Stories from Ruth #8

Oh my days I cannot believe I am alive biking in Cambridge! Some of the cars treat the bikes like cars, and others want to kill you. 

Nothing happens during Halloween over here. However Guy Fox day is a week long process. Guy Fox day is a celebration over the death of this guy who nearly blew up parliament. They set up fireworks and have bonfires where they burn scarecrows in representation of Guy Fox. They also used to stab scarecrow and stuff.  

I love my new companion so much! We are very alike in both our weaknesses and strengths! It is almost crazy because we are kind of like the same. This week we have seen so many miracles and we have given out at least one Book of Mormon a day. We have three English ones left in our flat! Good thing we should get more soon! 

There have been two instances where we have met an investigator and taught them the first lesson there. The first time the guy asked us if we had time to teach. We were very excited! The very next day though we were at the library teaching a recent convert and in the middle of the lesson I noticed this underage guy walk over, sit on the bench behind us and just was observing and listening in. After the lesson I got the courage up enough to ask where to buy ice cream and we started a conversation. I had seen this guy before when teaching Dan a lesson with Sister Cook and had felt prompted to talk to him then. I didn't though, but prayed that if he was prepared that we would see him again, I know that never happens and I need to be ready to open my mouth everywhere, but God blessed us this time as we started earning his trust. The boy thought we were Presbyterian or Baptist and I told him we were Mormon. He looked away at first and then told us that he had met two elders before and a member and was creeped out, but hey he was the one listening in on our lesson. He was really chill with us and his friend even came over. They asked a lot of questions and we taught them the first lesson about the restoration and then the Sabbath day before inviting them to church. We also gave them both Book of Mormons, and lesson 1 & 2 pamphlets. We are going to meet with them next week.

There is a lady in our ward who has a frozen shoulder and can't move it. She hasn't been able to really clean her

house in a while and she has two younger kids. I knew that the Lord wanted us to go over and help, so we did. It was interesting because we also taught English that day and it felt like there was something missing until we brought in the Book of Mormon. The first I felt was needful, the second I felt was not complete until we had her read the English and Portuguese Book of Mormon back to back. We also visited this sweet older Sister who has a disease in her leg and arrived just in time to help her do her groceries.

 I realize that we are the only church that believes in progression after this life and what would be the point of coming to this earth if we were to only live with our heavenly father after this life. If we were to be in the same stagnant state as we were before. If we did not have the potential to become like Christ in this life and after but we're all saved based upon only if we kept the commandments there is still no purpose to this life, only to lose many of our heavenly father's spirit children. God would not do that. We have the potential to become like Him. The scriptures say in Moses 1:39 that it is his work and his glory to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man. 

It has also struck me  in Matthew 10 denying Christ and proclaiming him. Matthew 10:32 "Whosoever therefore

shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." 

We are to be Christian soldiers. This implies a war with evil and we are to proclaim his name without fear! 

I had an experience this week where I feel like I failed at first, but barely proclaimed his name. I was teaching some Muslims and one was not having it. I felt like I needed to read a scripture then and I didn't. I read a different one, but at the end I did read the scripture. It was Moroni 10: 6 "And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is." As you see it defies the Muslim belief, but I was too timid to share it when I needed to. I have learned, though, that I need to declare with ferocity and without fear. This is the truth! We must declare his name if we want him to save us. We must become as he is if we want to be saved. We need to declare his name without fear and just state it as it is. 

I love when we were tracting and Sister Murakane was knocking and it came off quiet. Then she stopped said "wait I have the truth! Why am I knocking quiet!" Then she knocked really loud. It was funny. Last week we met this guy named John from China. He turned us down but agreed that maybe he didn't meet us by coincidence. The very next day we felt like we needed to be in a certain area so we went and we saw John again. He thanked us for when we taught him about God and agreed to read the Book of Mormon if we saw him again. Well this week we did and he happily agreed to read the Book of Mormon and meet with us! 

We have done so much this week! I am more tired than I have ever been before! It feels like We have absolutely no time to slow down, but that is probably how it should be! 

This Week at Our House # 44

1. The carpeting came on Friday, hurray!!! John fixed a few things and helped put in a little more of the wood floor. The living room is complete. The hardest cuts for the dining room are next and then it will be easy until we get to the hard cuts in the kitchen of which there will be plenty. 
2. I love the new carpet! It's green, my favorite color, and patterned. It looks really nice. we had school everyday except Friday because the carpeting took the whole day. I have been digging my garden plot. I may put in some winter wheat and see how it does. I have also been taking long walks most days. It's lovely to walk around the farms and the woods.
3. Ruth has a companion that she loves. She said that this is the companion she has been praying for.
4. Kate read a lot, walked with me, and made dinner a bunch. I love having her around. She is my little companion. She takes walks with me and talks and talks. 
5. Johnny has still been very helpful. He moved stuff out for the carpeting, and then back in. He headed the bunk bed set ups, and brought in lots of heavy furniture once the carpeting was in. 
6. Adam had his 13th birthday today!!! He is the biggest 13 year old I have ever had. We have kind of been thinking of him as a 13 year old for several months. He is just as fun and clever as all of our other teens.
7. Rachel is excited to have all of her stuff back and unpacked. She is especially happy to have her legos. She has lego families with beautiful houses that she builds herself. This afternoon, she had two of her lego figures get married, and, as she said, she needed to build them a beautiful cottage.
8. Anya sat in a fire ants nest and had 32 bites on her bottom and back. Anya was happy to get her stuff  and spent a lot of time today organizing it in her room today. I worked hard all day making a big dinner and dessert. I did several loads of dishes and had Sam crying at my heals all day. I was pretty tired, by the time dessert was done, so Anya hopped up happily and washed the 12 plates and 12 forks from cake. 
9. Joseph gets so excited the two days he is allowed to play computer that he wakes up as early as he is allowed to, so that he can be the first on the computer.
10. Joshua followed me all around the house asking me the question which do I like better and then he would name two things. Ruth and Kate did that at the same age.
11. Arwen is beginning to read. She remembers words really well. And when she misses a word, she reads the entire sentence over. I think she does this to try and comprehend what she is reading.
12. We got two little kittens because we thought we would need more than one cat to keep the mice away. Susan loves them and carries them everywhere. 
13. Sam is walking! He will be one in 8 more days and is acting like it. He spends all day long pulling things out of cupboards and off the shelves. He loves the dish washer.

Pictures

the beautiful scenery I get to see on my walks

The new carpet. I love it!

Happy Birthday, Adam!!!

Adam turned 13 and I have 4 teenagers for a few more months!! Adam is a fun boy. He is a good worker and physically strong. Adam loves all things outdoors. Now that we have such a nice yard, Adam spends his school reading time lying in the sun on the back deck. Adam loves competition, but hates losing. He has always been a good friend to Johnny and the ring leader of the younger kids. Adam makes up all sorts of fun and interesting games to play with all the kids. When Adam was a one year old he earned the nickname of "Adam the Eater" because he was my first child to love food. Adam still lives up to that nickname and everyone calls him, Adam the Eater.

Stories From Ruth #7

I'm starting to love Cambridge so I don't think I'll be here too long! Haha! 

I got my new companion, Sister Murakane from Hawaii! I love her so much! We are a lot alike! We both adore chocolate (especially dark. we eat it and have a cup of cocoa every day), we sing hyms while walking down the street arm in arm, and we have the same opinions on everything! She is also just the kind of missionary I want to be! One who loves the people and gives it all to learning and the work! 

My new district is a lot more strict, but it's good! We have met a lot of people! I guess I will start with finding experiences. This one guy had done some weird Google searches and was so mad at us without even ever reading the Book of Mormon. He kept asking very poignant questions and at every response he would twist my answer. I prayed to be calm and answer him. The Lord did help me and in the end he calmed down, and I won. Ha. First time my companion saw me being bold. I knew I was supposed to meet him though because it motivated me to do Bruce R McConkie's challenge where you write a list of 100-200 gospel doctrines and start from page one of the Book of Mormon and the bible writing down references of the doctrines. 

