REALLY GOOD WEEK

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

Sister VK and I have been challenging ourselves everyday by:

-running every morning

-being bold in our commitments

-being bold in our testimony

-memorizing more scriptures

-eating healthier

-Not saying mean things about anyone

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

In other news...

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

 

NOW GO OUT AND CHALLENGE YOURSELF!!!!!

MYKY,

Sister Platt