CONGRATULATIONS TO ASH FOR HER MISSION CALL - FINALLY! That is so awesome and I am beyond excited to see what life is like in Pennsylvania! Ahhh!!!
We had transfers this week and I am now serving in Port St. Lucie, Florida, at the northern end of the mission.
Every door approach I just want to say: "Hi, I'm Sister Scadden and I've been out for 10 months but I don't actually know how to be a missionary in this world you call Port St. Lucie because everyone is white and speaks English." I feel like I changed missions. I am in a whole new world. For one, it is beyond gorgeous up here because there are rivers everywhere and everything is spread out. Two, I went to church in English for the first time since January so that was weird. I love it up here and am so excited about the next transfer!
My new companion is named Sis. Morrow. She is a boss and I am already excited to be serving with her. I am so grateful for her patience in basically re-teaching me how to be a missionary because I am re-learning the English language and trip over my tongue every two seconds and have no idea how to talk to these people. She likes running and I haven't had a companion that likes running in about 5 months (because Sis. Bradley and I were lazy) so I've gone from running half a mile in the morning to 2 miles every morning. I already feel tons better!!
It is the end of the month, so we don't have any miles and we had to be very careful about how far we drove. On Saturday we drove to a point, parked, and were on our bikes the rest of the day. We prayed about a spot to knock and set off. We are really working on OYMing (Open Your Mouth) everyone right now, and I pulled up to OYM someone when my front brakes went out and I fell off my bike. Thats gracefulness though. haha. Anyway, point of the story is, we got to our knocking spot and at the 4th house there was a man sitting in the garage. When we introduced ourselves, he waved us to the door and at the door the woman said "Oh! Come in, come in!" We were beyond confused because English people do NOT just invite you into their home. Turns out that the woman, Jane, was part of the area that just got moved into our ward/area last Sunday and has been inactive for 20 years until she attended church in the other ward last Sunday. It was a huge testimony that we are doing God's work because our area is massive and there is no other way we could have been guided so perfectly to her house. I had flashbacks to when we met John during my time in West Palm. She is really seeking to re-gain her testimony and asked us to re-teach her the lessons and help her build her own foundation. She came to church yesterday! :)
I miss all the people in Miami Gardens and Sis. Soza, but I have felt confirmation over and over again this week that I am in the right place and I am so excited to be here!
I love you guys and hope you have great week!
-Sister Bren Scadden