West Virginia, Wild And Wonderful

Dear Family,

So this week was not much better than last week, but I felt better about it. We only taught one of our investigators last week, the rest either stood us up or cancelled. However, good news we got 4 new investigators! They were all from tracting. Interesting story, so we went tracting and we talked to this one lady named Debbie and we taught her a first lesson. She seemed pretty interested and open and said we could come back. So we set an appointment for about 4 days later. When we came at the scheduled time, she didn’t answer the door. (nothing new there, happens to us all the time) Later she called us and said that she decided not to be rude and told us she wasn’t interested, it just wasn’t for her. We knew immediately that she had been antied. Its really weird, this happens a lot, as soon as we start talking to someone they get told some crazy story, like we have horns, believe in more than one God, etc. The funny thing is that it is pretty close the truth but they say it in a way that makes it sound bad or they talk one little element of truth out. For example, one lady said we didn’t believe in the same Christ, found out that she thinks that because she says we believe that Christ and Satan are brothers. Well we explained that we are all children of God so that makes us brothers and sisters, turns out she believes the same thing. Haha. Anyways tangent, back to Debbie. We decided to go see her and yep she got antied. But I think there is still hope for her, because she said she liked the Book of Mormon and if we left it with her she would still read it. We are trying to think of a good plan of how to go back and befriend her without being pushy. One of the investigators we got last week, her name is Amber, is married to a less active. She has taken the lessons before, but never got baptized. I think the biggest hold up has been not smoking and the other that they just weren’t ready to give up their lifestyle. In January they both quit smoking. They said it was for their health and because they want to have kids. We talked to them a little bit about the church and they really would like to raise their kids in a church. Just listening to them I can see how much the Gospel would bless them and how they are being prepared to receive it!! Luke, her husband, less active, doesn’t seem as excited about it as she does. But if she gets into it, I’m sure he will too. They are awesome, I love them already. And they have pet ferrets! They are really fun and actually really cute. They climb all over everything and smell everything. So funny thing. One of the areas we cover is called Poca. And you will never guess what their mascot is! It’s the Dots! The Poca Dots!!! How ridiculous is that !! Another area we cover is Nitro. And a lady in the ward was telling us that Nitro was settled back during World War I, and an ammunition factory was built nearby and lots of houses were built to support the factory workers. Nitro actually has a grid system, and the houses are all really close together and really close to the road. So there are hundreds of houses in a really small area, with hardly any tress or yard space. It’s kind of a dingy little town, but the people are super nice. So last week Sister Arnott and I were trying to visit some former investigators and less actives. And we discovered it’s pretty near impossible to find someone with just an address. For example, we were looking for someone who lives on Route 1 in 11-F. Well turns out Route 1 is a route not a road, it covers several roads. And the numbers don’t seem to have any order or semblance. We found 65-A, so we went farther and the numbers went down to 64-A. From there we just got confused, there was a 65-AA and a 65-CC and a 64-H, in no apparent order. Then we found a 69-CCC and were completely confused. We stopped and asked for directions and they had no clue, they just knew what number they were. How in the world are the numbers assigned and what do the letters mean? The Post Office isn’t even sure how it all works. There are a lot of people on the ward directory that say they can’t find and it’s no wonder. The roads are a mess out here! What we need to do is find some local mountain man who understands the road lingo here. Which reminds me. Have you ever heard of a “farsee”? Well turns out it’s a unit of measurement here. You go 5 ‘farsees’ down the road which means you go down the road as far as you can see 5 times!! We had Zone Conference on Friday, it was sooo wonderful like always. One thing I learned was to stop trying to convince people of the truth. Simply bear testimony and truth will cut it’s own way. We do not convince people of the truth, the Spirit converts. I am really learning to have faith on my mission. To have faith in the power of the Holy Ghost and in the truthfulness of the message we have.So one day this last week, I was writing my letter to President, and asking for help about how I struggle to get up in the mornings and how I’m so out of it in the mornings that I don’t have good studies. And how it doesn’t seem to get easier, it just is getting harder. I’ve tried everything (did I tell you I put a thumbtack on my alarm clock?) Well right after I finished that letter, I was reading in the March Ensign (there are two articles on scripture reading) and Preach My Gospel Ch 2 and I found the answers I needed to make my studies better in the mornings. To make them more interesting and more structured to keep me awake. One of the ways was to ask a question I am struggling with and then look for the answer in the scriptures. And since I have started applying that I have found so many answers in the scriptures. And I have really got more involved in the stories I am reading. God really answers our prayers if we will search it out. So read your scriptures, they have the answers you are looking for! I love you all. Hope you have a wonderful week. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis