Missionaries.

I've tried several times to blog this week, but have struggled for hours to think of anything each time. Every since Samuel started work on Monday my days have gotten less and less exciting. Everyday I have spent a few hours cleaning, doing homework, watching movies, looking for jobs, and yesterday I made a list of all the novelty ice cream shops I want to go to which include: The Marble Slab Creamery, Ben & Jerry's, Mr. K's, Pikes Old Fashioned Soda Shop, Hershey's, and the Carolina Creamery. I'm getting desperate.

One thing that I do look forward to is being with the missionaries. I've never had the experience of being around them and I cannot get over how great they are. Now that I've been around girls (and guys) my age who have made the choice to serve the Lord, I am even more grateful for their decisions to serve.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sister Merrill brought over her (brand spanking new) companion, Sister Steinagol to practice teaching the first discussion. This is the second time that I have heard The Restoration from the sisters and it gets better every time I get the change to listen to it. I've read through the pamphlet that I was given while I was visiting Sam's parents in California and there is no doubt in my mind that the spirit is really what does the teaching. These sisters, while having strong testimonies, aren't the ones teaching me each time we talk.

On Wednesday night we fed Elder Reinhold and Elder Jolley. I could not even believe that they were only 19 years old. They're babies. They're younger than me. We chatted and ate and then were on our way out with them to visit a family in the ward who would be married on Friday (tonight) and then  the woman would be baptized on Saturday. This family has only been in the Charlotte area for a few weeks longer than we have and have heard the gospel and decided to be baptized in that amount of time. It really is amazing the change that can happen in people and their sincere desire to be baptized to show their love for God and willingness to make those special covenants.

The night with the elders ended with a quick trip to Nordstrom Rack and Ross and could not have been more like driving around with my brothers, but instead of being excited about sports or girls at school, they're excited about teaching the gospel. It's hilarious.

This afternoon I had a date with the sisters to go teach a family of investigators that had rescheduled their appointment earlier in the week. Last time the sisters met with the family, they had begun to read The Book of Mormon and were preparing to learn about the plan of salvation. We weren't there long when the mom told us that she had done some research about the Mormon church online and didn't want to be taught the discussions anymore. I didn't know this family, but my heart ached for the things that they were missing out on. I could tell that the sisters were disappointed and I had no idea what to say.

Once we were in the car, Sister Merrill mentioned that he mission president always says, "Why would you go ask a Catholic Priest if you should join the Christian Church?" The hate that people have for the church will never cease to amaze me. I really feel that people who were once so heavily involved in the church can never fill that hole that comes when they decide to leave, but they think that they can by hate. The kindness that the sisters showed to this family spoke volumes to me as we left.

Moments like that make me want to help those around us realize the blessings that come from the gospel of Jesus Christ.