Hallelujah!

Ah. I am so happy. ALL the time. It's not even a joke y'all. This work that we are doing as missionaries is absolutely INCREDIBLE. How grateful I am to be a missionary at this time. Heavenly Father is SO aware of us and wants the best for each one of us. I know that with all I've got. I KNOW God lives!!!!!!!!!! 

What a wonderful week that we had here in Leeds!!!! Lots of exciting things are happening here :) 

The weather has been acting up lately and one day it will be completely FREEZING and then the next day, it will be completely warm. So confusing. I just love it here!

We had a zone conference this past week and it was grand!!!! Poor President Hanks wasn't able to physically be there because he is still recovering from back surgery, but we were able to skype with him!!!! I love that man so much. 

Here are some of the notes I took:

-Sacrifice your time

-The three stages of missionary work: being on a mission. Being a missionary. BEING A DISCIPLE. Do I want to be a disciple???

-This gospel isn't fake. This is all REAL. Joseph Smith ACTUALLY saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. God ACTUALLY chose a 14 year old boy to restore Christ's church. 

-1 Peter 1:16 (love this)

-We are doing a hard thing

-99.9% of your doubts don't happen

-Throw away worries

-Show God what you've got

-Faith by definition is darkness. It's okay to not have a testimony of everything.

-Smilers never lose and frowners never win.

-Do not take advice from your fears

-We are involved in exaltation. How could that not make us confident?

-"We have the power to bring people to exaltation. If you don't know that, hit your knees and plead with God for understanding and He will let you know." -President Nolan (Pres. Hanks assistant)

-The assistants then discussed the scripture found in 2 Kings 6:15-17 which I LOVE. Elisha is a prophet and people are rejecting him. In these verses, it talks about how Elisha woke up in his tent one day and saw his enemies surrounding him. His servent saw them as well and cried unto Elisha saying, "Master! How shall we do?" (or, what shall we do?) and Elisha replied saying, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." How cool is that? We have people on the other side of the veil cheering us on. We have God on our side. It reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible found in Romans 8:31. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" 

GOD IS WITH US EVERY DAY. LOOK FOR HIS HAND IN YOUR LIFE.

Updates on investigators:

Diamond and Marquarious: We stopped by their home to see why they were ignoring our texts/calls. (the worst part about missionary work). Diamond answered the door and looked at us and just sighed as she said, "So here's what happened... Marquarious's friend showed him some stuff on the computer about how Mormons hate baptists and other stuff as well so we don't want to meet with y'all anymore." #antiistheworst It was heartbreaking to hear her say that. ugh. We asked her if Marquarious would come out and talk to us about it, but he refused to even look at us. SO SO SO SAD. We just invited them to go onto mormon.org and reminded them how they felt when they first started to learn from us. I know one day, missionaries WILL come to their door again or contact them on the street right when they are ready for the gospel again!!!!! 

Michelle: mah. Michelle has been super busy this past week because she works 7 days on and 7 days off so we weren't able to see her at all!!!!!!!!! Hopefully, we will get a hold of her this upcoming week :) 

Tony: We met Tony this past week! It was definitely a miracle/tender mercy from God with how we met him!!!! I was on exchanges with Sister Johnson in Leeds and we were about to drive away to go home for the night, but then we saw him yelling at us and waving his arms up in the air to get our attention. My initial reaction was, "uh. This guy seems crazy." but the spirit definitely nudged at both Sister Johnson and I and we felt like we needed to stop and talk with him. We pulled up next to his car and he started to explain to us how he used to play football for BYU in 1994 for 2 years before he got kicked out and how he has always wanted to study with the missionaries. He is now in a wheelchair because of some disease he had. He explained to us that he felt it was meant to be that he saw us because something crazy happens every 10 years of his life. (1994--played for BYU. 2004---In a wheelchair) and now it's 2014. I excitingly told him, "Hey! God wants you to learn from us and be baptized!!!!!" haha he totally agreed and asked us when we could meet with him. We met with him the next day at Wendy's and had a lesson with him there. He took religion classes at BYU so he already knows A LOT. It was hilarious because after we said the opening prayer, we asked him if he had any questions that he really was wondering about. He then started to ask all of these deep doctrine questions that I have never heard an investigator ask before. So hilarious. He is so solid, but has a hard time focusing because he just flips from one subject to the next. I love him so much though. 

Ken: Sister Johnson and I were out biking on exchanges and we biked past Ken. Sister Madsen and I briefly taught Ken last transfer, but thought he was just visiting for the day. We biked past him and felt like we should turn around and so we did. We taught him the Restoration right then and there and invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!!!! We set a date with him for December 13. Miracles ALWAYS happen on exchanges y'all!!! 

Tom: While on exchanges with Sister Maxwell, we found Tom! We started talking with him and he explained to us how his wife had recently passed away and that she was a member of our church. CRAZY. We had NO IDEA. He then said that he has pictures of the temple all over his house and that he used to study with the missionaries and go to church. I asked him if he felt that everything is true that we teach and he said yes!!! We invited him to be baptized and he said he would, but he has to get over his smoking. We talked to some members about him and they said that the missionaries have tried a long time with him to quit smoking and haven't been able to get him to stop, BUT MIRACLES HAPPEN so we WILL help him quit!!!! He is the sweetest, most humble man ever. So excited to keep working with him. He works A LOT during the week to pay off some things so it has been hard to catch him at home. 

Pam: We met Pam's husband at walmart one day and he told us we could stop by any time. We followed up on that invitation last night and decided to go over to their home. Her husband, Rocky, answered the door and told us that Pam was sleeping. Well, God answers prayer and apparently woke her up because she came out of her room and started talking with us!!! She told us how she was raised in church, but doesn't really believe that there is one true church and that all denominations have something to offer and as long as we know Jesus Christ, we are good. (this is how most southerners feel). We talked with her all about The Book of Mormon and shared some scriptures with her. I felt prompted to bare testimony about The Book of Mormon as we were about to leave and I said, "Well. Pam. I KNOW that this book WILL change your life and bring you the peace you are looking for. Sister Moore and I wouldn't have come out on this mission if we didn't know that this book could change your life." Sister Moore then bore a powerful testimony as well and Pam's whole countenance changed as she said, "really? I will try and read it." We have a return appointment with her this week!!!!! 

