Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Their Last Week Together......





Some P-day fun!

"Hello Dahling, isn't it a fabulous day??" (cheeky!)




















Papa Bear, 

 Can I just say that your hammocks look so so so legit! You'll sleep real nice in there! :) Maybe next summer you and I can take them out and camp for a day or two! I'd love that. The Pitts are a really special family, they truly LOVE all the missionaries they get and have helped me feel like I have a family here in CO. There are several families I feel that way about!  Your mission broke 500 baptisms?!? HOLY NUGGETS! THATS AWESOME! :) 

So this week was pretty awesome! We picked up a few new investigators but one was really neat. So do you remember me telling you about the Browns? Her husband has stage 4 liver cancer and could pass at any moment. A sister in the ward has faithfully written her every month for visiting teaching. We went over one day just to see if we could get in and we did! Several days later a sister took them dinner and Brother Brown, not yet a member, told this sister he had thought about it a lot and wanted to be baptized. EVERYONE was shocked. We went over yesterday and he accepted the invitation to be baptized. Because of his health, we called President Toombs and asked how we should proceed with putting him on date and all. He said that as soon as he was done with the missionary lessons he could be baptized. HOW EXCITING IS THAT! It really was a neat experience. 

On Monday we got to spend the day at a recently converted members home! They BBQ'ed for us and it was amazing! There were about 24 missionaries there and it was a blast. We played yard games like cornhole and ladder ball, just like how we would! We also got to play volleyball and frisbee. It was a lot of fun. 

Tuesday we had a great lesson with an investigator Shannon! We also started teaching her son Matt and we invited them to church... again! BUT THIS WEEK THEY BOTH CAME! IT WAS SO AWESOME! This week at church 4 of our investigators came to church, it was a miracle Sunday! Both sets of the East Lake missionaries and the youth are singing the new youth theme song this Sunday, Come Unto Christ. Ethan Pitts is going to play his cello and Sister Pitts is accompanying, we are so excited! This will be the third time we are singing in church with the youth, we do it so that the youth have something to invite their friends to. MANY of our youth have taken the challenge to invite, WE CAN'T GO WRONG WHEN WE INVITE! We have even had our youth investigators come practice with us and have said they will invite their families to come and hear. It has proven to be a GREAT missionary tool! I was able to go on exchanges with the sister training leaders, I went with Sister Mall. I LOVE HER. At first I was super nervous and had a bad taste in my mouth for exchanges but it was amazing how much I loved it. I felt super confident that if I stay here in East Lake I will be able to lead the area with very few slip ups. It was just what I needed to feel okay about transfers coming up this week. Sister Mall taught me a lot and I really love her. She only has 2 months left so she has a LOT of wisdom! So on Sunday, we had more less actives and investigators there at first than active members, IT WAS SO FRIGGEN COOL! I love love love seeing the chapel so packed with people I love so much, it just makes my heart RACE! Being a missionary is so awesome. 

Dad, I wanna tell you something. Sister Mall asked me at the end of exchanges "Why did you come on a mission?" and my answer was that I knew it was exactly what my Heavenly Father wanted for me at this point in my life. I also told her about when I got really anxious and unsure about serving because of other things that were going on in my life at the time, and I told her about what you said to me. Dad, I am so thankful you were there for me when I started to doubt what the spirit witnessed to me was true. You helped me to see the path I needed to take even if it wasn't the easy one. There are so many missionaries here that have sacrificed more than I have to be here, but I am thankful that you helped me to feel peace about the things that I was going to be sacrificing. I LOVE YOU. Sister Mall also asked me "When did you gain a testimony of the gospel?" I dont know if i ever told you this, but the thing that helped me to know that what I believed in was true, was when I decided to not date Mitchell anymore. That broke my heart in half but the deal breaker for me was being with someone who I knew didn't believe the same way I did no matter how much I wanted him to. It really made me think about what I believed. Making the conscious choice to get rid of the things that were holding me back from being closer to my Heavenly Father helped me to feel the spirit more in my life and made me sure of the fact that the gospel was true. Without sacrificing what I thought was good then, for something much better which I'm experiencing now was worth the little act of faith. Its true what the song says, "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven." Sometimes we have to go through hard things to understand that our Savior Jesus Christ has made it possible for us to repent and become perfected in him. I just wanted you to know that I do have a testimony of the restored gospel and that I know why I'm here in CO, even when it isnt easy.

Today we got to spend the day with the lovely Olson women. Sister Brandie Olson is a hero to me. She is a strong, happy, recently single mother to three lovely girls and I LOVE HER. She is the most patient and wonderful person. We exercise at 6 am every morning with her and sometimes Saige, the oldest (12). So today we went to an outdoor mall, kind of like the outlets and we had a great time! 

I HOPE YOU HAVE A FABBBBBBBB WEEK PAPA! :) 

I LOVE YOU! 

<3/ Your very own sister missionary!  

No comments:

Post a Comment