A New Chapter

The days leading up to Sister Stephens' departure were jam packed with saying good bye to everyone. It was sad, but Sister Stephens and I were kinda just floating along because it hadn't actually hit us yet that she was leaving Fort Walton. On Monday we had another awesome lesson with Jim and Vicki at the Nystroms on keeping the Sabbath day holy. Yogi was able to relate with Jim about feeling out-of-place in the priesthood class during church, but encouraged him to go and promised he would learn from it. Jim agreed to go with Yogi to the third hour of church, yay!


On Tuesday we had district meeting, visited some more people, and finished up packing Sister Stephens' belongings. We left for Tallahassee in the late afternoon and had a fun drive of laughing and singing together, telling stories, and drawing as much training advice from Sister Stephens as I could. We met the Sister Training Leaders at the Institute building that's used by the students at Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College, which is where Sister Stephens will be serving. It was so weird to be on a college campus again- some of the students were there and one of them had cooked up some racoon for everyone to try! It was super greasy, but didn't taste too bad! We stayed the night at the sisters' apartment, and in the morning we drove to the church building. I went to a trainer training meeting for the missionaries who would be training the new missionaries, and President Smith's remarks put me at ease a little bit. Boy was I nervous! Then we went into the chapel where he announced the companionships and their areas. My companion is Sister Trawick! She's from Monterey, CA and she's awesome! I said goodbye to Sister Stephens, and then Sister Trawick and I were on our way back to Fort Walton. I was sad to see Sister Stephens leave, and it's been hard without her; but Sister Trawick has a strong testimony of the gospel and strong desires to serve God the best she can. It's a little difficult being the only one who knows the people we teach and the members, and weekly planning was interesting, but Sister Trawick has a positive attitude that I really appreciate. She encourages me when I'm feeling stressed and is a willing learner. I'm learning a lot, too- I'm learning quickly to put a lot more trust in Heavenly Father to guide me. I can feel Him guiding us to know what to do, where to go, and what to say as I try to do my best to help Sister Trawick become the missionary God wants her to be.

On Wednesday, we had dinner with Laura and her husband and son. As we were clearing the table, we heard someone honking in the driveway. When they went out to see who it was, their next door neighbor jumped out of her car and declared that there was a bear in her driveway! Laura's husband grabbed his shotgun ("just in case") and asked us, "Do y'all want to see it?" I did, but I also wanted to keep Sister Trawick alive- I didn't think it would go over well to have to tell President Smith that the new missionary had been eaten by a bear... So I said no, and we ran inside until Laura came in and escorted us safely to our car out front. That was pretty exciting!

Yesterday, we had an amazing lesson with Melissa about repentance. We read Alma 36:18-21 and discussed the incredible change that Alma experienced as his sorrow and guilt was replaced by joy. I testified to Melissa that I know the Atonement is real and that repentance works because I've experienced my own sorrow replaced with joy- and the Spirit was so present and warm as it confirmed to me the truth of what I was saying. Melissa said she wanted to experience that change and joy for herself and said she could feel God's love for her at that moment. The gospel is so true! I know that by living the teachings of Jesus Christ and by accessing the powers of His Atonement daily we come near to God, become like Him, and can receive the ultimate blessing of eternal life with our families. That is what I want for all of God's children, and that is why I am a missionary. I love you all!