This gospel just makes sense

Hello family and friends!!! Well, Heavenly Father is truly amazing and I'm so grateful for the trust that He has in us missionaries :) 

So you know how in my last email, I talked about how we basically dropped all of our investigators???? WELL. God has helped us find those that are READY this week!!!! I will just talk about each day so I can somehow make this email kinda organized....

MONDAY: Ah. I just loved this day so much!!!! WE SAW LIGHTNING BUGS FOR THE FIRST TIME WHILE WE WERE TALKING TO A LESS ACTIVE LADY OUTSIDE ON HER PORCH. WE WERE FREAKING OUT. I do remember catching them when I was little, but man, it was the coolest thing ever. We ran around like maniacs trying to catch them. A teenage boy on his bike asked us what the heck we were doing and we asked him to help us and that we were from out west and didn't know how to catch them!!!!! So, he ended up just laughing at us and told us to stand more still and just wait for them to appear. We did just that. I CAUGHT 2. We may or may not have put them in a plastic bag and eventually transferred them to a jar; hoping that they would light up our dark bedroom. UM. THEY DIDN'T EVEN LIGHT UP AFTER WE CAUGHT THEM. SO UPSET. What do we need to do for them to light up guys/????? 

Anyway, after that excitement, we went to the gas station to fill up our car because we had to go to Tupelo the next day. There was 10 minutes left of the night and we decided to go into the gas station and find people in there. As soon as we walked in, we heard a voice from the back of the store say, "Hey! What are y'alls badges for?" We peered over to where the voice was coming from and found a super cute lady with pink highlights in her hair. She talked and talked and talked just like everyone else in the South and we eventually got on the topic of religion. She told us that she has been looking for a church and is looking to mend her relationship with her husband with Christ being at the center. Her name is Amber!!!!! We got an appointment to come talk to her 2 days later. We went over to her house and helped her with her LARGE pile of laundry. IT WAS A RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF CLOTHES. We were able to finish the load in thirty mins. We just asked her religious questions and everything that she said she needed could be answered through this gospel. GAH. THIS GOSPEL IS FOR EVERYONE. We have another appointment with her tomorrow! woot woot! I love her so much. 

We also ran into a family that I have been praying to see again for the longest time!! When I first got to Sheffield, Sister Weekes and I saw them and set an appointment with them, but couldn't find their house. It was a miracle that we were able to find them! We taught them the restoration and Nicki (the mom) just kept saying, "I feel so happy right now!!! I can't stop smiling!!!" Nicki's mother in law (Brenda) was there as well and told us that she couldn't understand the purpose of a prophet during these days. (WE NEED THE PROPHET MOST RIGHT NOW.) We were able to testify to her and we were able to clear things up which was good. They are both Pentecostal so it's a little tricky teaching them because they just believe that Jesus is the Holy Ghost and that we "talk to Jesus". They are such a sweet and humble family and I hope that we can come back and teach them soon! They are always leaving as soon as we get to their house. ugh. 

TUESDAY: We had Zone Conference in Tupelo which was amazing!!!! Goodness, I love President and Sister Hanks. Such wonderful and inspiring people that you just always want to be around. We had great training on the importance of the Plan of Salvation. President Hanks simply explained it and the spirit was so strong! He also showed us the notes that his father made from young elder holland's missionary life as he trained in Zone Conference. (Elder Holland served as an AP to Marion D. Hanks) It was pretty sweet!!!!! 

WEDNESDAY: We met with Tom. Oh Tom. He is so great and so ready for this gospel. We felt inspired to talk to him about the temple because he is basically the only one left in his family on this earth. I just told him, "This knowledge WILL bless your life, Tom." He then said, "Oh. It already has blessed my life! I used to be a lonely man with low confidence and then you ladies just knocked on my door and now I have a church family." UM. PRECIOUS. He is following his reading schedule really well and oh my, on the way to church yesterday, Tom said to us, "Do you mind if I catch up on my scripture reading?" So we read 2 chapters of 2 NEPHI in the car on the way to church!!!! He is a super smart man and might even be considered a genius. He understands the Book of Mormon better than anyone I've ever taught. He told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true, but he still wants to read through it all before he gets baptized. Which, at this point, I'm totally fine with because I know that he will enter the waters of baptism soon! And what's even cooler, is that I KNOW he will stay active in the church. He already has so many friends and it's the greatest thing ever. 

We went on team ups with a lady in our ward named Sister Todd. We went over to Sister Hart's home (less active) and helped her organize the rooms in her home and hang up clothes because she has bad health. She kindly fed us lunch which consisted of cornbread, pork, and broccoli! So YUMMY. We shared D&C 84:88 with her and told her that angels would be there to lift her up and help her as she has her many surgeries in Texas. She started crying as she told us that she had a desire to COME BACK TO CHURCH!!!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOooooOOOOoooo!!!!!!! 

Then, on our car ride back home, the thought came to me, "you should go visit that lady that you met a month ago." I then saw the apartments where she lived at as we were driving back and I quickly asked Sister Todd if she had time to visit ONE more person. She said yes and I quickly said, "Okay! TURN LEFT HERE." I didn't even remember the lady's name at all, but I just felt like we needed to see her. The Holy Ghost is so real. We knocked on her door and she excitingly answered the door and told us that she only had 15 minutes before she had to leave to a doctors appointment. We promised her that we would only take 10 minutes for a lesson. WE TOTALLY TAUGHT THE LESSON IN 10 MINS. Best thing ever. Heather explained to us that she is not a religious person, but a spiritual one. She has been through a lot in her life and had to get brain surgery. She is SUPER pretty and such a good person. At the end of the lesson, she gave us each a hug and said, "Y'all just made my day! Thanks for coming! Please come back." We have an appointment with her today! wahoo!!!! 

