Sweet Home Alabama: Once again, maybe one day I'll be in the same area for more than 3 months.

Hello everyone!!!!

yes. I am getting transferred AGAIN. Oh. and maybe one day I will have a companion for two transfers! Shout out to sister gustafson.. she is the only one STILL.

We were waiting for our transfer instructions for a good 2 hours and finally, at 10:28, President Hanks called us. (usually it's the assistants who do it.)

Well. Sister Drummond will be training a new sister in West Point and I have been assigned to be a Sister Training Leader! I AM SO EXCITED, BUT SO NERVOUS. I will be in a huge area again which will be weird, but good for me to challenge myself.

I am so excited to learn from all the other sisters by going on exchanges with them. It will be a good opportunity for me to really stretch myself, so it will be grand! Sister Drummond is going to be such a good trainer and I'm so happy for her!

The work is moving forward and I am loving every minute of it.

I will truly miss West Point and all of the crazy/amazing people here. Goodness. This place will always be something that I will smile back on.

I forgot my notes so this email is going to be everywhere again!!!!!

WE HAD ZONE CONFERENCE WITH ELDER ZWICK IN HUNTSVILLE.

IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!

At the very beginning, Elder Zwick told us of an experience he had in the temple the week before coming to Alabama. He was talking to President Monson how he was going to Alabama and asked if he had anything he wanted to say to us missionaries. President Monson replied saying, "Remind the missionaries to be safe. And assure them so they know that they are the strongest missionary force the world has ever known." yes. I got chills. Oh my goodness. The spirit was SO strong as soon as Elder Zwick walked in the Chapel.

He used the scripture found in Mosiah 18:30 and told us to replace "the waters of mormon" to "the alabama birmingham mission." It was really neat and made the scripture super personal. He then said that Alabama will be "holy ground" for us because we came to a knowledge of our Redeemer here. Ah. It is so true though. Whenever I think about where I am, I just smile. I am obsessed with this place. He also quoted Elder Scott who said, "You do all the work, you give others the credit and you will be happy every time." How true is that?

He then got very serious and talked about how we need to each be totally focused and sanctified so miracles can happen. He then invited us to ask ourselves this question at the start of every day: "Is my mind single to the glory of God?"

Sister Hanks talked about Alabama and how blessed we are for being able to serve such humble/christian people in a free country. She got very emotional and it was the sweetest thing in the world. I love her so much and she is totally right.

President Hanks gave an awesome lesson on "progress". He talked about the whole church uses the word "progress" and that we need to do the same with teaching our investigators. Our whole goal should be to make them progress closer to baptism. He then talked about getting lost in the work and truly just giving our mission everything we've got because the time we have out here is SUPER SHORT. He also said, "Perfect use of the Lord's time=Law of sacrifice as a missionary" I LOVE that!!!!

Sister Zwick talked about having a change of heart and how the only difference between Nephi and Laman and Lemuel was a change of heart that Nephi had. Laman and Lemuel did everything that the Lord commanded, but they murmured. She then talked about how we shouldn't limit ourselves to what we think our capacity is. AH! It was just the grandest meeting y'all!

There was so much more that was said, but I will run out of time if I tell y'all everything!

Oh. And Elder Zwick told us that we would be getting ipads sometime between sept and january! haha

OH. and guess who sat next to me during lunch? ELDER ZWICK. No big deal. We had a really good conversation about how he prepares for talks and also talked about the AMAZING talk he gave in the last general conference. He and Sister Zwick are ADORABLE. :)

Nothing too crazy has happened this past week. We have been just trying to find new people and it's been rough, but Heavenly Father is continuing to bless us each and every day.

For example, at the end of a super rough day of finding no new people to teach, Sister Drummond really wanted icecream so we went to McDonald's to get cones. The cashier who saw us said, "Hey! Do you ladies remember me? You said a prayer with me today!!!" (I honestly didn't recognize her until we started talking to her). Anyway, she then said, "Yeah. You ladies have no idea how much that prayer helped me. I was crying for an hour straight and was praying for help and then y'all just showed up so thank you." Tender mercies are the best. :) We ended up inviting her to learn more and she said her dad was a pastor, but it's all good!

We saw Jalisa and had an official "drop talk" with her and asked her if she still wanted to learn. She told us that she has been struggling a lot recently and needs our help and encouragement. We invited her to be baptized (again) and she said she would be baptized by the end of the year. We then said, "perfect. How about October 25?" She said YES! We will see what happens!!!! Jalisa is just having a hard time keeping commitments because of her Boyfriend who is not the best influence for her. It's so sad and I wish she could just see how HAPPY this gospel will make her be for the rest of her life!!!!

We were able to help Sister Swift clean her house this past week!!! I love this woman so much. Oh my goodness. We joke around so much and she makes fun of me all the time in a friendly way. hahah After working, Sister Swift says to me, "Sister Platt! Would you like some water?" Me: "Oh no, I'm..." Sis. Swift: (in her deep southern accent) "shut up" HAHHAHA WE WERE LAUGHING SO HARD. Oh goodness. The people here crack me up.

hahah we came up with a GENIUS idea of how to contact people and we did it!!!! SO. this is what we did. We got a poster and wrote the words, "STOP! A scripture a day will keep the devil away. Get your spiritual upliftment here!" Then we taped a picture of Jesus on it and wrote mormon.org on it as well. We then went to a busy intersection that had a stop sign and Sister Drummond held the poster while I got my scriptures out. IT WAS HILARIOUS. We looked so awkward there, but it totally worked!!!! We did it for 30 minutes and made a good 20 contacts!!!!!!! Some people pointed and laughed at us, but most were very nice and rolled down their window as I read them a scripture. Lots of people said, "yes. Thank you Jesus!" after I read a scripture. hahah I love the south so much. There was a random girl who walked up to us and gave us a hug and then just walked away. Oh west Point. How I will miss you.

I have grown so much on my mission and I am so GRATEFUL for Heavenly Father and all He does for us missionaries every single day we are out here working. He is so amazing!!!!!!!!

I am really going to miss Tammy and her whole family the most. They have taught me so much and more than I have taught them. I know that I was supposed to be here for her and her sweet family. Actually. No. I came here so that they could be there for ME.

I love y'all so much and I am grateful for all the support!!!!!! Sorry. I can't remember anything else that happened this past week!!!!

-The peaches are officially out of season and I am so upset. They are my favorite fruit!!!!

-I found 10 pieces of hair on the ground this week. (braids on braids on braids)

-Chantel made me fried wings for a "going away" party. #dailydoseofchantel She also made fun of the way I talk and told Sister Drummond and I that we talk too slow.

-We walked past a HUGE dead bird on the road and naturally took a picture with it. A girl we know saw it and put one of her cigarettes in it's mouth

MYKY,

Sister Platt