Sister Giles the Cow Herder

July 2, 2012

It is truly amazing that God really does put us in the places we need to be to be His representatives, as long as we follow His promptings. Last night, we were a bit discouraged because our plans kept falling through and our numbers for the week weren't the best because we discontinued teaching a bunch of people and we were up in an area trying to contact a family that wasn't home, all in the rain. (More about rain later) SO, we decided we needed to do something else, but both of us felt like we were suppose to leave the area so we walked up to the main road and started contacting. (DAD, FOR YOUR GOOGLE EARTH DESIRES, THIS STREET WAS LARK BETWEEN TAYLOR AND SHARY ROAD)  We contacted the first house which was GORGEOUS! More so because they had the classic southern trees that all the leaves link together so their entire front yard is covered by a blanket of leaves...Ah...SO BEAUTIFUL! Anyways, no one was home. So we went to the next house and they just so happen to have cows in their front yard. Yup, just hangin' out. We knocked on the door and the cow is literally 5 feet away from us. It was so funny. But to no avail, they were not home either. So we knocked the next house and  a man answered and said he is a retired Lutheran minister and wasn't interested but at the same time, a man drove up and said there are cows close to the road that are going to get hit and he asked what color the cows were and it just so happens that the cows were his! He had a stroke recently so he couldn't walk very fast so we got to help him herd his cows back into the field. He was on a four-wheeler so he drove behind them and we stood on the corner so they would turn the right way. The cows charged us which was TERRIFYING but it was okay. They turned and jumped right back over the fence they broke down to get out. Now remember, this was after church so we are still in heels and all made-up and stuff. Funniest sight ever. And then we helped him to get his fence back up so they wouldn't get back out. It was an awesome act of unplanned service and he told us that we were special and had something about us because it has never been that easy to get his cows back. Needless to say, we’re going back this week to teach him.

Another classic: We were contacting near the church on Saturday night when the Assistants called us because they had a baptism and didn't have a piano player. This was about 15 minutes after it was suppose to start so they told us to get there as fast as we could. Our car was at the church so we took off our shoes and booked it. Imagine two sister missionaries running down Dove with our bags, shoes in one hand, Book of Mormon in the other. It could have been a movie. We walked in and Elder Duncan looked at us and just laughed and said, "Four minute mile?" hahaha. O man. La vida de una misionera. 

I wish I had more time because I have some other funny stories for you guys. The elders told me I have a box from you guys in the office so we are going to go get it. Hopefully it has the recorder because then I can just tell you the stories. They would be funnier with my tone of voice anyways. 

I love you all SO MUCH! You are the best family in the world and the only way that you could be any better would be if you CALLED THE VARGAS FAMILY! Like today! Thanks!

Sister Giles

P.S. I bore my testimony in the Spanish ward yesterday without a paper, complete with jokes and stories. Yup. I have arrived.