DOT

What a week.

In Preach My Gospel there is a promise given that those who serve diligently in the Lord's vineyard will find more joy than ever before.

I testify that that is true.

I have seen the Lord bless me with the power that comes with the authority. He has blessed me richly. How I wish you could all be out here serving with me, feeling the joy I feel. The Lord gives many blessings in the Book of Mormon, and they are being fulfilled to this day! The Book of Mormon is a place where all can look to find a remission of their sins. It can turn your heart to God, and that is engraved in my heart. The Book of Mormon changes lives. My faith is in it's pages, I know that I give someone the Book of Mormon, I can lead them to their Father in Heaven. He has given it to us because He loves us, and He wants us to know our identity. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have seen it's power. It contains the Doctrine of Christ, and I know that simply because I've seen the Doctrine in the workings!

This morning while reading 3 Nephi 10-11, I read it in His voice. I could hear how He would say it. It's exactly what Joseph Smith records, that He speaks like the "rushing of great waters" (D&C 110:?). He is the first and the last, the destination for us all. We must know Him because we are to become like Him, and we cannot become something we don't know. His grace makes up for what we cannot.  His Atonement is individual as well as collective. He was resurrected. He lives. 2 Nephi 9:18, 21-22.

I feel as if I've lived 50 years through the stories of others and with the knowledge I've gained. I feel myself progressing at a rate I cannot keep up with! I am FEASTING. I know what it means to feast upon the words of Christ. I am being cleansed! I feel more joy that I ever have before simply by doing what I know is right. I am starting to see some of the fruits of our labors, unfortunately right as Sister Turley is leaving. SISTER TURLEY HAS BEEN TRANSFERRED TO HANOVER!!!!!!!!!!! TO TAKE SISTER KORMAN'S PLACE!!!!!!!!!! AND SISTER KORMAN AND I ARE GOING ON EXCHANGES TOGETHER THIS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best transfer. Also, I love training. LOVE IT. It's crazy but we go with it! Sister Turley knows how much I love the people there, that's all I ever talked about. She met Rob and John when they came down for conference to see me. They're so lucky to have her. She will be perfect there. I know they are in good hands.

John from Hanover just receiving his patriarchal blessing this last Sunday. He writes and speaks like he's been a member all his life. He is ROOTED in this!!!! He's an amazing man with a love for Christ. His prayers always get answered, like on the spot too! People will call him while he's praying and give him answers to the questions he has! It's INSANE.

Let me just tell y'all about my new companion Sister Collins: SHE IS AMAZING. She has hit the ground running without missing a step. She is rooted in her testimony. I compare her to the Holy Ghost, she speaks softly, but with incredible love and purity. She is meek and lowly of heart. She is a disciple of Christ, you can tell by the way she treats others. This Gospel is love and she lives that. How dearly I love her. I have prayed her here and the Lord has answered my prayers!! I adore her! She was a councilor at Brighton Girls Camp before she came, she might convince me to do that when I get home ha! I don't know why, but the Lord keeps blessing me with BEST FRIENDS out here, one companion after the other. I have loved them so much.

Ok. So since Sister Collins has been here we have yet to have a lesson that isn't amazing! Patty ASKED FOR A READING ASSIGNMENT AND WANTED US TO COME BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Sean came to church and told others that he is going to be baptized!!! (yes the drag queen). Sean and Patty are READING the Book of Mormon. Patty said in her lesson, "after every lesson we have I always have a question that I have never thought of before." This time it was about the pre-earth life. That Plan of Salvation is bomb, it related to everyone. So Patty and Sean are progressing!!

Yesterday we walked 4 miles to contact a referral that wasn't there. Afterwards we asked, "why does the Lord want us HERE?" As soon as we answered that a man walked outside a house down from us. We asked him if we could share a message about Jesus Christ and got a return appointment for next Sunday (Easter). Only problem is, he SPEAKS SPANISH. I don't know Spanish. Good news is there are plenty of members that do! Wish is luck!

Uplifting message to those who are on missions:
God's opinion is the ONLY ONE that matters. He knows you are giving it everything you have and He has endowed you with power to do His work here upon the earth. This is a mighty work for mighty warriors, which you are one! You are like the Sons of Mosiah, teaching with power and authority of God. Think of Nephi in 3 Nephi, no one listened. But who did Christ call on when He came? NEPHI. He didn't give up. He then gave him the power to BAPTIZE! Be like Nephi and Christ will give you that same opportunity. You have power and authority, power is the evidence of your authority. Know this, that you are marvelous. You are elect. You can do anything with Christ, whose name you wear and whom you represent. You are His tool. He is working through you, whether it be to help your companions or the people around you.

Something AWFUL.... WE TOTALLY HAVE BEDBUGS. LIKE THE LANDLORD IS HAVING OUR APARTMENT HEATED UP TO 130 DEGREES ON THURSDAY hahaaaaha. Of course it's days after Sister Collins comes into the mission that we find this out... Poor girl! She's a great sport. No surprise we caught them, we go into some interesting homes!

