Adventures of Sister Rietz: Week Seven

Dearest Eternal Family, and my Eternal Friends!

Let me just say, this has been a HARD week!

It really has had the Ups and Downs that come with a mission. I got super homesick this week, and really didn't know if I wanted to keep doing this. I got super worried about it, and really relied on the Lord to help me. I am so grateful for the Holy Ghost and the comfort that it can help us feel. It really helped me, and allowed me to increase my testimony of the power of Prayer. No worries, I am totally fine now! Haha, it was just a hard time, but like I said that is what happens with going on a mission.

We were able to watch Sister Kathy receive a blessing, and we are still praying that she will continue NOT SMOKING!!!!! She got pink eye the day before the blessing, and I don't think I have ever hated Satan more then that moment when she called us, because she was worried that she was going to give it to all of us if we came over. We still went, but were really careful not to touch her, or anything for that matter. The next day a family member called us, and told us that Kathy was smoking! We were stunned! We had her left-over cigarettes in our cupboard, where had she gotten these from? We biked to her house, and were able to talk with her, and she said that Satan was really trying hard. We ended up sidewalk chalking her sidewalk where she smoked at. She has gone 4 days not smoking, and we can really tell that it is a struggle for her. She is really trying hard not to smoke, and had taken up doing puzzles to distract herself. I think that it is one of the reasons that I was homesick. I think the Lord wanted me to have a struggle just like Kathy would have. It really helped me to understand how important it is to rely on our Heavenly Father, when our earthly parents and those that we love are not there to help us. We know that Kathy is being blessed because of your prayers, and I can not thank you enough.

We were able to give David a white shirt and a tie, and he was SO EXCITED! He was all telling everyone that he was gonna be sharp dressed at church, just like everyone else. But then he didn't even wear his shirt to church. We were like what the heck David!!! He is also trying to quit smoking, but doesn't have believe that the blessing would help him. We are working on helping him see how it really could help him. We are so grateful that he doesn't get frustrated with us, even though we get frustrated with him. He is learning, but it takes a LONG time for him to understand. I really think that drugs affected him more than he thinks it did. Oh well, we can only deal with the consequences that we get because of our actions.

This last Friday, we did service for one of our Investigators. We decided to do it on the day that we knew she would be gone at work. We are hula-hoeing her yard like a pro, and then bam! There she is at her front door. I even rang the door bell, and knocked to make sure she was not there, but dang she was sleeping and didn't see us. Little did we know that she was laid off from her job, so that is why she was home. Awkward, but her excuse for never coming to church with us, was that she worked on Sundays. I instantly knew that I needed to not invite, but say, "Well Joan, now you will be at church with us on Sunday." I gave her no way to get out of it. But then she informed us that next day that she was going to be going to Church with her friend and that she couldn't come with us. Satan really hates us. But we got her to come to Relief Society, so that was AWESOME! The lesson was on why we are the only true church on the Earth. It really was perfect!!! I was freaking out inside a little. Okay, maybe a lot.

Anyways, that next day we woke up, so Saturday, and we were sick. The night before we thought maybe it was allergies, because our noses and our eyes were going crazy. (*They have CRAZY eyes* *kid history*) On Saturday we woke up, and we felt like we were hit by a bus. It was not your normal, "I am tired, and going to pretend I am sick so I can sleep in sick," that I did in High School. It was the "I think that I am going to pass out from moving at all." But the thing is, we had 3 appointments that we really needed to go to. They kept moving them, and Saturday was the last day we could see them that week. So we prayed all morning that we would feel better. We didn't feel better until we started biking, and realized that we would be okay. We biked to the 3 appointments, and they were all there! We biked a total of 9 miles on Saturday, and then as soon as the last appointment finished, we couldn't do anything. We called a member, and they brought a truck that we put our bikes into the back of, and they took us home. We both slept for 2 hours, and when we woke up we knew that the Lord helped us to bike those 9 miles, and that it was a blessing that we were able to even see those 3 people that we needed to. The Lord blesses us in ways that we don't always know he will, or that we even need a blessing in that part of our lives. We are feeling better, but something is going around because the Elders were sick yesterday, and missed Church. We saw them today, and you could tell it had been a miserable day for them yesterday.

