A quick week

This week just flew right on by and I don't even know where the time is going!

At district meeting this last Tuesday we talked a lot about revelation through prayer. It's been on my mind a lot this week. I've been focusing on making my prayers more meaningful and actually thinking about them and remembering what prayer is, rather than just doing it quickly out of habit or routine. It really has made a difference. I keep a journal by my bed so at night after my nightly prayers, I just write down whatever comes to mind and it's been so cool to see the blessings come as I've acted on those promptings I wrote down each night. I love Moroni 7:48, prayer does require effort but if we do our part Heavenly Father is always willing to do His too. 

 We had a split this week and Sister Busby came to our area with me and we had a little bit of time before it was time to head home that night so I felt like going by a referral, Tammie who we've hadn't been able to get in contact with. We've gone by SO many times but we never felt right about dropping her and that night we said a prayer and just before we knocked I told her, "I have a feeling she's going to be home." and Sister Busby is like, "split miracles! They're my favorite." And guess who opens the door, Tammie! And she was SO sweet. We showed her the initiative and invited her to be baptized and she said she would bring her daughter to church this week! 

 

 We were able to go to the UN on Thursday because the new general relief society President, Sister Bingham was going to be on a panel for a Focus on faith briefing. I didn't really know what it was all about but it was very interesting and they talked about refugees. And super cool that were able to go! 

 The weather has been so so nice so we have been eating lunch at Central Park and it's the best! We were able to do service for a few families from the ward this week and I love it!

 

 On Sunday we were doing an APF in central park. We stopped people and asked them what makes them happy and had them write it with sidewalk chalk. Getting to talk to people from everywhere is so awesome. One lady stopped and come to find out she is a refugee so that was cool because we had just been to a thing all about refugees!

I feel like this email is making zero sense so sorry but here's some pictures so ignore all of my confusing writing.

Thanks for all your sweet emails, love you!!

xoxo Sister Walecki

Last pday we went to the Brooklyn Bridge. It was PACKED but the skyline is pretty!

 

Brooklyn Bridge

 

Last pday we were wandering and found this cute cupcake/ice cream shop!
They had a cupcake ATM too, so that was pretty cool.

 

On our split we took a member's garbage out but couldn't find a place to throw it for a sec...
until the fruit stand man told us where it went. Hahaha

 

They have these cute Italian Ice stands on the streets now that it's nice out so that was a fun treat.

 

At the UN

 

Outside the UN

 

There are pretty flowers ALL over the city and I loooove them.  They are
constantly distracting me.

Pictures

Last week we were just walking downtown and found the hope sign.

We went to the public library on 5th Ave. again last pday.

Inside the library

Right when you walk out the doors of the library.

Just an awesome quote from Elder Bednar

We walked on to an elevator and found the fanciest one yet.  It even highlighted the floor
your going to! We're used to the projects so this was a fun surprise.

I went on a split to the East side with Sister Rubacalva. It was so fun! Plus she has an
Australian accent so everyone loves talking to us. hahaha

Zone meeting....our zone is HUGE now

Happy Easter!

 Since conference I have been reading and memorizing The Living Christ I remember attempting to do this when I was in young women's but it didn't really happen. But as I have been trying again, it has been so cool to see how much of an impact it has made on my days. Studying it each morning and then always having the Savior on my mind throughout the day has helped me be able to refocus on things that are actually important. I love the promise from Elder Ballard's last talk, "Prayerfully reading “The Living Christ” is like reading the testimonies of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the prophets of the Book of Mormon. It will increase your faith in the Savior and help you stay focused on Him as you follow your plans to reach your eternal goals." I have loved finding out how true that is!

 This week we have been working a lot with our members. Our investigators aren't really progressing and Erika had to work a lot this week so its been hard to be able to meet with her. But we have been trying to get to know all the of the members better. We have a goal to have a face with every name on the ward list. And it is amazing! The members are all so good to us and so happy to help with and do missionary work!

