Missionary Work = Pure Joy

Ah. I love my life so so so much!!!!!

I have the gospel in my life. I have a great family. I have a shelter and food. WE EACH HAVE GOD ON OUR SIDE.

 Thank y'all so much for all the support. I love y'all so much and I am SO grateful for my fam bam. This work is moving forward and I'm obsessed with it. Every day is amazing and I am filled with so much joy every night when I say a kneeling prayer next to my bed. GAH.

 

Monday: We went over to Ashley's house and we were planning on teaching her the second lesson which is on the Book of Mormon. Her two friends were over braiding hair and they excitingly asked us to teach them the very first lesson. So we ended up teaching the Restoration. The spirit was so strong until we got to the part about Joseph Smith. The girl braiding the hair (Kara) just looked at the picture of Joseph Smith and said, "Nope. Sorry. I can't believe this. This ain't the truth. My dad be a preacher and we read in the Bible that man can't see God in the flesh." OOOOoooOOhh. I was so upset inside, but didn't show it on the outside. Sister Drummond and I just smiled as she spoke and then we each bore a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and of Joseph Smith. In that moment, I had a realization of how strong my testimony has gotten on my mission. There was not a doubt that crossed my mind when Kara was bashing us. It was such a testimony builder!!! WAHOO. Thanks Kara!!!! hahah but y'all wanna know the amazing thing about the whole experience? Ashley stayed quiet the whole time (she was mad at Kara). Then, after we said a closing prayer, Ashley innocently asked, "When will y'all be back to teach me?" Yup. She is so so great and is able to recognize the spirit even though her friend was being inconsiderate. :)

After that lesson, we had a "new member lesson" with Tammy and Jonathan and oh my, it was hilarious because Chantel joined in on the lesson. (Chantel secretly wants to learn more, but acts like she doesn't sometimes). Chantel kept interrupting us and asking questions like, "Do you think God has upgraded heaven and that people use escalators to visit each other?" hahah oh Chantel. You just have to love her. At the end of the lesson, we asked Tammy how she felt and she said, "Oooh I feel good. The baptists don't believe in this and I really feel bad for them folks." hahahah Tammy is quiet around a big group of people, but when we talk to her in a small group setting, she is absolutely hilarious!!!!! She is soaking everything up and loves learning new things!!!! She told us that she is reading "our heritage" right now and loves it!

 

Tuesday: This day was very odd and stressful, but it taught me a lot of patience :) The sisters in Columbus both had doctors appts at the same time (Sister Klein had one in West Point while Sister Smith had one in Columbus). So we went on a mini exchange and I took Sister Klein to the Doctor in West Point. Guess how long we waited??? 4 HOURS. And no one was in the waiting room to even talk to!!! So, I finished the Book of Mormon! WOOT WOOT!!!!!! It just felt awful not doing anything for that long, but I'm glad we were able to help Sister Klein and Sister Smith out :)

We had a lesson with Danielle (the 15 year old that we met in the park last week.) and she loved it and told us that she wanted to come to church and bring her whole family!

We had a lesson with Jalisa as well and oh my, I love that girl so much!!!! Sister Edwards came with us to the lesson and as soon as we walked in, Sister Edwards asked Jalisa why she couldn't make it to church. Jalisa started to explain that she had to cook for her mom who is handicapped and also take care of her. Then Sister Edwards said, "Okay. Well I will come and get you this Sunday, alright?" Jalisa then said, "YES. No matter what happens. Come pick me up!!!!" MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK IS THE BEST. We had a good lesson with her on Tithing and she loved it!!!! She told us that she wants to start paying her tithing right away and told us about how she is doing make up for a wedding and will get money from that. I love her so so so much!!!!!

After that, Sister Edwards needed help with her visiting teaching so we visited a less active lady named Sister Franks. 

 

Wednesday: Okay. This day was HOT. 107 degrees to be exact. Oh. It was so miserable y'all. We walked over to an appointment that we had with Audrey. We prayed right before that we would know if we should keep teaching her or not. We got our answer as soon as we walked in. We started reading from The Book of Mormon with her and she started to read and kept slurring her words and told us that she couldn't read. She also told us that she didn't get a chance to read the pamphlet that we left with her last time. We know people are ready to learn more if they take the time to AT LEAST read the pamphlet. Cause if they won't even read the pamphlet, then chances are, they won't read the Book of Mormon. Anyway, after that we had a lesson with Ashley on the Plan of Salvation. She thinks that she won't know her Sister as her sister in heaven or her daughter as her daughter. I then said to her, "Ashley. Look at your daughter. How does she make you feel?" Her daughter then started crying which totally defeated the purpose I was trying to make. I then said, "Well... how does she make you feel when you see her giggling or smiling at you?" She then said, "She makes me feel happy!!!" I then said, "Exactly. Heaven would not be heaven unless we are with our families. Wouldn't you agree?" SHE AGREED. People here in the South really don't know as much as I thought they would know. It is so sad to think that most of the people here think that we won't know each other after this life. WHAT WOULD BE THE POINT OF EVEN BEING HERE THEN? That was another testimony builder to me. I am starting to really realize HOW BLESSED we each are to have the gospel in our lives. What a beautiful knowledge we have! I am never going to take it for granted ever again.

