Hey y'all!!!!! What a wonderful week that we had here in Leeds :) So many exciting things have been happening here!!!! I LOVE this work so much and I KNOW that without Heavenly Father, none of the success we are having would be possible.
Surprise. Surprise. Sister Madsen is leaving and I will get another companion AGAIN. (Shout out to Sister Gustafson.. the ONLY missionary I have been with for more than one transfer). I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to serve with Sister Madsen. She has taught me a lot about truly trusting in the Lord. We are going to be lifelong friends and I KNOW that we were meant to be companions. I know President Hanks is inspired when he prays specifically for each of us missionaries and where we need to be and who we need to be with. I know that I'm supposed to be with a new sister so that I can learn and grow even more!!! Sister Madsen and I concluded that we are way too much alike and we got one transfer together because God wants to challenge us more. This transfer has been a breeze with her because she is so easy for me to get along with. She reminds me SO much of Lexie Reategui! #shoutouttosisterreateguiinthephilippines :) I will be "training" a new sister training leader which will be so much fun. I'm so excited!!! I WILL find JOY in this new transfer!
He has blessed us so much! I have been focusing a lot on the topic of JOY in my studies recently. We are reading The Book of Mormon from cover to cover as a mission and right now I am in the book of Alma. HE IS SUCH A STUD. I love Alma 29:9 which reads: "I know that which the Lord hath commanded me and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance;and this is my joy."
Do we find joy in the things that the Lord commands us to do? WE SHOULD.
Let's talk about Brother Mack for a sec. Holy cow. Can y'all say ELECT??? He is so perfect! We should first read Alma 29:10 which says: "And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy, then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me." BROTHER MACK WAS TRULY PENITENT AND IS NOW COMING TO THE LORD.
Last tuesday, we had a lesson with him on keeping the commandments. We asked him how it was going with him keeping the word of wisdom and he expressed his struggle with quitting coffee. He told us that he was just planning on finishing the can of coffee that he had and then he would be done with drinking it. Sister Madsen and I followed the promptings we received and bore testimony of Christ and His atonement and how hard it must have been for Jesus Christ to do God's will, we invited him to show that act of faith and give us his whole can of coffee right then! I shared with him a quote that I learned from President Hanks which is, "Do it. Do it right. Do it right now!" Brother Mack then looked at us and then looked down at the ground as he whispered under his breath, "I can do this. I can do this. I can do this." He then got up out of his chair and went out of the room towards the kitchen. Sister Madsen and I looked at each other with our jaws dropped. WE WERE SO HAPPY FOR HIM and knew exactly what he was doing... He then came back in the room and plopped the can of coffee mix on my lap as Sister Madsen shrieked with joy. It was awesome. He has truly purified himself and it is INCREDIBLE to see the change in his life now. He smiles more. He loves more. He expresses happiness more!!!!!!
The next day, we had a lesson with him and the Nicola's came over to help teach. The Nicola's are an adorable older couple who expressed to Brother Mack that they were planning on going to the temple for the first time... Y'all wanna hear Brother Mack's response to them? He said, "OH! You haven't been to the temple yet???? I have been and YOU NEED TO GO. You won't believe how strong you feel when you go in. You walk different. You breathe different. You even feel different!!!!" So precious.
Now onto the most exciting day ever. Saturday. Brother Mack was baptized!!!! It was the most beautiful baptismal service and everything went VERY smoothly. After the service, he bore his testimony and said, "I didn't really expect to feel this way. I thought I would feel peace, but I never thought I would feel THIS MUCH peace that I'm feeling right now. (Then. with tears in his eyes he said...) I would like to thank the sisters for teaching me and showing me how I can be happy. They are disciples of Jesus Christ. I know I'm in the right place in my life. In Jesus Name, Amen." It was simply beautiful.
His confirmation the next day was wonderful as well. Bishop Hopper confirmed him and gave him a blessing that was definitely a tear jerker. THIS GOSPEL BRINGS SO MUCH JOY. AH.
