December 15, 2014

Sister Black is officially home! SO WEIRD! We were able to say goodbye to a lot of people in the ward.  But I never want to do that again.  Sister Black was awesome and I love her to pieces. But being with her 24/7 made me feel like I was going home too! I am glad I wasn't. I still have so much to do.  But it's weird to think that this actually comes to an end.  Really sad to think about.  

But we did get transfer calls and I am staying here in Great Falls and am getting Sister Storrs! I actually was her STL in Missoula and absolutely love her.  I am so stoked to be able to work with her here.  I was so stinken nervous for transfers and who I was getting. I have no idea why. And I even had this cray cray dream that I got some insane psycho companion that tried to kill me.  SO glad that is not happening! Hahaha, But I am really excited.  

Sister Hixon was a missionary in this mission that went home last transfer. She actually knew Maurie from BYU. But she served in teh same ward that I am in now.  She came back up here with her parents to visit the mission and I got to talk with her about people she worked with and that I am currently working with.  It was really fun to be able to catch another perspective from someone that has been here before.  

 Larry Albert, aka the most wonderful man on earth, is making some sweet progress. It is my goal to have him receive the priesthood before I go.  That man is the best.  We had a lesson on the Holy Ghost this week and he talked about the ways that he has felt the influence of the Holy Ghost.  He talked about the Book of Mormon and meeting with us as well as prayer, but he mentioned something I wasn't expecting.  He said the members of the church.  He said, " I don't know many people in the ward, but every time I go, complete strangers approach me and welcome me to church.  And it isn't fake.  I can just feel that these are good, genuine people.  I feel a power and Spirit about these people that I don't even know." ROCK ON OVERLOOK WARD! A mission has really helped me know what kind of member I want to be.  Larry is not a super social guy.  Very private and reserved, so when people talk to him, he doesn't give much of a response. But it makes an impact.  A mission has just really given me the behind the scenes kind of outlook on a lot of things.  I have come to know that I want to be the kind of member that goes out of their way to say hello to an unfamiliar face regardless of the reaction that is given to me in response.  It makes a huge impact on those that go out of their way to come to church.  He also said that it is coming to a point where he knows he is going to have to make a choice about church and his old life.  I asked him what he was feeling and he just held up his gospel principles book. I just got a huge smile on my face.  LARRY ROCKS! I just want you all to meet him.   We talked a lot about the Priesthood and the Temple.  He wants to be able to go to the Temple and receive the temple one day and when I told him that he could get it now.  He just looked at me and said, "I can?"  I told him that if this was something he wanted, it could happen. Rock on larry! He feels the weight of the responsibility and knows of it's importance. But he said he is willing to work towards that and become worthy.   


P.S. Rhenon emailed me and said she is going to the temple in February! WADDDDUUPPPP! I am so there.  I can't even explain how insanely happy that made me.  Rhenon! That woman! I just love her to pieces.  

We went to Gaby's house this week for a Christmas party. HAHAHA Gaby is a convert to the church from Germany.  She lives with her bed ridden sister and care giver.  She is in her 70's and is THE FUNNIEST PERSON I HAVE EVER MET.  She always calls us honey and darling and literally pinches our cheeks. I have never had someone legitimately pinch my cheek before.  But it happened. And I never want to experience that again.  Hahaha she is totally not active and has no desire to come back but she loves the social aspect of it.  We went to her party because we knew there were going to be non members there. She swooned over my past zone leaders.  Always calling them and telling them how cute they were.  But ended up using them like there was no tomorrow.     Haha We went with our zone leaders now and let me tell you. Gaby has a FAT crush on Elder Holland.  He came in and it was like no one else existed.  We got talking with some of the women that work there and got to share He Is The Gift.  But not Elder Holland.  hahahah Gaby had him under her little thumb.  She asked us all where we were from but no one else existed but Mr. Elder Holland.  And when we left She gave him a kiss! hahahahahahahahahahahahahah I DIEDDD! Literally died.  And she kept telling him that he was so darling and just a cute little man. Hahahaha I guess you may have had to be there to experience the supreme awkward spirit there. But it was so funny.  

While Sister Black has been gone, I have been able to be companions with Sister Major.  She actually knew Maurie too from school.  SHE ROCKS. She is an older missionary, 32 years old to be exact. But she is killing it. She is so ready to work.  That is such an awesome benefit to having an older missionary.  She definitely had to make the decision to come out and is willing to make this worth her time. We have been covering both areas for the past little while and it has been crazy hectic covering both wards.  But I have loved teaching with her.  She is so in tune with the Spirit.  There will be times in some of our lessons that something will come into my mind to say and the next thing that comes out of her mouth is the exact same thought I had.  

We had an experience teaching an investigator in her ward this week. Her name is Carissa and she had a baptismal date for January 13th. We got there and you could just feel the stress.  She has 3 kids. A 14 year old, 2 year old and a 3 month old.  The 3 month old was teething and crying and crying the two year old kept nagging at her trying to get her to do things.  She is a single mom, her husband is in jail and she just recently got out of jail.  And you could just see the exhaustion in her face.  She brought out her BOM and pamphlets and said she wasn't sure about baptism.  She said she barely had time to breath. It was already 8:30 and she hadn't even had time to make dinner for her kids let alone read the BOM and think about the things we have been teaching.  And she began to cry.  My heart just sank. Can we just talk about how much Satan is just the biggest butt muncher! I got so mad sitting there with her. Just leave the dang woman alone! She is trying to make these incredible changes in her life and he has to get in the way! We sat there for about an hour and let her just vent to us and we were able to testify of the enabling power of Jesus Christ and his atonement.  She brought her BOM to work with hopes to read it and wasn't able to. But I stopped her right there when she said she didn't read and couldn't and didn't have time and said, BUT YOU BROUGHT IT! You had all intentions of doing it and God knows that! God does not nor will he ever ask us to be perfect, but he asks us to give it our best shot. I looked at her through tears in my own eyes, this woman I just barely met, and told her not to give up on God because He was never going to give up on her. My heart just ached for her knowing the pain she was going through and the stress she was feeling.  And I feel like I got a small taste a very small glimpse at how our Heavenly Father feels for each of us when we are in pain and suffering.  HE CARES.  HE KNOWS! And dumb dumb satan just tries to ruin the progress we are making towards knowing our Savior more.  What a chump.  But the Spirit was incredibly strong as we spoke to her.  

I am sorry this email is wicked short and really random.  This emailing session has been kind of nuts. I have gotten a lot of calls and had to take care of some things.  But all is good!

I love you all so  much! I want you to know that I LOVE MY MISSION. This is the best thing I have ever been lead to do. I have never felt so much love for people that I don't know ever in my life.  I know my Savior lives and that He knows us! I know that! This gospel is the source of joy and peace in this life amidst the chaos and confusion this life brings. I cherish this gospel and everything it entails.  I have never been so full of joy before in my life.  The Book of Mormon is true and I know without a doubt in my heart and mind that it is God's word and that as we read it we will come to know our Savior Jesus Christ more fully.  

I love you all so much! Talk to you soon!