So. I'm getting transferred AGAIN. I felt like it was going to happen. So sad, but so good too. I'm excited to have one more area left to just give it everything I've got! I will still be a Sister Training leader and I'm so excited!!!!!! I hope and pray I get sent to Tuscaloosa, that is my dream, but we shall see!!!!! I'm so grateful for the chance I had to serve with Sister Moore. She is such a sweet sister and I learned SO MUCH from her. God just knows who we need to be with :) What a blessing!
Monday: Went over to Brother Mack's and heard him just bare a solid testimony of Joseph Smith. The spirit was so strong. We just had a very natural conversation about the gospel and how true it is. He told us that his cousin who is basically the only extended family member he has left; was asking him why he was baptized and he told her his testimony!!! He is so solid. He always calls us his "shepherds". AND when he said the prayer, he said, "Dear Heavenly Father. I'm thankful that I have the priesthood. I'm thankful for the Leeds ward. Please bless the ward." AH. IT WAS SO PRECIOUS. HE IS A STUD AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO MEET HIM.
Tuesday: Ah. We went to an appointment with this girl named Lauren who we met when she was getting out of her car. We shared the christmas video "He is the Gift" (If you haven't watched this yet... stop reading this email and GO WATCH IT!!!!! NOW!) Anyway, that video brings the spirit in the room EVERY SINGLE TIME. Without fail. We then explained to her that we were helping people embrace Jesus Christ more in their lives and sharing more messages about Him. We also invited her to church. Lauren spoke and stumbled her words as she said, "yeah. I just don't have time any more for church because of my son. (he is 2 years old) He is just very loud and crazy..." Then, Lauren's mom walked in the room and said, "Lauren, tell them the real reason you don't go to church anymore." Lauren then looked down at the floor as she took a deep breath and said, "yeah. I don't go anymore because my dad died this past year and I am still not over it." My heart sank. In that moment, I KNEW that we were supposed to meet her. After a moment of silence, I tried my best to bear a strong testimony of the plan of salvation and said, "I actually lost my dad a year ago as well and it was very hard for me. The only thing that got me through it was the comfort that only comes through Jesus Christ and the message that we bring to people." She then asked us where our church was located and wants to come!!!!! (She works @ walmart A LOT and only has a day off each week). We walked away from her home feeling amazing. Chills all over. I love those moments :)
After that, we drove over to the TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We ended up being there for 5 HOURS because we were chosen to help with the laundry. It was a great experience and Sister Van Komen AND Sister Drummond were in the same session as me! TENDER MERCY!!! Sister Van Komen goes home this week and I am so grateful I was able to see her. She makes me SO happy and is one of my very best friends! President Hanks wasn't able to join us because he is still recovering, but Sister Hanks was there! I LOVE the temple SO MUCH!
We then drove home and grabbed a quick dinner and then headed over to the church to have a lesson with our investigator John!!!!!! Brother Gause and his non member daughter Nicole joined us for the lesson!!! So hilarious. We showed up at the church right at 7:00 and Brother Gause, Nicole, and John were already there in the parking lot just talking away and laughing. I loved it so much!!! We taught John the restoration and Brother Gause AND Nicole bore a strong testimony of how their is a need for a prophet on the earth today. It was the cutest thing ever and they were great fellowshippers! WOOT WOOT!!!!
We then ended off the night by seeing the Nicola's and helping them understand how to use their new smart phones. It was hilarious!!! They are both in their late 60's so they had no idea how to do anything!!! I love them so much and always feel like I'm at home when I'm at their place. We read from The Book of Mormon and the spirit in their home was wonderful :) We all just laugh all the time and just have fun together. Love them so much.
Wednesday: I went on an exchange with Sister Sorensen in Sylacauga, AL. Sister Sorensen is a brand new missionary and is amazing! We were able to teach 9 lessons and worked super hard that we forgot about eating dinner. oops. She is awesome and is already such a stud of a missionary. She is such an inspiration to me! We ended up teaching a pastor who invited us right in! The pastor was very nice and asked us this interesting question that I want y'all to ponder: "What makes your heart cry?" SO DEEP. It threw me off guard. hahaha. We bore testimony to him of The Book of Mormon and I think he was only half listening to what we were saying. He started to attempt to shake our faith by saying that no man can see God and yadda yadda. Sister Sorensen is SO great at being bold and bearing her testimony and it was awesome!!! We were able to make Christmas cookies with the young women which consists of 2 girls! I admire them so much. One of the girls used to drive an hour every wednesday night for young women! They are so faithful! It reminded me a lot of the good ole' Clanton days.
