Transfers, Trolls, and other Tales

Dear Family,

So transfers are tomorrow. And I am staying in Fairmont, but I’m really sad that Sister Merrill is leaving. We have 3 baptisms coming up, she is so bummed. She is going to Buena Vista, Virginia to replace Sister Hill who will be going home. Crazy how me and her are just following Sister Hill around. So I’ll probably be going to Buena Vista next. Who knows. My new companion is Sister Reeves, she was in the MTC at the same time I was. I hear she is super nice and a wonderful cook.
Martha is supposed to get baptized on Sunday but we haven’t seen her in almost 2 weeks because she is so sick!! She calls us every few days and she sounds awful!! Pretty much for the last 2 weeks, every time we talk to her she has spent most of the day in the bathroom throwing up. How much can one person throw up? Then because she is so sick she can’t go to work, so she isn’t getting any money, so she is super stressed about her finances, which makes her more sick, so she can’t go to work, and the cycle just continues. She really needs lots of prayers!
Tom and Kim are set for the 26th but that isn’t going to happen because they had to go out of town this last weekend and didn’t come to church and we didn’t get to teach them last week and so they still don’t know they need to get married. But they are wonderful so we’ll keep working with them.
We got a referral this week for a lady who ordered a Bible. We set up an appointment to see her and when we walked into her living room we found ourselves being stared at by HUNDREDS of TROLLS. Apparently she collects them. You know the little trolls that were cool when we were little? With the pointy hair and the fat bellys and the really creepy eyes? Yay it was a little strange teaching a lesson with all those guys staring at us. She has some really weird ones too, like goblin ones, and Siamese ones, and ones with two heads. The lesson went really well though, and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she had always been interested to read it. She has a lot of health problems and just retired from being a kindergarten teacher because of her health. And all of her family just moved out. So she is going through a lot of changes and seems to be looking for some help and direction.
This week was really good and we got a lot done. We are teaching this guy named Dennis. I think I have told you about him. His parents have been members for about 30 years and he has finally decided that it might be worth looking into. He is actually a really strange guy, but he really grows on you. He is so lonely, a few weeks ago he was saying that his parents aren’t going to be around much longer and he has no siblings or much family, and he just doesn’t want to be alone forever. I felt so sorry for him at that moment, how hard it would be to be so alone. I really hope he finds a wife, but she is really going to have to be a special kind of person. He is dealing with depression and insomnia. He hardly shows any emotion at all, very monotone guy. But last week he laughed and this week he cried. I think the Spirit is working on him and softening him. He is terrified of commitment, whenever we has him to read or pray he won’t ever say yes. He won’t commit to coming to church, but he always shows up. He won’t set up a lesson more than a few days ahead of time. So we have been taking it slow with him, but I think it is time to commit him to baptism, so we’ll see how that goes, we might scare him a little. We found out this last week that he eats dinner at Bob Evans every day and a member in our ward works there. She says everyone knows him and he always asks for 4 extra napkins. Poor guy probably hasn’t had a home cooked meal in months.
So the more we teach people and see that changes in their lives, the more my testimony grows that the small things make the biggest difference. Saying our prayers, going to church, and reading our scriptures are HUGE. These things really change people. God loves us so much and is ready to bless us, so as soon as we do anything that merits a blessing, He really pours out the blessings. We might not see the small changes and miracles, because we don’t take the time to notice, but they are there.
Another small thing is to serve people. I cannot tell you the little acts of service I have witnessed on the mission that have really blessed people. The members here are so amazing and they are great about serving. There are people all around us who are sad, lost, in need and what takes a small effort on our part can totally change their day and their life. In Sacrament the topic was on service, and one lady talked about service in the church. Our callings and home and visiting teaching are so important, these programs are the way the Lord has set it up to gather and help his people. She posed the question, who is being lost because I am not magnifying my calling? A little extra effort could save a soul. And I can tell you that I see so many less actives that just slip through the cracks and are lost because some one is not doing their home teaching or visiting teaching. And then we go in years later and try to reactivate them, but they no longer have an interest. We talk all the time about how important missionary work is and the great joy that comes from it, well home and visiting teaching is just missionary work to the members. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. How great is our calling! Every member a missionary!
I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Nicole Polatis