I also was running around on a flight line this past week. Yes, you read that correctly, I was running around on the Hesperia Airport Flight Line. One of the Recent Converts in our ward owns the Airport, and he let us onto the flight line. So naturally I had to pose like a crazy person in front of the planes. *Awkward Moment*: There is a cafe at the Airport... Apparently they can see the Flight Line, (so where we were) but the windows are the mirror windows, so we couldn't see them. I can only imagine they now think that Mormon Missionaries go crazy. Oh well. It happens I guess! Haha, there are crazier Missionaries out there I am sure! So we now know the combination to get onto the flight line encase we need anything on the flight line. Anyone need a plane? Bob the Recent Convert, said that we could take a plane for a spin if we wanted. It was tempting... Also, it sprinkled while we were out on Saturday. It was only a little bit of rain, but it was the best feeling in the world. Who knew that I would miss some form of H2O falling from the sky.

We also had dinner with my favorite two older couples in the Ward! They are so great!!! The one with the lady sitting in the chair are Bro. and Sis. T. They are ward missionaries, and they are just too cute. The noise of squeaking hearing aids normally bothers me, but it reminded me that those little things of plastic were helping her hear, and I didn't care. Weird how something that used to bother me, is so insignificant now. The other couple are the J's. He is the Patriarch for the Stake, and they are super funny. They had 3 different desserts and I am convinced that Sister J is trying to make us fat. She just kept saying "you're on bikes, you are totally fine. This will make you happy. Want more Ice Cream? More Cherry Tarts? More Cookies?" That was hard to decline, but we did, and we are not regretting declining them. It would have made us super sick.

We are getting Sister M's Tennis rackets this week, and we are super excited! We are gonna get up and play at 6 every morning, and we are going to just have to work off even more of the desserts that people are feeding us. I am grateful that I am able to have a companion that actually not only likes, but that can play tennis. I am really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. (Man I still am super punny! Okay not as punny as when Rachel, Linds, and I would be all together, but I am still proud of the things that I come up with out here.)

Kid History Quotes have been running in my head, and now I have found a sister in the Zone that has seen them, and we quote them ALL THE TIME! Most missionaries just think that she and I are crazy, but whatever, everyone can judge us for all I care. It makes us crack up, and that is all that matters!!! The new Elder in the Ward is from Dayton, Idaho. He has been to Lewiston to play golf. He couldn't remember if he had been there, and then he asked if it smelled bad there, and I knew that he had been to good ole' L-town. I didn't think that I would ever find anyone out here that would know Lewiston...

But then 4 days later, I met someone at the Airport that owns land in Kamiah! He asked me where I was from, and I said Northern Idaho, and he said cool, I own land 60 miles East of Lewiston. I about hugged him I was so excited! He said that he was going to go visit his land soon and that I was welcome to come. I declined, cause I don't think that there needs to be any missing people from our family. He was totally in a biker gang. Not even kidding, I only started talking to him, because he was kinda sitting by us. Anyways, he also knows Lewiston, and that made my day.

I love the gospel, and am so grateful for the things that it is teaching me. I am learning something new about the gospel all the time! It is crazy, but I love it! I wish that I had really memorized the Scripture Mastery better, but I am going to work on that! I know that if we rely on the Lord miracles will happen, and me memorizing scriptures besides, "And Jesus Wept." will be a miracle. I hope all of my friends who are on missions are safe. I know that we are growing more then we thought that we could ever!!!

I love you all so much, and pray for everyone everyday. You all are so great! The Lord gives us trials, but we can get over them with His help. Till Next week my friends!!