We then had a lesson with Mitch OUTSIDE (aka in the 107 degree weather) because his mom wasn't home. Mitch is in his late 30's and a very nerdy man. He is like a big teddy bear. He told us that he had done some research on our church by going online (uh oh. Hopefully he went to mormon.org or lds.org) but he said he was very interested!!! We then asked him what he wanted to learn more of and he said, "You know. I really want to know why I'm here. Where I came from and also where I'm going after this life." hahahahahhahah it was so perfect. We had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and he seemed to really love it! He had lots of questions and would go off on random rants about the government/obama, but other than that, it was a wonderful lesson!!!

We tracted into a couple named Kourtni and Chris and they are the classic example to me of people who have completely gone the wrong direction and are starting to turn their lives around. Chris has tons of tattoos and was asking us our opinion on tattoos in general.  Anyway, they were super duper nice and we found out that Chris is actually our landlord!!!!! After teaching them about the Book of Mormon, Chris asked us, "What if everything that you have been taught is false?" (He wasn't being mean when he asked the question). I then didn't really know what to say, but the spirit definitely prompted me as I said, "Well.. Let me ask you this: What if everything we have taught you is true? Would it change your life at all?" He paused and looked down for a little bit and then said, "Well. yeah. I guess it would!!!" Then, Sister Drummond and I were able to testify about the truth of this gospel and invited them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! They said they would :) YAY!!!

 

Thursday: We had Zone Conference in Tupelo which was AMAZING!!!!! I LOVE seeing all the missionaries and hearing from our leaders. I took soooo many notes! President Hanks gave us GREAT advice on how to get people to keep commitments. Here are some examples...

Old: "Will you read?"

New: "As you read the things we've left you, you will feel the spirit of God."

 

Old: "Would you like a Book of Mormon?"

New: "Do you believe in God? Do you believe he loves everyone and doesn't play favorites? We have a record of God speaking to people on the other side of the world at the same time he spoke to the people in the Bible. I bet you'd like to hear about that!"

 

SO GOOD!!! I have been trying to apply the "new" instead of the "old" and it's amazing to see how it works!!!!!

He then talked about how we need to "bug God" and just bug Him all the time by praying to Him all the time! I love that concept!!!! It was so great!!!!!

Wanna know the #1 way to tell if you have the spirit with you? By what offends you.

I will be honest, I remember being obsessed with watching "The Office" back home, but let me tell ya, I just don't even have a desire to watch shows like that anymore. I invite y'all to consider the things that SHOULD offend you as you watch movies or listen to music.

 

It would take me forever to write everything that he said, but it was all super duper good!!!!!!

 

We had a relief society activity that night and learned about emergency preparedness. Only 3 ladies from the branch showed up. so sad. The Relief Society president prepared such a big lesson and it was super good!!!! Tammy came to it!! WOOT WOOT.

 

Friday: We did weekly planning this day because we couldn't do it on Thursday. I honestly can't remember what happened this day. I just remember it being really really hot and we tracted most of the day because no one was outside :(

 

Saturday: AH. BEST DAY OF MY MISSION. DEFINITELY A HIGHLIGHT!!!!! TOM GOT BAPTIZED AND I WAS ABLE TO BE THERE. OH MY GOODNESS. I LOVE TOM SO MUCH !!!!!! I have never been so excited to see someone in my whole entire life! It was such a grand reunion to see him!!!! He loved that I wore the Indian vest hahaha thanks mom for sending it to me :) He told me that he used to live in West Point when he was in his 20's and when he left, he promised himself he would NEVER go back there ever again because of all the crime that takes place. hahahhahah love it.

After he was baptized, he bore his testimony and said, "I have lost a lot of things in my life (He has lost his wife and 2 kids) , but I will never lose this book right here" (he then held up the Book of Mormon). He then started crying as he looked at me and said, "Sister Platt. Thank you for finding me and for giving me the best gift in the world. This book right here has changed my life and I am never turning back to my old life." YEAH. YOU BETTER BELIEVE I WAS CRYING. ahhhhh It was so great!!! After that, I asked him how he felt and he said, "This is the greatest I have felt in a REALLLYYYY long time." Man. I just think back to the time when Sister Weekes and I first met him and thought he was a little crazy. But now, he is one of my best friends. It's just the neatest thing to see people completely change!!! AHHHHHHH I'm so happy :) OH. And it was soooo much fun to see everyone from Russellville ward again. Okay. seriously. the most perfect ward a missionary could ever serve in! Becky was unfortunately very sick and couldn't come :( #dailydoseofbecky I love them all so much and so many came and supported him!!!!!!

 

Sunday: IT WAS SISTER DRUMMOND'S BDAY SO WE CELEBRATED AND I MADE HER CREPES IN THE MORNING. (OH AND HAPPY DAY OF BIRTH TO LYDIA AS WELL. LOVE YOU). Josh came to church!!!!!! YAYYYY BUT Jalisa didn't come last minute because she and her mom apparently got into a huge fight and she had an awful morning. We were able to see her after church and talk with her and we ended up having a good "come to jesus" talk with her and told her that Satan doesn't want her to go to church and that he will do anything to get her away from it. She agreed! She also told us that she isn't going to drink on her bday and that she wants us to come over and spend her birthday with her! UM WHAT? I feel so cool. Jalisa is like the coolest girl ever :) Her bday is this friday! woot woot!!!!

 

Well, I am so grateful for this mission and I'm grateful for y'all so so so much :) I KNOW that God loves each of us and wants to hear from us so please BUG HIM this week!!!! Talk to Him everywhere you go!!!!!!!

 

IN other news...