Thursday: The Gadsden Sisters texted us and asked if we could do a blitz with them in their area because they really needed help finding new people to teach. So I went with Sister Bailey in Gadsden and we had an amazing day. We experienced a miracle. The following story that I will tell will probably go in my top 10 most miraculous experiences on my mission....
Sister Bailey and I were out biking and Sister Bailey felt prompted that we should stop and walk our bikes along the cute downtown area of Gadsden. So we did. We kept walking with our bikes and there was NO ONE outside. I kept thinking to myself, "This is a waste of time. There are no people outside. Heavenly Father. Please help us and let some people come outside." Then, I looked over across the street and saw a man sitting on the bench. Sister Bailey and I both felt prompted to go talk to him. We crossed the street and started to ask him if he knew anyone who could use a prayer. He then replied, "I sure could!" We then started talking with him and asked him if there was anything specific that we could mention in the prayer. (his name is Kieth)
Keith: Oh. There are so many things you could mention, but it would take all day.
Us: What are some of those things?
Keith: Well... First off, I'm homeless. My wife of 30 years left me randomly and my only son won't speak to me. (He then told us his life story and it's the saddest thing ever. He is 58 years old)
I was shocked. Literally. So shocked. I would of never guessed that he was homeless!!!! He was very intellectual and was wearing normal clothing.
I then shared with him the scripture found in 3 Nephi 13:31-34 and told him that God sent us to him. Tears started to flow down his eyes. I could just tell that he was trying so hard not to cry, but couldn't hold back. Sister Bailey then gave him The Book of Mormon and invited him to read it after she bore a strong testimony of it. I asked him how he felt and he replied saying, "Alone". And then more tears started to fall off of his cheeks. We then said a prayer with him and at the end of the prayer, I asked him again how he felt and he said, "Like God knows me." We were all crying by the end of it and we didn't even know how to leave him because we just wanted to stay there forever and comfort him. Keith then said something that I will NEVER forget. He said, "I have seen two angels before in my life and now I know I've seen two more. Y'all are sent from God. I don't feel as discouraged anymore. Thank you." SO AMAZING.
Then, Sister Moore and I went to Walmart to store contact in Gadsden while the sisters went to volleyball with their ward. We saw even more tender mercies! We ate at subway for dinner and just as we sat down, we saw an ADORABLE little girl (probably only 6 years old) sitting by herself and just bowing her head with her hands clasped together as she had her tiny sandwich in front of her. She prayed for a good minute and it was the most precious moment for us to watch her do so. We gave her a picture of Jesus and her face just beamed. After she was done eating, her mom came back to get her and she jumped off her seat and gave us the biggest hugs for giving her a picture of Jesus. Just think about how Heavenly Father must think of her? Ah. I bet HE LOVES hearing her prayers :) What a great example!!!!! Only in the south would you see a 6 year old praying over her sandwich.
We then were on the hunt for icecream for the sisters because they were having a rough time. We were far away from walmart when we decided to get some for them and the only close stores were dollar general, aldi, and walgreens. We went to dollar general and aldi and both of them were closed early!!! SO, we went to walgreens and got a little frustrated because it was taking forever to just find a tub of icecream. ANYWAY. We walked into the store and the worker asked us, "Can I help you find anything?" We excitingly said, "YES. WHERE IS Y'ALLS ICECREAM????" She then pointed us in the right direction and we ran over to pick up the icecream. Then, the worker walked over to us and asked, "where are y'all from?" We told her utah and california and then she said, "How are y'all so happy? Y'all are just glowing!" We then started to explain to her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Book of Mormon, etc. She then asked, "Do you have to be born into the church or can anyone join?" We told her that we help people join and she started to freak out and asked us when we could stop by. yup. GOLDEN. It was such a neat experience! Heavenly Father made it so all the stores were closed except for walgreens so that we could meet her!!!!! I'm so excited for the Gadsden sisters to start teaching her!!!!!
Friday: We had our ward Christmas party this day!!!!!!!! Ah. It was so so so good! Before the party, Sister Moore and I went biking and invited everyone we saw to come!!!! GUESS WHAT??? A cute lady named Patrice came with her twin boys and 8 year old girl! AND THEY LOVED IT!!!!!! My favorite part of the night was when we all sang Christmas songs. I sat next to Nicole (Brother Mack's daughter) and she was singing SUPER loud. It was the cutest thing ever. Nicole has special needs and so she learned sign language. She was signing to the song, "silent night" and I was able to do it with her. It was just so much pure joy in that room. CHRISTMAS IS THE BEST. Sooooo much happiness!