This week has been crazy, we have been led so much in finding and I am learning to recognize and act on the prompting of the Holy spirit better. I met this one girl who I read a scripture to and although she was atheist her response to it was that it was beautiful!  I kept feeling like I needed to testify to and address a certain topic and how the scriptures and God can help us through it, which ended up being an issue she did have and although at first she did not accept a Book or Mormon, we will be teaching her and she agreed to read a scripture that I send her each night. 

We have testified and read scriptures to almost everyone we meet which I feel pretty happy about. I need to get it to the point where I do that with everyone I meet, but I am progressing. We also met this Chinese guy and taught him about God. He semi believed, basically didn't, but we left him. The next day we saw him again and he thanked us for teaching him and said it might be God. The next time we see him he has agreed to read the Book of Mormon. So I am carrying a Chinese version with me everywhere! Haha! 

The second day we were here we had to get a lift from the elders and I accidentally left my jacket with my bike key in my car. Sister Murakane and I then decided to find by the way to the elders car and get my key. While doing that we met one guy who we are teaching and have on date, and two guys who we made cry because of the spirit. Not kidding. One I recited Joseph Smith History and testified of God to. I have never felt the spirit as strong when finding as I did testifying there. He agreed to come to church and read the Book of Mormon, but his girlfriend convinced him out of it! I really am starting to dislike women. 

Scary story of the week. We were going to meet with This guy and when we called him to confirm he asked if we wanted him to buy us a beer or a wine, and we said no, and skeptically asked where we were meeting him. (Originally we were going to meet at his house with his sister.) He said it was a pub. We asked if it was just him. He said he had a friend. We canceled. Luckily we had a dinner appoint with the Lucas's and made our escape. However, when we got to the Lucas's he was right outside their house! I was freaking out! I had known the pub a was across the street, but he had crossed the street and gone into the corner right where the Lucas's house is. We then met him and his friend talked to them about the Book of Mormon and went into the Lucas's backyard to lock our bikes while another of his friends showed up. We ran inside. After dinner Brother Lucas said we had made a lucky break because this guy had cut his hair and from what he said, was basically a womanizer. After left I couldn't find my keys to unlock my bike. Then we heard them outside the fence. As soon as they left I remembered I had handed my keys to Sister Murakane. The Lord really protects us. I felt very blessed and protected after that. 

Scripture thought of the day is Moroni 7: 14-17

                        14 Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him

God's ways are not our ways and we need to make a constant effort to know him and his ways. It comes through rigorous study and pray, learning to think of God and is dependent upon how humble and teachable we are, and willing to accept whatever God tells us! 

