Sister Karli Belnap

Hi there, everybody!  What a week it has been!

First of all. The people in the south are so unbelievably nice. My companion is probably so sick of me saying that every time we talk to someone.  But it is true. Everyone is so nice and talkative. It cracks me up. I have heard so many people's life stories just by asking like one question. I love it. But it makes it hard to share the gospel because they just go go go! We don't have a lot of sit down appointments. The only two we have had this week weren't home when we went over. We've had ward members come out with us twice this week and we go visit less actives. Which is pretty fun! We went tracting once in Downtown Corinth. There are some nice houses. There is one that takes up the whole block. That was pretty fun. We were caroling, and only two people answered the door! But it was still a blast! =) We also do store contacting a lot. Where we basically walk around in Wal-Mart or in little shops downtown and pass out "He is the Gift" cards and ask if we can come teach them. That's pretty fun too. I am getting more comfortable but I definitely have a long way to go.
Series of Miracles for the week:
So we forgot to gas up the car Saturday night so we were completely out after church on Sunday. So we had to bike to our appointment with a man named "J". (Not part of the miracle, but entertaining none the less: we got chased by a barking dog for a block or so. So my companion was freaking out, but the dog wasn't even right at our heels so I wasn't too freaked.) But we get to the point where we need to cross the highway and she yells over her shoulder without looking back, "GO STRAIGHT THROUGH" and then takes off across the road. I panicked and stopped. She goes straight through. We were not at an intersection or anything. So I had to wait a while before I could cross. It was awful, but whatever =P ) As we are biking Sister Dillon's chain falls off her bike. And we cannot get it back on. So we decided to chain up our bikes and continue on foot. As we are walking our bikes to find somewhere to lock them we meet this man named "T" and he fixed the bike chain. We asked him if he would like a message about Christ sometime and he was very excited for that. So we set an appointment with him. Then we continue on our bikes to "J"'s house. Well when we get there no one is home. So we biked out here for nothing. So we bike down the street and these people are on their porch and we ask if they could use a message about Christ. They tell us no and we ask if they know anyone who does. They tell us a specific house down the street. We give them a  "He is the Gift" pass along card and they were pretty excited about it and we told them we would come check back sometime to see what they think. Then we go to the house they told us to go to and we got an appointment set up for Wednesday there. Then we continue on to a part member family's home. On our way we talk to this man named "JB". Who tells us he knows all there is to know about Jesus. But that he appreciates what we do and to be careful on our bikes. The lady next door was outside too but we rode past. Then both me and Sister Dillon knew we should go back. So we did and she was distracted but said we could come back next week at a specific time. Then "JB" stopped us again and told us his brother had just died and his other brother was sick. And he asked us to pray for him. So we told him we would and we are going to go back over there later this week too.
Big long story I know. But I just thought it was really cool that because we hadn't gotten gas, we we had to bike. And because the chain fell off the bike we met "T. And because "J" wasn't home we were able to meet all those other people who all had a little bit of potential to hear the gospel. The things that didn't go the way we wanted them to led us to different things that Heavenly Father wanted us to do. Who knows, maybe nothing will come out of all those meetings, but it was still a really neat experience.
On Saturday I had a mental breakdown. Like major. This whole mission things is completely new to me. My companion still is in shock that I have never really even been away from home longer than a week. I am completely out of my comfort zone. I can't even really pinpoint what it is that is so hard and what caused me to freak out, but I think it was just a combination of everything. It's a lot to take on. There is a Sister in my district that I got to talk to last night, Sister Smith. She has been out three months and she struggled bad at first. She said to me, " It might feel like your whole world is crashing down around you, and to be honest it probably is. But it is doing that so Heavenly Father can help you build up a better world." And it's true. I was contemplating whether or not to write about my struggles this week, because there was plenty of good this week to make it sound like I am doing perfectly fine. But that wouldn't be true. This weekend has been hard. I have cried a lot. I wake up some mornings ready to cry again, but I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me. I know that the hard times are honestly why I need a mission. It is through trials and hard times that I have to turn and rely on the Lord. Back home, although it is comfortable, I won't experience what I need to build my testimony to where it needs to be. Sister Smith also said, "When things get hard you know it is time to learn." Things can smooth sail for a little bit, like the first few days here, but eventually I need to start learning. And that's what I need to do right now. But it sucks. I hate feeling like this. I just want to love my mission. Love everything. and do great. But that takes time. And I need to be patient, with myself and with the Lord. I am still struggling. And I probably will for a while. I'm probably going to cry a lot. But I know it's all part of the process.
My favorite scripture this week is 1 Nephi 17. It came at the perfect time. v.51- Heavenly Father isn't going to lead me out on to a mission (or to go build a boat) and then just leave me to do it by myself. I just have to trust in him to learn what I need to learn. That's the hard part.
I love you all. I say again: Please write me! I love receiving letters or emails. It's just fun.
Sister Belnap