Thursday: We went tracting in the "projects" area of Sheffield. We saw this lady named Kiara who I have seen before a million times. She had her cute 2 year old son with her named Kidarius. We shared the restoration lesson with her and told her that this is what she needed in her life. Once we were done with our appointment, we came outside and Sister Crandall's bike tire was COMPLETELY FLAT. After examining the tire, we realized that someone totally slashed it for whatever reason. My bike is completely fine which is weird. SO, we have basically been walking everywhere now. It has been great though, we have found people and the Lord is still blessing us. 

We visited Bobbie Jo (less active) and we shared the talk by Thomas S. Monson entitled, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." SHE LOVED IT. She told us that she really appreciates it when we come over and that we are able to help her get throughout the whole week. Bobbie jo's friend from work was there as well and we found out later on that she is atheist. Bobbie jo wants us to teach her!!!!!! 

Friday: We had District Meeting and we set a district goal of "EATING THE TOAST" which means to be completely awkward and talk to everyone no matter what. T.O.A.S.T=Thrive on awkward situations today. So, this is exactly what Sister Crandall and I did. We talked to old men without shirts on. We talked to the man that was in his backyard because we could see him through the holes in the gate. We talked to the man on his lawn mower who had headphones on. We talked to the lady in her car at the stop light. LITERALLY EVERYONE. It was wonderful!!! None of them were interested, but we did meet a SUPER nice Baptist minister who gave us his number to call if we were ever in danger. So so nice. We had a really uplifting religious discussion with him. 

Saturday: TODAY WAS THE ANNUAL WARD FISH FRY. So much fun!!!!! It started at 5 so we walked around and talked to people before it started. We talked to this one guy who said to us as soon as we approached him, "you can't honestly believe in that John Smith guy and that vision he had, can you?" I just replied, "I believe that He saw God the Father and Jesus Christ with all my heart, Sir." He just started to laugh and I asked him if he had prayed about it. He told us that he only says the Lord's prayer and thats the only thing he says to God. Then he started to talk about how we don't need to be baptized by water, but just accept Jesus into your heart.  I wanted to Bible bash so badly, but I kept my cool. BLAH. Anyway, the Fish Fry was lots of fun!! 130 people showed up!!!!! INCLUDING 3 LESS ACTIVE FAMILIES :))) I ate some "croppy" fish and it actually wasn't that bad. UM. Sister Crandall and I made these really cute fish shape invitations that we handed out. we handed out 50 of them and guess how many showed up that we invited? 0. Sucha bummer, but it was worth the try! 

Sunday: Tom came to church!!! A lady that sings in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir came to visit our ward because she used to live here and she sang in sacrament meeting!!! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. Tom loved it!!!! :) We contacted some less actives after church and then decided to go "rich tracting" near where our FHE night was at. We actually taught 3 lessons while doing so which was basically a miracle!!! But no one wanted us to come back. We met this one old lady who asked us if we accepted Jesus in our life. We told her that we did and then she looked at our badges and then said, "I will pray for your salvation. Y'all need lots of prayers. I hope y'all will make it to see Jesus someday." Um. okay. We just kept smiling and then offered to do service and she said no. mah. We then went over to the Nebeker's home for FHE which was fun! Raliegh made us dinner which was a famous dish that he always ate on his mission in japan. It didn't taste like anything and it's safe to say that I'm glad to be serving here in the USA. We then went over to Sister Adam's home and watched some mormon messages with her and brought her homemade cookies. She has been feeling really sad lately and her feet are getting infected and she doesn't know the reason, but the doctor's may have to amputate them so please keep her in your prayers!!!!!!!!! 

I know I'm probably missing other things that happened, but I just love this work and God is so good to us! This gospel just makes sense. Victoria sadly dropped us :((( She told us that she doesn't think the church is right for her and that she likes her baptist church, but she thinks we are great people. mah. So sad. :((( 

It's really really really hot here. People keep telling us, "This is only the beginning." yeah yeah yeah. IT'S STILL ROUGH. hahha 

We showed Tom the video of Elder Holland bearing his testimony of the Book of Mormon and he LOVED it. He said, "boy, I'd really love to talk to that guy for a good hour." DO IT TOM. 

Sister Crandall and I get along really well and the work is moving forward. :) 

Everything about this gospel makes sense! I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that Joseph Smith really did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in a vision and that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored through him. 

I am so grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy each day from this country. I'm grateful for BOTH grandfathers who fought for our country and who continually kept the faith. 

I love y'all so so so much!!!!!!! :) 

MYKY,

Sister Platt

This whole mission thing is going by too fast.

Hello everyone!!!!! Ah. I am just so happy and every time I end the day, I just smile and thank my Father in Heaven for all that He has done for me and for those that we are able to see each day. THIS WORK IS AMAZING.

I would first like to talk about my new companion!!!!!! AHHH I'M WITH SISTER CRANDALL!!!!! We totally knew each other at the beginning of our missions and even carpooled to the temple one time together. LOVE HER SO MUCH. She is from Mount Vernon Washington!!!!!!!! She has been out for 6 months and this is her 2nd area!!! She is absolutely hilarious and we already have so many inside jokes. She is a hard worker which is definitely what I was praying for in my new companion. GOD ANSWERS. She is a really good teacher and I'm learning a lot from her. We balance each other out really well :) YAY. Sister Weekes is now serving in Gardendale, Alabama which is PERFECT for her. She is with a really good companion which is awesome :) Her church building that she is serving in is RIGHT NEXT to the temple! So jealous!!!

