I would first like to talk about my new companion!!!!!! AHHH I'M WITH SISTER CRANDALL!!!!! We totally knew each other at the beginning of our missions and even carpooled to the temple one time together. LOVE HER SO MUCH. She is from Mount Vernon Washington!!!!!!!! She has been out for 6 months and this is her 2nd area!!! She is absolutely hilarious and we already have so many inside jokes. She is a hard worker which is definitely what I was praying for in my new companion. GOD ANSWERS. She is a really good teacher and I'm learning a lot from her. We balance each other out really well :) YAY. Sister Weekes is now serving in Gardendale, Alabama which is PERFECT for her. She is with a really good companion which is awesome :) Her church building that she is serving in is RIGHT NEXT to the temple! So jealous!!!
Okay. Can y'all believe I have been out for almost 9 months?? I wrote down the date in my study journal this morning and thought to myself, "well shoot. Time just needs to stand still." I would just like to take a moment and talk about success. Sister Crandall and I were talking about success as a missionary this morning and found a lot of good insight. We came to this conclusion: Our purpose is to bring others closer to Christ. Does that mean we were unsuccessful if it didn't end in a baptism? ABSOLUTELY NOT! Our purpose is to help and invite them on a spiritual journey. If we brought them as close as they'd let us, then that's success. If they were left closer than they were before, THAT is success. If baptism comes along the way, that's WONDERFUL! We really ought to realize that we've done a lot more than we think. It is so easy to compare myself to others while on this mission. I do it all the time and I am definitely TRYING to just focus on how the Lord is using me in a different way than anyone else. I have been reflecting on these past "few" months and I have discovered Heavenly Father's hand through it all... I will just name a few of the tender mercies that the Lord has shown me thus far:
Clanton (My first area):
-Sister Lutz just wrote me a letter this past week and told me that SHE WENT TO THE TEMPLE FOR THE FIRST TIME. MIRACLE. Sister Lutz always expressed to us how she was scared to go for whatever reason. Sister Gustafson and I were trying so hard to get her there and she told me in the letter that she found the strength to finally go because of us. :) She also told me that Brother Lutz now has a calling as a sunday school teacher!!! (Brother Lutz was the one that we were able to help quit smoking).
-Sister Roberts returned back to church and her two grandkids were baptized!!!!!
-We were able to teach Kameron who has a FIRM testimony of the Book of Mormon! I KNOW that we were meant to meet her. She told us that she found God's love because of us accepting her for who she is.
Madison: (My second area)
-We were able to help Sister Effinger return to church after being gone for 15+ years. Her daughter, Maggie Jo, is currently receiving the discussions from the Sister Missionaries now serving there and is getting baptized!!!!!!!!!!
-I JUST FOUND OUT THAT JADE (THE LADY WE FOUND AT PETCO) IS GETTING BAPTIZED NEXT WEEK!!!!! I WILL GO TO IT. I WILL.
I know that there was more that happened, but thinking about all of these things just makes me really happy. Sometimes, I think I'm not successful because I don't have a baptism every week like some of my missionary friends do, but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and that this is the place that will help me grow and mold into the person that God wants me to be. President Hanks told me how he was serving in Scotland and didn't get a baptism for the whole first half of his mission. He and his companion would joke and say that whenever someone would slam the door in their face, someone in South America was getting baptized. hahah too good. :) But really, I wouldn't change anything about the circumstances I have been in.
Russellville: (Where I am now)
Russellville is about to just BLOOM with new people/miracles!!!!! This past week, we have dropped a lot of our investigators and basically are only teaching Tom at this point. We know that if we put our Trust in God, God will put HIS trust in us and provide us with those that are elect to teach.