Sister Iverson: We received a referral from Sister Iverson's neighbor to go see her!!! She is a "jesus-loving" woman and is the sweetest woman in the world. She just thought we were so great for offering to say a prayer with her. We told her all about The Book of Mormon and she loved it and kept asking us when we would bring her "our bible". so funny. She is in her 70's and has been going to a "holiness church of God" for her whole life, so who knows what will happen with her, but she is the greatest!!!! God can convert anyone!!!!

Update on CHURCH:

Ah. In the morning, we called Tony, Ken, and Tom to confirm that they were coming to church. Only Tony replied saying that he would be there. Church yesterday was beautifully hilarious. Tony texted us telling us he was outside so we walked out and greeted him. He then just rolled in the church quickly and started to talk to everyone at church. It was great. We sat at the back row because it is the only row that is wheelchair approved. Someone started to say the opening prayer and we hear a loud, "hallelujah" come out of Tony's mouth. "uh oh." I thought as he kept saying it over and over again while the lady was praying.... hahahahhaha oh my goodness. The south... TOO GOOD. 

Then, while the sacrament was being blessed, Tony started to hum some random gospel song super loud. I looked over at him and his eyes were closed and his head was leaned back. It was so classic. I love my life. THEN, the choir sang a song and Tony started to yell even louder, "yes. lord. All for you. Yes. Jesus. You are the all mighty!!!!"  #thismissionistheBEST No one even said anything about it which is a total tender mercy!!!!!

Halfway through sacrament meeting, a man walked through the doors and Sister Moore looked at me and said, "who is that?" MY FACE WAS BEAMING. KEN TOTALLY CAME IN ALL BY HIMSELF. I totally learned a lesson right then: to never doubt. I totally thought he wasn't going to come because he wasn't answering our calls!!!! GAH. SO COOL!!!!! 

After Sacrament meeting, I walked up to Ken and he just laughed and said, "you didn't think I would come, huh?" GOD IS REAL. Tony and Ken both stayed for the Gospel Principles class that Sister Moore and I taught. (we teach basically every sunday now because the elders never want to do it and the teacher who usually teaches is less active). Anyway, we taught about the Savior's Atonement and I am so grateful for the spirit. He is the ultimate teacher and I have fallen in love with teaching gospel truths. It is so much fun seeing people grasp and understand the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ :) 

Update on Walmart: yes. yes. yes. of course we went to Walmarks this past week to contact people. President Hanks always tells us that God made walmart for His missionaries and that is a true statement. While on exchanges with Sister Maxwell, we made cupcakes and walked around the parking lot and handed them all out to random people as we invited them to learn more. WELL. Fast forward 3 days when Sister Moore and I are at Walmarks. A random guy walks up to us and says to me, "hey! do you remember me?" (I didn't recognize him at all). He then started to explain how we had given him a cupcake. hahaha I excitingly then asked him if the cupcake was good and he said yes and then gave us his number so that we could come and teach him!!! BOOYAH. CUPCAKES WORK Y'ALL. 

Update on Brother Mack: HE JUST HAD HIS INTERVIEW FOR RECEIVING THE PRIESTHOOD. He is such a happy 70 year old man and he makes me SO SO SO HAPPY!!! I love being around him and I want everyone to hear his amazing/heartfelt conversion story. He is the best! I love him so much and I secretly wish I could hug him, but no. I am a missionary. I wish y'all could have seen the change that has happened because of the Gospel that is now in his life. His whole countenance is completely different. He studies from the scriptures every day and always has intellectual questions to ask us. Yesterday, at church, we sang the song, "All Creatures of Our God and King" (yes. I thought of dad the whole time!) and I looked over at him during the song and he was shaking his head up and down and had a HUGE smile on his face as he sang the song. Oh my. He is so cute!!!!

FUN FACT ABOUT BRO. MACK. So brother Mack is an extremely picky eater. Like really bad. He told us a story how he went on a trip to Mexico and ate at a steak house for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for the whole week he was there because it was the only place that didn't serve mexican food which he hates. hahahhaha we came to the conclusion that the only food he really eats and loves is white rice. Sister Moore and I thought of a genius idea to fill up a Christmas stocking of rice to give to him!!! hahahahha He is the best. I want y'all to meet him SO BADLY.

Funny story of the week: We have been reteaching the missionary lessons to a lady who got baptized at the beginning of this year, but is now less active (so sad). Her grandpa was there and he is 95 years old and is absolutely hilarious!!! We invited him to join in on the lesson and he said, "hold on. I need to get my papers for you to read." He then got up out of his seat and went to the back room and rummaged through his stuff. We continued on with the lesson which was on the Plan of Salvation. He came back into the room right as we were about to finish up as we were talking about the different degrees of glory. He interrupted me mid-sentence and gave me a piece of paper that had a random story on it about an old house that had been restored. He demanded that I should read it. So hilarious. So I read it. Then, he started to pull out some more stories for us to read aloud. We had to leave really soon because we were already there for 45 minutes, but he kept telling us to read all the random stories. I asked him if we could finish the lesson and he can barely hear so I just yelled in his ear, asking him if he knew anything about the Celestial Kingdom. hahahahaha. I love my life. The grandpa was raised baptist and he just ignored my question. He was absolutely hilarious. I love old people so much. He reminded me SO MUCH of Grandpa Platt because he told the same stories over and over again about world war 2. It was quite amazing to talk with him because he is full of so much wisdom!!!

