Hi everyone!!! Thank you for all your emails!!! This week was super good. We had a lot of time to work in our own area which is good because we have a conference and a training this week and won't have much time to be here. I don't really have a lot to report this week but I wanted to share an experience that just really touched me this week.
With two huge areas sometimes we get really lost trying to find our lunches haha and being in the sun during those hours is super exhausting. We always try to plan accordingly but sometimes things don't work out so beautifully. This week we got really lost at the edge of our area trying to find this sweet old woman's house. We had been trying to call her but she hadn't answered the phone - we weren't even sure if we were going to eat when we got there because there had been so little communication. We tried calling different ward members to get directions and everyone told us different things. We looked for her house until like 130 and then we decided to make a different plan for lunch even though there was like nothing anywhere nearby.
We decided to wait for a bus in this little shady area. A few minutes later out of nowhere a member on a motorcycle pulled up and asked if we had eaten lunch yet. We said no and told him what had happened. He could tell that we were exhausted and hungry and actually laughed when we told him where we were trying to go because we apparently weren't even close. He told us to go to his house and he would go buy us some food. We were able to find his house and waited for him with his daughter. After a little while he brought us food and it was so sweet seriously. I love these members here.
Later he told us that while he was at work he actually kept feeling he needed to leave. His work was sending him to go buy supplies so he decided to leave a little early to do this. On his way he got a feeling that he should take a different route than usual. That's when he found us waiting at the bus stop. He had told us he would buy us food but only had the money his job had given for the supplies. He had been given 100 reais and that should have been the exact amount for what he needed to buy. He decided to buy us lunch first and the Spirit told him the Lord would provide a way for him to buy both the lunch and the supplies for work. He spent like 35 reais buying us food. He told us he then went to purchase what he needed for work and when they totaled up the amount he owed they gave him a special discount for no reason. The total came out to be the exact amount that he had!
This experience has just made my companion and me extra grateful this week knowing that the Lord really is watching out for us. Despite all the things that are going on in all the world he remembered two of his Sisters that were just a little too hot and tired to keep going to get lunch. It also made me so grateful for the blessings that come from following the Spirit and that this member was worthy enough to receive it and humble enough to obey it. I really know that as we serve the Lord we will receive blessings and He will trust us enough with promptings to help our neighbors and friends. This has reminded me that we are here on the Lords errand and I know He will continue to take care of us as we are working to care for his vineyard.
I love what President Eyring once said,
"For the Master I extend thanks for your work to serve the children of our Heavenly Father. He knows you, and He sees your
effort, diligence, and sacrifice. I pray that He will grant you the blessing of seeing the fruit of your labors in the happiness of those you have helped and with whom you have helped for the Lord."
Have a good week everyone!
Sister Arbuckle
With two huge areas sometimes we get really lost trying to find our lunches haha and being in the sun during those hours is super exhausting. We always try to plan accordingly but sometimes things don't work out so beautifully. This week we got really lost at the edge of our area trying to find this sweet old woman's house. We had been trying to call her but she hadn't answered the phone - we weren't even sure if we were going to eat when we got there because there had been so little communication. We tried calling different ward members to get directions and everyone told us different things. We looked for her house until like 130 and then we decided to make a different plan for lunch even though there was like nothing anywhere nearby.
We decided to wait for a bus in this little shady area. A few minutes later out of nowhere a member on a motorcycle pulled up and asked if we had eaten lunch yet. We said no and told him what had happened. He could tell that we were exhausted and hungry and actually laughed when we told him where we were trying to go because we apparently weren't even close. He told us to go to his house and he would go buy us some food. We were able to find his house and waited for him with his daughter. After a little while he brought us food and it was so sweet seriously. I love these members here.
Later he told us that while he was at work he actually kept feeling he needed to leave. His work was sending him to go buy supplies so he decided to leave a little early to do this. On his way he got a feeling that he should take a different route than usual. That's when he found us waiting at the bus stop. He had told us he would buy us food but only had the money his job had given for the supplies. He had been given 100 reais and that should have been the exact amount for what he needed to buy. He decided to buy us lunch first and the Spirit told him the Lord would provide a way for him to buy both the lunch and the supplies for work. He spent like 35 reais buying us food. He told us he then went to purchase what he needed for work and when they totaled up the amount he owed they gave him a special discount for no reason. The total came out to be the exact amount that he had!
This experience has just made my companion and me extra grateful this week knowing that the Lord really is watching out for us. Despite all the things that are going on in all the world he remembered two of his Sisters that were just a little too hot and tired to keep going to get lunch. It also made me so grateful for the blessings that come from following the Spirit and that this member was worthy enough to receive it and humble enough to obey it. I really know that as we serve the Lord we will receive blessings and He will trust us enough with promptings to help our neighbors and friends. This has reminded me that we are here on the Lords errand and I know He will continue to take care of us as we are working to care for his vineyard.
I love what President Eyring once said,
"For the Master I extend thanks for your work to serve the children of our Heavenly Father. He knows you, and He sees your
effort, diligence, and sacrifice. I pray that He will grant you the blessing of seeing the fruit of your labors in the happiness of those you have helped and with whom you have helped for the Lord."
Have a good week everyone!
Sister Arbuckle