Sister Manwaring: Serving in North Carolina

  Seen better days August 22, 2022   The weather is cooling off a bit.  But for some reason now the bugs are more noticeable.  Saturday when I was with the Elders there were these swarms of gnats that seemed to like nothing better than to hover around our faces.  We visited a few people on their porches.  The people didn’t seem to be bothered by the gnats--probably because they had bigger problems.  One lady asked us to pray for a heroin addicted family member.  Yep, gnats are small problems.  Their homes were humble (and the vehicles out front were an interesting assortment of contrasts.)   My other activities this week included teaching with the sister missionaries, teaching ESL, helping at the Women’s shelter, working at the bishop’s storehouse, and distributing food to refugees.     At one refugee home I visited with a man and his wife who gave me yummy crushed watermelon juice to dri...

  A new chapel August 15, 2022     Dear Family & Friends,     We’ve been discussing the book of Psalms in our Come Follow Me discussion group.  It was probably the Israelite’s hymn book and although we don’t have the music, the words still inspire us.  I like the fact that Jesus quoted from Psalms more than any other book of scripture.  I like to think of Psalms as his “play-list.”  And when He quoted from Psalm 22 on the cross, the people had to have recognized the words!     Lunch and music And speaking of music, on Wednesday, the missionaries in my district and I met the same Christian missionaries (of another faith) who sang bluegrass gospel music for us at the same restaurant last year (when I was with a different group of young missionaries.)  I asked them to sing for us again and they happily obliged with a favorite:     I have never seen the face of my savior,   But serving hi...

Be yourself   August 8, 2022   Dear Family and Friends,   We discussed the book of Job in our “Come Follow Me” discussion group last week.  I like the book of Job a lot.  I like how his friends sat with him and didn’t speak for 7 days (before they started in with all the unwanted advice.)  I like how God answers all the questions about why bad stuff happens by asking questions of His own!  And God’s questions (like where were you when the world was made, and who taught birds to fly) are unanswerable by any human!  So Job learns to trust.  And then he sees God.      On Thursday when I delivered food to refugees, I was able to see my friend Habiba again.  She insisted I come in and gave me a bowl of yummy food.  It had chick peas, lentils, spinach, and a scoop of home-made yogurt on top.  Her English is improving.  She told me two of her sons (ages 14 and ...

  At women's shelter August 1, 2022   Dear Family & Friends,   Sweaty times here!   The weather makes me feel like I’m working in a warehouse without air conditioning.   Oh yeah, I did that on Friday!   I went to the Woman’s Center to help sort donations.   That was so great that I volunteered for more heat on Saturday.   I spent half the day in a tent outside.   Veil of Tabernacle Me with high priest Ark of Covenant One of the wards had built a replica of the Israelite Tabernacle as described in the Old Testament--same dimensions--and, yes, it even had an Ark of the Covenant. We gave tours and invited people to contemplate the purpose of sacred spaces in our lives. It was nice to see people of other faith traditions in attendance.   Truly, we are all children of a loving father in heaven and He wants to connect with us.   One of my favorite scriptures is in Isaiah 65:24, “And it shall come to pass, that before they ...