I am so excited that it is Thanksgiving this week!!!!! What are y'all thankful for? Oh my goodness, Sister Moore and I have been writing down all the things we are thankful for and the list is endless. 

I'm grateful for: Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, The Holy Ghost, Repentance, The Atonement, Plan of Salvation, Alabama, Missionary work, Food, Shelter, Cars, Oxygen, BBQ, Scriptures, Cameras, my planner, the south, gravy, clothes, southern accents, post its, puppies, bathrooms, children, my watch, sweaters, shoes, thunder, rain, MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS, etc. I really could go on and on. 

Be grateful in EVERY circumstance y'all!!!!!! Heavenly Father has blessed each one of us so so so much!!!!

Go read Mosiah 2: 19-21 :) One of my FAVORITE SCRIPTURES!!!!!

In other news....

-We DO have a dinner appointment for Thanksgiving, thank goodness. We are eating with the Carlisles!!! (The lady who used to be in the same ward as y'all in Roswell). I am so excited :) God answers prayer and gave us someone to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with. 

-The Iron bowl is this weekend #prayforus 

- Congrats to my sweet mom and sisters for running a HALF MARATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL UNDER 3 HOURS. WHHHAAAAAAT??? Y'ALL ARE AMAZING AND INSPIRE ME.

- Our current thing to work out to is Jillian Michels YOGA. #sosore #ohjillian #ithinkofdadeverytime #biggestloser

-"Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to meet Him" ---church sign

- I officially can't stand cats and dogs. THEY DRIVE ME NUTS. THEY ARE GROSS.

-I had chicken n' dumplings for the first time on my mission. It's a classic southern treat. Not a huge fan.

-We tracted into a lady and this is how the convo went:

Lady: "You two girls are so pretty and are just glowing."

us: "thanks so much! We just know that the good news we bring can change your life"

lady: "ah. That is where y'all are wrong. I feel so bad that you are so deceived. Don't let Satan do that to you and make you believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet." 

us: "Well. We hope you have a great day, ma'am. Do you know anyone in this area who could use the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives."

Lady: "no. I don't want you to lead any of my neighbors away from the truth."

#k #thesouthismakingmytestimonySOstrong

LOVE Y'ALL. HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING and avoid making caveman rolls mom! Let Jenna make them :) hahah have a great one!!!!!!

MYKY,

Sister Platt

God wants US to be happy

Ah. I LOVE MY LIFE SO MUCH <3333 

I JUST GOT DONE EATING BREAKFAST WITH BRAD AND KATHY!!!! SO MUCH FUN. I LOVE THEM BOTH SO MUCH!!!!!! hahah we ended up going to cracker barrel because there is nothing in this town. Brad was of course, trying to use the southern terms (like dad would of done) and kept saying, "yes sir" and he attempted to say "y'all" hahhahah too good. He ordered grits while the rest of us ordered some classic french toast and the waitress said, "Them grits are some good eatin". #lovemylife :) I'm so grateful for such amazing people in my life. I'm so grateful for the south. God is so good!!!!!! 

So this morning, as I was brushing my teeth and reflecting on what I wanted to email to y'all today about this past week. I was thinking a lot about happiness and how God really just wants us all to be truly happy. I was also pondering about the people here in the South. They all go to church and they are all trying to do the right thing, but so many are not as happy as they COULD be. I think we often think if nothing goes right in life, we have the rightful claim to be unhappy, but we NEED to remember the little things in life that makes our heart leap for joy!

The events that stuck out to me the most from this past week was just the little things that happened. There were just so many little tender mercies from the Lord. I feel like so many times as people, we focus on the huge events that happen in life and don't take the time to appreciate the cute/funny/spiritual things that happen. I am guilty of it as well. So I will list just some that I can think of, but I KNOW that there are SO many more!!!! And yes, this email will be all over the place. 

>While reading scriptures with Brother Mack, his daughter Nicole starts singing in her room REALLY loudly about how Christmas is coming up soon. I could NOT stop smiling. Oh my goodness. IT was the cutest thing ever. Brother Mack just shook his head and said, "yup. that's my baby. I would do anything for her!" I then asked Brother Mack if we could go knock on her bedroom door and give her a huge hug. We did. Seeing her just confirms to me more and more every time that I want to work with kids with special needs. I love her so much! 

>When we went over to Brother Gause's home for dinner last night, his daughter said, "turn the channel to number 334." So he turned the channel and guess what it was? The BYU TV station. How precious is that? It was the cutest thing ever that they were so mindful of us. #southernhospitality

>Yesterday, it was raining ALL day long, but Sister Moore and I decided to build our character and tract anyway. We found 3 new solid investigators!!!! People who have been searching for truth in their lives and one of the guys in particular is searching to know if God really does exist. We were able to share a scripture with him and it was powerful. So grateful. 

>At church yesterday, we sat near Brother Mack and as we sang, "count your many blessings" I looked over at him and he had the BIGGEST smile on his face and was singing every word. 

>One day, it was FREEZING outside, but we decided to be crazy and just bike to build even more character. Oh my goodness. It was the funnest bike ride of my life!!!!! We were laughing so hard the whole time! I kept praying and asked Heavenly Father if He would send us to someone who had hot chocolate. WELL. HE DID. We went over to follow up with a member on a referral activity we did with her and she had prepared hot chocolate and cookies that were there as soon as we walked in the door. We didn't even ask her for it!!! God answers the most simplest prayers. It's the neatest thing! 

>Last night, it was raining really hard and we still had one more hour left of the night. We drove over to the walmart parking lot and literally ran from person to person and held up an umbrella for them, asking them if they needed help to their car and then invited them to learn more. IT WAS A SUCCESS. We had so much fun doing it and we were drenched from the rain. When it rains here, Alabama really doesn't mess around. IT POURS. One man said to us, "can I say a prayer for y'all? I want to ask God to keep y'all this positive and happy for the rest of y'alls lives. Thank you gals." THIS PLACE IS THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD. 

