Dear Family,
Prepare for a story. Sit down. Relax. This is going to be good. Here is what I wrote in my journal about Tuesday. I was on exchanges in Durham 1st ward. Here goes.
On Tuesday, Sister Loftis and I woke up and did the normal morning routine. Then Facebook and lunch. Then we went to a woman's home to help her sort through clothes. So, we went in service clothing. Then we were supposed to have a lesson with one of her neighbors, who I will call Kay. I needed to use the bathroom, and Sister Loftis and I both needed to change back into proselyting clothes. I asked Sister Loftis if Kay's would be an okay place to change and use the bathroom. Sister Loftis did not think so. But, we decided to change in Kay's house anyways. So, we took our clothes (in our backpacks) into Kay's house. Here I will describe Kay's house: old, falling apart, stained brown and gray/black, lots of cobwebs, burnt bed from cigarettes, more brown marks, little pieces of who knows what on the floor, open boxes and wrappers of food, and more. So, we changed in Kay's bedroom, but I kept my backpack between my knees so it wouldn't touch the ground. Oh, I forgot to mention that it reeked with cigarette smoke. Poor Sister Kay also appeared worn down: greasy and matted hair, gray jacket with maybe throw up on the elbow, other spots of something on her jacket, brown and chipped teeth, brown stuff on her fingers (poop?), poop and pee on her pants, untrimmed nails, and a few other things.
Oh, and did I mention that the woman we were sorting clothes for had bedbugs?
After Kay, we went to the car. And by this time, my bladder was about to burst. Sister Loftis was going through her bag to find the car keys. She didn't find them, so she looked in her backpack: nothing. So, she searched in her other bag. So, I started walking around trying not to wet myself. We both looked in the car to see if the keys were inside, but that proved futile. Then, Sister Loftis resumed searching her purse. Then, I did the unthinkable. I peed my skirt!
Just kidding, I asked Sister Loftis about the member of the ward that lived across the street. (Sister Loftis had mentioned her in Kay's house.) I asked if her bathroom would be nicer than Kay's. Turns out it was. The member let us in and let me use her bathroom. I was mighty close to wetting my skirt though. The member, Sister Larson, chatted with us for a little bit. We told her what we had done so far that day. And explained why we had T-shirts on with our skirts (because we didn't feel comfortable in Kay's house and with the window's open). Then Sister Larson helped us find our key. She made Sister Loftis dump out the contents of her bags. When we didn't find it, we went back to where the car was parked by Kay's apartment. We traced our steps looking for the key. Then a man asked us what were looking for. We told him. Then he yelled to the members of his crew (who were destroying things in the apartment right next to Kay's) that he knew who the key belonged to. So, they tossed him the key, and we got on our way.
We went to go contact a referral. As were walking to the apartment, a twitchy, red-haired woman came up to us. She asked us for money. We , as politely as we could, declined. And she continued to ask, but we still declined
Then she let us be. We got to contact the referral. It was a family, so the Durham 1st sisters have three new investigators. We talked mostly about the Book of Mormon. We set up a return appointment and left. When Sister Loftis and I got to the car, Sister Loftis couldn't find the phone. So, we were once again digging through bags. We were laughing pretty hard. The twitchy woman came to us again. She told us she had heard quite a bit of laughter. She proceeded to tell us about a woman who feeds homeless people in the park. Then she asked us for a dollar. Once again, we declined. We tried to tell her that as missionaries, we are not allowed to give money. She told us that she already saw the dollar, so she was trying to convince us that it was our obligation to give it to her since she already saw it. We just stood there. Then she stomped her foot and blurted, "Ah hell (pronounced hay-yull), at least I tried!" She gave us hugs and walked away. That was disturbing. We quickly got in the car and drove away. We parked at Duke gardens to search once more for the phone. Luckily, it was in Sister Loftis's bag.
We then drove to an assisted living home to help a woman in the ward sort papers. Her name is Sister S. Sister Loftis was cleaning out a drawer, and I got to put different papers into a binder. Sister S once gave me an envelope that had literally nothing on it. It was supposed to be to send in a magazine subscription. So, I handed it to Sister Loftis secretly, and she secretly threw it away.
Then Sister Loftis pulled out some toe nail clippers that had brown chunks on it. Brown and orange chunks. Sister S exclaimed, "Oh give me! I've been looking for those!" Then she grabbed them, saw there was something on them, and handed them back to Sister Loftis to throw away. Sister Loftis promptly disposed of them. When we were done and walking back to the car, Sister Loftis asked, "What was on those?!" All I could reply was that there was a lot of yellow and orange and brown stuff in that drawer.
Then we went to our teaching appointment with the Gaskins. Then we went to our dinner appointment. We got ice cream! Then we hurried home because it was time to exchange back. And that, my friends, is a day in the life of a missionary.
How did you like it?
I am staying in Durham until December, so I'm looking forward to more adventures. Being on a mission really opens eyes. I am so glad that I get to share the message of the Restoration and the Atonement. It will change to world, one little heart at a time. I know that we all have work to do. It may go slow sometimes, but it is work. The Lord gets it done in His time. Thanks for all of your support. Keep moving forward. I also want to say that I am thankful for hard times because it has really helped me find the good things even if they are small. I am thankful that I know how to laugh. I think it bugs my companion sometimes that I laugh so much, but I'd rather laugh that be grumpy all the time. I am thankful for laughs.
Go with God,
Sister Turley
P.S.
This may not be what my story was about, but we do get to do some of this. We get to do food orders every other Wednesday. We get to help people get food when they cannot provide for themselves.
