The work here is pretty slow. We knock doors and talk to people on the street, but most people don't seem interested. This means we have more room to be creative. We write inspiring phrases with sidewalk chalk down the walking paths, we heart attack those who seem to be having a hard time, we go to nursing homes and play games and spend time with the residents, and there is so much more we have planned. I am so excited to serve the people of Denver. Even if they aren't interested in hearing the gospel, I hope us being more then willing to serve them will soften their hearts to future missionaries.
Earlier this week, we visited a Sister from the ward who needed help cleaning and organizing her cluttered house, but instead she gave us a tour of her house and just seemed happy to talk to someone. She showed us her sewing room, party room, a storage shed FILLED with books, and the Puzzle Room. Her husband is a puzzle manufacturer. We were able to fiddle with many of his prototypes, and I even solved a few, hehe! As he was showing us drawer after drawer of prototypes, I thought of my dad. Every Christmas my mom would get each of is puzzles like these, and more often then not we would struggle and struggle to solve it, then dad would get a hold of them and solve them, reassemble them, give them back to us, and refuse to give us the answers. I guess all that practice played off, because I was able to solve a few!
For Christmas, I had asked my mom for fun stickers to hand out to people. I had thought they would be little dollar tree cars and Disney princesses, but what I received was so much better. As I placed each sticker out on our counter, my companions and I couldn't take our eyes away. These stickers had such cool designs and, mom knowing me so well, they all had a nature theme. Each companion took one, and I took one for myself to put on my water bottle. I am so excited to hand these out as little gifts and prizes! As I looked at them, I was reminded how well my mom knows me.
A week or so ago we helped a lady wrap Christmas presents. As thank you, she gave us each calendars with pictures she had taken on trips. When we got home, Sister Coburn mentioned that she had kept a blessings calendar, where she wrote down one blessing a day. I thought that was a brilliant idea, and wanted to try and do one this year, but I was also inspired to keep a scripture calendar, one scripture from my studies a day. I couldn't decide, and I was getting a little frustrated, then I received a package from my Boma. In it was a calendar with pictures she had taken. I was so excited! Now I had two awesome calendars, meaning I could keep both a blessing calendar along with a scripture calendar! Now, every day I write in my Journal, I write a scripture, a blessing, and one line a day in my "One Line A Day" book I also received from my Boma. By the end of the year, I'm hoping to have recorded a lot. I've struggled a lot with remembering to journal in the past, so I guess God got tired of waiting for me to write, so now he has me write four times a day. I can't wait to see what it turns into by the end of the year!
I can see amazing sunrises each morning as I sit at my desk and study.