Okay. Can y'all believe I have been out for almost 9 months?? I wrote down the date in my study journal this morning and thought to myself, "well shoot. Time just needs to stand still." I would just like to take a moment and talk about success. Sister Crandall and I were talking about success as a missionary this morning and found a lot of good insight. We came to this conclusion: Our purpose is to bring others closer to Christ. Does that mean we were unsuccessful if it didn't end in a baptism? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Our purpose is to help and invite them on a spiritual journey. If we brought them as close as they'd let us, then that's success. If they were left closer than they were before, THAT is success. If baptism comes along the way, that's WONDERFUL! We really ought to realize that we've done a lot more than we think. It is so easy to compare myself to others while on this mission. I do it all the time and I am definitely TRYING to just focus on how the Lord is using me in a different way than anyone else. I have been reflecting on these past "few" months and I have discovered Heavenly Father's hand through it all... I will just name a few of the tender mercies that the Lord has shown me thus far:

Clanton (My first area):

-Sister Lutz just wrote me a letter this past week and told me that SHE WENT TO THE TEMPLE FOR THE FIRST TIME. MIRACLE. Sister Lutz always expressed to us how she was scared to go for whatever reason. Sister Gustafson and I were trying so hard to get her there and she told me in the letter that she found the strength to finally go because of us. :) She also told me that Brother Lutz now has a calling as a sunday school teacher!!! (Brother Lutz was the one that we were able to help quit smoking). 

-Sister Roberts returned back to church and her two grandkids were baptized!!!!! 

-We were able to teach Kameron who has a FIRM testimony of the Book of Mormon! I KNOW that we were meant to meet her. She told us that she found God's love because of us accepting her for who she is. 

Madison: (My second area)

-We were able to help Sister Effinger return to church after being gone for 15+ years. Her daughter, Maggie Jo, is currently receiving the discussions from the Sister Missionaries now serving there and is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!

-I JUST FOUND OUT THAT JADE (THE LADY WE FOUND AT PETCO) IS GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT WEEK!!!!! I WILL GO TO IT. I WILL. 

I know that there was more that happened, but thinking about all of these things just makes me really happy. Sometimes, I think I'm not successful because I don't have a baptism every week like some of my missionary friends do, but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that this is the place that will help me grow and mold into the person that God wants me to be. President Hanks told me how he was serving in Scotland and didn't get a baptism for the whole first half of his mission. He and his companion would joke and say that whenever someone would slam the door in their face, someone in South America was getting baptized. hahah too good. :) But really, I wouldn't change anything about the circumstances I have been in. 

Russellville: (Where I am now)

Russellville is about to just BLOOM with new people/miracles!!!!! This past week, we have dropped a lot of our investigators and basically are only teaching Tom at this point. We know that if we put our Trust in God, God will put HIS trust in us and provide us with those that are elect to teach.

Tom wasn't able to come to church yesterday because it was raining REALLY hard and he told us that he couldn't put his dogs outside in the rain because his dog "Bama" is scared of the rain and Tom is a neat freak so he was scared that "Bama" and "Baby" would mess up his living room. BLAH. But we have had some good lessons with him this past week!!! We read Alma 32 with him and talked about how he should develop faith in the Book of Mormon by first having a DESIRE. He loved it and agreed. THANK YOU MERE FOR SENDING THE BOM READING CHART. I GAVE IT TO HIM AND HE IS USING IT. MOM. I GAVE HIM THE CUTE BOOKMARK THAT YOU MADE FOR HIM AND HE LOVED IT!!!! He just kept saying, "Ah! I will have to send your mom something in return. It's what the indian culture is all about." oh tom. He then proceeded to tell me that he wouldn't be able to give me anything as great as I have given him. I asked him what he meant and he said, "You have given me this life changing knowledge and I can't repay you for it." I just replied with, "Oh no. It wasn't me. It was your Loving Heavenly Father who gave this to you." #preciousmoment Oh, and we went to teach him with CUTE SISTER ADAMS. SHE WORE HER NAMETAG AGAIN. NO WORRIES. I took a picture with her... and oh my, Sister Adams was being super BOLD and is such a good example to me. She said to Tom, "Tom. Do you believe that the church that we go to is the only true church?" .....silence..... then finally, Tom answered, "I can't answer that question right now. I still have to read." GAHHHHHHHH HE KNOWS IT'S TRUE GUYS. I think he is just scared to ACT. I have been praying and studying so much for him and I'm still waiting for the perfect answer of what to say to him. I know it will come with time though. Oh, and Tom totally had a cute little BBQ party for Sister Weekes before she left and invited 10 people from the ward that he knew. THEY ALL CAME. I love the ward I am serving in so much. Gah. It's just perfect :) 

One of our investigators, Amanda, came to church!!!! hahaha it was quite the experience. We met Amanda outside one day as she was waiting for her church bus to pick her up for bible study. She told us to come by and teach her. We came by the next day and while we were teaching her, all she would say back to us was, "mmmhmmm".  She does have three kids, but doesn't have custody of them. I think she has some mental illness. Anyway, church with her was definitely a day I will never forget!!! Amanda brought her niece with her, Liquiandria. Liquiandria is 5 years old and is ADORABLE. She reminded me a lot of Abby. On the car ride there, Liquiandria smiles at me as she laid her head on my shoulder and said, "Girl. I like yo' lashes." HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA BEST COMPLIMENT EVER. SO HAPPY. Anyway, we get to church and everyone in the ward is great so of course, everyone goes up to Amanda and introduces them to her. Amanda just didn't look any of them in the eye. She slept and SNORED through sacrament meeting....and gospel principles.... AND relief Society. Sister Crandall kept nudging her to stay awake and it was honestly so funny. It is safe to say that she is not prepared at this time. Amanda wanted to leave the church building so fast and was out the door before we could even get her. In the car, I asked her how she enjoyed church and all she said was, "good. Good. yeah." Sister Crandall and I are in a sticky situation because Amanda totally wants to get baptized into our church, but we just don't think she is ready to make those promises to God yet. Oh boy.

