So the Jews here have a pretty strict dress code. The girls
have to wear shirts that cover their elbows and their collarbones, and skirts
have to go 4 inches below the knee. One day, we inadvertently wore shirts that
were almost Jew-appropriate. From the back we definitely looked like Jewish
girls. We were knocking the door of a referral in what we like to call
"deep Lakewood" (the part of Lakewood where everyone is either Jewish
or Hispanic) and a few Jewish guys about our age were walking down the street behind
us. We could hear them whispering "Are they Jewish?" "No,
they're Christians!" It was pretty funny. Most of them crossed the street
and walked away. But one of them (who appeared to be very drunk) stood there
behind us and yelled "Hey! What's up!?" We then proceeded to explain
to him that we aren't Jews. He just stood there disappointed for a bit, mumbled
a few other random things, and staggered off in a drunken stupor. It was pretty
great. I can check "Be hit on by Jews" of my bucket list! Success.
This week we spent a long time inputting teaching records
into the Area Book Planner app on our iPads. In the process of doing so, we
came across the records of some pretty cool people that I hadn't read about
before. We called a ton of the phone numbers in our area book and we actually
got some 8appointments and found some cool people that way. We got 3 new
investigators on Saturday and 2 of them were people we found in our area book.
We have been pretty focused on finding new people because the current people we
have just aren't progressing and aren't putting in the effort they need
to.
One night this week we were walking contacting people on the
street and I see a some people in a car that is stopped at a stoplight
motioning for me to come over. I walk to the car and one of them asks "How
much for one of your books?" I say they're free but I only had Spanish
ones with me at the moment. He said he needed an English one, so I told him to
give me his phone number and we would make sure he got an English copy. By this
point the light had turned green but this guy was still telling me his phone
number and holding up traffic. Everyone was honking at him to get going so I
whipped out a pen and my planner and wrote the phone number down super fast and
said "We'll call you" before he sped off. That whole exchange lasted
about 10 seconds. This morning we called him and he said he lives in Jersey
City and wants a Book of Mormon. We got his address and sent it to the
missionaries there and told them to go bring him a BoM! I'm so glad we were in
the right place at the right time for him to see us on the street.
Other than that, everything is pretty much the same here. One big step forward we are seeing is that the Saavedra parents (the ones whose oldest 3 kids got baptized recently) got their passports a couple months ago and they can get married now! They put off getting a marriage license for a bit because she had a baby last month, but now they finally have their appointment to go get their marriage license this week! They will get married in August or September and will hopefully be able to be baptized pretty soon afterwards! Unfortunately I probably won't still be here in this area to see it happen... but as long as it happens I will be happy whether or not I get to be there.
I have 3 weeks before I should be getting transferred. I am
working hard to leave this area better than I found it. I know a lot of the
fruits of my labors won't be seen until after I leave this area, but I feel
good in knowing that I am doing the best I can. My work here in Toms River
isn't quite finished yet so I am giving it my all. And enjoying the beautiful
Jersey Shore while I can ;)
<3 Hermana Harris
This was written on a wall next to the front door a big
run-down house with a lot of people in it. I thought it was hilarious. It
means "Please don't leave glasses of beer here. Don't urinate. Don't
vomit. Thanks. Try to take out the big trash okay"
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.