-I didn't know Obama has white hair!!!! I saw him on the TV at one of our investigators home and I was shocked!!! hahahah soooo funny.

-I met a girl named Zeltavian the other day and also met a guy named Octavius

-Don't worry everyone, peoples favorite scripture is STILL John 3:16!!!!!!

-The song sister Drummond and I made up to the tune of the "snowman" primary song... "Once there was a sister, sister, sister, Once there was a sister tall tall tall. In the sun she melted. Melted. Melted. In the sun she melted, small small small."

 

MYKY,

Sister Platt

Poor Armadillo 

Tom's baptism! AKA best day ever.

All the sisters wearing something Tom has made them.

Teaching the concept of baptism with arm wrestling.

Happy Birthday Sister Drummond!

There is opposition in all things!

There was something great that came out of EVERY day this past week. Man oh man. I am loving this work!!!! I think my favorite part of missionary work is to witness the gospel CHANGING people.

 

I can't remember what happened last monday, so I am going to start with Tuesday!!!!!

 

Tuesday "A day of answered prayers": We had a lesson with Jalisa on the Word of Wisdom. She accepted all of it and knew that it was all true. She was honest with us and told us that she REALLLLYYYY wants to drink on her 21st birthday which is coming up on the 29th of this month. We testified to her that she would be blessed if she chose not to drink on her bday and that we would have a party with her and drink Martinelli's! She laughed and thought we were funny, BUT WE WERE SERIOUS.

We had a lesson with a lady named Erica who we met at the grocery store! We met her the week before and have been trying to see her for the longest time and she never answered. WELL, we decided to try just one more time and she answered the door and let us right in!!!! She told us that it was really weird that we had knocked on her door because she was just praying about church and how she needs to get closer to God. SHE IS AWESOME! She has 3 teenagers and they all joined in on the lesson. Erica told us that she has been looking for a church and her kids all go to a church together with their friends. After the lesson, her 16 year old son said to us, "y'all are some cool girls! Please come back!!!" Um. OKay. we will. No problem.

We also had an AMAZING lesson with Antrianna and oh my, everything that she said to me was an answered prayer. Sister Drummond asked Antrianna why she let us in in the first place and Antrianna had a huge smile on her face as she said, "Well. Sister Platt and Sister Van Komen (S/O to Sis VK) were just so nice to me and they have truly changed me! I used to not smile at all and now I'm smiling all the time while I'm at school! I have never been so happy in my life!!!!! I KNOW that y'alls church is the only true church. It's the only church I want to go to! Everyone was so nice and welcomed me right in! OH! AND I CAN'T WAIT UNTIL I'M BAPTIZED!" Yeah. It was super precious and she almost made me cry! I LOVE HER SO MUCH! She is like the little sister I never had. We then taught her the Word of Wisdom and oh my, she is so elect. She said to us, "OH NO!!!! I have tea in the fridge!!!!! I will throw it out! Ah. No! I feel so bad!!!" hahaha she is so cute! I just want y'all to meet her soooooo badly!!!!!

 

Wednesday "Amen. Amen. AMEN!": We had a lesson with this lady named Audrey who sister Vk and I felt prompted to talk to at Wal-mart. She loved the message right until we invited her to be baptized... She turned all "stand-offish". She then later told us to pray for her "partner" who is a girl. Oh well. 

We decided to see a cute girl named Asia (who we brought cupcakes to for her bday and it was super awkward, yes her.) and her grandma invited us right into their home! As we walked in, there was a HUGE familly gathering in the kitchen and they were all smiling and saying "HEEEEYYYY" to us. I felt really cool. We shared some scriptures with all of them and then we said a prayer as each of us held hands around a circle (EVERYONE holds hands while praying. It's so great and I will probably do it when I get home haaha). There were a good 15 people there. I said the prayer and at the very end of the prayer, everyone shouted "AMEN!" in unison and it was really really funny. I love these people so much. GAH.

We had another lesson with Erica and her kids. We read the 3rd chapter of 1 Nephi with them and they loved it!!!! We love sharing that chapter because the chapter ends with a "cliff hanger" and it makes people want to read more!!!!! They committed to read the 4th chapter that night all together before bed time :)

We drove over to Columbus (30 mins away) to help the Columbus sisters with appointments because one of the sisters was sick. Sister Smith and I went and visited a couple people and taught some awesome lessons :) We met with their investigator named Becky who has obviously been anti-ed recently. We went over the gospel of Jesus Christ and she asked us what the Holy Ghost was to us. We started to explain and then she just started to argue and told us that the Holy Ghost is when you speak in tongues and blah blah blah. Finally, I just asked, "Becky! I have a question for you... Have you read and prayed about the Book of Mormon yet?" She then looked down and said, "well... no." and then I asked her if she knew what a Keystone was. She informed me that she didn't and so I drew an archway on a piece of paper and explained to her that if the keystone was taken away, the arch would crumble. We then were able to testify that the Book of Mormon is that keystone and that she needed to pray about the Book of Mormon to know if everything else was true!!!!! She accepted to read it :) WAHOO. Seriously though, every argument can just point back to the Book of MOrmon and I'm so grateful for that. CAUSE IT'S TRUE AND IS THE WORD OF GOD.

 

Thursday "This gospel changes people": We had the new member lesson with Tammy and reviewed the Restoration with her. Oh my y'all.. She is a COMPLETELY different person ever since she got baptized. It's the neatest thing to witness. For example, when Sister Van Komen and I first started to teach her, she would barely talk and wouldn't look us in the face. BUT NOW, she is changed and truly converted! GAH. We asked her how work was going (she usually tells us that she hates  it and never wants to go) She told us with a big smile on her face that she was loving it and that she has been having a really good week!!!! We asked her how she has felt ever since she got baptized and she said, "Oh girl! I feel so much at peace! Everything is falling into place!" LOVE HER. SHE EVEN GAVE US A HUG GOODBYE WHICH IS SUPER RARE. OH. AND SHE GAVE US HER PHONE #!!! (before, we had to communicate with her through Sister Edwards). MIRACLE.

 

Friday "1 MILE=TORTURE": Sister Edwards called us in the middle of the day as we were out tracting and told us that she had gotten locked out of her house and how it had been the worst day ever for her. We ran over there (literally) and Sister Drummond somehow got her door to open using a credit card. BOOYAH. She was sooooo happy to finally be inside because it was super hot and sticky outside (surprise surprise). She invited us in to get some water and then we helped her clean her kitche. Then, after that, Jonathan came home from school and he asked us if he could come out walking with us. We told him that we walk really fast and we walk a long distance. Jonathan, being his 9 year old self said, "I CAN DO IT! Let me go!" Okay. Sure Jonathan. So he ended up walking with us along with Sister Edwards 16 year old niece Kya. IT WAS HILARIOUS. They walked behind us and were getting soooo tired. We maybe walked only a mile and we heard Jonathan's voice from behind say to us, "Man! This is the farthest I've ever walked in my whole life!" Oh my, we were laughing so hard!!!! We said some prayers with people and it was great. Kya called Sister Edwards to pick them up because they were too tired to walk back home. hahahhahaha and apparently Kya fell asleep on the car ride home!!!!!!!!! I love it.

We had a really really great lesson with Jalisa. A type of lesson where you just think to yourself, "Yup. I love being a missionary! Yup. I'm supposed to be here! Yup. We were supposed to meet her!" We taught her about the temple with an emphasis on the Law of Chastity. She has a boyfriend who comes around sometimes and we knew that she had been breaking the law of chastity. I had studied specifically for her that morning and so I defiinitely prepared myself to be bold with her. She accepted all of it and told us that she definitely wanted to give up her sins and change. She told us that we would have to keep her in line and visit her as much as we could so that we would encourage her. We asked her how she felt whenever we come over and she said, "I just feel light. I don't know how to explain it. Y'all just make me so happy!!!!!" We then testified of the spirit and how it testifies of truth. We asked her if she knows everything that we have been teaching her is true. She said, "Well. Yeah! How could it not be? Everything y'all say just makes me happy." AHHHHHHHHHH THIS GOSPEL IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I then asked her if she wanted to get married someday with her boyfriend in the temple and she said she wants to strive to get there one day. yayayyayayayayayayy!!!!

 

Saturday "Very odd day": We tried contacting a lot of random referrals with no luck and the Hendersons (people in our branch) drove us out to different appointments that we had, but no one was home. The Henderson's asked us if we wanted them to drop us off at home and we told them to just drop us off in a random neighborhood and I jokingly told Brother Henderson to follow the spirit and just decide on a random street. So he did just that. We knocked on a good 20 doors and no one was answering! Lots of people did the classic yell from the other side of the door as they say, "WHO IS IT?" and then we say, "The missionaries!" Then they reply saying, "WHO?" (people always ask "who is it" twice. soooo funny) And then we say, "THE MISSIONARIES!" and then there is always an awkward silence and then they just don't answer. hahahahha We did find a guy named Mitch who talked to us for a while outside. He told us that he was wanting to understand the bible better and we offered to help :) Turns out, his dad is our mailman that we see all the time!!!!!!! We have a return appointment with him for tomorrow!!!!! We tracted into a lady named Ashley who let us right in!!!! We taught her the Restoration and she had lots of questions about prophets and told us about this prophet who helped her with her finances. It was a really weird lesson and everything just felt "off". We are seeing her again tonight though! Hopefully everything will go better!

We had a very interesting lesson with our investigator Dominique. We walked inside the door and I instantly smelled weed. Sister Drummond had no idea what the smell was. The only reason I know what it smells like is because of Europe and dad telling me what it was as we were walking down the streets in Venice. hahahha (shout out to dad in heaven :)) We QUICKLY taught her the Plan of Salvation and Dominique was just out of it the whole time. It was so sad. After we left, Sister Drummond looked at me and said, "What was wrong with Dominique????" I told her what the smell was and she freaked out. hahahahahha Oh the experiences you have as a missionary... priceless.

We met a really really crazy lady on the street who told us all about how she has accepted Jesus into her life and how the devil is out to get her. She kept asking us how we are so skinny and it was just really uncomfortable.

Weird day, goodness gracious.

 

Sunday "There is opposition in all things": We had no investigators at church today :((( We haven't been able to get a hold of Antrianna for the LONGEST time and we are very confused with what's going on with her. Jalisa didn't come because she was cooking? That's what she told us. She did say that she would come next week though!!!! It's just so crazy how hard satan is working to get people to not come to church. lame. lame. lame.