We officially dropped Colleen this past week and asked her what her expectations were of us coming over. She told us that she LOVES us, but she wants to try to go to a church of Christ and see how she feels there and then let us know if she wants to come to church with us again. She told us that we have brought her the closest to God that she has ever been in her life. :) I know that we were supposed to meet her. I know that one day she will realize that piece that is missing in her life. I feel so bad for her and love her dearly. We will probably occasionally stop by and offer service to her because she can't do much cleaning on her own. 

We had a lesson with Ken (the man who has had 2 baptismal dates and has fallen through every time) and basically "laid the velvet hammer" on him and asked him what was holding him back from being baptized. (SIDENOTE: We were on a team up with Meagan and it was POURING RAIN outside. We had the lesson in Meagans small car as I leaned up as close as I could to the car window so that I wouldn't get too close to ken. super awkward). Anyway, we found out that Ken's real concern is that he was scared to get baptized with his bad back. We assured him that there would be a way for him to still get baptized and invited him to pray about a date that he could get baptized. HE ACCEPTED. It's amazing what fears people are scared to address and I'm grateful that we were able to just be real with him and see his concerns. 

While on the team up with Meagan, we decided to ask her if she wanted to go tracting with us! BEST IDEA EVER. hahah Meagan was so cute and kept telling herself that she couldn't do it and that she wasn't a good missionary. We were able to build her confidence and by the end of the street that we were tracting on, she was the one who did the talking!!! IT WAS AWESOME. hahaha at the very end, she said, "wow. I could never do this for 18 months. I don't know how y'all go every day like this and deal with such mean people!!!!!" So basically, Sister Crandall and I have decided to just go tracting with our members more so they can see how hard it is and hopefully, it can spark a desire to help us by inviting their friends to learn from us. WE SHALL SEE HOW IT GOES. 

We tracted a whole trailer park yesterday with no success. We did talk to a lot of people though which was grand and invited them all to the ward fish fry that is coming up THIS SATURDAY. SO STOKED. One lady answered the door and said, "I don't like fish." I then excitingly said, "WELL THERE WILL BE CHICKEN THERE TOO!! WAHOO!!!" She proceeded to give me the dirtiest look and shut the door hahaha. But most people really appreciated the offer and said they would try to make it!!! One lady in particular, named Terry, asked us what we believed and we mentioned the Book of Mormon to her and what it was all about. She then said, "thank you for telling me. I have always wondered what y'all truly believed in. That is interesting." We then asked her if we could teach her more and she kindly declined. We left. Seconds later, a man walks up to the porch where we were talking to Terry and starts asking Terry if she was talking to "them mormons". We could hear the whole conversation they were having as we walked away. Terry just said to him, "These girls are doing the right thing by spreading the good word. You don't see that too much nowadays. Especially girls their age." The man then proceeded to anti her and tell her wrong things about the church. People are so funny. We of course, just smiled and said goodbye. THE CHURCH IS TRUE GUYS.

Oh my, we went to a "Stampede" parade on the cute little main street in Tuscumbia. Becky and Hollee went with us and oh my, it was hilarious. There were SO MANY PEOPLE gathered around this street as they waited for the longhorns and cows to walk the street. When the longhorns and cows were released from their cages, they didn't move for a good 2 minutes and finally started to walk slowly down the street. hahaha it was great. Then, some guys on ATV's started coming down the street along with people on horses. I love Southern parades. Especially small town ones. It lasted for maybe 10 minutes. hahahah Cutest thing ever. I think they were celebrating the guy who established Tuscumbia or something. Becky thought it was hilarious how excited Sister Crandall and I were for the parade. She said, "The best part of the parade was seeing y'all get excited over some cows n' manure." #dailydoseofbecky hahahhahahahah LOVE HER. 

We went over to see Sister Adams one night because we felt the need to go see her. We started talking with her and shared some ideas from Preach my gospel on how to be a good missionary. We ended up having a really good, spiritual discussion and it was simply amazing. By the end of it, Sister Adams said, "I don't know if you girls know this, but my foot has been KILLING me this whole day from my surgery and as soon as y'all walked inside my house, I haven't been able to feel the pain. Thank you for what you do." UM. Yeah. I love this work so much!!!!!!

I have learned that I am not here to only find and teach people, but I'm here to help strengthen the ward members and less actives. I have fallen in love with each and every one of them and I now have discovered my purpose as a missionary. I really didn't think I could have this big of a capacity to love the people, but I do. It is so CRITICAL to be filled with Christ's love everyday or else nothing will get done in this work and you certainly won't be very happy. 

May we all express GRATITUDE in times of sorrow and loss. The Lord expects us to find the happiness out of each and every day. He expects us to LOVE unconditionally. He expects us to help those in need. We can only reach to our true potential by "pointing our arrows out" and away from us and focus on others. I have been studying in Alma 32-36 this past week and I am just amazed at how beautiful these chapters are!!!! I love alma 32:6. I feel like this verse totally explains the elect people that we find here in the South. Those people that are being prepared by the Lord are those who have gone through affliction and have humbled themselves because of it. This is why I love the south! Generally, people are VERY humble and sweet towards us! It is so easy to bring up a religious topic with people. All we really do is ask them which church they go to and each one of them has an answer to a specific church. I even have all of the churches memorized by now of where they are located haha. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love this place. :)

Love y'all so much!!! I am so happy! I love my Savior and Heavenly Father so much!!!!!!! 