We have a new investigator named Krista who we met at walmart last Monday while buying pens. She is 15 years old and goes to her baptist church ALL by herself every sunday because her mom isn't religious. We had a really powerful lesson with her and set a baptismal date for her for November 22nd. Her dad passed away a good 4 years ago and is still grieving over it. Her mom is really sad towards it as well. We started to read The Book of Mormon with her and she LOVES it. Oh my goodness, she just kept telling us how happy she felt :) We are trying to get her mom involved in the lessons so we are going to go over tonight and bring cookies and share a movie (Finding faith in Christ) with her mom which will hopefully help her soften up. Krista really wants her mom to come back to church and she expressed to us how rough her life has been. She has lived in a car half her life and is now trying to get back on her feet. So heartbreaking. It's crazy to think that we can't fully understand or comprehend what people are going through, but Jesus Christ does. What a comfort to know that we can AT LEAST let them know that Christ has felt what they are feeling right now in their lives. This gospel is perfect.
We had a fall festival this past weekend at the church and it was a success. Sister Madsen and I decided to dress up last minute as dorothy and the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Heavenly Father obviously wanted us to be them because we found the most PERFECT outfits at the thrift store. BOOYAH. There were a lot of people there and we were able to help set up! A lot of less active people came which was awesome :) It's so fun to see the ward get together and just have fun and enjoy activities and a potluck together. Mormons are SO good at doing potlucks. Ah. Being a Mormon is the coolest thing ever.
CRAZY STORY TIME:
Oh my goodness. Sister Madsen and I were contacting in Walmart at 8:30 one night because the town goes silent around that time and the only hoppin place is walmart. (Or "walmarks" as everyone calls it here). Anyway, we saw a lady wearing all camo down the baking isle. We stop. Talk to her.. I will just write out the conversation to the best of my memory:
Us: Hello ma'am! Are you baking something for a fall festival?
Lady: No. OH! YOU ARE JEHOVAHS WITNESS HUH??????
Us: Nope. Try again!!!!
Lady: OH. Y'ALL ARE MORMONS?!?
Us: Yes!!! We are!!! Have you met mormons before??
Lady: YES. WHY DO THEY FORCE Y'ALL TO BELIEVE IN SUCH FALSE LIES? y'all look so innocent, but YOU ARE DECEIVED. You have the devil in you!!!! In the name of Jesus, I ask that the devil will be forced out of you!!!!!! (She then started to shake our hands and hit our shoulders...)
Us:.... Thank you for your----
Lady: (interupting us and not letting us speak) Y'ALL ARE BRAINWASHED. Profess NOW that you don't believe in Joseph Smith!!!! DO IT.
(At this point we are just smiling and start walking away)
The lady then starts to run after us and grab our arms.....
(yes. this is all happening AT walmart IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BAKING ISLE)
Lady: "Let's denounce Joseph Smith and that mormon bible RIGHT NOW! LIFT UP YOUR HANDS!"
Us: No thank you. Have a nice day. Thanks for your passion about your beliefs!
Lady: (In tears...) IT'S NOT PASSION. IT'S COMPASSION. I WANT TO SEE YOU TWO IN HEAVEN AND YOU CAN'T BE IN HEAVEN IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT JESUS IN YOUR HEART AND DENY JOSEPH SMITH.
Ah. It was awful. The spirit was NOT there at all and the lady was yelling VERY loudly and I'm surprised no one noticed. All Sister Madsen and I could do was just laugh.
I also love Alma 29:13 which reminded me of this experience... "...that same God hath called me by a holy calling, to preach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full." I KNOW that God has called us to do this work. To stand up for what we believe in. He gave us success by not letting us get down or discouraged. He allowed us to have joy!
Heavenly Father blessed us seconds later by letting us talk to an ADORABLE group of college kids from Tuscaloosa. SO MUCH JOY. They were really interested in what we believed and they respected our beliefs so much. We were able to talk to them and laugh about the rivalry between auburn and alabama. #tendermerciesareallovertheplace
We went on 3 exchanges this week. back to back to back. It was insane. I will be honest, I was very stressed and very tired, but Heavenly Father helped me keep a great attitude which I am so grateful for!!!!! I'm so grateful for the sisters in this zone. They are powerful. I love meeting all of the people they are working with. It makes me so happy to see them all work so hard and apply the trainings that we receive from President Hanks. Alma 29:14 "But I do not joy in my own success alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren." amen to that!
