[9] Mad Madem Mim, Minecraft & Ministering to Men Women and Children:)

Hi All! Thanks for being so wonderfully supportive to our Sister Missionary.

Have a great summer week!
Karissa's Mom =]



Good Morning Everyone! 

First of all, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who takes time to pray for me, or to write me an email or send me a letter. You really brighten my heart and my day! I promise I am working on writing back to every message. Slowly but surly you will get an answer :) I will try and answer some today after writing a few things here, that have been happening with Sister Xayadeth and I.  Also it means a lot that my friends and family want to read my weekly missionary letter.  Thanks for being a part of my missionary experience and being there for me.

CATCHING UP ON HOME LIFE

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I can't believe it is August already. Time is flying by.  I was happy to hear Kevin was able to see Kate and Emily Scanlan, Olivia and Meredith Tillitson and Gabe at his summer band.  Way to go Kevin for playing at the Pittsburgh Pirates game! (It was always fun watching you perform!)

Kenson, I am proud of you for going out with the missionaries there on your Tuesdays!  That is awesome! I wish I had done that more before I left.  I think getting into the mode of thinking of others, caring about others, and talking to others helps to serve our Heavenly Father by reaching out to those who may need it. I was sorry to hear about Sister Paris though. I remember her as a sweet kind lady and a person who always had a smile for me when I came into our church building.  I will keep her family in my prayers. I am thankful for the knowledge and Faith that we can see our loved ones again and that they keep an eye on us and still love us even after they have left this life.

That is cool  that you have both Sister and Elders in our Cranberry ward now.  In the MTC, I met some Elders who were going to Pittsburgh.  I wonder if that is them? :)  Thank you for keeping me posted with what is happening at home.  It is hard to explain, but even though I am loving my mission it also helps to know that your own family members and friends are doing well.  And also with all the time we spend helping others to find happiness in their lives, it helps to know that there are friends and family out there living what they believe, doing good for others, and being happy about it.  It is also a great feeling to be where you are suppose to be and I know Simi Valley is the best place for me right now. And that brings me a lot of happiness.

TRACTING AND TEACHING

During the past couple of weeks Sister Xayadeth and I have been trying hard to find people to teach. We have been blessed to have two appointments every Wednesday, but we are missionaries, so we are always looking for more people to teach:)  We have been doing a lot of tracting, (lots of walking and walking in the heat) it's tough when it is a super sunny 98.9+ degrees outside. But, don't worry, I am not turning into Mad Madame Mim from Sword in the Stone ("I hate sunshine!") The sun helps to keep our spirits up :) Must be all that extra vitamin D mom. ;)  After a lot of prayers and fasting to find more people who are seeking help in their lives, we found some new people to teach this week!

So during my first week here, we met this lady named Lilliana who told us the missionaries used to come and teach her son, but since he was only eight years old at the time, she didn't want him to convert then. She told us she would call us if she ever wanted us to teach him again. Then last week she called the Elders who told us that Lilliana has decided that her son needs good roles models, since he will be starting school soon and "too many girls are chasing him" haha! :)  Devin is now ten almost eleven years old, and his mom invited us for weekly visits to teach him the Bible stories. 

For our first lesson on Thursday we decided to start at the beginning of the Bible with the Creation of the Earth. Lillana set us up outside on their balcony and then went inside to talk to a friend of hers who came over to visit. The start of the lesson was pretty rough, well, really rough, because as Devin's mom explained to us, he has ADHD and he wanted to play on his iPad the whole time.  He wasn't really looking up at us.  We kept trying to get his attention, but nothing was working. Suddenly I noticed what game he was playing, which was Minecraft and I thought "This is perfect!" I began to ask Devin questions about his game and what he was building and what materials he was using. Then I related building in Minecraft to the creation of the Earth, and how it all happened in steps and how the Lord built it for us to enjoy and live here.   I don't know if it was the most spiritual lesson, but it worked!  Devin got involved and he was answering questions, even read the whole first chapter of the children's Bible we brought for him.  At the end we asked him what he learn and he was able to sum everything up really well! Success! So thank you to my brothers, Kenny and Kevin and also my awesome cousins, Katherine, Colin, Stephanie, and Natalie for teaching me so much about Minecraft! Who knew you were giving me mission prep?:)

Some of the other people we found are less active members of our church. One lady has a great Native American heritage and she goes by the name Gypsy. She loves to talk about so many interesting things that she has heard of or things she thinks about, that she does most of the talking.   We do get some time to share some scriptures with her in between her stories though :) She told us to come back because she felt a good feeling with us, so hopefully we can work on getting her to come to church soon and have more good feelings there! 

The other sweet lady we met is named Linda and she is truly amazing person. She told us about her life and opened up to us very quickly. She told us she really wants to go to church, and has felt that part of her life is missing something, but she had been so busy working on her property and helping her children.   We shared Ether 12:27 with her. 

Ether 12:27 - And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have Faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.  

And told her that the Lord gives us weaknesses so that we can become strong. We are not given trials without a reason. They are given to us to strengthen out Faith. She kept smiling as we talked. When we were done she smiled again and asked if we would please come by each week and teach her more scripture lessons and could we also 'leave a reading assignment for her to study during the week?' ('Yes, absolutely!') You can imagine our smiles after that. :)  Missionaries love requests like that.    I wish everyone we taught would say that!   But I know it is because of Linda's Faith. We told her we would and left her Alma 32 to read until next Thursday.  The Alma 32 Chapter Heading says, "Alma teaches the poor whose afflictions had humbled them - Faith is hope in that which is not seen, which is true - Alma testifies that angels minister to men, women and children - Alma compares the word unto a seed, it must be planted and nourished.  Then it grows into a tree from which the fruit of eternal life is picked."     I am excited to go back and teach her more!

I know I am always praying to make my weaknesses to become strong and I know being humble and prayerful can help all of us.   I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

I love and pray for you all!

Sister Skinner Karatassos