"ALL IS WELL IN ZION" <<<what Sister Crandall and I say to each other when things don't go as planned. haha 

MYKY,

Sister Platt

I am so happy and obsessed with this mission

ahhhhh I just love y'all so much and I'm so GRATEFUL for my BEAUTIFUL family that strengthens me and helps me become better every day. I am so glad that I was able to skype y'all yesterday! Everyone is growing up WAY TOO FAST. It's so weird. You look so cute pregnant Annie!!!!!! AND ALL OF MY NIECES AND NEPHEWS ARE GROWING UP WAY TOO FAST. JUST STOP.

Okay. This past week has been wonderful! I am obsessed with this work and being in this area. I have started to realize how much the Lord has blessed me to just easily love the people here! I love the ward so much and I love my investigators that we work with daily!!!!!!! 

I will start off with talking about our most "promising" investigator at the moment, precious TOM!!!! He is so so so ready for this gospel!!!! We had a lesson with him this past Tuesday and the Elders came to help teach along with two members from the ward! We reviewed the Restoration with him and then we asked him if he would kneel right then and there and ask Heavenly Father if this church is restored. The spirit filled the room as we all humbly knelt down before our Maker. Tom started to sincerely pray as he said, "Lord. I come to you this day with a question. The sisters have been coming to teach me of your word and I ask that you direct me to the right path and let me know if this is the path for me. I've been lost these past couple of months and want to know YOUR will. Please Lord, I just want to be better. Amen." We all waited there as we continued to kneel and waited for Tom to speak. Tom finally sat up as tears flowed from his eyes. He said, "I got my answer.... God whispered to me that I would know it's true if I just keep reading the Book of Mormon." Ah. One of my FAVORITE things to witness on this mission is someone you love, kneeling down before Heavenly Father, and offering up the desires of their heart. It just brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. The next day, we came back and gave Tom a lesson on the Word of Wisdom. He told us that he thinks he will first have to quit smoking before he can give up coffee. He said that it would take him AT LEAST  a month to give up smoking. The thought just came to my mind saying to me, "He can quit sooner than that." I felt prompted to ask Tom if he trusted us. He responded saying, "yeah. of course I do!" I then said, "I can PROMISE you that you can stop smoking in 2 weeks if you really rely on the Lord and have a desire to stop." He just kept saying, "yeah. maybe. I will try. It won't be easy though." THEN. ON SATURDAY. WE WENT OVER TO TOM'S AGAIN. Right as we see him, he says, "I am going to quit smoking today. Here. Take my cigarettes." He then proceeded to give us ALL OF HIS CIGARETTES. Sister Weekes and I got super excited and started to clean his ash trays with soap and water and then had him physically go throw his cigarettes away in the trash can. MIRACLES HAPPEN. I was so so so so so so happy! He told us that he found the strength to do so by reading his scriptures and looking on his desk and seeing all the ash everywhere. He told us that he was sick of the way he was living and wanted to change. He came to church yesterday and was BEAMING the whole time. HE LOVED IT. The Elders told us that he volunteered to say the prayer in Priesthood session. haha so great. And oh man, he jumped out of his seat when he heard the Bishop announce the annual "fish fry" that is coming up in two weeks. He is basically BFF's with everyone in the ward and it's just the best thing ever. Tom is having a BBQ at his house and wants us to invite everyone from the ward tomorrow!!! WAHOO!!!!! 

The only thing that is holding Tom back from being baptized is that he thinks he has to read through the WHOLE Book of Mormon before making the commitment of baptism. He keeps telling us that everything he has read so far has agreed with his Bible. YOU CAN LITERALLY BET YOUR MONEY ON THE BOOK OF MORMON. I HAVE NO FEAR THAT HE WILL FIND ANY FAULT IN IT. CAUSE IT'S THE WORD OF GOD.

Oh, and Tom told us that he had a gift for us and ran back into his home to get it. Sister Weekes and I thought it would maybe just be like a picture or painting of an indian or something. No. Tom brings out these two BEAUTIFUL leather bags that he had handmade. He proceeded to tell us, "You know. I think God knew I was supposed to meet you ladies because I have been waiting for the right people to come along to give these to." My bag has a buffalo on it and Tom explained that he gave me the one with the buffalo because apparently a Buffalo to the Indians is the most spiritually strong animal out there. 

We had a lesson with Victoria (finally) and ah, she is so amazing!!!! Victoria is 16 years old and is from Venezuela and has gone to church 8 times, but hasn't received the discussions for whatever reason until now! Her mom isn't too supportive of her and won't let us come over, so we met her at a fast food restaurant and had a lesson there. She explained to us that she just wants to be baptized and feel "complete". She told us that she has been baptized before and that she felt happy, but the happiness just didn't stay. We promised her that if she was baptized by Priesthood authority, she would feel that happiness for the rest of her life as long as she "leaned into the church". The spirit was super strong and she really opened up to us and told us that she isn't truly happy right now in her life and just wants to know God better. She got all quiet and innocent as she asked us, "Can I go out with you girls to teach people?" UM YES YOU CAN VICTORIA. She is so great. She then proceeded to tell us that she would have to buy comfortable shoes because all she ever wears are heels. hahahah love her so much :) We extended a baptismal date with her for May 25th and she told us she would have to pray about it! WAHOO.

I know I already told y'all the story over skype, but for everyone else...

Saturday was basically the best day of our transfer that we had ever had. I will make a bullet point list of everything that happened...

