lately too, which is totally awesome! I'm really excited!
Love y'all!
Sister McKay
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