We had a really neat experience this day! All of our plans had fallen through so we decided to contact people at the park. We saw a HUGE crowd of people in the center of the park and they were having a revival of some sort. So we kept walking and saw three teenagers who were sitting on a bench. 14, 15, and 17 years old and they were ALL smoking!!!!!!! How sad is that? Anyway, we had a really good discussion with them about religion. And Chrissy, the 17 year old is the grandchild of our relief society president here!!!!! She told us that she wasn't too interested in what we had to say. Chrissy basically talked the whole time and her friend, Danielle was quiet. We left both of them with our number and told them to text us so we would have their number so that we could go get icecream together sometime. 10 mins later, Danielle texted us and said, "Thank y'all so much for talking to us. Y'all are some cool girls and good examples to me. I am in a dark place in my life and I want to be better. Will y'all help me?" AHHHHHHHHHHHHH She melted our hearts!!!!! Danielle just moved here from Tennessee and she told us via text that she really doesn't have any friends and that her family life is rough and that she really wants to go to church!!!!!! I LOVE HER!!!!!!! We set a time up this week that we can see her and she is so excited :) We are too!!!!!!

We went over to have a lesson with JOSH (YES. JOSH. He had a "come to jesus" moment with Sister Edwards and now he wants to learn from us again). Chantel was there and we ended up having a HILARIOUS night with both of them!!! Usually, Chantel is very stand-offish when it comes to talking with us. I have been praying for the longest time for her heart to soften and it finally has!!!!!! We were all laughing so hard as she told us the difference between "us white folks and black people." Oh my. She went through a super long list from hair texture to how white people eat vegetables to how black people threaten their kids more. Tears were coming from our eyes. I love the south so much!!!! It was so great! I'm grateful that we have broken through the tough wall that she placed in front of us. We were able to teach them an awesome lesson too!!!! YAY!

Quote from Chantel: "A whoopin' to y'all is like a spankin. A beatin' to us is like a DEATH SENTENCE." Oh my, the way she said it was hilarious and the look on her face was priceless!!!!

 

Well, in other news....

-Tom totally passed his baptismal interview and is GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY. GUESS WHO GOT PERMISSION FROM PRESIDENT HANKS TO GO??? ME!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED! I MIGHT CRY.

-Sister Drummond and I got proposed to TWICE this past week from two different men. YIKES.

-1 porch swing that I sit on=20 new bug bites

-Vocab words for this week that I wan't y'all to use:

"Fiddin" =another way to say "fixin" which means "I'm about to..."

"cut" =turn (ex: Cut them lights off! or Cut the TV off!!!!!)

"It's been a minute" = It's really been a long time!!!! Ex: I've been waiting in line for a minute. (in reality, I was waiting in line for 2 hours)

-We find at least 3 large pieces of fake hair a day on the street. Braids, wigs, dreads. You name it.

-Classic ways that people kindly say no to us #southernhospitality.... "We are busy right now, but do y'all have a number we can reach you at?" (We give them a card and of course, they never call.. unless they are creepy) or "I work 24/7"

-I always like to ask people what their favorite scripture is when I meet new people.... there are always 2 classic answers... "I don't know! I can't choose! I just love the whole bible!" or "John 3:16!!!!" And then they begin to quote it. IT'S ALWAYS JOHN 3:16 and I don't know why. Sure, it's a great scripture, but there are SOOOOO many good ones!!!!!! Preachers....

 

Well, I love y'all so much!!!!! Like I said, I have been focusing on change a lot and how to get people to change for the better. People here truly do have a desire to change, but they just don't know how. They don't know how to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that is why we are here as missionaries!!!! I love this quote: "Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like him." AMEN. We, as people, are given so many different trials so that we can test our faith and our ability to change for the better. I am grateful for the trials that I have received on my mission. I'm (oddly) grateful that investigators are stubborn sometimes and don't come to church because it allows me to look myself in the mirror and see what I need to change about myself. It helps me react in a more positive way and learn how to do so more often. YAY FOR TRIALS!!! :)

LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH! GO AND DO. BE GOOD EXAMPLES. LOVE FIERCELY.

 

myky,

Sister Platt

Happy! Happy! Happy! Missions are the best!

(Sorry the email is late. We had a zone activity and so I was playing bball, four square, and roller hockey all morning. SO FUN! I love the missionaries here. We are just like our own little family.)

Can I just tell y'all how much I love my mission???? I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! I'm obsessed with the South and ah, I love the people!!!!!!!!

 

The weather is really starting to heat up and it is super humid, but Heavenly Father is SO loving and always sends a 10 minute thunderstorm right when we need it! :) I'm obsessed with the storms here.

 

It was really really really hard for me to leave Sister VK. GAH. I love that girl so much!!! She is now serving in Pontotoc which is only an hour away from here so that is happy news!

I am now serving with Sister Drummond!!!!!!! We were in the same zone when I was serving in Russellville and already knew each other fairly well. I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!! She is super cute and we teach really well together. She is from St. George, UT and we even have some mutual friends from when we lived there!!! CRAZY.

Transfer meeting was SUPER DUPER good!!!!! One thing that I love that President Hanks said was about his and Sister Hanks's vision for us. They want to run into us one day when we are all grown up and have kids. They want to hear our kid say, "Hey Mr. Hanks! We are a family who is STEADFAST IN CHRIST." I love that. I love how President Hanks is making us into Disciples of Jesus Christ, not missionaries. He is preparing us for the rest of our life and I find comfort in everything he tells us! His goal for each of us missionaries is to see our children go through the temple. SO COOL.

 

This last week was full of crazy events. More crazy than spiritual, but still very good things are happening here! THIS PLACE HAS OFFICIALLY EXPLODED!!!!