10:10 am: We were biking to see a lady named Camisha who we have been trying to contact for the longest time. On our way there, I see a guy out on his porch, doing a puzzle. A lady sat next to him in a chair and she was just reading a book. I stopped my bike and asked them if we could give them our card (mormon.org card). The man (Billy) proceeded to talk to us and tell us all about the Sister Missionaries who used to teach him 6 months ago. From what he was saying, I quickly understood why the Sisters from before dropped him. He was a super talkative guy. The lady next to him that was in the chair didn't really say anything. I asked her what book she was reading and she didn't really answer. She then asked, "Do y'all think I will see my daughter who passed away two years ago in heaven?" My heart just BROKE. PEOPLE NEED THIS GOSPEL. I just said, "YES YOU WILL. We KNOW that the family unit is VERY important to God and that He put us here on earth in families so that we could all grow and learn together and eventually be together forever in heaven." She started to cry as she said, "Really? THANK YOU. Ah. Y'all have no idea how much comfort y'all just gave me. Everyone in my church kept telling me that I won't know my family after I die and that just made me so sad for the past 2 years." We showed her Alma 40 that talks about the resurrection and invited her to read it. SHE WAS SO HAPPY TO HAVE THAT BOOK IN HER HANDS. IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER. I am so grateful for the spirit. I'm grateful for the promptings that it's able to give us to help us move this work forward!!! 

11:00 am: we ate lunch. YUM

11:45 am: We taught this lady named Amanda who we basically just found on the street one day and she told us to come back and teach her. We taught her the restoration and all she would say back was, "mmhmm." We extended a baptismal date for her for May 25th! She said she was going to come to church yesterday, but accidentally slept in. We shall see with her...

12:30 pm: We went out with Sister Preston (lady in the ward) for a team up and she took us to meet with this man named Antonio that we met the same day we met Amanda. We taught him the first lesson and it went well! Not sure if he has a strong desire to learn or not, but he told us that he has to make things right with God before reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. Not sure what that is supposed to mean, but he understood the priesthood pretty well!! He works as a truck driver during the week and isn't home very often. Only on Saturday and Sunday. GAH.

1:30 pm: Met with Tom!!!!! HE QUIT SMOKING.

2:30 pm: Visited with a less active man named Jesse who we have been trying to contact for a while. He was working in his yard and couldn't run away from us! HEHEHEHHE. 

3:00 pm: Sister Preston dropped us off. We start to bike over to visit a less active lady named Bobbiejo and her daughter, Aviya by the river. We say hi to the mexican man that we always say hi to every day who is always out on his porch. Then, the thought came to me, "why don't we ever just go talk to him and teach him???" We turned back around and started talking to him. His name is Abel. He started crying and told us in his broken english how he wants to stop drinking and how he never eats because all he wants to do is drink. He asked us to pray for him. We said a prayer right then and there and he just couldn't stop sobbing. He kept saying, "Thank you! Thank you! You are sent from God!" We told him that missionaries who spoke spanish could come and visit with him and he just got so excited and gave us his number!!! yay!

4:00 pm: Visited with Bobbie jo and Aviya and went on a beautiful 20 minute hike with them and had a spiritual message at the top of the cliff. Bobbie jo just kept thanking us for coming and told us that she was so excited to show us the trail! It was beautiful!!!!

5:00 pm: Came home and ate dinner! wAHOO.

6:00 pm: Walked over to visit a less active man named brother lowery. Saw these two guys outside grilling. We talked to the guy who actually was nice to us and basically taught him the whole restoration lesson without him knowing it. We talked about Jimmer and he thought it was cool that he was Mormon. We handed him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it. He tried to give it back to me and I just put my hands behind my back. (worked like a charm). I don't think he was super interested and thought we were a little crazy. hahah he said at the very end, "y'all haven't stopped smiling ever since you said hi to me. What is wrong with you?" hahahhaha we just started laughing and told him that we just loved the Book of Mormon and that it made us happy to talk about. hahahah I love this work so much. 

6:30 pm: Did more street contacting. 

7:30: Went to Brother Lowery's. He expressed his feelings toward coming to church and how he doesn't think he's worthy to come to church because he smokes. We assured him that he would be totally fine coming to church and offered to help him quit smoking!!!! WE ARE GOING TO HELP HIM THIS WEEK. 

8:45: We start to walk home. We see a man on his bike and just wave to him. He smiled and waved back. We continued walking back home. Then, we see the man on the bike start following us. I was freaking out inside, but kept my cool. He then bikes up right next to us and says, "Hey! What do y'all believe? I want to know!" I then think to myself, "wow! could this day get any better?????" NO. This man was basically the devil on a bicycle. UGH. He just bible bashed us the whole time and said all this awful stuff that I honestly can't even remember which is probably a good thing. I finally just said, "You know what? I'm not here to argue! This mission brings me so much happiness and our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. Have a nice day!" He then kept trying to interrupt me and told me that I was going to be condemned and blah blah blah. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE TESTIMONY THAT I HAVE. I know I need to build it up even more!!!! Helaman 5:12 anyone? Yeah. That's what this experience reminded me of!!!! 

I honestly can't remember anything else that happened this week that is worth typing. I'm sure there is more! Mother's day dinner with Sister Adams and her family was great! She made SO MUCH FOOD. Turnips, corn, ribs, cornbread, mac n' cheese, pecan pie, and apple strudel!!! She had a cute apron on and everything. Once we were done eating, she said, "okay everyone! The sisters are going to share a bible message with us!" Her son quickly said, "uh. we have to go to the park. We promised our daughter that we would." IT WAS PITCH DARK OUTSIDE. yeah so they all left to apparently go to the park and I just felt so bad for Sister Adams because she really wants her family to know this gospel!!!!! mah. We will keep working with them!!!! 

