Hello Everyone!!
How is everyone? I've only heard from a few people in the past couple of months, I hope everyone is still alive and well!
Sister Richards and I had an ok week. Definitely had better. We're lacking people to teach right now. Well, actually there are a ton of people we could teach, but no one will meet with us. We had 7 former or potential investigators at church yesterday. Everyone will come to church, but they are all "too busy" to meet with us. It's kind of frustrating. We are just going to keep working hard and bugging these people until something happens!
Our investigator lawrence kind of flopped this week too. He's still smoking and there hasnt been any plans made for a wedding. His such a good guy, but he's not very self motivated. So we're going to give him some space and hope that he figures things out on his own terms. I think his girlfriend is also a huge issue. She's not too fond of us. We dont want to cause contention in their relationship, so thats another reason were going to give him space. The whole situation is so sad! Lawrence would be baptized tomorrow if he could be. He'll get there eventually.
So... I think ive realized part of the reason I was sent to kent island. I've already mentioned how the branch really struggles, the members arent very strong, etc. Well im also learning that many of them also suffer with depression, bi-polar disorder, etc. We had kind of a crazy experience this last week with sister madron. She was the woman who we helped with the lice problem. I'm proabably making here sound crazy, but she's really awesome. She's a great mom and everything, takes good care of her kids. Anyway. So her husband suffers from bi polar disorder and has been in a mental hospital this past week. Wednesday morning Sister Madron called us and left a message telling us that she was moving to kansas, and that if she didnt see us before she left, good luck on the rest of our missions. She sound VERY upset. We were a little confused, so we called her back and aked her what was going on. She told us again that she was leaving for kansas, and asked us if we could help her pack because she was leaving that night. Then we asked her if her husband was going with her, and she just started crying and hung up on us. We tried to call her back, no answer. We had an appointement in 15 minutes, so we decided we would stop by her house afterwards. Well, as soon as we got to out appointment, we both knew that wasnt where we suppossed to be. Luckily it was just with lawrence, so he understood that we had to cancel. So we headed over to the madrons. Knocked on the door, but there was no answer. After banging on her door for 5 minutes, we let ourselves in. There were half packed boxes and suitcases everywhere. Sister Madrons 5 year old son was playing a game on the computer, and no one else was in the house. Of course Sister Richards and I both started to panic a little. We found an empty gun case on sister madrons bed and became REALLY panicked. Sister madrons suffers from depression as well and we thought she might have done something rash. We kept asking Ezekiel ( the 5 year old) if he knew where his mom or the rest of the family was and he said he had no idea. It was probably the most frightening 10 minutes of my mission. We checked the closets, bathroom, everywhere, didnt find anyone. After a few minutes, sister madron showed up though. She never really explained where she went or what she was doing. We could tell she was extremely stressed. She continued to pack everything frantically.Thankfully Ive learned a couple of helpful things in my social work classes! We got her to calm down a little and talk to us. She told us she had reached a breaking point with her husband. They were going to send him home from the hospital that day, but he hadnt made any improvement. According to sister madron he hasnt been on the right medication for over a year. So for her well being and the kids, she felt it was best to go live with some family for a while until everyone was mentally well. At first I thought she was making a pretty harsh choice, but after talking with her for a while, I realized that she knew what she was doing. She had prayed a lot about her decision and felt that it was right. I never expected to walk into a situation like this on my mission, but im gald I did! We kind of showed up at just the right moment. I cant imagine how overwhelming it must have been to make the decision she did, pack up a house and four kids and leave in 1 day! She definitely needed our help! So we talked and packed until some members of the ward were able to come and help out later that evening. Once again, this is an experience that I just cant put into words very well. But it was a day I definitely wont forget. It meant everything for me to be there for her.
Heavenly Father is aware of his children. I keep seeing the evidence of it over and over again. He loves each one of us more than we can understand. He knows our struggles and everything we are going through, no matter how big or small it may be! And he hasnt left us to face our challenges alone. He sends others to our aid when we need them!
Well other then some stressful moments with the members, theres not much else too exciting going on.... It's been warm here all week, in the 80's. The beach is really tempting. During the day we walk down the piers and docks when we need a five minute break from knocking on doors. Island life is great! I'll eventually get some good pictures to send. I've got a few I can send today.
I love you all! Have a good week! And dont pass up an opportunity to help someone who needs it!
Sister Walker
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