Monday, July 28, 2014

Statue of Liberty & Cockroaches

Hey guys,

How is everyone doing?
Hope the 24th of July was AWESOME! No worries, I made a few s'mores
over my stove to celebrate good old Utah. Love that place.

I just got back from the Statue of Liberty. It was cool. She's so big,
colorful, and beautiful. We didn't actually go on her little island
because it costs money and us missionaries are poor, but we rode past
her on the ferry for freeeeee. Mmmm yes, nothing better than sailing
on the ferry for pday. There were so many touristy tourists. Of course
I wasn't one of those tourists as I live here now! Even better than
seeing the Statue of Liberty today was finding a DQ. New York has one
Dairy Queen and we FOUND IT. We were all in heaven as we ate our
blizzards :)))))

Alright, Sister Board and I had a really spiritual week with so many
miracles and tender mercies from The Lord. The only problem is I don't
like writing about that kind of stuff in my emails because it just
doesn't do it justice! And let's be honest most people don't even read
spiritual emails.

Bad news: WE HAVE A COCKROACH. a big one. We've had plenty of small
cockroaches, but this one is a big huge momma cockroach. I've never
seen such a large bug. Unfortunately every time we build up the
confidence to kill it, we can't find it. Eeek. I'm so thankful I sleep
on the top bunk. I'm sure all my friends in foreign countries are
laughing as they read this. Yes, I'm a wimp, get over it.

I had my very first interview with President Calderwood on Tuesday.
While waiting for my turn I was scared outta my mind because after all
he is theee mission president! As I stepped into his office and knelt
in prayer with him that fear went away and I felt at peace. Every
missionary says they're amazed at how much love they feel from their
president, but I never believed it... How can a mission president love
and keep track of over 200 missionaries at once?! Well, during that
interview my unbelief went away. I felt that love, the spirit was
overwhelming, and it was SO COOL. Mind blowing, really. I know without
a doubt he is called of god and holds the priesthood keys for the
NYNYCS mission. He is putting an emphasis on Preach My Gospel. Study
PMG, people. I don't care if you're not missionaries, it will change
your life!

Real quick in case anyone is wondering, we dropped the family that's
meeting with the JW's. It was sad. I love them, but it was time.

We had sisters conference on Wednesday with all the NYNYCS sisters. It
was awesomeeeee. I really don't remember what was talked about, but I
do remember the spirit I felt there. I love my NYNYCS sisters. We are
Sistas in Salvation! The STLS asked Sister Board & I to perform a
musical number. Sister Board said we would. Wait WHAT? Lollll anyone
who knows me knows I'm NOT musical! In the end I signed the song while
3 others sisters sang it, so it all worked out.

Speaking of signing, I met like 12 members of the deaf branch this
week. I couldn't really communicate with them, because my ASL is
getting worse and worse each day, but it was so fun. I can't wait to
go ASL!

I love finding. I completely love it. Sister Board and I actually
found new investigators this week!!!! Best feeling everrrrrr. and we
KNOW that through our obedience/faith the spirit will help us continue
to find. There are real life people out here who need this gospel,
they might not realize it, but they do. And we willllllll find them.
They can run, but they sure can'tttt hide from sister Board and I.
One night we went to a scenic view of Manhattan as the sun was setting
and asked people to "take pictures of us" so we could start a
conversation with them. Best. Strategy. Ever. Sometimes we ride the
subway/bus back and forth just to talk to people in situations where
they can't run away. Hahahahha. I think sometimes people give me their
number just so I will stop talking to them. I can't help it, I love to
talk talk talk to people all day long. Some people claim they don't
know English, but I'm like whateverrrrrr you're in America now, let's
talk about the gospel!(ok I don't actually say that, but I think it in
my head.) If you can get people to be confident with the little
English they know, they will love you and won't stop talking to you
:)))) it's so cute. One thing I've been working on is testifying to
every person I talk to.... We have to testify to allow them to feel
the spirit! I love how the spirit guides us to testify of the things
these people need to hear.

I would like you all to take a moment and think about how awkward it
would be when you start to talk to someone, invite them to learn more,
and and find out they're a member. Ooooooops. That happened.

Almost as strong as my love for finding is my love for mangos. Never
had one until this week. My life is changed. Welcome to mango!

I love you ALL SO MUCH.
-sister layton in NYC

Oh wait one more story.  On Thursday I completely fell over into a seat
on the bus and let out a little scream. Everyone around looked at me
funny. I looked up and said to all of them "No, I'm not from New York.
I had never been on a bus until I got here 2 months ago, I'm still
figuring it out. Ohhhh and does anyone know how to get to 41st street?
I'm a missionary from Utah and I'm so lossssttttt!" All of that just
came out of my mouth without me thinking hahahahah. But everyone
laughed and loved it! They all thought I was funny for some reason. We
all became friends and eventually I invited all of them to church, but
they thought I was joking and laughed! Church is not a joking matter,
idk why they thought it was a joke. No one ever takes me seriously.
One of the ladies on the bus looked familiar, turns out she lives 2
streets down from me. I said "heyyyy, didn't we knock on your door
before? Oh yeah, you didn't let us in did you?! That wasn't very
nice!" Hahahahah everyone laughed. I love group bus conversations. NEW
YORK ROCKS!


Sister Layton's Woodside Bus Stop

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