Sister Kelsey Rook: Nebraska Omaha Mission

April 24, 2017

I'm just going to be frank with you... Do you have bedbugs?!

Hi Y'all!

This week was actually pretty good! So, that's good! Exchanges on Monday were so great, and going to the Temple on Tuesday was incredible! It was just a great way to start the week off! The subject line of my email comes from the day when we had to call our investigator and ask if she had bedbugs... as you can see Sister Rook is not good with putting it in a sensitive and loving way... #itssomethingweareworkingon but luckily, she didn't hear me! It was so bad, but it made for a good story! So here is an update of pretty much the main people we have been focusing on.

Mary (I): We saw her once this week and for a lot of the lesson she still seemed pretty upset that she had to postpone her baptism. We explained all over again, and specifically asked if she had any questions about this whole ordeal. She had some and we were able to clarify and answer them. We also gave her the journal and we explained to her our expectations to write down how Jesus Christ had helped her every single day. She seemed willing and happy to do it, so hopefully this will help her to have more of a desire and increase her faith in Christ. Also, when we went over there we noticed that she has bedbugs. She just recently threw out a couple of mattresses and we saw in the crevices the black marks that they leave. Thankfully we have been teaching her outside on her driveway and when we leave we make sure to check each other for bedbugs. We contacted our Relief Society President because she is a pro with bedbugs and she expressed to us that if a person has bedbugs it would not be the best thing for her to come to church because it could be the start of potentially infecting the whole stake with them. So we called Mary back and lovingly and with sensitively asked if she would check for bedbugs and asked if she had them. She didn't come to church yesterday because she was checking her house, and she sent us multiple texts saying that she didn't have them as well. She just isn't willing to clean herself up and take care of herself- she also doesn't have a car and we don't want to put other people at risk of getting bedbugs if they have to pick her up for everything. So we are kind of at a standstill and we aren't sure what to do.

Sandi (I): We her saw once this week. She is still having problems with her medication so she is exhausted all the time. But the super good news is... She is down to two cigarettes a day!! Remember a couple weeks ago when we committed her to have just three a day? She did this all by herself! And she said it has been hard - the patches are on their way to help her stop completely! It made us so happy!! Also, her boyfriend/significant other person might be moving out in June or possibly earlier. This sounds bad but Sister Monroe and I are almost praying that he does so that Sandi can take care of herself and that would be a huge step in preparing herself to be baptized!! She wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she was in so much pain.. so we are praying that she gets better as well!

Candi (I): On Tuesday night we went and saw Candi. She is going through such a hard time right now. On top of the heart problem that she has, her whole entire family refuses to help her. She has two little boys that are both under the age of five years old and they have the most energy you will ever see- they never get tired and they are always running around 24/7 because Candi does not have enough energy to control them. We want to help her so bad but we aren't really sure what to do. So on Tuesday we are going back over there and we are going to do some service for her! Hopefully we will be of some help to her.

Carrie (I): This week when we went over there Carrie really opened up to us and in her doing so we were able to discern her needs better and it helped us to know how we can teach her the gosple so that she can really understand and live it. So that was a super happy day!!

Scott Warren (RC): A couple of weeks ago Scott was able to go to the Family History Center and find names to take to the temple!! Yesterday he got his Temple Recommend!! I am so so excited for him!! So hopefully he can go sometime this week or soon so that he can do baptisms! Other than that, he is doing great!!

Ilene Lawson (LA): Sister Lawson came to church yesterday, and she stayed all three hours!! Her visiting teachers contacted us saying that her phone has been turned off and that she didn't have a way of getting in contact with us, but she really wanted us to start going over again. We have been texting and calling and have never been able to get in contact with her, and usually we don't drop in because she has pretty bad anxiety, but on Saturday we did! She was so grateful and so filled with joy that we came over! So that was a super good visit and hopefully her going to church yesterday will be a reoccurring thing!

Tatiana Jackson (LA): We saw her once this week, she hasn't been coming to church recently and every time we go over there she expresses to us that she doesn't believe in God anymore, and why should she go to church if she doesn't believe in it? So we have been focusing on the three main things that will help her build her faith. Going to church, praying, and reading her scriptures. Tomorrow a couple of ladies from the ward are going over there to help her clean her house and to teach her how to keep it clean and to maybe start talking to her kids about helping to keep the house clean. So hopefully that will be good, and when her house is clean it will be a better environment for the spirit to be there.

Funny Moments!!

1. We came out of one of our members homes and we were walking down her steps and I saw a snake and I literally screamed so loud and ran the other direction. Sister Monroe was laughing so hard and the member came out and she was so confused! haha

2. We were at Sister Solko's house this week and she is probably the craziest lady you will ever meet! Haha we walked in and she was like I have a joke for you," what is the difference between a midget and a smidget...." We asked her what the difference was and she said the S! Then she started laughing SO hard and we just had to join her because she is so funny! haha

3. That's all the funny times I can remember right now... maybe I'll remember more this week!

Spiritual Thought!

In my studies this week I was reading Alma 34, and I came across verse 38, part of it says, "And that ye live in Thanksgiving Daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you." And it reminded me of of one of the Prince of Peace videos and it was a man talking and he said, "I have so much to be thankful for, it would be disrespectful to God if I wasn't happy." I absolutely LOVE that because Happiness is a choice! You can choose to be happy and to feel joy in whatever situation you are in! So my challenge for y'all is to find the happiness in each day for this week, whether that is someone waving at you or a beautiful sunset! You can always choose to be happy and to find the joy in living!!

That is pretty much it, sorry this email was super long today! But I hope y'all have the best week ever!! Thank you for all the support you give me!! I absolutely love you to pieces!!!

Love,

Sister Rook