>While on exchanges in Taladega, we went store contacting and started talking to a lady at target in the cookie aisle. We asked her if she knew anyone in the area who needed a prayer. Immediately, she dropped everything that she was holding and held out her hands and said, "I could sure use one!" and then closed her eyes. We then said a prayer with her just in the cookie aisle at target. WHAT. That would of NEVER happened out west. 

>I saw a church sign that said, "You be fishers of men. You catch them. He'll clean them" I LOVE THAT. 

>We met a hilarious lady who told us ALL about her medical problems and how she was given three shots in one day. As she was explaining this whole situation, she said, "yeah. The doctors just gave me a wam bam thank you ma'am." hahhahah I asked her to repeat what she said so I could write it down. I LOVE ALL THE PHRASES PEOPLE USE HERE. 

>We tracted into a couple who let us in right away and then sat us down on their couch. The husband started to throw a bunch of anti things at us and we were able to just smile and keep our composure the whole time. We were able to leave their home in peace without any feelings hurt. By the end of our conversation with them, the husband said to us, "well. I guess y'all aren't too bad after all. Y'all will definitely make it to the kingdom before us." haha people are so funny. Heavenly Father definitely helped us leave a good impression on them :) 

>We taught this cute hispanic lady named Gloria. When I asked her what Jesus Christ meant to her, she got all teary eyed and said in her broken english, "Jesus is my everything." 

>My new favorite saying that I saw on the wall of someones home: "Life is fragile. Handle with prayer." 

>I got amazing/hilarious letters this week from my mom, mere, and gary. It made my day!!!!!!! It just made me realize how STRONG my family is in the gospel and I am so grateful for that. We are so blessed to have everyone in our family still active. Thanks mom and dad for raising us up and working so hard to support each one of us :) 

>We helped an older lady take in her groceries. She was a classic southern lady who is CRAZY about Jesus. She has a Jesus carpet of the last supper and has Jesus pictures ALL OVER her house. As we were talking with her, she said, "The Lord blessed me with the opportunity to share my testimony with 3 people in Walmart today!!!" She then started to tell us all of her experiences with God and how she has been able to help others. WHAT A GREAT EXAMPLE SHE IS. 

>A less active girl in our ward just got married this past week. She asked us if we would help decorate the place where she was getting married. It took us an hour and a half to decorate. Guess how long the wedding was?!?!? 9 MINUTES LONG. The shortest wedding of my life. It was adorable though. It was so classic as well. hahha the wedding took place right in the middle of the Alabama football game so people were checking the scores and listening to the game on their car radios as soon as the wedding ended. People are just so hilarious here. I love them so much!!!! 

>We prayed and asked Heavenly Father where He needed us to be one night. I thought of a gas station. Sister Moore thought of the railroad tracks. SO, we went to a gas station near some railroad tracks. The only person in the gas station was the worker and he was muslim. He talked to us for quite some time about religion and he expressed to us how sad it is for him to see how americans view his religion that he holds so close to him. I was able to tell him all about how I went to Turkey and how I fell in love with the muslim religious practices. He was so grateful for us just stopping by and we told him that God wanted us to come by. We asked him if there was some random candy that he had in the gas station (which they didn't) and then asked him what his favorite candy was. We were able to buy it for him without him even realizing what we were doing. It was such a simple act that we were able to do for him and it made me realize how easy it is for us to just make someones day. 

>We had very spiritual lessons with our investigator Michelle this past week. We had her think of  a question in her mind and then read Alma 26 with her. The spirit definitely confirmed to me as she was reading that her question was totally getting answered and she didn't even tell me what her question was about. At the end of the lesson, Michelle offered the prayer and said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I just want to thank you for this book I am reading. It helped answer questions that all of my pastors haven't been able to answer. I want to thank you for these... (she paused for a moment)... I mean, MY sisters here. Thank you for speaking to me through them. In Jesus name. Amen." She is SO solid!!!!!!!!!! She wasn't able to come to church yesterday, but she said she would next week!!!!!

>We had a lesson with Diamond and Marquarious in the car last week because it was freezing outside and their brother had friends over in their home. We taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ and then showed them some EFY music. They loved it and we were all just sitting in the car singing to some really cheesy efy songs. (shoutout to braydon. Totally think of you every time we listen to it... "I... love EFY.") SAD SIDENOTE: They haven't been answering their door or returning our calls :( don't know what's up with them. But, I DO know that God was able to change them in the small time we were able to teach them. They are now closer to God than ever before!

>I forgot to mention last week about how Sister Gustafson gave me a call on November 7th and just talked with me. We laughed about all the good ole' times we had in Clanton. miss that place. I AM SO GRATEFUL FOR HER. I HAVE SUCH AMAZING PEOPLE IN MY LIFE. SO MANY LIFELONG FRIENDS HERE ON MY MISSION. GOD KNOWS WHO WE EACH NEED.

I love my life. I really can't even explain it through email how much I love this mission. I go to bed every night with a huge smile on my face. The people here amaze me. They are all so nice. I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that I am a missionary. gah. Heavenly Father knew exactly where I needed to be. I feel immediate chills whenever I think of the state of Alabama. The people. The food. The culture. All of it is so beautiful to me! 

May we each strive to focus on the little things in life that make all the difference. I am reminded of the scripture in 1 Nephi 16:29 which says, "And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things." IT IS SO TRUE. 

Do the little/mundane things as well that are often overlooked!

Go read The Book of Mormon. IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. 

Read an ensign article. 

Go on a run.

Buy the cashier a candy bar.

Help someone with their groceries.

Tell someone that they look beautiful.

Go volunteer at a food pantry.

Say a prayer with someone in need.

Give someone cookies. Just because. 

Rake some leaves. AND DON'T FORGET to jump in the pile of leaves.

Say a kneeling prayer and leave all distractions behind you for a couple of minutes.

There are soooooooooo many things in life to be happy about. I think that is one of the biggest things I have learned on my mission. HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. Appreciate the little things and appreciate them with a smile on your face. This life is way too short to live unhappy. God is by our side and with us. He will NEVER leave us alone. NEVER. I know that God lives and wants us all to be happy. I know He wants us to be happy because He sent His only Begotten Son. I know He wants us to be happy because He has given us the Holy Ghost. I know He wants us to be happy because it makes Him happy. 

Love y'all and have a happy week ahead! 

Look for the little details within the day that make you smile!!!

MYKY,

Sister Platt

Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?

Ahh. This week was absolutely AMAZING!!!!!!!! 

I feel like every week has been incredible on the mission. I never know where to begin with how everything played out this week. gah. I am so humbled to be serving the Lord. He never ceases to amaze me. We have been focusing a lot on prayer this past week and I KNOW that God truly hears and answers our prayers!!!!!!! 

Let prayer be your steering wheel. Let the answers and promptings you receive control everything you do during the day and you WON'T go wrong!!!!!!!!!

Here are some examples from this past week:

-We had 2 hours left of the night with all of our plans cancelled. We sat in the car and decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father where HE would like us to be. During the prayer, the random name "kenya" popped into my mind. I questioned myself and thought I was crazy for thinking of that name, but told Sister Moore about it. She then told me that Chick fil a popped into her mind. We followed both promptings and headed over to good ole' chick fil a. We didn't get any food (YES. I HAVE SELF CONTROL NOW Y'ALL. CHICK FIL A IS MY FAVORITE AND I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE ANY.) but instead, we went from table to table and asked the kind southerners if they knew anyone named Kenya. Most responded saying, "uh. no. What does she look like?" and then we would respond saying, "we have no idea! We have never met her! We just have a unique message to share with her. When can we share it with you and your family?" hahhahah it was hilarious. We met this really nice man named Ted who asked us ALL about our religion and was super nice. He is a lawyer and is super motivated to change the world. He brainstormed ideas with us on how we can get people to draw closer to Jesus Christ. It was the coolest experience! ONLY in the south can you walk into a restaurant and talk to a nice lawyer about Jesus Christ for 30 minutes. 

We were still VERY determined to find Kenya and had an hour left of the night. So yes. We ventured to Walmart. (and yes. I still can't stand that store). We asked a good 30 people there if they knew a Kenya and everyone said no. We were getting discouraged, but still had that inkling of hope within us. It was 8:55 and we were fixin to head out the store because we had to be home by 9. We decided to ask the last bit of workers who were standing by the door if they knew a Kenya. They confusingly looked at us and asked us why we were asking them that question. We started to explain our experience of prayer and how we asked God who we needed to see and how the name Kenya popped in my mind. All the workers just shook their heads no and we began to walk away... THEN. One of the workers started to squeal as she called after us and said, "NO WAY. NO WAY." She then had her jaw dropped as she started to point her fingers at a lady walking in the store. The worker then said, "ASK THAT WOMAN WALKING IN IF SHE KNOWS SOMEONE NAMED KENYA!!!!" We did and GUESS WHAT????? THE LADY WHO WALKED INTO THE STORE HAS A DAUGHTER NAMED KENYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRAZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYY. HEAVENLY FATHER IS SO REAL AND IS A GOD OF MIRACLES. SO COOL. 

We told the lady our story of the name kenya and she was freaking out as well. I could barely talk because I was so excited. Sister Moore and I were shaking our voices as we said to her, "WE NEED TO SEE YOU SOMETIME SOON!!!! WE KNOW WE HAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU AND YOUR DAUGHTER NEED. GOD LED US TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The lady agreed and said we could stop by :)))) 

We are going to see her this upcoming week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

If Sister Moore wouldn't of thought of going to Chick fil A, we wouldn't have run into the lady whose daughter was named Kenya. Man, God's timing is everything!!!!!

I KNOW that the experience we had that night was definitely (as southerners say) "a God thing."

Heavenly Father is in the very details of our lives and totally cares about everything that we do. We can ask Him for anything and HeWILL answer!!!!! 

-Sister Moore and I were out biking and it was freezing outside. We found a wonderful neighborhood that neither of us had ever been to before. It was starting to get really dark around 5 and didn't know if we should bike there or not because we had an appointment at 6. We both felt prompted to go anyway and just start tracting in the dark. The first house we went to was an answered prayer. Sidenote: Our mission has been focusing on asking people inspired questions while tracting. For some reason, I felt like we should avoid asking her an inspired question and asked her if we could just say a prayer with her. Sister Moore felt the same way as I did. SO COOL. A cute mom named Michelle answered the door and we just told her that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and that we were leaving prayers with people. Without hesitation, she let us in!!!!! Her friend Mishayla was there as well. Before we offered the prayer, Michelle just started to ask us a million questions about what we believed in and so did Mishayla. They both started to express to us that they had been praying the past few days to understand truth more. It was crazy. They are both no longer going to a church because they don't trust anything the preachers say. 

 This is basically some of the things they said that just made my heart burst with joy: 

"I don't understand the Bible! I don't know what is truth and what isn't. I wish there was a better translation of it."

"I have been just praying and asking God to send me a sign or something to let me know what truth He wants me to hear." 

"We are so glad we let y'all in. I feel like God is giving us a sign by y'all coming inside. I usually say no to people at the door, but something told me to let y'all in." 

AH. THIS EXPERIENCE IS SOMETHING THAT I HAVE DREAMED ABOUT MY WHOLE MISSION. THEY ARE SO PREPARED. 

We were able to teach them about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they LOVED it. We invited them each to say a kneeling prayer at the end and it was precious... 

"Dear Heavenly Father, I just wanna thank you for sending these sisters to my door. I know it's a sign from you. Thanks for answering my prayer." 

