Hey y'all! I am loving it here in Alabama!
Basically Monday and Tuesday involved packing. Poor Sister Crosby got a stomach bug, as well as Elder DeLaMare and the family we had dinner with last Sunday. Tuesdayevening we had dinner as a district with the Swapps who made homemade tacos. Thankfully she felt better in time for transfers on Wednesday.
Fairhope is the CUTEST town I have ever seen in my life! It really looks like a picture- a quaint Main street with beautiful architecture, little shops and restaurants, tree lined streets, beautiful homes, flowers everywhere- I would totally come back to live here someday. And I love being with Sister Kirkham! She is so kind hearted, genuine, and really good at connecting with people.
Wednesday evening we had dinner with the Palmer family, and I had the joy of nerding out over choral music with their daughter. :) Thursday we went to the library where each week a couple of the ward family history consultants come and we all help anyone who is interested on familysearch.org. A couple people came, and it was fun. Sister Wilson took us to lunch afterwards. Next, we visited D'amarus who has been investigating the church for awhile. She was so kind! That evening we had dinner with the Wells, a fun couple in the ward.
Friday morning we had a lesson with a new investigator Matt at a coffee shop; he is the drummer for a band of a non denominational church in Fairhope, where the sisters met him while they were doing a church-swap with someone (we'll go to yours if you come to ours. :)) He was very open and sincere in his questions, and genuinely wanted to understand what we believe. It was very refreshing! We had lunch with Sister Michim, then had correlation with our ward mission leader Brother Klippel, who was an MTC teacher for three years and moved here a while ago from Provo with his wife. Fun couple! He is a hard working ward mission leader, very helpful, and knows how to get things done.
For dinner we had something called Soul Bowlz, an acai berry smoothie bowl with granola and fruit. Sooo good! Then we met with Jilvonia, someone the sisters met in front of her house. We taught the restoration, and the spirit was strong; it was so neat to see her transition of "I don't need to go to to church to be close to God" to accepting an invitation to be baptized and expressing her desire to do more for God! The Spirit changes hearts when
individuals let Him in!
Saturday the elders and we volunteered to help at a Triathalon! We stood at an intersection and directed the bikers to turn. It was so neat to see! Afterward we helped with food at the after party. Lots of fun!
Sunday we had church- I have felt so loved and welcomed by all the members! They really reached out to me, and to Esther, a friend of ours that the sisters met at another church. She stayed all three hours and loved it! Later that evening, we went to her church, which is very different from ours and was very interesting to experience. The service was in an auditorium and started out with a band on the stage playing several Christian rock-type songs (which were actually pretty good, just not what I would expect at church). It basically looked like a concert, with colored lights and people standing and waving their arms. Then we watched a broadcasted minister who shared a motivating message about seeing ourselves as God sees us. It was an interesting experience, and neat to see another way that people worship.
I found a talk from General Conference that carries a similar message to the sermon we heard at City Hope church. It's called, "Don't Look Around; Look Up!" In it, I liked something that Elder Choi said: "One day, a few months after my baptism, I heard some members criticizing each other in church. I was very disappointed. I went home and told my father that maybe I should not go to church anymore. It was difficult to see members criticize others like that. After listening, my father taught me that the gospel had been restored and it is perfect but members are not yet, neither himself nor me. He firmly said, “Do not lose your faith because of the people around you, but build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t look around, look up!”
Look up to Jesus Christ—the wise advice of my father—strengthens my faith whenever I face challenges in life. He taught me how to apply the teachings of Christ, as in these words: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”" I know this is Jesus Christ's church restored on the earth with the power and authority of God needed for us to become like our Savior and return to live with Him and our Heavenly Father. I love y'all!
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