 

-Tammy and Jonathan got baptized this past Saturday!!! It was so great. Tammy had to be baptized 3 times because President Honsinger kept getting the wording wrong, but she came out of the font BEAMING with happiness. Ah, and then Jonathan got baptized and he was smiling from ear to ear and kept saying to himself, "I feel so clean!!!" Ah. I love them both so much!!! Brandon, Tammy's son who is already a member, gave a heartwarming talk on baptism and he told everyone how proud he is of his mom and brothers decision of joining the church so they could be one happy family. AHHHH I'M OBSESSED WITH THEM. 

 

-We had really good lessons with our investigator, Jalisa this past week!!!! Her sister Bri joined in on one of the lessons and was soaking everything in. Jalisa really wants to be baptized and change her life around. She told us that her and her sister have had long talks about how they need to get closer to God and how meeting with us will help them :) Gah, they are the best!!!!!

 

-We weren't able to meet with Antrianna this past week because she got her phone stolen and we lost communication with her, BUT we didn't know it at the time so we kept bugging her and texting her until she FINALLY answered us on Saturday night and told us that she wanted to come to church!!!!!

 

-Sister Drummond and I were out tracting one day and this man in a beat up truck rolled down his window, slowed down, and stopped right by us as we were walking.

In a slurred voice, he said:

"Are y'all menonites?"

Us: "No. We are missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Da..."

Him: "OH! Y'ALL ARE THE MORMONS. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT JOE THEN?"

Us: "Joseph Smith? We believe that he was a prophet of God!!!!!!!!"

Him: "What do you think about Jesus then?"

Us: "He is Our Savior and Redeemer of the wor..."

Him: "NO YOU DON'T! Y'ALL DON'T BELIEVE IN JESUS."

(At this point, I started walking away and then he just kept driving his car next to us. Eventually, another car was behind him and he STILL wouldn't move.)

Me: "Uh. Sir. You should probably keep driving. There is a car behind you."

Him: "Y'all should move."

Us: "Okay! Have a nice day!!!! Here! Take a Mormon.org card!"

He then grabbed the card, looked at it, and threw it on his dashboard as he said, "NO! I don't want it!!!!! I WANT TO BE SAVED. CAN Y'ALL SAVE ME?"

Me: (In frustration) Have a good day Sir. BYE!!!!!!!

We then proceeded to a sketchy house and knocked on the door because there was no other option. GUESS WHAT? We ended up teaching a sit down lesson to the family of sisters/friends,-Culieka, Starianna, Garianna, Roshondra. They are all sisters and Roshondra was a friend. They let us in and they let us do their laundry!!!!!! PEOPLE USUALLY NEVER LET US SERVE THEM, BUT THEY DID!!!!! I WAS SO HAPPY. So basically, what I am trying to say is that Satan tries to make us mad by putting creepy people in our path, but Heavenly Father always wins in the end :) We have a return appt with them tonight!!! SO EXCITED!!!!

 

-JALISA AND ANTRIANNA CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY!!!!!! BEST DAY EVER. THEY BOTH STAYED ALL THREE HOURS!!!!!! They both ended up LOVING it and Sister Drummond and I were shocked to hear how much they loved it because the following happened at church....

-Sacrament meeting was a MESS. There are 2 toddlers in the branch who always run up and down the chapel. Well, one of the toddlers hit his head really hard on the chair and started SCREAMING as soon as the Sacrament was being blessed. We couldn't hear them bless the sacrament at all!!! THEN, the other toddler is on an i-pad (curse the ipad) and the music from the game that he was playing starts to fill the room. It was very stressful for us. And to top it all off, no one even said hi to them as they walked in. It was just super weird!!!!!!!!

-Gospel Principles class... the topic was on Heavenly Families. One of the members started to talk about how he doesn't want to burn his child in hell. I quickly ended the discussion that he started by bearing my testimony, but he kept going back to that topic! hahahaha The south is the best y'all!!!! 

-And to put the icing on the cake, we had a lesson on Celestial marriage in Relief Society.

It's okay though, Jalisa and Antrianna both told us that they LOVED it and that they were coming back next week!!!! TENDER MERCY. I'm grateful for the spirit. I am grateful for them. Ah. They are the sweetest girls in the world!!!!

 

-We had a lesson with Sister Moore (LA) and her husband who isn't a member. We taught them the Restoration and the spirit was SO STRONG. It was a very powerful lesson and I could just tell by looking into Brother Moore's eyes that he KNOWS it's true. At the end, we invited him to read and pray about The Book of Mormon and he said, "I will do it, but I have to be honest... I used to attend the LDS church all the time, but I felt an even better spirit when I went to the Baptist church..." MY HEART SANK. We promised him that he would get his answer as he read and as he came to church with his wife. He agreed that he would at least read so we shall see!!!!!!

You know what's frustrating to me about being here in the South??? SOOOOOOOO many GREAT people here who literally could be Mormon and they just don't understand the importance of this gospel and how it can bless their life!!!!

 

We are finding lots more people to teach and the Lord is blessing us every day :) People ARE prepared here and it's a beautiful thing to see!!!! I am so grateful for our Savior, Jesus Christ. He has done so much for us. May we all be STEADFAST IN CHRIST. 2 Nephi 31:20. Steadfast=commitment, dedication, perserverance, walking with God. Show your commitment to the Lord EVERY DAY. Dedicate your life to HIM. Perservere through anything that comes your way. Last, but not least, WALK with God. I love how it doesn't mention walking behind or infront of Him, but walk right beside HIm!!!!!! How neat is that? To know that Our Loving Father in Heaven wants us, imperfect beings, to walk right next to Him. :)

 

LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry, I can't remember anything else that happened because I came to the library unprepared, but this past week has been grand! Miracles still happen every day!!!!! :)

 

MYKY,

Sister Platt

Celebrating being baptized! 