The spirit was SO thick in that room. They both recognized it as well. I love asking investigators how they feel. In my opinion, it's the best question to ask. Mishayla smiled after we asked her how she felt and she just lifted up her arm and said, "LOOK! I have goose bumps." :) 

We have a return appointment with them this week. STOKED.

-Yesterday after church, Sister Moore offered the prayer as she asked Heavenly Father to guide us to people who were truly ready. We went biking towards a neighborhood that we wanted to tract. On the way there, we found a cute lady named Audra who was sitting outside on her porch. (thank goodness for the south and their porches). We started talking with her about her life and she opened up to us a lot and told us about all of the medical problems she is having. (People are SO open here in the south). We asked her if we could share a scripture with her in which she replied saying, "sure! can you please share one from The Book of Mormon? Just share one of the popular verses that y'all use a lot. I want to know more about it." UM. WHAT? This never happens y'all. It was crazy. NO ONE EVER ASKS US TO SHARE A SCRIPTURE FROM THE BOOK OF MORMON. 

(We usually share a scripture from it with people and they end up loving the scripture and ask us where they can find that scripture in their bible and then we explain it's only in The Book of Mormon and then they usually become all defensive)

BUT AUDRA IS SO OPEN. We handed her a copy of The Book of Mormon and she said, "Oh no. I can't take that from you. I don't have any money." NO AUDRA. IT'S FOR FREE!!!! She was so excited to get it!!!! She then asked us if we had ever seen the movie "17 miracles" about the pioneers. um. what. She told us that she watched it just 2 weeks ago and cried through the whole thing. hahaha she told us every story that happened in that movie. She is basically already Mormon and we are seeing her again tomorrow. So excited. People are being prepared left and right!!!!!!!

-Diamond and Marquarious are doing great!!!! They both came to mutual on Wednesday night and loved it! Marquarious is shy so he stayed with us as we did crafts with the Young women :) hahaha it was great!!!! Diamond also went on a hike with all the young women in the stake on saturday morning and LOVED IT!!!!!!! She was able to make so many new friends and all the young women love her. 

They were unfortunately not able to come to church yesterday because their aunt unexpectedly is in the hospital and they stayed all day with her yesterday. 

It was so cute because at church yesterday, all of the young women leaders came up to us and asked us where Diamond was and even gave us cute hand outs that they made for her. GAH. I love this ward so much :) 

-Brother Mack is such a stud. He is still doing really well!!!! He is so faithful. When we saw him last sunday, he told us his experience with fasting and how hard it was for him because it was his first time doing it, but he told us that God answered His prayer right away :) 

-I went on two exchanges this past week with some AMAZING SISTERS!!!! I LOVE EXCHANGES. I was able to be with Sister Nelson in Sylacuaga and we were able to have so many wonderful lessons. I learned so much from her. I'm grateful for her love and her unconditional service that she renders. We taught the Plan of Salvation to a family of 3 kids. The 10 year old girl totally shocked me with how much she knew. She was asking such deep questions!!!! Little kids just remember and know God at such a different level than adults. She was a great example to me of just being humble and being willing to ask questions. 

I also had the opportunity to be with Sister Taylor and serve in Leeds with her for the day. Holy cow. I didn't know Sister Taylor at all before the exchange because she is a new sister in the zone and has only been out for 3 transfers, but wow, we became best friends right away! SHE IS HILARIOUS. I wish I knew her beforehand, but I'm glad I finally got to meet her!!!  She is the most humble sister I know and I learned so much. We were able to have some good talks about life and she is such a strong person. We were able to teach some workers outside of walmart about The Book of Mormon and Sister Taylor was so excited afterwards. She just said, "SISTER PLATT. I HAVE NEVER DONE THAT BEFORE. THAT WAS SO COOL TO TEACH THEM JUST OUTSIDE OF WALMART." I am so grateful for the leaders who taught me how to be bold and I'm grateful for the chance I had to show her how to do it as well. Heavenly Father is so great to us!!!!!

That is about it for this week!!!!! There are so many other things that happened, but I don't have much time left. I KNOW Heavenly Father lives and answers prayer. He really does. Here are some quotes that I LOVE about prayer:

"Have we prayed about it as much as we have talked about it?"

"Fight all of your battles on your knees and you will win everytime."

"Satan tries to limit your prayers because your prayers limit him."

"What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you thanked God for today?"

"If you don't have time to pray and read your scriptures you are busier than your Heavenly Father ever intended you to be." 

CAN I GET AN AMEN????? AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I urge y'all to kneel down every night and morning and offer up a prayer to Heavenly Father. Let Him know EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!! HE WILL ANSWER.

In other news...

-We met a guy yesterday who owns a company that makes camoflauge hot tubs... He showed us pictures on his phone of him with Si from "duck dynasty" in one of his hot tubs. NBD. Just met Si's best friend yesterday.

-Only in the south do they have a congregation that goes hunting on sunday and then has a church service out in the woods with all the animals they killed.

-(referring to southerners) "We die young, but we eat better" ---random guy we tracted into. 

-"You is precious. May God bless you and prosper you." ----cute old man complimenting Sister Moore and us. #lovethepeoplehere

-We are going to the mall today!!!!!! #haven'tbeentoamallmywholemission #thisismyfirstareawithamall

-I'm sorry for this email being ALL OVER the place. Thanks for dealing with my scattered brain every monday. yikes. 

-I saw t-swift's new cd @ walmart and a little part inside me died a little. SO WEIRD to think I haven't listened to her in quite a long time. #misstswizzle #missionsareworththesacrifice

-Brother Gause is still coming to church :) 

I love y'all so much! I'm so grateful for my life and this mission. Prayers work. Jesus Christ lives. The truth is back on the earth. Just pray about it and God WILL answer you. HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE ANSWER YOU RECEIVE AND FOLLOW THE PROMPTINGS. 