Awkward approach that I used this week. I see a man on a porch eating popcorn... I stop my bike and say, "Hey! are you eating buttery popcorn or kettle corn? I have been trying to find kettle corn for the longest time! Where is it at??" he looked at me and said, "uh. I got it at walmart." hahahahahahhahaha I'm so awkward. I have learned to just embrace it. 

Sometimes, before I leave the house, I pray saying, "please bless that I won't be awkward today." 

I love y'all so much! This work is REAL and true!!!! I invite y'all to hand out a Book of Mormon to a friend this month! DO IT. We never know who is ready for the gospel. We have to talk to EVERYONE. I know my Savior lives. I know that Heavenly Father is helping us all out every day. Thanks for all y'all do!!!!!!

MYKY,

Sister Platt 

:)

Heavenly Father is REAL, and I hate the humidity!

Wow guys. I know God is real and LOVES us all so much. 

I'm going to be honest when I say that this past Monday (April 28th) was one of the scariest days of my life. Ah, I can't say it enough that I KNOW HE LIVES.

A couple things that went through my mind this past Monday during the tornado:

-I am so grateful for this gospel

-I am so grateful for my family.

-Wow. Heavenly Father is amazing!

-Poor President Hanks. It's his birthday today.

48 missionaries were all in Tupelo, Mississippi this past Monday for a zone activity/interviews with President Hanks. 

I was playing basketball (speed) with some of the elders and President came in and told us all to go to the chapel because we were under Tornado Watch (WHICH IS WORSE THAN A WARNING). We all gathered in the chapel as President Hanks offered a prayer as we all knelt down. The sky had turned green by that point and the lights in the chapel started to flicker on and off. We all started to sing hymns as President Hanks started to loosen his tie and take off his coat (He never does this). The lights then turned completely off and we were all just sitting in a pitch dark chapel singing hymns. I was shaking from fear of the unknown, BUT you know what was crazy? I never felt like we were in any harm. I KNOW that there were angels in that room protecting us that day. I KNOW IT. I could just feel them there. We waited for a good 4 hours before we were cleared to go home. President Hanks handled the situation really well and it is SUCH a blessing that he and Sister Hanks were there during that time! President Hanks jokingly told us that we should start singing the hymn "Master, The Tempest is Raging" hahahhaha love that man. 

Wanna know another crazy thing about the whole situation???? President Hanks called us all the next morning and told us that Heavenly Father was definitely look out for us because the newspaper article he was reading said that the tornado started forming RIGHT ABOVE the church that we were in!!!!!! MIRACLES ARE REAL. Ah. I can't get over how AMAZING our LOVING Heavenly Father is. A lady that we had pancakes with the night before the tornado... She lives about a mile away from the church and her house was completely destroyed. It was so sad to see all of the destruction there, but it was also very humbling to see everyone work together and help people get their lives back in order. 

We were able to help clean up the past three days which has been such a cool experience. We worked about 5-8 hours every day. We helped this one Baptist Preacher clean up his house from a tree falling on it. There were about 16 missionaries there helping. After we were done, the man said, "You know. There's a great service tomorrow at the First Baptist church that y'all are invited to." We all politely just said thanks!!! Then, one of the Elders said, "Can we invite you to check out our church's web---" The Preacher then interrupted him and bluntly said, "NO. I know all about y'alls church and want nothing to do with it." haha gotta love the south :) 

We were able to help with about 8 different homes while I was there and I am SO GRATEFUL for the opportunity I had to help them out. I feel like my whole reason of getting called here was to help them all out. It was a beautiful thing to see the community and churches all come together and help one another out. Lots of churches were carrying trucks full of water and snacks around to each of us which was super nice! I am just obsessed with the South. I really love the people and culture and how they just easily show LOVE. 

We weren't able to leave the house on tuesday because President told us all that we had to stay inside so this week was kinda a weird one. 

My interview with President Hanks went really well!!! I think Sister Weekes is going to be leaving me this next transfer because he wants her to step it up and become a leader which will be PERFECT for her!!! He told me that I was the most courageous missionary he has ever seen. Not sure if that is true, but it was so nice to hear it from him. I am so amazed at the opportunity I have to have President and Sister Hanks as my Mission President and wife. It is so humbling. They really are the BEST.

Updates on investigators...

Colleen: Ugh. Colleen is so frustrating sometimes. I love her to death, but she NEEDS to just realize that she knows that this gospel is true!!! I feel like she keeps getting her answers, but is afraid to ACT. We met with her once this past week and had a really good spiritual talk with her. Sister Weekes and I were crying by the end of it because we both just realized HOW MUCH COLLEEN needs this gospel and how frustrating it was that she didn't understand that she needed it. We might just drop her this week and hopefully she will realize the emptiness that she feels and call us back!!!

Tom: Tom is AWESOME!!!! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and every time we come over, he tells us the summary of what he was reading. HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY.  SO AWESOME. HE LOVED IT. Church was only an hour long because we were encouraged to all go to Tupelo after Sacrament meeting. Tom just was amazed that our congregation was willing to go out and help. He also said that he loved the fact that their was no gruesome pictures or crosses in our church and he thinks it's great that no one gets paid. He just kept saying, "Well yeah! In my bible it says that no one should get paid and your church just makes sense!" WELL YEAH. CAUSE IT'S THE TRUTH. He then said that he was definitely going to come back!!! WAHOO. And of course, the ward was super good at being supportive of him. I'M OBSESSED WITH RUSSELLVILLE. It's the best area ever. I'm so happy. Becky invited him to FHE tonight at her home and we are going to watch a movie!! I'm so excited :)))

Ken: ha oh ken. What to say. What to say... Ken didn't show up to church yesterday. I think he is terrified of being baptized for some reason and we have to dig deep to see what's wrong. It's hard to get a hold of him because he is always out walking and doesn't have a phone. MAH. He knows it's all true!!!! 

