Sister Van Buskirk: Cacti are a Nuisance to the Community

Happy Mother's day to all you mothers!

We taught this lady named Rosemary this week and she has cacti in her front yard. She got a letter from someone saying they were a nuance to the community and they were shooting needles at people and she needed to do something about them. She was like someone's dog probably ran into them and they complained. She said who cares I'm leaving them. She is so funny.

We also taught the Wiesner family this week. They are a less active family and their two youngest children are old enough to be baptized. Sister Cragun and I taught them and then they asked us to not come by for a while. They continued to come to church and for the past couple months they have been to church every week and have even come to all the branch activities. Sister Crane and I decided to take over some cookies a few weeks ago and then Sister Wiesner asked us to come back and finish teaching their kids so they could get baptized! On Friday we went over and did a puzzle that we made with questions on the back of the pieces. We had a really good discussion and hopefully in the next month or so their kids can be baptized.

Sister Crane and I have been teaching a woman named Mary who I have talked about before (last week even). It started because Mary wanted to get her house organized and clean and so she prayed and had the thought to call Sister Cubbage, a member in our branch. She doesn't know Sister Cubbage very well, she only knows her because their daughters were best friends in school. Sister Cubbage tells Mary that she knows two great sisters that would be more than willing to help and Mary said okay but she's not converting. For the past 2 1/2 months we'very been helping her clean and then we would share a short message, usually a video. She loved them. Every single one we shared seemed to be for her at the right moment. In April we invited her to watch General Conference. She tried really hard to watch it and was able to watch parts but stuff kept popping up. A few weeks ago we decided to start teaching her the lessons. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it. Then we taught her the Restoration. As she read Joseph's testimony, the spirit filled the room and Mary had no words. We decided to end the lesson there since she seemed a bit overwhelmed. Friday, Sister Crane and I talked about inviting Mary to be baptized. We taught about the priesthood and asked if she would like to recieve a priesthood blessing. Immedietly she said her heart is telling her yes she would like one but she is hesitant because she doesn't know what that means. We explained it and she said yes. She asked if her daughter could be there and we said yes it would just mean waiting a week or two which she was okay with. A few hours later we got a text from her though saying she had been praying and she feels a sense of urgency to receive the blessing. We set it up with the elders and we are going over tonight.

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us. Mothers are so important in our lives. I am so grateful for my mother and her example of love. Because of her love I know that my Heavenly Father loves me.

Lots of Love!
Sister Van Buskirk

We found a Little Free Library so we put a Book of Mormon in it.