This Week at Our House # 43

1. Ruth told me that I need to send emails to her on Saturday instead of Sundays, so I will now be writing my weekly blog posts on Saturday. We obviously had a busy and labor intensive week. Monday we put in about 90% of the wood floor in the living room. We will have the 10% of the living room, dining room, kitchen and possibly laundry rooms to go. We got just enough done to move our furniture into the living room. We got back to the rental at 3 am, so I postponed the moving truck until 2pm. I wanted us all to be rested before having to move so many pieces of heavy furniture. We got the truck, loaded up nearly everything, and left the rental about 9pm. We got to the new house at about 10:30 and unloaded enough stuff to get to our mattresses. We put the mattresses on the floor boards in the bedrooms, and went to bed around 2 am. The next morning, I drove the 30 minutes to the nearest Sam's Club and got groceries. When I got home, we moved in the refrigerator, washer and dryer and all the rest of the stuff into the garage. Most of our stuff will be stored in the garage until we get the carpets installed and the wood floors completed. Then we moved the piano in. That is always the hardest part. After that, we left Johnny and Rachel as the babysitters, returned the truck and went back to the rental to clean with Kate, Adam, and Anya. We left there after 9pm, came home and had dinner at 11pm. Thursday and Friday we took time off from the heavy labor. John enjoyed the yard. He's working on building a fire pit and archery and gun target. He took the boys shooting in our own yard for free on Friday!!! For the first time ever, John said he loves the place we bought. This is our third house. He always thought that the first was a mistake and that we were too extravagant. The second, he liked the house, but not the yard or neighborhood and it cost too much in the first place. Saying that he loved this house after only 3 nights was a big surprise!He never wanted the isolation of the country, but now I think he will never want to go back to the suburbs.
2. John didn't let me do any heavy lifting. I took care of a lot of the small things, the unpacking and organizing the living room, laundry room, bathrooms, and the rest of the kitchen. I look forward to starting to remove some turf to ready a plot for next year's garden. We have scallions growing wild all over the yard and native grapevines. I will be making grape juice, and I have already begun using the scallions. I love the kitchen, the deck, the bedroom set up, seeing the stars at my own home for the first time in my adult life, and taking walks around all the farms and woods. I think I will love it here. But the house is very tiny for such a big family. I am hoping that I will not feel cramped. We do have a huge garage, and that will make it easy for me to keep the clutter under control.
3. Ruth is getting a new companion. I look forward to hearing from her about it this week.
4. Kate worked and worked and worked. She helped with all of the heavy lifting and all of the deep cleaning. We forgot to bring the shop vac back tot he rental, so she used her hands to remove all the dirt away from the walls in the entire house. By Wednesday night, probably after midnight when all of the hardest work was done, Kate finally broke down and cried. She is a trooper. She will be a force for good in the world. There are not many 18 year old girls that will do what Kate did.We are grateful she was here. This move would have been much harder without her.
5. Johnny worked and worked and worked too. He did all of the heavy lifting too. He is growing into such a strong good boy. He did not break down and cry. He didn't even complain. Obviously Johnny has considerable endurance. He will make someone a great husband some day. 
6. Adam worked and worked and worked too. Just on Wednesday, he moved a refrigerator, washer, dryer, many boxes, mowed for 2 1/2 hours, cleaned 3 bathrooms, moved seats in and out of the van, packed all the stuff left at the house into the car, and then carried in some of it when we got home. That is in addition to putting in a wood floor on Monday, and moving on Tuesday. He did really well. He will be 13 in one week, and did the work of a man without breaking down.
7. Rachel was trooper too. I did not hear much complaining from her. She moved boxes and things that her scrawny little arms could carry, plus she spent a lot of time babysitting Sam. 
8. Anya endured well too and did all that she was asked to do. She came with us to clean. She washed down baseboards very carefully.
9. Joseph was impressive. He carried as many heavy things as we would let him and kept asking for permission to help move the heavy items.
10. Joshua played in the dirt while at the new house and played outside at the rental and generally just stayed out of the way. I think he likes the new house even without the carpeting because the yard is just incredible. 
11. Arwen played with Josh and kept an eye on Susan. The little ones were definitely neglected this week, but they seemed to understand and kept themselves out of the way and busy.
12. Susan is in heaven. She can finally safely go outside whenever she wants to. All of the toys are in the garage (awaiting carpeting) and she has been going in there to play a lot too.
13. Sam had a very hard week. He does not like moving. He was stressed out and clingy and very unhappy. After two days of less work, he is finally calming down. He will be one in two weeks. He is walking a lot more now too. I think he is at half walk/half crawl.

Pictures

The new living room. Sometime in the next year, I hope to be rid of all the ugly wall paper.

The kitchen and laundry room. It's a pretty big kitchen for such a small home.

The floors going in

mattresses on floor boards

Carpet goes in Friday, Nov 3rd! That will be a happy day!

Front yard

North field. The over grown area is where we will put the garden. It is about a full acre.

The bar is great for cooking with kids and eating at. I am so glad to have this option again. I did not expect to get it in a tiny and cheap home.

Saturday morning relaxing with the tv.

One of the cotton fields on the north side of the home.

The woods is the beginning of our property on the west side. This is the farm directly behind the house. It has been plowed for the winter. 

I love that we own some woods.

Fire ant hill. Unfortunately, we own several of these too.