We went on about 500 exchanges this week.
But because of those exchanges, my mission is now complete.
Why?
I'll tell you.
Before I left on my mission, The Bachelor was going on. It was about half-way through Ben Higgins' season.
Sweet, sweet Ben.
I was sad to leave.
UNTIL.
I found out that our mission covered the cutest town of WARSAW.
Finally, after e i g h t e e n months of living in Indiana I went to the hometown of Ben.
:')
I think I happy-danced like 50 times that day.
One of the investigators that the Warsaw sisters are working with went to school with him.
Did we ask her if she knew where he lived?
Did we tract all over that neighborhood that she told us?
Did we find and baptize Ben's family???
Yes, yes,
...no.
But I still have faith.
It'll happen one day.
Lake Michigan is in our stake so we got to to goooo with my homegirl aaaaaaaashleeeeyy
While in Warsaw, I was with Sister Boren and she kept asking me all these questions like, "What was the greatest thing you learned from your mission?" and "What helped you the most?" and whatever.
Gurl, I'm not dead yet.
Well at one point, she asked me, "What will you miss the most?"
Ugh. My heart.
I didn't really respond.
Weeeeeeeell. Later, we went tracting and the sweetest little experience happened:
The very first house we walked up to, a man was sitting outside with his dog so we did the usual, "Heyyyy whadduuuup! We're sharing a message about Christ blah blah."
He invited us to sit on his porch with him, but he promptly let us know that he had "no faith. absolutely none. zilch. nada."
Well. Alrighty.
We continued to talk with him, found out his name was Larry, that he was a retired US marshal, and that his wife had recently passed away.
He went on to say how hard it's been without her and how he's lost all faith he ever had.
I instantly started thinking about a million different things we could share with him about the Plan of Salvation, or opposition in all things, or eternal families...etc.
But for whatever reason, I had the quietest prompting to just sit. And listen.
He said some of the most heart-wrenching things about how they were supposed to grow old together, how it wasn't fair, and how could God take her from him.
Pretty soon, this rough-looking grown man, began to cry.
Right in front of these two random, little girls.
Ohhhh, my heeearrrtt.
And still we just sat and listened.
Until finally he said, "Why would God let her die?"
And with that question, I got to respond with my simple testimony of the Savior.
I said: "Well, why would He let his most Beloved Son die?"
I was then able to bear my testimony of hope. That He died, so that we could live. Sometimes faith can't be found. But there will ALWAYS be hope left behind, even the smallest bit.
And that's enough to hold onto.
I told that complete stranger, Larry, that I loved him. And I meant that because I knew that He loved him.
When we first met Larry, he wouldn't even accept our card, but by the end he not only accepted it, but told us to come back and shared with us how grateful he was that we stopped by.
As we walked away, I finally answered Sister Boren's question about what I would miss most: "That. I'll miss that the most. To literally act in place of the Savior."
I can never express the beauty of being a disciple of Jesus Christ, but how eternally grateful I am that I've been able to be one for the past 18 months.
Last week, here we go!
Sincerely, Sister Soloa'i
P.S. even the fresh prince needs the prince of peace.
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