Manchvegas story of the week: I got proposed to at a stoplight in our car by the man in the car next to us. He signaled to roll the window down. I did and went to hand him a mormon.org card when he started asking me all these questions ha! Wish I had better street smarts... We were in the elders area, there's a reason there aren't sisters there!

Drag Queens, Maple Syrup, Training

MOST BITTERSWEET MOMENT OF MY MISSION:

SISTER TURLEY IS LEAVING AND I AM TRAINING. This week was great until we got the call from President Stoker Fridaynight. We knew it was coming. President told me I was training during interviews a few weeks ago and told me to prepare to train. President Uchtdorf said it in conference, we do not like change because we are eternal beings. Sister Turley and I are eternal friends. I believe we have always been friends and were destined to meet up on our missions. This area is a challenge, but a good companionship can turn any situation into a good one. She has taught me to see others' perspectives; this was the perfect setting for me to learn that. I learned how to cook and serve from her. We had the same purpose. Although we learn VERY differently, we learned together. W e had a great companionship and the ward knew it. Many of them have come up to us saying "this is the start of an eternal friendship." They love the way we worked together. Both of us had more enthusiasm that most of the mission! We didn't fit in AT ALL which is why we worked well in this area.

Something I'm just realizing: I need the sun to wake up. I was depressed all winter. Now that it's spring and sunny I am SO much happier, can't believe what a difference the sun makes.

Two members had missionary experiences. MIRACLE. Sister Y#%&* (privacy, don't wanna give her name) started drinking and smoking. When I first got here we taught her the stop smoking program, she hasn't smoked since. She now has her temple recommend back!! We went over to their home two weeks ago and gave them a family mission plan, she was a tid bit apprehensive. Most of her friends are drag queens people pretty stuck in the world. She text us earlier this week and told us she was inviting a friend over for dinner with us. His name is Sean. He asks her about church all the time! He created a modern Jesus story and has read a lot in the Bible. Friday we went over and had the coolest experience. We had no idea what to teach him.... but the Lord never lets us down. When you follow the promptings of the Spirit, He will give you more and more. He will never let you down. We turned to Alma 7:11-13. We read it, all he said was "whoa, God can speak to us." He was awkward because the Spirit was foreign to him, you could tell, yet he felt it the whole time! We then watched None Were With Him on mormonchannel.org. He hasn't stopped talking about that night! We are meeting with him and the familythis Friday and are going to teach him about how God is our LOVING Heavenly Father.

Jenny brought her friend to Panera Bread. We had lunch with all the young women. We are having dinner with Hannah and Jenny's family soon!!

Conference was amazing. Build upon the rock to have rock like strength! Also, make the choice to follow Christ and STICK WITH IT. I was immensely spiritually fed. Perseverance and diligence. The Gospel is persistence. Once you make the decision to follow Christ, stick with it! ENDURE TO THE END!! #bednarrules

AHG SO MUCH MORE TO WRITE SO LITTLE TIME

Kalisa and Olivier, we gotta get them tro church but they are amazing.

We must analyze the LITTLE THINGS> DIG DEEPER. Take an experience, what make it special, is that really what made is special, why do you enjoy it? Take everything and analyze it. You can do this to know the desires of your heart, your strengths, interests, so on. Wish I had more time to explain it. We're on the computer with little time.

No pictures on this computer... Hopefully next week Bedford sisters can drive us to the other library! (no car on mondays)

Dreams

Tuesday night I had a dream about a wall, and someone shooting one part of the wall and it crumbling. I woke up and the image wouldn't leave me, I knew that the Lord was telling me to make a visual! I told Sister Turley and we came up with a visual for it. We made a wall of cups in a circle with the commandments on it, and blank cups for the testimonies you gain for each of those commandments. You are in the middle and the wall is what protects you from the adversary. When you choose to disobey even one commandment you are exposed; the wall crumbles in that part. You have a weakness and the adversary knows that. Commandments are there to keep us safe. They are there to protect us through our journey on earth. 

I think this dream came as a result of Sunday morning: one of our recent converts has a hard time waking up in the morning. When she gives us a ride to church, she gets up and comes. She picks us up with coffee in her mug. We scheduled a lesson with her on Tuesday to meet ASAP. We taught her the wall, and commit her to work on a commandment she wants to strengthen. We shared our concerns with her. The spirit was with us and guided the entire discussion. 

I guess she came home after church and dumped the majority of the coffee out. She is so sincere and LOVES the Gospel, I hate to see her guard down.

Kalisa wants to read the ENTIRE Book of Mormon. He is committed. We have a hard time getting him to come to church. He's so fun to teach! 

I pray for the people we see to understand the BIG picture of things. This IS the Restored Gospel, we can tell them all day what that means, but until they feel it our words are like wind - it just goes right by them.

The snow is finally melting, cigarettes litter the sidewalks like fertilizer - the grass is completely dead. I can't wait for the spring and the summer. I can't wait for GREEN TREES EVERYWHERE!! Can't wait for people walking around the city!

