Trunk or Treat

Honestly the best thing that happened this week was the trunk or treat! Hermana Marcheschi and I have been looking forward to this for like three weeks. If there is one ward activity that inactive people will come to, it's the trunk or treat. We had about 3x as many people there as those who come to church! Haha. We were able to talk to soo many of the part member families that we've been trying to get in contact with for the past month. They didn't really wanna talk about the gospel, but they did want to talk about Halloween and the chili cookoff haha. 

In other good news, Kayla's husband Tony has come to church three times! And the trunk or treat! We've started teaching him, and he's pretty unsure of the whole thing rn, but he does love coming to church, which is so sweet. He told us that he noticed a distinct change in their lives once Kayla was baptized, so that's been such a good way for him to come to know the change that can come through the gospel.  

He's an avid smoker and leaves sacrament meeting like every 30 min to go take a smoke break haha, but hey he's at church. The ward loves him and it's pretty cool to watch everyone wrap their arms around him. I'm pretty sure an apostle said one time, "the only time cigarette smoke smells good, is if it's in sacrament meeting". (Something along those lines lol) 

But it's true!!It is SO important that we welcome every single person into this gospel, regardless of their past or present. I've been reminded constantly this week to judge less and love more. The Savior was the ultimate example of loving first. 

One miracle we had this week was on Thursday. If was a pretty rough day, we had about 15 houses to go to, and I kid you not, not one person answered the door.  The day was kind of feeling like a waste, and we decided to go knock on a media referral we had gotten the day before. We knocked on Ja'kerias door and she actually remembered making the referral (which never happens) and told us she's looking for a church that talks about Jesus a lot and is very welcoming. We were like, haha I think we know a place!! We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she cried as she read the introduction. 

The only sad part is that she's 20 so we have to pass her off to the ysa elders rip. But still a cool miracle!! 

This week was definitely a bit slower, and we had some long days. On Sunday, as we talked to our ward mission leader, he told us his whole conversion story. He was a preacher at a Baptist church (!!), and he met with the missionaries for 5 (!!) Years before joining!! Hahha. Thirty years later, this guy has been in a stake presidency, bishopric, and now a mission leader. This just reminded me that we will probably not see most of the fruits of our labors, in our short 18 months here. I've learned that patience is key in missionary work, and it's something I've been striving harder to develop. It's easy to give up on people who don't seem to be progressing, but I've come to realize the potential that every single person has, and to never give up! Unless they start cursing at you to get off their porch haha.

I'm convinced Inman is the best place to be in South Carolina, and with transfers coming up sis Marcheschi and I both don't wanna leave hahah,,,, so we'll see what happens! 

godspeed!!