Saturday: We had a miracle. Like I've said before, Sister Moore and I have very specific prayers of things we want to do in a day or people we want to find. We really wanted to help someone decorate a christmas tree. So we prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us find someone. Yeah. Heavenly Father definitely helped us. A less active lady named Sister Hopper popped into our minds. We have never even met her because she never answers the door, but we decided to go anyway. SHE ANSWERED. MIRACLE. AND GUESS WHAT???? SHE HAD A TREE THAT SHE NEEDED HELP SETTING UP. YA. WE DECORATED IT. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
We were able to have a really good talk with her about the meaning of Christmas and it was beautiful! So grand!!!!
We then went over to visit another less active girl named Jessica and guess what??? HER TREE WASN'T DECORATED. YUP. ANOTHER ANSWERED PRAYER. Heavenly Father truly just wants to make us happy and answer our prayers! hahaha
Sunday: This day was beautiful!!! John AND his super cute daughter who is 19 named Hannah came to church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was fast and testimony meeting. I decided to go up and bear my testimony. As I was up there, I SAW KEN WALK IN. WHAT???? Super random. Ken is our investigator and has come 3 sundays in a row, but he is never home for us to teach him and won't ever answer our phone calls. haahah he just comes on his own every time. It was great!!!!! We finally got an appointment to see him this upcoming tuesday though! haha It was a wonderful testimony meeting and it was full of so much happiness.
We watched the Christmas Devotional which was awesome.Did y'all watch it? I hope so!!!!
In other news...
--- We think Tony (the ex BYU football player now in a wheelchair) got antied. He won't respond to our calls/texts and hasn't tried contacting us. BOO.
---- "God gave Him. Mary wrapped Him. Will you receive Him?" --- church sign. (my favorite)
-----Joke of the week by Sister Standridge: What do you call a pretty girl at Auburn? A visitor.
---"Christmas ain't about no jolly fat man coming down them chimneys." ---Shironda. A lady we met outside. LOL
---I added up the numbers for the whole transfer... In 6 weeks, we were able to invite 691 people to learn about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And we taught 134 lessons. NO EFFORT IS WASTED. It's neat to see it in a bigger perspective of the things we accomplish as missionaries. :)
----Brother Gause sliced off his finger. #prayforhim It looks really gross.
--When we went over to dinner at Brother Gause's this past week, there were 3 packets of post it notes sitting on the table for us. It was the cutest thing ever because the week before, we ran out of post it notes. hahah he is the sweetest man ever!!!! (we write down invitations for him and nicole on the post its.)
------There is a cute lady named Sister Reeves in our ward who always takes pictures of us on her flip phone and then prints them out every week for us in a BLOWN up picture. It's the cutest thing of my life. So grateful for her and her sweet service.
----Nick. The guy in Clanton who loved giving us sprite who we ate thanksgiving dinner with last year finally got baptized and totally is passing the sacrament. Sister Casperson (my trainer) sent me an email about it because she went back to visit and she said that he bore his testimony and said, "I don't know a lot about Jesus Christ yet, but I do know how this church makes me feel." and then he started crying!!! MIRACLE! Nick wouldn't even listen to us while we taught him about the gospel when we first met with him and his wife Rena. CHANGE OF HEART. This gospel is real.
Things I have learned in my studies this past week:
--Don't SHRINK!!!! BE STRONG and trust in the Holy Ghost and the promptings! (1 Nephi 4:10)
----1 Nephi 5:20 <---- Can I truly say this?
---I read the book of Exodus this past week and the story of Moses. I am grateful for the opportunity to train on it in District Meeting!!!! In Exodus 4:10-12, it gives us a conversation of Moses and God speaking to one another. Moses explains to the Lord that he doesn't feel like he is good enough because he is slow of speech. I LOVE the Lord's response in verse 11. "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord?" The Lord is able to make us mighty as long as we trust in Him. We may feel like we are insufficient or lacking in a certain skill, but Heavenly Father gave us weaknesses so that we would truly humble ourselves and ask Him for guidance :)
I am so sad to be leaving Leeds. I have grown to love it SO MUCH! I know I was here for specific people and I'm grateful that Heavenly Father places so many wonderful people in my life! It's really weird to think how short this mission is and how short time is. I just want to make Heavenly Father proud and endure to the end! I can't wait to see what's in store! I will find out on Wednesday where I will be going! I love y'all so much. God is so good and loves us so much! I will go wherever Heavenly Father wants me to go! Joshua 1:16. Have a blessed week!!!! Remember: Don't shrink. Follow the commandments. Let God mold you. YOU WILL BE HAPPY IF YOU DO SO.
GO #SHARETHEGIFT
CHRISTMAS IS IN 17 DAYS OHMYGOODNESS :))))
MYKY,
Sister Platt
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