Taking on Tacoma: I WENT TO PRISON!

Did that catch your attention?

Lot's of crazy things happened this week. In general, it was a pretty slow week. All of our investigators were sick or out of town, so we didn't get to teach any of our regulars. Almost all of our set appointments were cancelled. Which was kind of a bummer.

On Tuesday, we had exchanges. I stayed here in Belfair and the Sister Training Leader Sister Horgesheimer, came here with me. Tuesdays are normally our best days, we meet with 3 of our investigators on Tuesday. But Becca, and Ashley, both cancelled because they were sick. Soooo, that was kind of a bummer. Luckily, Sister H is a really nice and laid back missionary. We just went with the flow and had a lot of fun. We met a lot of really nice people and got a few potential people to teach. We also were able to teach the Plan of Salvation that night and I think it was a really good lesson.

I did the driving because she is blind in one eye, and I was really nervous about that, but we survived without any mishaps! I drove 51 miles that day. Which is probably more than I've ever driven total. Then on Wednesday I drove us on the freeway to Gig Harbor to exchange back. And everything was still okay! It wasn't my time to go so God made sure there were less cars on the road that day. Phew!

We have a new Zone leader, his name is Elder Schaffner. I'm only going to talk about him for a second because he's from BARTOW, FLORIDA! (!!!!) Which is where my grandparents are from, and my mom grew up there, and it's a teeny tiny town in Florida that I spent almost every major holiday in until I moved to Texas. Which means that I probably went to church with him at least once in my childhood. But I don't recognize him. So, who knows. But I was pretty excited about that.

At Zone meeting on Wednesday we talked about how we need to really work hard for our goals. Our mission goal is to get 800 baptisms this year. So, they are pushing us to reallllllyyyy work hard and be diligent and find the people who are ready to be taught. My thoughts are a teensy bit mixed on that, but that's beside the point. Anyways, Elder Schaffner started talking about Moroni from the Book of Mormon and then out of no where ripped his shirt off (He had another one underneath it) and buttons went flying. Then he turned his shirt into the Title of Liberty for our zone... They wrote our baptism goal for the month of April on it and then we all signed it.

Missionaries are really weird and cheesy. But we're pretty cool too! :)

On Friday we went to Tahuya again, and, get ready for it..., we got our car stuck in the mud. Haha. Hahahahaha. Tahuya days are so fun. We parked on the grass on the side of the road, and when we tried to leave the car didn't move. It was raining and I guess the grass was just a lie. It was just some green stuff on top of some really nice mud. Going forward wasn't working so we tried to back onto the road and then the front tire got stuck in a ditch with some mud... hahaha. It was all very slow going and we didn't get hurt and neither did our car. So that's good. We were right next to a members house who had a big truck and he pulled us out. There was an audience and everything was just fine. :) Just a fun story.

While knocking doors one night a man yelled a few choice words at us and then said "MORMONS DON'T LOVE AMERICA, YOU ARE ALL A BUNCH OF CHEATS AND LIARS AND YOU ARE MESSED UP!" (Edited) Um. We just said "Oh, okay. Have a good night!" and then left haha. Neither of us had any desire to yell back. We just felt sorry that he felt that way. And I think our response probably made him way more mad. But I just don't understand how someone could look at two 20 year old girls who really aren't all that scary looking, and think "OH I HATE YOU!" and then yell at us. It doesn't really make sense to me, but it's not a big deal. It doesn't hurt my feelings because I don't really feel all that threatened.

Another lady was very sweet and talked to us for an hour and a half without taking any time to breathe. She told us that she was so proud of us for what we are doing and loves seeing missionaries walking around. She was really sweet.

Now, to the best part of the week! On Thursday night Sister Harris and I got to go to the Women's Correctional Facility and teach 18 women about their divine nature. It was probably the coolest experience of my whole mission so far! These women were so nice to us and so ready to learn. They had their scriptures open and they took notes and they had a ton of questions. We wanted them to know that they are children of God. Literal Daughters of a King, and that they have the potential to become someone amazing. We also taught the plan of salvation and it was SO cool! The spirit was so strong in that room. One lady asked about her 2 year old daughter who had died and hadn't been baptized. We told her that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers children and that she is up in the Celestial Kingdom with Heavenly Father right now. She has no need to worry about her daughter. She just needs to do what she can to make it there herself to be with her daughter. She was instantly in tears and smiling and it was so beautiful to see the change in her. This is the best part of missionary work. A lot of people focus on the numbers. I try to focus on the people first. It's important to have goals, but some of the elders think that teaching women in a prison is a waste of time. Because we can't invite them to be baptized. I think it was the greatest possible way I could have spent my time and I hope I get to come back again. I would go back and teach them in a heartbeat! I love those women so much and I only got to spend an hour and a half with them.

I love this gospel and the hope it brings people! It's beautiful! It's awesome! I love it so much!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! To my friends at BYU, good luck with finals!

<3 Sister Warburton

Pictures from the week: