It's been crazy raining this week. I didn't think it was possible for it to really rain ALL day for a week straight. Apparently in Ohio. Actually, after about 4 days of it, it let up for a few hours yesterday, perfectly timed for when we were going tracting. Tender mercies. On Monday though, I tracted in "real rain" (not light sprinkling) for the first time. We had umbrellas that we used, but it wasn't terribly convenient to figure out to do with it when you're on a doorstep. I don't think too many people want to let us in with two big dripping umbrellas. Usually, people just look at us like we're crazy, say some sort of an excuse, and tell us to "stay dry" as we walk away. Maybe they noticed our bubble of waterproofness that comes tracting with us. We're going to get raincoats today though. A member in the ward, Sister Titera is making us let her buy them for us. People are too nice to us. But personally, I wish they'd be nice by giving us people to teach instead.[<--jen's note: my favorite line]
We had an amazing Zone Conference last Thursday. I should have talked more about this to my family.but 2 hours goes fast. A few of my favorite thoughts from it were about Faith from President Motzkus' talk. I'm constantly amazed with the power of faith as I learn more and more about it. First, Faith is a mental exertion, not a physical force. Think about that for awhile. He was talking about the power of the spoken word and how just saying things out loud will activate the power of faith and actually cause or influence those things to happen. My favorite thought is one of the most important things we can do to activate faith (think of it as a power). Be OPTIMISTIC! The thought is, Both optimism and pessimism will activate faith. But, pessimism uses faith to make bad things happen. So, if you're being skeptical of good things happening, say (as P. Motzkus says it), "I don't DO doubt!" It's powerful. Try to apply this to something in your life.
Update on the Albanians: We have an appointment to teach another one of them. She's in college and the only other one that understands much English. She says she's been wondering about the religion that her uncle (Artur, & Albana) were now and we gave her a Book of Mormon to help her learn English. We read the Book of Mormon out loud with Artur & Albana as well; them reading English, and us reading Albanian. Then we'd help each other pronounce the words. It was one of the most fun things I've done. We're currently trying to acquire the Teaching English Curriculum for Albanian from Church Headquarters. We want to start a program for our service to teach them all. Then they'll hopefully understand us enough to make sense of the lessons. Calls are being made.hopefully it works out soon. Also, does anyone know of a promise about learning English (or any language..) from reading the Book of Mormon? One Elder was saying that someone said if they read it out loud for at least 15 minutes each day, by the end of the book they would speak English fluently. Sounds impressive, anyone know the source? I'd like to have backup and make sure the details are right.
I got to talk to my family on Sunday. That was special. Everyone (except Karie since she's in UT) went over to my house and I got to be passed around to everyone. We tried to work out 3-way so I could talk to Karie, but our phones weren't cutting it. My mom finally resorted to calling me on the cell phone, and calling Karie on the home phone, then set them both on the ground on speakerphone and we talked to each other like that. It worked quite well remarkably. They all seem pretty much the same as 3 months ago, except my nephew Wesley can walk like a maniac, and McKay sounds like a teenager. I thought I called the wrong number when he answered and I didn't really say anything until I heard my mom in the background. Then I just figured someone else was over at my house answering the phone.but it clicked a few seconds later.
That's about it for updates. It's all going well. I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day and you all did nice things for your mothers. They deserve it :)
Have a fabulous week!
Love,
Sister Ruthanne Salisbury
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