MYKY,

Sister Platt

Smile and make the devil upset he can't get you down. -President Hanks

Hello family and friends :) 

I am obsessed with this place. I love Alabama so much. The leaves are fixin to change colors and the weather is getting cold!!! I wore tights yesterday! wahooOOooOOoOOOoo 

Ah. This work is incredible. I am so happy and so blessed to be here!!!! Heavenly Father is helping us SO much and He is the source of all miracles that happen each and every day!!!

AH. I am serving now with cute Sister Moore!!!!!! We served in the same district when I was serving in West Point. She is from St. George, UT and we have mutual friends from there. She is SUPER tiny hahahha I love her so much.  She is so fun to be with! She has such a good heart and excitement about the work. So grateful for her! :) 

This past week has been wonderful. So many tender mercies. 

We started off the week with basically no investigators.... The cute family that we had high hopes for dropped us through a text. The girl Krista who I talked about last week no longer answers her door. And another investigator we found doesn't keep her commitments.... Missionary work is basically like a dating relationship or something. 

Sister Moore and I decided to fast this past Friday for success in finding those that were ready. Our mission has a goal of getting a total of 500 baptisms for the whole year and there is A LOT of work that needs to be done. President Hanks has encouraged us to find a lot this past week. After much fasting and prayer, the Lord blessed us! 

As Sister Moore and I were biking, we saw two guys walking home from school. We stopped them and invited them to be baptized right then and there! We said, "Hey! We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we are inviting people to be baptized!!!! Have y'all ever been baptized before???" One of the guys looked at us with a big smile on his face and said, "no, but I have been thinking about how I need to do it." He then invited us into his home and we taught him and his sister!!! His name is Marquarius and his sisters name is diamond. THEY ARE SO PRECIOUS and they have been keeping their commitments :) They have a baptismal date set for the 6th of December. I love them so much :) We taught Marquarius how to pray and he said the sweetest prayer ever. I have said it before and I will say it again. My favorite part of being a missionary is teaching people how to pray and then hearing them say a powerful and sincere prayer out loud. It's a beautiful thing and I just smile from ear to ear during the whole prayer. He said something along the lines of: "Dear Heavenly Father. Please let me know that what these lovely ladies are saying is true. I want to know you better and I think they can help me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen." SO CUTE. 

They were supposed to come to church yesterday, but they got confused about the time and thought it was later. so sad! BUT they really wanted to come and said they would come next week for sure :) 

We had a really good lesson with Marquarius and Diamond last night and their 14 year old cousin Ladaesha was there as well. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it was definitely the spirit who taught it. Ladaesha broke down in tears as we talked about our purpose here on this earth as she explained to us that she was abandoned by her parents and now lives with her grandma. We were able to bear strong testimony to her and shared the story in Mosiah 24 with her about how the Lord can ease the burdens placed upon our shoulders. I told her to put her name into the scripture and apply it to her life. She then started to read: "Ladaesha, I will ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Ladaesha and her brethren were made light...." SHE LOVED IT. Her face was beaming and it was so great to see!!!! After the lesson, Diamond looked at us and said, "The next time y'all come over, we will bring all our friends so they can see how cool y'all are." hahahhaah LIFE=MADE. 

Ladaesha told us that she LOVES basketball and plays in the wing position cause she loves shooting 3's. We are planning on having a shooting competition sometime this week at the church. So excited :) 

Also, during our fast, NICOLE (the one who we were teaching, but moved randomly to florida) texted us and said, "hey sisters! I'm back in Leeds!!! can y'all come see me tonight???" uh WHAT? SO COOL. So we went over to her place and had an awesome lesson with her :) She told us how she was staying in Florida and tried to find missionaries there so she could get baptized, but couldn't find any. She then started to tell us that she was praying one night about what she needed to do with her life and she felt very strongly that she needed to move back to Leeds and meet with us again. She told us that she still doesn't completely understand what God wants her to do, but she is just trying to do her best. Then, I had the craziest experience with using the scriptures.

 I flipped to a random page as she was talking and the first page I flipped to was a scripture that PERFECTLY explained what she was going through. It's in Words of Mormon 1:7 which says: "And I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will." After reading the scripture to her, she replied by saying, "whoa. That was really creepy how perfect that scripture is for me." hahahahhahaha. It was super random and weird. So grateful for the spirit. 

We set a baptismal date with her for November 22nd :) It's so crazy that she is back now because I thought I would never see her again!! I love her so much :) She unfortunately couldn't come to church yesterday because she was visiting her dad in Calera who she hasn't seen in 10 years. She texted us yesterday morning and said, "Hey sisters! ugh. I couldn't find a church here in Calera to go to and now I am stuck at a baptist church and feel super uncomfortable." hahahah too good. She is so solid!!!!! 

Brother Mack is such a stud and holy cow, he is SO perfect!!!!!!!!! We always feel the spirit 10x stronger in his home than in any other home I've been in. The feeling of his home reminds me a lot of Tom's. I know the spirit is strong in his home because he has changed his life completely around AND because his daughter Nicole has special needs. Nicole is amazing. I love her so much. She is ALWAYS dressed up in Alabama football gear and is always watching football on TV when we are there. hahaha Sister Madsen and I made a photo album of Brother Mack and Nicole at his baptism and I gave it to him on sunday. Oh, how I wish y'all could see the face he made when he looked at the photos! It WAS PRICELESS. I don't think he has any current photos of him and her so it was perfect. He was brought to tears as he said, "Hey! That's my baby Nicole!!!!" Yesterday, during fast and testimony meeting, a less active man who hasn't been back in a while, went up to the pulpit and bore such a powerful testimony of how sister missionaries found and baptized him. I glanced over at Brother Mack and looked at his face that was wet with tears. The man at the pulpit then said, "I used to be a baptist preacher and NOW I'm a mormon." I looked back at Brother Mack and he started to laugh with everyone else in the congregation. THIS is what the gospel is ALL about. PEOPLE CHANGING. I wish y'all could've seen Brother Mack when we first met him. He would never smile and was always super serious. Now, he is the happiest man you could ever meet! He always tells me to "have a blessed day". psh. he NEVER did that before y'all!!!!! THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST IS REAL. The devil won't get him down :) He is making the devil upset! (refer to the title of my email). 