Tom wasn't able to come to church yesterday because it was raining REALLY hard and he told us that he couldn't put his dogs outside in the rain because his dog "Bama" is scared of the rain and Tom is a neat freak so he was scared that "Bama" and "Baby" would mess up his living room. BLAH. But we have had some good lessons with him this past week!!! We read Alma 32 with him and talked about how he should develop faith in the Book of Mormon by first having a DESIRE. He loved it and agreed. THANK YOU MERE FOR SENDING THE BOM READING CHART. I GAVE IT TO HIM AND HE IS USING IT. MOM. I GAVE HIM THE CUTE BOOKMARK THAT YOU MADE FOR HIM AND HE LOVED IT!!!! He just kept saying, "Ah! I will have to send your mom something in return. It's what the indian culture is all about." oh tom. He then proceeded to tell me that he wouldn't be able to give me anything as great as I have given him. I asked him what he meant and he said, "You have given me this life changing knowledge and I can't repay you for it." I just replied with, "Oh no. It wasn't me. It was your Loving Heavenly Father who gave this to you." #preciousmoment Oh, and we went to teach him with CUTE SISTER ADAMS. SHE WORE HER NAMETAG AGAIN. NO WORRIES. I took a picture with her... and oh my, Sister Adams was being super BOLD and is such a good example to me. She said to Tom, "Tom. Do you believe that the church that we go to is the only true church?" .....silence..... then finally, Tom answered, "I can't answer that question right now. I still have to read." GAHHHHHHHH HE KNOWS IT'S TRUE GUYS. I think he is just scared to ACT. I have been praying and studying so much for him and I'm still waiting for the perfect answer of what to say to him. I know it will come with time though. Oh, and Tom totally had a cute little BBQ party for Sister Weekes before she left and invited 10 people from the ward that he knew. THEY ALL CAME. I love the ward I am serving in so much. Gah. It's just perfect :)
One of our investigators, Amanda, came to church!!!! hahaha it was quite the experience. We met Amanda outside one day as she was waiting for her church bus to pick her up for bible study. She told us to come by and teach her. We came by the next day and while we were teaching her, all she would say back to us was, "mmmhmmm". She does have three kids, but doesn't have custody of them. I think she has some mental illness. Anyway, church with her was definitely a day I will never forget!!! Amanda brought her niece with her, Liquiandria. Liquiandria is 5 years old and is ADORABLE. She reminded me a lot of Abby. On the car ride there, Liquiandria smiles at me as she laid her head on my shoulder and said, "Girl. I like yo' lashes." HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA BEST COMPLIMENT EVER. SO HAPPY. Anyway, we get to church and everyone in the ward is great so of course, everyone goes up to Amanda and introduces them to her. Amanda just didn't look any of them in the eye. She slept and SNORED through sacrament meeting....and gospel principles.... AND relief Society. Sister Crandall kept nudging her to stay awake and it was honestly so funny. It is safe to say that she is not prepared at this time. Amanda wanted to leave the church building so fast and was out the door before we could even get her. In the car, I asked her how she enjoyed church and all she said was, "good. Good. yeah." Sister Crandall and I are in a sticky situation because Amanda totally wants to get baptized into our church, but we just don't think she is ready to make those promises to God yet. Oh boy.
We officially dropped Colleen this past week and asked her what her expectations were of us coming over. She told us that she LOVES us, but she wants to try to go to a church of Christ and see how she feels there and then let us know if she wants to come to church with us again. She told us that we have brought her the closest to God that she has ever been in her life. :) I know that we were supposed to meet her. I know that one day she will realize that piece that is missing in her life. I feel so bad for her and love her dearly. We will probably occasionally stop by and offer service to her because she can't do much cleaning on her own.
We had a lesson with Ken (the man who has had 2 baptismal dates and has fallen through every time) and basically "laid the velvet hammer" on him and asked him what was holding him back from being baptized. (SIDENOTE: We were on a team up with Meagan and it was POURING RAIN outside. We had the lesson in Meagans small car as I leaned up as close as I could to the car window so that I wouldn't get too close to ken. super awkward). Anyway, we found out that Ken's real concern is that he was scared to get baptized with his bad back. We assured him that there would be a way for him to still get baptized and invited him to pray about a date that he could get baptized. HE ACCEPTED. It's amazing what fears people are scared to address and I'm grateful that we were able to just be real with him and see his concerns.