We commit ourselves to hand out five church resources every day. It makes us talk to EVERYONE!!! It also forces us to walk around more, trying to talk to more people! One man started walking towards us: covered in piercings, rocking an extreme hair-doo, black leather jacket. He comes towards us and we offer a photo of Christ after He's resurrected. He takes it. He asks us if we're missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. His WHOLE FAMILY IS MORMON and he's the only one who isn't. With much excitement we ask him if we can come teach him. He's moving to Manchester in a month! We have a POTENTIAL INVESTIGATOR!

Our investigators are proven to be pretty stubborn. If John was baptized, I have faith that ALL these people can be baptized. I know that the Lord works mighty miracles when we ask in faith!

Sister Young wants us to meet her friend who's tip-toeing with curiosity towards the church. She thinks we're the right missionaries for him. The young women wants us to teach their friends. One of the girls who came to class last week is getting baptized ALONG WITH HER TWO SISTERS AND PARENTS. The elders were teaching them and asked "if you come to know these things are true will you be baptized?" They reply "We know that it's true, we feel it in our hearts, when can we be baptized?" They will be a GREAT strength to the ward. The members are sharing the Gospel. No effort is wasted. 

I love y'all so much and pray that each of you will experience the joys of missionary work. Don't be afraid. With the Lord, all things are possible.

Without Christ, nothing is possible. I wouldn't have the ability to act on my own opinions, I don't even know if I could have my mind. I am just sp grateful that the Lord has given me a mind to think, to question.

I am reading the New Testament and with I had time to write the valuable insights I have gained through it. WRITE ME and I'll write more ha!

JoAnne is amazing, heading straight towards the House of the Lord. She is BEST friends with the other single ladies in the ward, they play cards together all the time. She comes to EVERYTHING without us even asking. She has found herself in the Gospel and it is a MIRACLE. Tonight we teach her about justice and mercy using THIS TALK. I suggest you all read it!Remember that in the end, it's the merciful that will obtain mercy. 

Sorry, no pictures again... One of these days I'll find a computer that lets me upload them and have more email time!

Let it OUT

I found myself in many instances where I had to practice meekness this week. I feel that now I have the knowledge I need to explain why, and how the church is true in almost any situation. Sometimes that's not the smart thing to do. Christ's silence during the trial says so much about who He is. His characteristics we are to attain aren't easy by any means! Life without His help is impossible. 

Let me just get this out:

Mormon's believe that Jesus Christ is the SON OF GOD! We are indeed Christians! LOOK AT THE NAME TAG. IT HAS HIS NAME ON IT! Also, Mormons have ALWAYS believed this. Our doctrine doesn't change. If you want to learn about Mormons, talk to a Mormon! ... rant over.

Sister Turley gave me an interesting goal to work on this week: respond to difference in opinions with a testimony. 

That's been one of the best goals a companion's ever given me, and it helped me so much. As soon as you do testify of the truthfulness that Christ DOES live, and that communication between man and Heaven flows, you feel an out-pour of love towards those that disagree. Even if the situation didn't change, by heart did. Charity comes before everything, if you don't have charity, as Moroni said, you are nothing. Charity can only come through Christ. He can change our hearts. I kept praying throughout many situations this week that He would take over, that He could help me, and He did. I just need to do what I've been asked to do and He can help with the rest. 

I feel very small without His help.

Humbling.

We had a dinner with Kalisa, Oliver, and one of the member families in our ward. It went GREAT. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Interesting how Kalisa is the one with the baptismal date, but Oliver was the one completely involved in the lesson. His questions stem from his soul, they are QUESTIONS OF THE SOUL. Hopefully we can get those two to church this coming week. SOMETHING is holding Kalisa back, because he isn't coming to church. Stay tuned...

We taught Young Women's on Sunday and set up a lunch with all of them in between conference sessions (can't believe conference is already here). They rushed up to us afterwards and told us they were going to invite their friends, they were waiting for a casual enough environment where they could do that! So THAT IS EXCITING!!!

Patty is great. Sister Stoker (mission mom) wants to teach her with us, which is also great! It seemed like she was going to drop this last lesson where we explained how the Book of Mormon came to be, but we managed to get a return appointment.

Elders got rear-ended in our car... bvfkdisnjvguahgcn.

Sister Turley is awesome. Really we are such great friends. Our houses are 12 milers away from each other so someday we can run to each other's houses and hang out!

Sorry this computer won't allow me to upload photos! Next week hopefully...

I love having people to teach!! We've just got to get them progressing is the next step.

Something REALLY exciting: we're having a fireside in May to help the members and President Stoker said he'd speak! Also, one of the members wants to have a Spanish fireside so they can invite their friends. THAT is ALSO going to happen!!

I've been focusing so much on the sacrament, and reverence. Reverence shows our respect, love, and affection. It shows Him we accept His sacrifice. Studying the difference between the two prayers you see that the bread is more of us keeping His commandments. The water being accessing the Atonement. Christ is the host of the sacrament. 

Love y'all!!