Heavenly Father blessed us with a beautiful miracle last night. It gets dark now around 6 which makes it a little rough when it comes to contacting people; especially on sunday nights when we can't go into stores. We had been having a pretty interesting day with tons of random encounters with people basically preaching to us and not letting us speak. We decided to try to contact a lady we met the day before. We couldn't find her house at all, so we decided to go to a random house on the street and ask the people sitting outside if they knew where the lady lived. We walked up towards the house and saw two ADORABLE kids carving pumpkins outside. They were 12 and 14 years old and were the most polite and well put together kids I have ever met. SO MATURE. I want my kids to be like them one day. Anyway, their door was open and we ended up talking to their parents. They excitingly told us that they had just gotten back from the temple in SLC for a field trip for girl scouts. AND the wife told us that she had read through the WHOLE Book of Mormon when she was a teenager. So random. We started to discuss our religious beliefs with them and they did the same to us about their quaker religion. wow. we are pretty similar to quakers!!! They don't have a preacher. They believe in being service oriented. They believe in turning the other cheek. They believe in finding truth for themselves. And they believe in modesty and education. As we were about to leave, the husband says to us, "hey! I just made some lamb and pork and we would love for y'all to join us for dinner and just enjoy your time with visiting with us." UM. THAT NEVER HAPPENS Y'ALL. MAYBE THAT WOULD HAPPEN IN UTAH, BUT NOT HERE. So, they invited us in for dinner and I had lamb for the first time in my life and LOVED it. They gave us apple pie to go :) How cool is that? They aren't very interested in learning more, but they told us to stop by whenever we needed anything! SUCH WONDERFUL PEOPLE ON THIS EARTH!
I am so grateful for the people here. The south is literally my home. The phrase doesn't lie when they say "sweet home alabama". The skies really are SO blue. Bugs attack us every day here. Dogs attack us every day here. The smell of honey suckle is in the air. Leaves are falling and trees are changing colors so beautifully. The sunsets are gorgeous. The people are so faithful and humble here. I am truly filled with so much joy. Ah. I feel like Ammon sometimes who "cannot say the smallest part which I feel." (Alma 26:16) So blessed.
In other news...
-Just found out that Tom from Russellville RECEIVED the aaronic priesthood last sunday :) WAHOO. so happy for him :) So grateful that Heavenly Father allowed me to be in his life.
-The weather is SO bi-polar here. One minute, it's 60 degrees, the next, it's 80. People here think they know how to tell the weather, but no one really does.
-I found Dodger this week!!! except it was a brown cocker spaniel. But just as cute as him!
-tracting is literally one of my favorite things to do. The name game really helps us enjoy it.
-us to a man on his porch: "We know that The Book of Mormon will bring more peace to your life and help you answer the questions that you are wondering about." Man on porch: "yes. that's great." us: "When can we bring you a copy of your own?" man on porch: "maybe in 30 years." #k
-One of my goals: to finish reading "Jesus The Christ" by the end of my mission. #wishmeluck
-Another goal: to baptize an asian. #therearenoneinalabama
-Another goal: to baptize an asian. #therearenoneinalabama
-brother nicola (at church) asking sister madsen what she wants for dinner this tuesday.. Sister Madsen: "anything BUT ham and cheese sandwiches" 4 hours later at our dinner appt with a different member in our ward. guess what we had??? yup. ham and cheese sandwiches. #Godhasasenseofhumor
-Are hashtags still a thing?
-"Once you start to get to know a missionary, they always just take them out!!! Y'all come and go too fast!" ---what every member of the church says to a missionary who is leaving the ward/branch
-Sister Fowler (the lady who we are living with) bought us pumpkins to carve #sheissoprecious #prayforustohavethetimetocarvethemtoday #sistermadsenstillhastopack
I LOVE Y'ALL SO MUCH. GO OUT AND FIND THINGS THAT BRING JOY TO YOUR LIFE. FIND JOY IN THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD LIKE BROTHER MACK HAS. FIND JOY IN THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS. FIND JOY IN THE CRAZY THINGS THAT HAPPEN. FIND JOY IN THE JOURNEY :)
MYKY,
Sister Platt
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