Surprise! Sister Masih and I are companions again! I guess we didn't
learn enough when we were together last time..
Another good week of being a missionary!
D**ian set the date of September 5th to be baptized!! Whoop whoop!
We picked up 2 new investigators, De**iny and Sk**er. Neither of them
have strong religious background but both are willing and excited to
learn. Their neighbors that they hang out with a lot are two returned
missionaries who started reading the Book of Mormon with them. It is
the greatest blessing to see when people are being prepared by the
Lord. There truly is no such thing as coincidences. As a missionary I
feel like the Brother of Jared; every day I can see the Lords finger
as he performs miracles in my area.
A*y is doing awesome! She is loving learning more about the gospel
through the new member lessons. Every time we have a lesson she talks
about going to the temple in a year to be sealed to N**hi!
Now for the hard part about this week. Sh**on is a less-active lady in
our area that is home bound and has intense diabetes. The sister
missionaries for the past two years have visited Sharon twice a week
and read scriptures to her.  Tuesday night at 9:00 I got a call from
Sh**on's phone and it was her daughter S**rry. She asked if I could
get someone over to the hospital to give Sh**on a blessing because she
was dying. I called some priesthood holders and they said that they
would get over there right away. On Wednesday afternoon we headed up
to the hospital to see Sh**on. We walked into her room and I greeted
everyone and looked at Sh**on laying in the hospital bed with an
oxygen mask over her mouth. Sh**ry told me that she was unconscious
and they were just waiting for Sh**on to decide to let go. Her
granddaughter looked at me and asked if I would say a prayer? So I
blubbered through a prayer thanking Heavenly Father for S**ron being
in all of our lives. Then some more family came with food for them to
eat and they asked me if I would sit and hold Sh**on's hand while they
quickly ate. As I did all I could think was, "I hate this. I hate
getting attached only to see people die. I hate hospital rooms, I hate
ugly hospital gowns, I hate nurses coming in every 10 minutes, I hate
funerals, I hate saying goodbye. I hate seeing people that I love
leave me. I hate this!" Then, because Ron and Denise Dodd are my
parents, I started to cry and not just a few tears drop down my cheek
but all the waterworks. I started truly thinking about the Plan of
Salvation and the knowledge that I HAVE that I will see those that I
love again. I know that this sounds cliche but I don't know what I
would do without this knowledge that I can be with my family again. My
family is not just my immediate family but all of my brothers and
sisters on this earth that I have come to love. I am so grateful that
as I sat holding Sha**n's hand and looking at her I could hear her
laugh. I could feel her presence. She was there and she was promising
everyone in that room that she would always be with them. As I left
her family all hugged me and told me that she loved me and that she
loved telling them about her visits with us and how happy we made her.
Although I am not deaths biggest fan I know with every part of me that
this life is not the end, that those who pass on have a work to do
somewhere else and that their spirits can always be with us when we
need them.
I am grateful for the gospel and the opportunity I have to be a missionary!

Funny highlight of the week:
Sister Masih:"Man, Gordan B. Hinckley's getting old"
me: "Gordan B. Hinckley is dead"
Sister Masih: "REALLY?!"