Jalisa and Antrianna

Tammy and Jonathon's baptism.

Shelling shrimp!

REALLY GOOD WEEK

AHHHHHHH. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! THINGS ARE MOVING FORWARD HERE.

 

SAD NEWS: Sister VK is leaving me :'( Maybe one day I will have a companion for longer than 6 weeks. It's okay. It is her time to go and bless other peoples lives. I will find out who my new companion is on Wednesday at transfer meeting!!!!!

Can I just say that West Point is the promised land? Cause it is.

 

We had interviews with President Hanks last Wednesday in Tupelo and oh my, I love that man so much. He asked me the following questions that I would like y'all to consider personally as well:

-"What do you long for?" (I replied that I longed for acceptance from Heavenly Father)

-"What do you love about yourself?" (I said I loved my attitude about this work)

-"How is your testimony?" (I told him that it is constantly growing)

-"Why do you think I trust you?" (I told him I was diligent and obedient)

He then told me how proud he was of me and it meant a lot to hear it from him. I am so grateful for him and Sister Hanks!!!!

 

He also talked to all the missionaries there about "growing a polite spine" which means that all of us are being too nice to investigators. He explained that we need to be more BOLD in our invitations and be DEVASTATED when people don't keep their commitments. He told us that we are all WAY too nice when our investigators tell us that they couldn't come to church or when they don't read, etc. He basically told us to make the investigators feel guilty for not reading/coming to church, etc. It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear and I'm so grateful for how inspired he is!!!! Sister VK and I have CHANGED this past week and things are happening!!!! We are being more bold and definitely let people know our purpose as missionaries and I love it!

I'm just going to copy and paste what he said in his last email because President Hanks says it better than I do...I CHALLENGE Y'ALL TO APPLY THIS INTO YOUR LIVES.

 

"(1) CHALLENGE YOURSELF!
Pick some area of your life, any area, and choose a Big Audacious Goal. Make it tough. Make it real. Make sure it is difficult, but attainable. (I have chosen to not eat after 7:00pm.)

(2) CHALLENGE YOUR COMPANION!
Do it. Politely. But, do it! Have Companionship Inventory. Start with a prayer. Gird up your loins and say to your companion… “I think you should consider ________ .” Then, put on your Kevlar Vest, smile, and listen while your companion tells you something you could improve on. No defensiveness.

(3) CHALLENGE YOUR INVESTIGATORS!
This is the biggie. Do it! (You promised me that you would.)

- If they don’t come to church, BE DEVASTATED, and tell them all the preparation you put into their promised attendance. Share the benefits of church attendance with them again. Challenge them to attend next Sunday.
- If they haven’t read, BE DEVASTATED!! Then read with them.
- If they haven’t prayed, teach them the basic four steps of prayer, get on your knees, and invite them to pray.

(4) CHALLENGE YOUR PARADIGMS!
Too many false traditions have invaded our mission:
“We can’t work at night.” “Tracting doesn't work.” “Boldness will scare investigators away.” “If I hang out at the members’ houses for hours, they will like me and trust me with their friends to teach.” “I’m just the Junior Companion, that’s why I didn't say anything.” Etc."

 

Sister VK and I have been challenging ourselves everyday by:

-running every morning

-being bold in our commitments

-being bold in our testimony

-memorizing more scriptures

-eating healthier

-Not saying mean things about anyone

 

NOW. WHAT WILL Y'ALL DO TO STRETCH YOURSELF? 

I will talk about our investigators and then will tell you other exciting events that took place this past week.

 

Tammy and Jonathan: THEY ARE GETTING BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY :))) We are SO excited for them and so proud of Tammy for officially being done with cigarrettes. A year ago, Tammy didn't want ANYTHING to do with the church and now she is getting baptized with her son! How neat is that??? I love seeing how the gospel can change peoples hearts :) Jonathan is so excited about being baptized and has been waiting a good year to do it. We finished up our last lesson with Tammy this past week and went over the baptismal interview questions with her and Jonathan. They answered them all perfectly!!!! They came to church yesterday as well and really enjoyed it!

 

Josh: Josh is my favorite. He is 18 years old and is a senior in high school. He basically is part of the family with Amy Edwards (who is a member). He is getting baptized on August 16th!!! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and also the Law of Chastity this past week. He asked LOTS of questions and we were able to have a really good discussion with him on dating. He is dating this girl right now who isn't the best influence for him and he realizes it. He wants to become better and live high standards. He also came to church again yesterday and he told us that he just loves how he feels there and how everyone is like family. BRANCHES ARE THE BEST.

