You know how some churches have those signs that say the darndest things? We saw one that said that this week. We were dying. I wish I would have taken a picture.
People crack me up.
I saw a picture on a church sign once that said "Don't read The Book of Mormon that's how they get you"......……yep, that's true. :)
This week was a life changer.
In my email last week I was going to tell you about a girl named Sienna, but I ran out of time.
We received a call from one of Brother McKee's sons, Brian, who lives in the Citrus Hills ward. He asked what we were doing the next day because he scheduled an appointment for us. He said that he met a girl in Taco Bell and had testified to her of a few things and asked her if she wanted to meet with the missionaries which she agreed.
Just open your mouth, that's all I'm sayin'.
Well, unfortunately we had MLC with President the next morning and there was no way to get out of it. :( Sienna doesn't have a cell phone or any way to contact her so rescheduling wasn't an option either. We called Sister Tucker and Sister Young and asked them if they'd be willing to go for us and to make sure they schedule another appointment and put her on date. Not saying that they wouldn't have done that, we were just making sure. :)
The next night the sisters called and told us about the lesson. They said that it went great!! They got there and met Brian's co-worker who said "I hope that she shows up!" which right as she was saying that Sienna walked in and says "I always show up. I never miss an appointment."
The sisters said that she is adorable…short, tiny 18 year old girl with thick curly hair that's cut like a fro and the sweetest face. They said that she has had a really hard life and is desiring to find some hope. They taught her the Restoration, which she cried through the whole thing and said "I can't remember the last time I cried in front of someone".
They asked her to be baptized, she agreed and scheduled an appointment with her the following Wednesday, which was this last week. We asked them if they knew where she lived (because that will determine which missionaries teach her) they told us that she said she lives with her cousin behind the lemon trees…then Sister Tucker goes "I don't know if that's true though based off of the things she says and the clothes she was wearing, I bet there's a good chance she's homeless".
I can't even tell you how anxious I was to meet her. We had talked with Brother McKee about her and after hearing some of the details of her life he asked if he could come and said "I want to help her" which Sister Boden and I knew meant "I want to help take care of her".
So FINALLY Wednesday came. We met at 10:30 AM at Taco Bell. Sister Boden and I spent all of companion study roleplaying the lesson. I don't know why, but I was sort of nervous. I knew that this was going to be something.
We ended up leaving the apartment a little late and riding our bikes there fast wasn't really as fast as we thought. So we showed up about 10 minutes late. :( We walked in and Brother McKee was sitting at a table with Brian, his co-worker Tiffany and Sienna. She's adorable. Not what I was picturing when I heard "homeless".
Brian had bought her "breakfast" I guess if you call tacos and burritos at 10:30 in the morning breakfast, and then we were ready to start the lesson. I sat closest to her and Sister Boden sat next to me and Brother McKee was behind her. I turned to her and asked her to tell me about herself, which is when Brian and Tiffany excused themselves and it was just the four of us.
Sienna started telling us about her life. How she was born with FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) and that she was adopted and never knew her birth parents. Both her and her sister had issues because of things that happened to them, but that it changed her sister into something bad that she couldn't control and could no longer try and parent.
She also said her adoptive parents were abusive in every way and that she couldn't handle it anymore and ran away to her cousin's house. But, living with her cousin is also hard because her cousin is only 20 and can't parent, but has kids. Sienna said all she wants is a mother and family who loves her.
Now that was the shortest version of what she said and trust me I left out many many awful details. She cried as she spoke and I promise you've never heard anything like it. Or maybe you have on like those crime shows on TV, but never face to face from an 18 year old girl in Corona California.
I cried the whole time she talked. It didn't even phase me that this was all going down in Taco Bell, I was totally zoned in on her. As missionaries, we are told a lot that there are certain people just for you. We sort of look for those people in each area, or at least I do.
Eastvale, it was the Edwards family. I promise you I knew them in the premortal world. And I have met a lot of people here in Corona and a lot of them have had an impact on my life, but none of them did I feel like were for me….until I met Sienna. The spirit testified to me as she spoke that she needs me. Or maybe not me, but us. And that I am here in Corona to love her.
She finished speaking and I said...(pausing between sentences trying to keep my crying under control)
"Sienna, I have some really good news for you. We love you and we are going to help you. We have a message today that will change your life as long as you are willing to do try. Sienna, Jesus Christ loves you so much. He is mindful of you. He has sent us here to help you feel that. I promise you that as we teach you today and as we continue to meet with you that you will feel of the perfect love He has for you and the strong desire He has for you to return and live with Him and our Father in heaven again."
We then said a prayer and started to teach and testify of the Atonement. I wish I had more time to go into greater detail of the things we shared. Just know that Christ does live and love us. That He desires for all of us to come unto Him so that He can comfort us and lift the burdens from us. Through Him we can be made whole, but we must have the faith to come to Him and trust in Him.
I know that to be true, Sister Boden knows that, Brother Mc Kee knows that and after we taught Sienna, she knew it too. We talked for a little while longer and at the end, with tears streaming down her face she said "I have never felt like this in my whole life. This is the feeling of family that I've been looking for."
Sweet Brother McKee told her that if she ever needed anything, and literally anything food, clothes, transportation, house, etc. to call any of us and we'll help her.
We closed with a prayer. Gave lots of hugs and started to walk out. She was next to me when I noticed she was fixed on the Taco Bell menu. I said "Sweetheart, are you hungry?" To which she said "a little" and I said "then let's get you something!!"
I told her she could get anything that she wanted. I had her get some lunch and some dinner to take home.
As I was paying, Brother McKee was talking to Sienna and Sister Boden and the next thing I know we are all getting in his car to go shopping. He said we were going to Kohls and I said "I didn't know Kohls has food" and I was quickly informed that we weren't shopping for food, but for clothes.
I wish you could have seen her face. She was in heaven I tell you, but my heart broke for her. She hung on me through the whole store like a child to her mother. We went to the changing room with a big pile of clothes. She took off the HUGE sweatshirt she was wearing and I saw what "clothes" she had on. She was wearing a childs t-shirt, tights for pants (and no not leggings, black cut out tights that you'd wear under a dress) and some vans without laces.
She was so cute as she tried on the clothes. She was SUPER grateful and talked about how beautiful she felt the whole time. She came out with a dress on and looked so dang cute, but it was hard to miss all of the scars all over her body. I ended up asking her about them after she made a comment and she said "I've been beat up a lot" and then walked back into the room.
We stopped by a couple more stores. Bought her pants, shirts, shoes and two cutesy church outfits.We threw away the clothes she had on and she walked out of the store with a whole new outfit. It was really neat because I remember when I was little and I would do that, Im pretty sure her face looked similar to mine.
We stopped and got lunch and then asked her where we could drop her off. She was super sketchy the whole day about where she lived and asked if we could drop her off at the park. Right before we got there she said "we are meeting tomorrow at 10 AM right?" (We had told her that we wanted to meet with her every day until she is baptized so that we can make sure she's okay and so we can help her.)
Then she asked "can I leave the rest of these clothes here and get them tomorrow?" Of course, Brother Mc Kee agreed and we dropped her off, said our goodbyes again and drove home.
Time is up and the story is longer than you know, but when we went to meet her the next day she didn't show up. We haven't heard or seen her since. We've all drove around trying to find her, but haven't. I don't know what happened to her and I am praying she is okay. Please keep her in your prayers. I know that Heavenly Father loves her and will look out for her, but she needs all of the help she can get.
I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary. To feel of the love that our Father in heaven and the Savior have for each one of us. I know that they have a plan for us, and it's the plan of happiness. They desire for all of us to return to Him and it's our responsibility to make sure we do.
I love and miss you all!!! Happy Valentines Day!
Sister Nelson
(email received February 10, 2014)
Ps. I was able to go on exchanges with my girl Sister Anderson this week and of course we were out walking on the only day that it rained. We were out in the ran for an hour, got sopping wet and so we asked Sister McKee to take us home so we could dry our clothes and warm up. :)
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