 We have showed the new Prince of Peace initiative with a lot of the families and it has been so awesome to see how that video impacts each person so differently. And even though we have see the video so many times, each time we watch it I always get something new from it. (you can watch it on mormon.org) I love the peace the Savior provides in our lives. And the knowledge we have of our purpose here on earth. It helps get through hard days and remember where we are headed! I'm grateful for Easter and the time it gives us to remember on our Saviors atonement and everything he has done for us.

 I hope you all have a great Easter & I love you!

xoxo Sister Walecki

Central Park last pday

 

Rice, seaweed, and bacon for dinner.  hahah it was like bacon sushi!

 

I got a bite on my arm, zero idea what it's from though :(

 

Sister Lee & I

 

The ceiling kinda fell in the church.

 

Biking in Central Park last pday

 

Some of the sisters from zone conference

General Conferene

General conference this weekend was AMAZING and I think even better as a

missionary! I loved Saturday afternoon I felt like they talked a lot about how we can't be of the world. We have to stand out, neutrality isn't an option anymore. You're either on one side or the other. And just a big emphasis on our ultimate goal- becoming like the Savior. I can't wait to be able to read over them again!! And President Monson's testimony was so kind and loving but firm. We HAVE to have a testimony of The Book of Mormon and have to be reading it each day to keep that testimony. I loved that reminder. 

 Well we rode bikes in central park today so I'm kinda out of time but I'll write more next week! Also everyone should go watch the new Easter initiative video on mormon.org it's so so good!!

Love you

xoxo Sister Walecki

It's a good week!

 This week was good, there's probably a lot to share but I'll keep it short this week. We still have awesome members who take good care of us which makes the work even better! We've gotten a few referrals the past few days so pray one of those works out! I am super excited for general conference this weekend! Think of a question to take to general conference, and I can promise you that you will find an answer. 

 In relief society this week the lesson was on President Nelsons talk- Joy and Spiritual Survival, you should read through it! I just wanted to share a part of it that I really like he said, "My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!"

I know this is true and that we really can feel of that joy the Savior brings into our lives, even in the hardest of circumstances.

 

This week will be real good. I love you!!

xoxo Sister Walecki

A cool mural in Little Italy

 

Chinatown stores are pretty fun

 

One of the fire stations

 

Central Park

 

Central Park wandering

 

They "fixed" our lock, until we buy a new deadbolt haha. It works and it's just what
you do in Harlem:)

Locked In

 I've got a good story this week, its really long and I'm not sure if it'll make much sense but at one point yesterday there were 6 NYPD officers outside our door. Hahah I'll start from the beginning though..

Our roommates have church at 9am so they went to leave and tried to unlock the door & the deadbolt lock would move back and forth but was still stuck locked. We didn't have the phone number for our super, so I climbed out the bedroom window on to the fire escape to see if we could get out that way and the ladder was so rusted it didn't budge. So I stopped a young kid walking his dog and asked if he would be willing to go around to the front of the building and bring back the Supers number. He eventually made his way back, gave us a number (which ended up being wrong) and we dropped down some chocolate and a Restoration pamphlet to thank him.  

 

 We had called a senior couple, the Larsen's and she had found our super's phone number so we called him and he said he could come but it would be about an hour. Church had already started by now. So he came, tried to unlock the door and no success. He gave us a number for the locksmith. We called the locksmith, he said he could come around 11 or 12 because it was "his day off and Sunday, so people are going to church." So we waited and waited. Finally around 6pm he finally came. He tried for about 30min and couldn't get it so he went to ask the neighbors if he could go through their apartment to the fire escape to climb in through our window but he didn't speak English very well so I don't think they understood what he was asking. He said there was nothing else he could do from outside the apartment and he left. 

