The FINAL Countdown! The second to last email....(Duhn duhn duhn!!!)

Hey y'all!  Well, believe it or not, I've only got one more of these emails left!  It's mind-boggling, if you ask me.

 

This week was a rough one.  Being "sans voiture" (without a car) stinketh.  I don't mind walking, but the nearest city to Oakdale is like 20 miles away, and there's no way we can walk that in enough time to get there, tract, and get back before dark.  And riding our bikes wasn't an option...we'd be riding down Interstate 10.  Needless to say, there were much frustrations.  I told President in my letter to him, "I know there has GOT to be people here in town who are being prepared to accept the gospel.  I just don't know where they are hiding."  The good news?  We got our car back Friday night, so Saturday we spent the whole day out in Mamou, and found some promising potential there.  And we've got things planned thus far for this week that we'll only be in Oakdale one day this week, and we've got a few appointments already set up, so that makes things a lot better.

 

Joanna disappeared on us.  Sigh.  We saw her briefly on Wednesday, and then lost contact with her for the rest of the week.  She doesn't have a phone (BOO), so the only way we can get a hold of her is by dropping in on her.  We think she may have gone out of town for the weekend.  How is beyond me, seeing as how she doesn't have a car, but that's beside the point.  She didn't make it to church, so she can't get baptized this weekend.  BLAST.  But she's still progressing, which is a miracle.  She'll get baptized soon...she's just got to make it to church once more, and really commit to coming EVERY week.

 

We had to drop the Darvonnes on Friday.  That stunk.  I was REALLY frustrated.  Chris told us that he'd decided that he didn't want to be married anymore, even though he still loves Elizabeth.  (Long story short---they both were not faithful; Elizabeth just was unfaithful first.)  But because he won't commit to sticking it out and making things work, Elizabeth is now up the creek without a paddle.  She's 7 1/2 months pregnant (Chris is the dad), she has no job, and nowhere to go.  She can't just get up and leave.  So even though she WANTS to progress, she doesn't want to be the only one trying to make things work.  It was a rough day.  We told them that we loved them, and that they could call us whenever they needed our help, or when they were ready to give this another shot.  Elizabeth was crying as we left, Sister English cried when we got to the car, Sister Thomas was frustrated, and I alternated in between being so angry I could spit nails, and being absolutely heartbroken.  Danged free agency!  Sigh.  It's really hard to watch people make the wrong choices, and know that there is nothing you can do about it, because it's their choice.  Oh, the protections living the gospel brings us!

 

The good news?  We found and taught a really sweet girl named Micah in Mamou on Saturday.  She just had a baby girl a couple of months ago, and she's made some big changes in her life to make sure her little girl will grow up right.  We have an appointment to see her again this next weekend, so we're super excited.

 

Well, I'm outta time, and I love y'all lots.  Keep Oakdale in your prayers.

 

Your Friend in the Faith,

Sister Pedersen

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