$125 cheesecake!!

May 8

Hello! 

Our miracle of Monday was our lesson with Lara! It was the first set appointment we had made with her that she kept! And all her kids were there! She told them to grab scriptures and paper and pencil to take notes! :) We talked about the Book of Mormon and read 3 Nephi 12 with them, and Lara helped apply the verses to their lives- so neat! 

Tuesday was MLC, which is always fun! I love meeting with the missionary leadership from all over the mission. They're a strong bunch!

Wednesday was moving day! We spent almost all day moving our stuff to the new apartment with the help of both sets of elders and the Swapps... we were worn out by the end of the day! We had a wonderful dinner with the Fetters who I love so much! Sister Fetters is a super mom!! She's been single mom-ing it with four kids while her husband has been deployed. I learn so much from her!

Thursday was zone conference! Our district wore our matching dresses and ties which I was super nervous for how President Smith and the other missionaries would react... but everyone loved it and thought it was funny! We looked pretty good! The only downside was it kind of seemed like the Crestview Show- all of our companionships ended up teaching... which was not our plan, but hey. It all works out! That night we had dinner with the Baltimores- chicken fajitas which I was super excited for, but while I was eating mine, I got a big bite of something spicy and started crying my eyes out while everyone else was talking and trying to extinguish the fire with refried beans... turns out there was a jalapeno in the pepper mix and I got it! It was pretty funny! 

Friday we talked with the Rollers- Sister Roller talked with us for a good while which was good! Then Lilly came to our sports night, which had a great turnout of nonmembers!

Saturday for our dinner appointment Sister Walker took us to the boy scout fund raiser luau dinner at the church. Afterwards there was a baked goods auction. Sister Walker tried to bid for a cheesecake for us, but when the price got too high we told her to back off, we didn't want her to buy it for so much money. One of the first ward members sitting nearby overheard and started bidding for the next cheesecake for us- we told him not to bid at it for us, that we didn't need it, but to no avail... he and another member were competing for the cheesecake, and our pleas of "no, we don't want it!" became more desperate as the price rose. But he persisted! And ended up paying $125 for that triple chocolate cheesecake!! We felt sooo bad! But he would have donated at least that much anyway, so at least a cheesecake came with it... :D 

Sunday was church, and afterwards a lesson with Leslie and Sister Hicks! Leslie said that as she's prayed about our message that it has felt right, and that she's had the thought multiple times that she needs to come to church. Hopefully this week is the week! 

Today for P-day both sets of elders and the Swapps and we went to Destin! Volleyball, shopping, Stewby's, and Bippy's. What a fun day!

The theme of my studies this week has been faith! Faith is power- it is not just an ambiguous idea or collection of beliefs; rather, it is a deep and abiding trust in God and His Son Jesus Christ, knowing in our heart and mind that they truly live and that their promises are real and truly work. Faith is action. And when we act with sincerity and conviction, or even hope, that's when the power of Jesus Christ enters our lives. The power to do what we cannot on our own. I love this quote from President Nelson from this past General conference in his talk, "Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives" :When you reach up for the Lord’s power in your life with the same intensity that a drowning person has when grasping and gasping for air, power from Jesus Christ will be yours. When the Savior knows you truly want to reach up to Him—when He can feel that the greatest desire of your heart is to draw His power into your life—you will be led by the Holy Ghost to know exactly what you should do." https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/drawing-the-power-of-jesus-christ-into-our-lives?lang=eng 

I encourage you to study and apply the principles of this talk! I know Jesus Christ lives and that his power is real and can change us to become as He is. I love you all! Remember your mothers this Sunday!

Part-member miracles!

May 1st

This week has been wonderful! 

Tuesday was district meeting- wow I love our district!! There's always a reason to laugh! We all wanted to do something to distinguish our district at the upcoming zone conference, so we came up with the harebrained idea of making matching ties and dresses... easy, right? Haha! We bit off way more than we could chew! Throughout the week in her free time, Sister Swapp, who taught sewing in high school and is a fabulous seamstress, sewed dresses for herself, Sister Crosby and me... and the Elders made themselves ties! Haha! 

We had an awesome lesson with our investigator Leslie! The grandkids were still at school, and Sister Hicks came! She bore powerful testimony of the gift of the Holy Ghost, and I could tell that Leslie sees a lack of happiness and peace in her life and desires what we have! By the end of the lesson, a light had come on in her!

Wednesday we went to Sharing and Caring. Nancy was out of town, but we'll catch her this week! We stopped by to see Mackenzie (a youth who was baptized last year), who we haven't seen in a month, and she was home! We had an awesome lesson about turning the other cheek and resisting revenge, invited her to come to young women's that night, and she came! She seemed happy to be there, and she's planning to come to girls' camp! Haha, while at her house we saw a couple of pigs cross the street! :D It was the most random thing ever! 

Thursday we weekly planned and had dinner with the Tews; they shared their Godiva cheesecake with us that they had bought in Birmingham (nearest Cheesecake Factory) and drove four hours home with. It was TO DIE for! WOW. How have I never had Cheesecake Factory cheesecake?? #spoiledmissionary

Friday we had exchanges with sisters and I was with new Sister Mifflin! She is such a sweet and darling sister! When we went to try a potential investigator, her daughter answered the door and said that her mom was not interested (her brothers just couldn't say no to two cute girls :P) but that she may be interested, but that she lived in Fort Walton. Just her luck! She met Sister Mifflin who is serving there, made that connection with her, and now she's much more likely to meet with them in Fort Walton!

On Saturday we had the joy of being granted permission to go to Callaway, Sister Crosby's previous area, and witness the baptism of two of her investigators that she found and taught! I was so happy for her! It was really neat! The Swapps drove us, and they were grateful for it, too, they said, because that day all their children were together for their daughter's graduation which they were missing. We were glad to be with them!

This week I would invite you to evaluate your prayers, and how you can make them more meaningful. What a gift we've been given, to access the power of God in our lives! A quote I saw today was "Prayer is the key to heaven, but faith is how you unlock it." I love you all!