 

Antriannna: Ah. We had a really good lesson with Antrianna last monday. She is 16 years old and wants to live a better life; better than the one she was raised up in. We talked about prophets and the need for them. She thinks Thomas S. Monson is the cutest old man ever. She told us that she has changed SO much because she has met us. She said, "I used to watch reality tv shows and listen to rap, but now I just want to watch cartoons and I'm happier!" It was SOOO O FUNNY. She told us that she thinks we are perfect and that we don't sin (I wish that was the case). She said that she wanted that for herself. We promised her that she will become the type of person that she strives for as she makes covenants with God. As we set a baptismal date with her, she looked at the calender on the phone and then looked up at us and said, "Before I'm baptized, I have to have a strong desire to follow Jesus Christ, right?" We smiled and said "RIGHT!" She then said, "Okay. I think I will be ready by August 30th." I love her sooooo much!! She really wants to change and knows what she needs to do to get there. We had another lesson with her last Thursday and talked with her about he gospel of Jesus Christ. She told us that she had a dream about being in Paradise and how she saw the people in prison and how sad they looked. She then said to us, "THIS CHURCH IS TRUE. I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW ABOUT IT. God helped me know through the dream I had that it's true. Oh! And the Book of Mormon is the word of God! I know it's true!" yup. She is solid!!!!! And she basically wants to go to BYU because she told us that she wanted good friends in College and now her heart is set on BYU. haha ah. I just want y'all to meet her!!!!! She was planning on coming to church, but her mom couldn't take her to church because she left earlier to work than expected. SHE WILL COME NEXT WEEK.

 

Jalisa: We met Jalisa this past week after one of our appointments had fallen through. She was outside grilling and we started talking with her. She is 22 years old!!! We came back the next day and taught her an AWESOME lesson on the restoration! She loved it and was so excited to get a copy of The Book of Mormon!!! We came back the next day after that, and she excitingly told us that she already read the introduction. We asked her if anything stuck out to her as she read and she smiled and said, "Yes. The part when it says, 'I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.' I want that. I want to get nearer to God and if this book is going to do that for me, then I will read it!" We then were able to testify to her that what she was saying is TRUE. We read the first chapter with her and we applied everything to her as we read. SHE LOVED IT. We said, "Jalisa!!! What if God told you to leave everything you have and walk to Tupelo with your family because West Point is going to be destroyed? Could you do it?" She laughed and said, "Well. Yeah. If God commanded me to do it, then I would!" SHE IS SOLID. She hasn't been to church in a while and told us that we were an answer to her prayers because she has been wanting to get closer to God. I then asked her if she has ever been baptized and she said that she did when she was little. I asked her how her baptism was and she replied saying, "Well... I can't really remember it. Is it necessary for me to get baptized again?" We boldly testified to her that it WAS NECESSARY because she needs to be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood. She agreed and we were able to set a baptismal date with her for September 6th!!!!!!

 

In other news...

-I ate half a plate of shrimp the other day! I know. I know. I shocked myself. I'm sure everyones jaw is officially dropped right now, huh? We went over to Brother Brown's house for dinner and Sara (a recent convert) came over as well!!! He brought home a HUGE bag of shrimp and he knew that I didn't like sea food, but I told him that I would eat it anyway! Brother Brown was SOOOO excited to see me eat the shrimp. It was hilarious. They were all so proud of me and kept telling me that I was a champ! It was honestly REALLY GOOD. I loved it!!!!! The only part that freaked me out was that we pulled off all the dead skin before they heated it in the oven with butter. No worries, I have pictures to prove it. I'M A BIG GIRL NOW.

 

-We had a late branch Pioneer day and we cleaned up a place called "Mormon springs" that is out in the middle of nowhere. It was really neat!!! Mormon springs is where the first missionaries in Mississippi baptized people during the Pioneer days! We raked and raked and enjoyed homemade icecream and watermelon!!! AH. I am starting to LOVE the branch!!!!

 

-We had a really weird lesson with this lady named Dorothy who we met one day in a store. She went on and on about Jesus and would not let us talk!!! When we got to the part of Joseph Smith's first vision, we started to quote the words that Joseph Smith said and she just interrupted us and said, "NOPE. God CAN'T see man with his own eyes." Oh. We were getting so annoyed. hahah, but we kept our cool. We just testified to her and invited her to pray about it because God WILL answer. She told us to come back another day. NO. We won't!

 

-Sister Moore (A less active lady) called us and invited us over for dinner. WE WERE SO EXCITED!!! She made: corn, cornbread, beans, fried okra (WHICH IS MY FAVORITE), and potatoes. WE were so stoked and it was delicious!!! After dinner, she told us that we could start teaching her husband the lessons again starting this upcoming week!!! MIRACLE. (Her husband was baptized 10 years ago, but never got confirmed because his mom threatened his life.) So I guess we will see what happens this week :)

 

-Testimony meeting yesterday was AMAZING. I love the branch. I love it because everyone basically bears their testimony, including us. Brother Givens, who is a recent convert of 3 months shared his sweet testimony. He is in a wheel chair so he just stayed in his seat and sang a random baptist gospel song and then told us that he wants to go to heaven and that we shouldn't feel bad for him for being in a wheelchair. He told us that he doesn't want to go to hell and that he knows this church will bring him to heaven. IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. #onlyinthesouth #onlyinabranch

 

 

I love y'all and I love being a missionary.

Can I just tell y'all how much I love the South?

Yesterday, we had a thunderstorm during one of our lessons and I couldn't help, but just smile. I LOVE IT HERE. I love peaches. I love the people. I love the culture. I love how green it is. I love how we can walk up to anyone and ask them about Jesus and that it's not a weird thing to do.

I am changing and realizing what I need to work on every day. The time here on a mission is so short and I am trying my best to give Heavenly Father MY BEST. I AM HAPPY.

 

NOW GO OUT AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF!!!!!

MYKY,

Sister Platt