Last night was way too fun. Sister Moore and I had 40 minutes left of the night before 9:00. Sundays are ALWAYS hard to find people to teach; especially at night. We decided to go to the walmart parking lot (yes. I think I have been to walmarks a good 938789374891738 times). It was a good 45 degrees outside so we decided to help people with their groceries and put all the carts away. We also walked up to people in the parking lot and invited them to be baptized. SO FUNNY. We looked like the biggest stalkers in the world! We literally would see someone walking towards their car and just head straight towards them. With 5 minutes left of the night, we quickly looked over our planner and reviewed our goals. We needed one more baptismal invite to reach our goal for the week and no one was left outside in the parking lot. We decided to embrace the awkwardness and knocked on a car window that a couple was in eating their sonic food. I love being uncomfortable because it means that we are STRETCHING ourselves even more. We invited the couple to be baptized and they flat out said no. hahahahhaha. I know the Lord will reward us for our diligence!!!!!!! 

Ah. So first off, I LOVE all the CUTE outfits that my nieces and nephews wore for halloween :) way too fun!!!!!! (braydon, annie, and jenna... you still need to send me photos of y'alls cute kids). Speaking of Halloween. Halloween was GREAT here. It was quite ridiculous actually. The neighborhood we live in is CRAZY during Halloween. They had to have police cars direct traffic. So ridiculous. We avoided the craziness and went to a different neighborhood and handed out homemade sugar cookies. SO FUNNY. I love being a missionary!!!!!! We saw a guy on his lawn mower and yelled and asked him if he wanted a sugar cookie. He wouldn't stop the lawn mower and wouldn't take his headphones off. So classic. We started to approach him even closer and he beckoned us to go away and motioned for us to knock on the door across the street. So we did! An old lady answered and she was very hard of hearing. We held out our tray of cookies and asked her if she wanted one. She clearly could not hear us and just smiled as she started to grab gobs of candy and place it on our tray of cookies. All we could do was laugh and say thanks. ahhahahah poor lady. All we wanted to do was give her some cookies and she gave us candy in return. Sister Moore and I concluded that we made her night by knocking on her door because she was so excited to give us candy. :) 

I cannot BELIEVE that it has been a year since dad passed away. Holy cow. I have felt him so many times on my mission y'all. He is SO NEAR to each of us. I'm so grateful for him. I have had so many dreams about him and I know that he is doing a marvelous work and wonder on the other side. I know that he has been in the room with the people that we are teaching. I know it. This year has flown by so quickly. I can't even wrap my mind around it. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has kept me strong throughout everything. He has supported me every single day. I can't thank Him ENOUGH. Jesus Christ is more real to me than ever before. He is ACTUALLY there. He ACTUALLY lives. He's not just some guy we read about in the Bible. He is so real. The Holy Ghost is ACTUALLY there for us as well. I can't deny His presence. I really can't. I can't deny it because I KNOW I feel him during the lessons we have every day. I know I can feel him when we are out biking and as I gaze upon the beauty all around me. The people here that I meet wouldn't be able to change if it wasn't for all three of them. I know we couldn't change as well!!!!!! 

I can still remember the moment like it was yesterday when I found out about dad. Mom called me as soon as we pulled into the church parking lot. Heavenly Father couldn't of put me in a better situation when I found out. I remember the immediate peace that followed after I hung up the phone. I still remember how it felt when President Hanks came over that night and looked at Sister Gustafson and the Elders as he said to them, "Don't look" as he then proceeded to give me the biggest hug ever. I am so grateful for him. I am grateful for the Priesthood blessing that he gave me that night. SO MUCH COMFORT AND PEACE. The circumstances couldn't have been more perfect. I was with the perfect companion at that time too!!!! (another shout out to Sister G-unit). 

Heavenly Father has such a perfect plan :) GAH. It makes me so so so happy!!!!!!! 

In other news....

--Another update on Tom: He is making homemade christmas presents for EVERYONE in the ward. Including children. He also asked the sisters for a current ward roster with the less active names highlighted so he can go through and call all of them and ask them why they aren't coming to church!!! hahahha AND he is reading The Book of Mormon again and is currently in 4th Nephi!!!!!!!! SO CRAZY. I MISS HIM SO MUCH. Can't wait to see him again. :) 

---We decided to ask inspired questions during our door approaches... We asked people what they think happens to people after this life who have never heard of Jesus Christ. 80% of the people told us that they think they are going straight to hell. The other 20% had no idea what was going to happen to them. #peoplereallyNEEDthisgospel!!! #theyjustdon'tknow #sosad  

---Currently reading the war chapters in the BOM. SO INTENSE. Why hasn't anyone made a movie about this? #itwouldprobablyberatedR. 

--"We are already going to a church and are firm in our beliefs" ---everyone we meet. "well great!!! When would be a good time to see you?" ----us. #thesouth

--Once it hits 60 degrees... Everyone and their dog wears a huge coat with ear muffs here. love it.

-How cool is it that I am living in Alabama right now? Sometimes, I still can't believe it. It makes me SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I love y'all so much!!! Have a wonderful week ahead!!!!! SMILE! LAUGH. ENJOY LIFE. SEE THE GOOD ALL AROUND YOU. SAY TO PEOPLE "HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!!" and see what their reactions are. It will make me happy to know y'all say that because everyone says it here. Heavenly Father is our literal Father in Heaven. Let Him know what you are thinking. Let Him know how you feel. Tell Him about your day. He wants to know EVERYTHING!!!!! I KNOW THAT FOR A FACT. 

MYKY,

SiStEr PlAtT