March 25th

It's SO different being with only one companion rather than having the three of us teach a lesson, but it has pros to the cons, so in essence it's just really different. So far we've adjusted really well to having one other person in the apartment and working as two separate companionships, and I love Sister Noun, so we all get along really well (which is fortunate seeing we'll be around each other our whole missions, though it's Sister Noun's second to last transfer).

This past week there was an activity for the Relief Society birthday that the president, Sister Oaks, wanted to have a musical number for. She had a piece in mind, but it was poorly written, so she had her son take it and change it up a little bit. It came back a lot more complicated than they had time to put together, and seeing Sister Oaks is one of the two people in the ward who plays the piano, and seeing her plate was full, she asked if I could learn and play it for the activity. I will jump on any opportunity I have to play the piano (within reason), and after a little practice, managed to fumble between the accompaniment and parts of the singer's pieces together to help bring them in. It wasn't perfect, but it turned out better than we anticipated, and Sister Oaks was really happy with it.

Oh! Miracle for the week! A Relief Society president in a neighboring ward gave us list of Asian people in her ward directory to look up and check on. Many had either moved or their phones weren't working, and one family said they weren't interested and shut the door. We went back later on to ask about a specific family member, and the little boy that answered the door said she lived in an apartment complex down the road. We went to go find it, but didn't see it anywhere, so we gave up.

(This is slightly off topic, but also an exciting part of the week, and it does connect in the end;) This past Saturday we went to the less active's house that just got his heart (yes!!) and I got to use their riding lawn mower and till their garden! It was my first time tilling a garden, but it felt so good to get my hands dirty! Weird, I know, but it just makes you feel like you're working hard, and I really was exhausted after that.

(Here's where it reconnects;) On our way home from the service project, we passed the apartment complex!! We remembered where it was so we could drop by later on, and that evening Sister McQuivey and I went to go find her. We knew what building she was in, but didn't know the apartment number, so we approached a man working on his car that looked Cambodian and asked if he knew an Angela. He said she was right around the corner just getting into black car. I felt very stalker-ish as we approached this woman in her car just about to leave the driveway, asking if her name were Angela. It was, and we got her apartment number, and a return appointment!

We went to meet her again last night and had a really good visit with her. She's our age, so it's easy to connected with her, although her boyfriend is a Jehovah's Witness. It wouldn't pose such a problem except she's at such a place where she's not against learning more about the church, but she's not particularly looking for religion right now, so it's quite the challenge to let her know we are her friends and still teach her a little bit here and there without sounding pushy because she has a lot of problems that the gospel would be such a great support to her if she'll accept it. In all, we discussed all that happened in length, and it's quite the miracle that we met her when we did, and how it all happened, so we're going to be very prayerful as we continue meeting with her.

This week we are without the car! So stay in tune to hear more about near-death experiences as we walk the streets of Tacoma! Not really, but I'm sure I'll have quite a few stories to share by next week. :)

Love you!
Sister Dunster