Brother Steve: Oh my goodness. Brother Steve is simply AMAZING. HE CAME TO CHURCH AS WELL. He unfortunately had his neighbor basically threaten his life so he is on a bus right now to Chicago. :((( HE WILL GET BAPTIZED ONE DAY. He called and told us "thanks for enlightening me. I know God led me to you." It breaks my heart to know that he is gone, but I know that we were meant to meet him. He is such a great person and I really think that the Book of Mormon is going to continually change his life as he continues to read it!!! 

Camisha: We haven't been able to find Camisha at ALL! I think she got kicked out of her house or something because she is never home anymore!!! I know we were meant to meet her as well and I think she needed us right before she went through this huge trial of losing her house. God works in mysterious ways. Hopefully we will run into her again soon!!!!

Anita: Anita called us the morning of our next appointment with us and dropped us by saying, "Hi! I just wanted y'all to know that my pastor wants me to join his bible study class and said to not meet with y'all anymore so y'all don't have to come today. thanks" NO. STOP IT. HATERS BACK OFF. (just kidding.)

Michelle: We met with Michelle again this past week and reviewed the restoration with her.  She wanted to come to church, but her ride bailed the morning of church and couldn't find anyone to take her. UGH. Getting rides to church is probably the most frustrating thing for this area because everyone in the ward is scattered and the ward boundaries stretch a good 100 miles. SHE WILL COME NEXT WEEK.

Oh my goodness. I just have to tell y'all the most PRECIOUS experience I had this past week. So, we visited this lady named Sister Adams who can't come to church that often because of her knee. We were talking with her and asking her advice about Colleen and what we needed to teach her. (Sister Adams is a convert to the church). The next morning, Sister Adams called us and said, "SISTERS!!!! I HAVE BEEN READING IN MY BIBLE THIS MORNIN' AND FOUND SOME SCRIPTURES TO SHARE WITH COLLEEN. COME OVER TO MY HOUSE AND WE WILL GO SEE HER!!!!!!!" hahahah We then biked over to her house and Sister Adams was waiting for us outside. She looked ADORABLE. She was wearing red lipstick. Had her make up all done up. She was wearing a really nice skirt and shirt. AND she had a little makeshift badge on her shirt that had "Catherine Adams.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" written on it. She is so adorable and was so excited to go out with us!!!!! She told us that she would love to take us out more, but she can't drive at night. Colleen was unfortunately not feeling well so we taught Michelle instead and visited with 2 less active members. IT WAS SO GREAT. I love her so so so so so much. Yesterday while we were in Tupelo, Sister Adams called us and asked us if we were in Sheffield. We sadly said no and asked her what she needed. She told us that her son was in town and she wanted us to meet him!!!! We got home around 8 pm from Tupelo and went over to her house and met with her son and grand daughter!!! IT WAS SO MUCH FUN. Sister Adams is the only member in her family so she wants us to meet with as many family members of hers as we can!!!!! We invited her son to church and hopefully he will come! It was a super enjoyable time. I love family time so much. Gah. 

Oh. GUESS WHAT??? Totally met Sister Voyles (FROM THE SHOW "THE DISTRICT"') mom and dad and sister when I was in Tupelo!!!! So I'm basically REALLY FAMOUS. AGAIN. Sister Voyles' sister looks exactly like her so I was basically talking to sister voyles. I talked to her mom for a good 40 minutes during our lunch break. Very chatty. (Family. Don't worry if you don't understand what I'm saying. Just watch "The district" on Youtube or lds.org)

# of babies I saw drinking sweet tea in a bottle this past week: 2

# of times members have taken us out to McDonalds this past week: 3 (yup. Reminded me of European trips with dad)

# of times I've said "THEY NEED TO BE BAPTIZED" after meeting someone for the first time: a million.

# of times I've been to wal mart on my mission: 250 (That is probably not even an exaggeration) 

 "Here's some apple pie! Here! Do you want some cheese sticks? TAKE SOME BACON WITH YOU. Y'all don't need to starve!!!" --Quote from Sister White, Becky's mother as we were about to leave her home. She refused to let us not take it. #southernhospitality

Becky took us to wal mart last week to go grocery shopping. She bought herself a candy bar and as she was paying for it, Sister Weekes says, "Becky! I love that ring!!" Becky turns bright red as she looks at the ring on her finger and says, "SHOOT. I need to pay for this as well. Sorry. I'm not no criminal. I promise." Becky then pays for her $10 ring from walmart. #dailydoseofbecky

Well, I just want y'all to know that I know that Jesus is the Christ and that Heavenly Father lives and loves us so much!!! He wants to help us out and He is there for us no matter what. We are all made in HIS image and He wants to mold and perfect us. We have to go through the refiners fire and go through trials in order to be like Him. I just love the scripture Alma 36:3. SUCH A GOOD ONE. We are promised so many blessings from the Lord. He will NEVER break his promises. We just need to have an eternal perspective in life and realize what matters most. I know my perspective has definitely been changed this past week. 

I love my Savior so much. 

I am so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This work is amazing and the hardest thing I have ever done, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the life I'm living and I am so grateful for my family and friends that I have. 

AHHHH CAN'T WAIT TO SEE Y'ALL THIS UPCOMING SUNDAY!!! I KEEP FORGETTING THAT IT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING AND THEN I REMEMBER THAT I GET TO SKYPE Y'ALL AND THEN I FREAK OUT ALL OVER AGAIN.  yayayyayayayyayayayyayyy

MYKY,

Sister Platt