While on the team up with Meagan, we decided to ask her if she wanted to go tracting with us! BEST IDEA EVER. hahah Meagan was so cute and kept telling herself that she couldn't do it and that she wasn't a good missionary. We were able to build her confidence and by the end of the street that we were tracting on, she was the one who did the talking!!! IT WAS AWESOME. hahaha at the very end, she said, "wow. I could never do this for 18 months. I don't know how y'all go every day like this and deal with such mean people!!!!!" So basically, Sister Crandall and I have decided to just go tracting with our members more so they can see how hard it is and hopefully, it can spark a desire to help us by inviting their friends to learn from us. WE SHALL SEE HOW IT GOES.
We tracted a whole trailer park yesterday with no success. We did talk to a lot of people though which was grand and invited them all to the ward fish fry that is coming up THIS SATURDAY. SO STOKED. One lady answered the door and said, "I don't like fish." I then excitingly said, "WELL THERE WILL BE CHICKEN THERE TOO!! WAHOO!!!" She proceeded to give me the dirtiest look and shut the door hahaha. But most people really appreciated the offer and said they would try to make it!!! One lady in particular, named Terry, asked us what we believed and we mentioned the Book of Mormon to her and what it was all about. She then said, "thank you for telling me. I have always wondered what y'all truly believed in. That is interesting." We then asked her if we could teach her more and she kindly declined. We left. Seconds later, a man walks up to the porch where we were talking to Terry and starts asking Terry if she was talking to "them mormons". We could hear the whole conversation they were having as we walked away. Terry just said to him, "These girls are doing the right thing by spreading the good word. You don't see that too much nowadays. Especially girls their age." The man then proceeded to anti her and tell her wrong things about the church. People are so funny. We of course, just smiled and said goodbye. THE CHURCH IS TRUE GUYS.
Oh my, we went to a "Stampede" parade on the cute little main street in Tuscumbia. Becky and Hollee went with us and oh my, it was hilarious. There were SO MANY PEOPLE gathered around this street as they waited for the longhorns and cows to walk the street. When the longhorns and cows were released from their cages, they didn't move for a good 2 minutes and finally started to walk slowly down the street. hahaha it was great. Then, some guys on ATV's started coming down the street along with people on horses. I love Southern parades. Especially small town ones. It lasted for maybe 10 minutes. hahahah Cutest thing ever. I think they were celebrating the guy who established Tuscumbia or something. Becky thought it was hilarious how excited Sister Crandall and I were for the parade. She said, "The best part of the parade was seeing y'all get excited over some cows n' manure." #dailydoseofbecky hahahhahahahah LOVE HER.
We went over to see Sister Adams one night because we felt the need to go see her. We started talking with her and shared some ideas from Preach my gospel on how to be a good missionary. We ended up having a really good, spiritual discussion and it was simply amazing. By the end of it, Sister Adams said, "I don't know if you girls know this, but my foot has been KILLING me this whole day from my surgery and as soon as y'all walked inside my house, I haven't been able to feel the pain. Thank you for what you do." UM. Yeah. I love this work so much!!!!!!
I have learned that I am not here to only find and teach people, but I'm here to help strengthen the ward members and less actives. I have fallen in love with each and every one of them and I now have discovered my purpose as a missionary. I really didn't think I could have this big of a capacity to love the people, but I do. It is so CRITICAL to be filled with Christ's love everyday or else nothing will get done in this work and you certainly won't be very happy.
May we all express GRATITUDE in times of sorrow and loss. The Lord expects us to find the happiness out of each and every day. He expects us to LOVE unconditionally. He expects us to help those in need. We can only reach to our true potential by "pointing our arrows out" and away from us and focus on others. I have been studying in Alma 32-36 this past week and I am just amazed at how beautiful these chapters are!!!! I love alma 32:6. I feel like this verse totally explains the elect people that we find here in the South. Those people that are being prepared by the Lord are those who have gone through affliction and have humbled themselves because of it. This is why I love the south! Generally, people are VERY humble and sweet towards us! It is so easy to bring up a religious topic with people. All we really do is ask them which church they go to and each one of them has an answer to a specific church. I even have all of the churches memorized by now of where they are located haha. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love this place. :)
Love y'all so much!!! I am so happy! I love my Savior and Heavenly Father so much!!!!!!!
"ALL IS WELL IN ZION" <<<what Sister Crandall and I say to each other when things don't go as planned. haha
MYKY,
Sister Platt
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