Sick but Pushing Through

Hey Mom and Dad and Family!

Just so you know, I love hearing from you. Every time I get to come and read these emails it makes my day. :) I always know there will be something entertaining from Steven, something enjoyable from Mom and something spiritual from Dad. I just love hearing all of the wonderful things everyone is doing.

:) The Storytelling Festival sounds incredible. Oh! Carmen Deedy!!! That is almost as bad as hearing about David Archuleta at the Stadium of Fire the one year I didn't go. :) She is fantastic. I actually told my companion about her bending steel story- you should listen to that one on tape just for me. It is so sweet. And wow. Ed Steivender certainly has my respect. That is an amazing display of charity and love. Wow.

Congrats to the Salem football team. :) It took them a few years, but I'm glad to hear they've finally won a game. And congrats to the BYU teams, they are incredible! Oh! If there is one thing I miss, it is certainly BYU. It is such a great school. :)

Well this week has been a week... To start off, Sister Jackson and I have been sick all week- congestion, throat, slight fever, no energy, that type of thing. :) And then Every single appointment fell through- that is a grand total of 20 appointments falling through and at least 20 people not picking up their phone so that we can reschedule. I realized this morning that the Lord might have been trying to tell me it was okay to take a break to heal, but of course I never did that. Instead Sister Jackson and I wondered about miserably trying to contact people and doing our best to pretend that we felt great. If you've never been tracting while you are sick, I don't think you've fully lived. In addition to all of our teaching appointments falling through, our baptism fell through. Some stuff happened, she is not in our boundaries and now we are trying to work on the hand off to the Hoover missionaries.

Fortunately, it was logistics that made her unable to be baptized, not her testimony. It has been super neat to watch her learn and grow and really come alive in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was just beautiful. I hope this hand off goes well because she is an incredible lady that could contribute SO much to the church.

It was a little bit on the crummy side, but when I started writing this letter, I realized all of the things I've learned.

I've always heard the saying, "When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window," and I always thought it was meant to be applied in a Nephi-esk fashion- the Lord will provide a way for things to happen, even if it isn't the way you originally intended. Nephi wasn't able to buy the plates from Laban, but he was able to get them nonetheless. This past week I learned the importance of remembering the Somewhere in "somewhere he opens a window." Yes Sister Jackson and I were sick, Yes missionary work is a pain when you feel awful, and although I prayed several times for healing and strength, the Lord's hand wasn't as obviously manifest in that specific area as it had been other times. Although I am sure that the Lord strengthened us several times without us noticing, and he certainly healed us after a week, the part that I noticed were the blessings that had nothing to do with us being sick. Our attempts at street contacting were rather pathetic, but the Lord practically threw new investigators into our path. Nearly every single person we talked to was at least polite and most people were interested in hearing more about what we had to say. Sister Jackson and I also had absolutely fantastic scripture studies. It was incredible what the Lord opened to my mind- Jacob 5 is AMAZING! I was given many spiritual experiences this past week, and although they had absolutely nothing to do with the trials that I was going through, I certainly learned that Somewhere God opens a window. He truly blessed us. 

Well, I have to go. Sorry my letter is rather short today. Since it is a holiday and the libraries are closed, we have to use a member's computer and need to be considerate of their time. :) But I hope you have a fantastic week. I hope everything goes well as far as school and life and such. I love you all!

~Sister Pratt