August ended with the usual visits to the less active
sisters in White Plains 1st and 2nd Wards.
We have a pretty good idea now of those who have moved, those who have
died, and those who do not want us to contact them. There are maybe 50 in each ward that we are
still trying to see. Of those, about a
dozen invite us in and visit with us if we happen to find them at home. We are waiting for Sister Ramon to come home
from her summer trips so we can meet again and maybe get an additional
assignment to help us fill our days with meaningful service. I hope that she doesn't feel overwhelmed by
this assignment that she has inherited from the previous Stake RS President who
wanted senior sister missionaries to serve in Suitland Stake. They have been so good to try and give us
work to do, but after nearly a year here, there just isn't as much to do.
Starting in September, we have had more opportunities to
do community-based service, which has helped us stay busy. One weekend we participated in the D.C. Public
Schools Day of Beautification along with members of Capitol Ward. Additionally, a ward in the Greenbelt area sponsored a booth at the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival Information Day. The booth featured family history work and
Family Search. Sister Moraga and I were
invited to help with the booth, which we did from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00
p.m. It wasn't swarming with people all
day, but there were quite a few who stopped by to check it out and some sat
down at the computers and looked at Family Search. Elder and Sister Knight asked us after the
event if we would like to help gather information and identify contacts in the
Wards and communities of the Mission who could help set up similar events in their
areas.
In service of another kind, there have been a few times
when we have met someone who has told us that we came to see them just when
they needed us most or that we left just the message that they needed to hear
that day. One of these sisters is
Lynsi. She was only in the ward for a
short time, but she always expressed appreciation for our timely visits. Last week we were able to help her clean her
house to help her get ready to move. It
was a very hard decision for them to make, but her husband has committed to
enter a drug rehabilitation program and she will be moving back to Utah or
California to be where family can help give her the support that she needs
during this time.
Another sister that we have been able to serve is
Dorothy. She has had problems with her
heart lately and has spent some time in the hospital as well as repeated visits
to the doctor's office. It may not seem
like a very big thing, but we have been able to help her keep her beautiful
yard spruced up by watering her flowers for her. She usually takes care of her own lawn including
cutting the grass, so she is grateful that we have helped her out.
We have gone to visit a sister who has not had a lot to
do with the church lately. She is in
poor health also. The first couple times
we stopped by she did not answer the door.
After we left a couple of messages, she opened up to us the next
time. We had a good visit and promised
to return and help her with some housework.
We went back yesterday dressed in our work clothes. After we visited for about an hour I asked if
there is anything that she would like us to help her with. I suggested maybe pulling weeds since her
front yard had a flower bed with rather tall weeds. She said, "well, since you asked…" She took us to the back yard and showed us a
huge patch of weeds that were four times as tall as the front yard. Fortunately they were very easy to pull
because the soil was very loamy and moist.
Nonetheless, my hands—which have not done any yard work for over a year—had
blisters by the time we finished the task.
I am grateful that we were able to help her though.
This month we have had the opportunity to help several
ward members with their family history.
This is one of my favorite pastimes, so I have quite enjoyed this part
of our work. After we help someone and I
learn a few things about their family, I come home and spend a few hours
looking online to see if there is any additional information that I can help
them find. It is almost like they are a
part of my family, too.
The highlight of this week was probably being able to go
with Elder and Sister Biolo to visit a couple of new sisters in Anacostia
Ward. The Mangitukas are a young couple
who moved from Africa to New Hampshire and then to Washington D.C. Bro. Mangituka heard about the church, looked
for some missionaries, took the lessons and was baptized. (I am not sure whether this was in Africa or
after they moved to New Hampshire.) Sister
Mangituka is not as certain about the church.
They speak French, and she does not understand much English. She began to receive the lessons when they
were in New Hampshire, but didn't continue with them. Now she is taking the opportunity to hear them
again because Sister Moraga can teach her in French. We made an appointment with her for this
week, and her husband happened to have the day off from work, so they were both
home. Sister Moraga taught her the Plan
of Salvation in French while the Biolos and I sat and tried to keep up with the
lesson by identifying occasional French words or phrases that sounded like
English. They are a great couple and we
have a return appointment with her.
Our next stop was in the humble home of Aminata, a young girl
from Sierra Leone who moved here with her 1-year-old daughter in July, just a
short time before the Ebola outbreak in her country. She was baptized in January of this year. She is living in an apartment that a relative
arranged for her for a couple of months until she can find a job and get
another place to live. She has no
furniture. Just two crib mattresses on
the living room floor. Sister Biolo
helped her make some phone calls to try and get food and medical
assistance. She seemed so grateful. How hard it must be to be all alone and so far
from home, yet she is grateful that she is not in Sierra Leone with all of
their problems right now. At the end of
the day, I cannot feel sorry for myself. I have a
wonderful family. I have a safe, clean
place to stay. And I have the Gospel of
Jesus Christ as a pattern and guide for my life. I
know my Heavenly Father loves me. I am so blessed!