 

 About 10 minutes later we get a knock at the door, answer it-through the door and they're like "NYPD police". Apparently someone had called the cops because of a suspicious person- we're assuming the locksmith. Anyway, we told them we couldn't open the door, explained the situation and they weren't too happy that the super and locksmith just left us locked in for the night. So they knocked on the neighbors door, of course he let them right in they came around to the fire escape and we talked to them through the window. He said the best thing to do would be to call the locksmith back and they could get him into and through an apartment to reach the fire escape. So we had police stand outside our door for over an hour while we waited for the locksmith to come back. Finally he came, and we got the door unlocked around 9:30pm. The police and locksmith left and we were left with a huge hole in the door. hahah...my whole mission I always say there are no coincidences, and everything happens for a reason. But I have 0 idea why yesterday happened. But Heavenly Father is always looking out for us and we are safe :) So there you have it- the day 4 sister missionaries were locked INSIDE of their apartment. 

 

On Tuesday there was supposed to be a huge blizzard but it didn't turn out to be as bad as they thought so we went out, luckily we had lots of appointments to stay warm that day! On Wednesday afternoon we found these giant shovels at the church and then walked around our area looking for people who were trying to dig their parked cars out of the snow and we helped them. So if you need to know all the secrets of how to "properly dig a car out of the snow in the most efficient way as to not waste your efforts"- I now know all the secrets. We helped a lady and she told us the "science" of it all. Fascinating actually. I love how service softens people's hearts and helps them to see that we really are just normal people!  

 

 We read a talk this week- talks are my very favorite. Its called All Things Work Together for Good by James B. Martino. He talked about how we endure things in life and don't always understand why but at the end I loved what he said, "As we pass through the trials of life, let us keep an eternal perspective, let us not complain, let us become even more prayerful, let us serve others, and let us forgive one another. As we do this, “all things [will] work together for good to [us] that love God.” I think that remembering to have an eternal perspective can be SO hard sometimes. Especially in the midst of trials but as we remember that perspective and remember that our Heavenly Father is always there for us if we just reach out, we are able to find happiness and peace even in the hardest of times. I know that's true!

I hope you all have a lovely week.

xoxo Sister Walecki

We had Korean food last pday!

 

Some Snow

 

Look how cute this is. The Seminary put this up near the subway exit near the church.

 

When our members give us more chocolate.

 

Through the peephole of our door last night- 2 0f the who knows how many officers outside our door yesterday Hahaha

9/11 Memorial

I don't really even remember what all happened this week so it might be all over the place, but I feel
like that's how every week goes-sorry. 
                                                                                   

Sister Lee has been teaching me a new word in Korean each day, so now I can say hello, thank you, I love you, and random things found within the subways. So perks of having a bilingual companion!! 

 Winter decided to return & everyone is talking about a blizzard coming this week but we'll see! It snowed once this past week but it didn't really stay for too long.

  Last P-day we went to the 9/11 museum and memorial and that place was incredible. As we walked over and watched the water at the memorial and read the names of the victims you could just feel the spirit so strongly there. It was a really amazing experience.

 We always have a lot of neat experiences but I never know which ones to write about either..

This week we were still street contacting and showing the Because of Him video. And we passed a woman and told her, her dog was cute so we stopped and ended up talking to her and she was Muslim & we showed her the video and she was bawling by the end of it. Showing that video never ceases to amaze me at the way it just invites the spirit and people can feel that- regardless of what religion they are and how busy the sidewalks are.

 Our sacrament meeting starts at 11 this year so we  always have a lot of visitors in our ward and this week we heard that there were about SEVENTY FIVE visitors yesterday. How crazy is that!! There was a lady there who wasn't a member and was just walking by and saw the plaque outside and came in for sacrament meeting. She was so sweet and from Russia so she didn't speak a whole lot of English but google translate to the rescue again!! I think it is so amazing that we get to talk to people from all over the world, from different countries all on the same day.

 At a meeting last week we were talking about...well I don't really remember what exactly but someone said, "You find what you're looking for." and I don't know why that stuck out to me so much but its true- when all you look for is the bad. That's all you find. So look for the good and you will find it!! Jeremiah 29:13- look for Christ & you'll feel of His love in your life, I can promise you that!!

love you all 

xoxo Sister Walecki