Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a wonderful week! On Monday we had dinner with the Mathews- they made a Utah dinner especially for me, since they're from Utah, too. :) We had chicken, green beans, and FUNERAL POTATOES!!! Although they were not as delicious as my Mom's, they were still very yummy and brought back many wonderful memories of being with my family.

Tuesday, we had an incredibly powerful lesson with Marlyse! She said she had loved church, and that her favorite thing was how happy everyone was- just like her! She felt right at home! She loved the message of the Restoration, and shared with us some of her personal experiences. She is developing a lot of trust in us, and we already love her so much. She said she has noticed that she feels greater joy and hope since meeting with us. She is incredible! We're so blessed to teach her!

On Wednesday we took Rod on a tour of the church, with Kevin McSheehy and Brooke, who is his niece (members). It was so powerful! Sometimes I forget how sacred of a place the church building is- it is a consecrated building of the Lord and the Spirit is very present there, especially in the chapel. We showed him each of the main rooms in the building, as well as the baptismal font. Rod said he felt very comfortable and welcome there. The Spirit is so real and powerful!
That evening, the young men and young women had an etiquette dinner that we helped serve at. It was fun!

Thursday was the family history presentation and one-on-one help with the Prices! They are the senior missionary couple in our mission who travel around the panhandle giving presentations. There were two nonmembers there who I signed up at the Pow Wow! They loved it- I worked with the wife while one of the elders worked with the husband. They started talking about the gospel, and the elders have an appointment to go teach them! Talking about our families is so powerful, and the Spirit of Elijah which turns our hearts to the hearts of our ancestors is so real, and softens hearts!

Saturday, the ward held a chili cook-off and spud derby! It was awesome! We all made cars out of potatoes, put wheels and decorations on them, then raced them on a pinewood car derby track used by the cub scouts. It was wonderful, especially since Carmela came! It was so good for her to come to a ward activity.

Funny story of the week: Sister Trawick and I were walking down the sidewalk on Racetrack when I suddenly felt something hit me in the back of my knee, hard. I turned around to see what had hit me, and saw a broken egg on the sidewalk a few feet back! Someone EGGED me! I just started laughing, which Sister Trawick probably thought was really weird, but I just thought it was so funny! Especially since it didn't crack on me- that was a blessing. It actually made my day- persecution is real, the gospel is true- whoever threw it at me probably didn't think I would react that way! :)

Our mission has created a new theme: love through obedience, obedience through love. I love this! As missionaries, obedience is stressed a lot, and it is truly important so that we can have the Spirit with us which is what will convert individuals to Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We show our love for them when we obey willingly. I love you all!

 Egged...

Utah reps!!

 

Etiquette dinner

 

Sushi lunch!

Utah funeral potatoes!!

Glowing!

It's been another beautiful week in paradise!

This week- we went to go see an elderly woman named Marie Thomas who hasn't been to church for 50 years and doesn't want to be a Mormon again- she opened the door and said, "How on earth did you find me?"- but she let us read the Book of Mormon with her and said she would come to church! I love how the Spirit softens hearts.

Thursday we went to lunch with Sister Brock and I was able to satisfy the craving that I've had for SUSHI! It was soooo good! We had a very powerful lesson with Rod- he wants the gift of the Holy Ghost so much and is going to be so blessed by it.

Friday- Sister Moeller came with us to go see Marlyse and it was INCREDIBLE! Marlyse GLOWS when she speaks! She is so full of light! She just opened her heart to us and told us how her whole life other people including her ex-husband have questioned why she is so happy- wow, she's practically Mormon! She expressed how she has loved and served others her whole life, but that not a lot of people have returned that to her. We testified that God has a work for Marlyse to do and that she would feel the love she needs at church- Sister Trawick brilliantly remembered that Sunday would be the Primary Program (Marlyse loves children)- and that sure sparked her interest! MARLYSE CAME TO CHURCH!!! She loved the Primary Program so much! We have an appointment with her Tuesday that I am so excited for. I can't wait for her to experience the blessings of the restored gospel!

Yesterday, we had a wonderful lesson with Jim and Vicky at the Dorleys, teaching about the commandment to study the scriptures. The scriptures are truly powerful- I know that they are God's words and that as we study them, they will fill our lives and us with light, just like the light that Marlyse has. As we apply the teachings of Jesus Christ found in the scriptures to ourselves, we will draw nearer to God and become like Him. Wow! We will become even as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! That is incredible. This gospel is true!!

Family history fun!

Fun fact: the leaves do not change color on the trees in Florida- it looks just as green as it did when I got here. However, there have been a lot of changes going on here in Paradise! Last Wednesday was the transfer- one of our elders left the area, and a set of additional elders came in so that now each ward has its own set of Sisters and Elders, and the 1st ward also has its Spanish Elders. So there are are now TEN missionaries in Fort Walton Beach- the work is gonna hasten like no body's business here!

Last Tuesday we had a super powerful lesson with our investigator Rod. One of the many McSheehys came with us (the dad Kevin) and we sat outside on Rod's porch. We talked about the strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that enables us to repent- to change those things in our lives that aren't in harmony with God's commandments, and to become more Christlike. Kevin shared how he was blessed with the strength to overcome several addictions, how he changed the way he saw himself, God, and the world. Then Brother McSheehy told Rod: "Rod, there are very few people like you that I've met, who have that spiritual sensitivity, who are close to God and clearly understand His place in their life. As we've been talking, I am convinced that God has a work for you to do- and you need to come to church so you can get just a taste of what that work is. Because He has much more in store for you than you can imagine." WOW. The Spirit there was palpable- and Rod's heart was softened. For the first time, he didn't come up with excuses when we invited him to come to church as soon as he had work off on a Sunday. He worked this Sunday, but I am so excited for when he can come- because he will!

On Saturday, all the missionaries in our zone (22 of us from surrounding cities) went to the Thunderbird Pow Wow in Niceville where one of their ward members with lots of connections has had a family history booth for the past four years. We all wore familysearch.org t-shirts and either walked around the grounds or stood at the booth, talking to as many people as we could, for practically all day. We invited them to attend the family history classes that will be held in each city in the coming weeks- so many people signed up! (it helps that it's free). There was even one man I talked to who started asking questions about our beliefs and why we were there, and I referred him to the Niceville elders. I had such a fun time!!! I love pow wows! The dancing, regalia, and booths with handmade items were sooo cool! If you've never been to a pow wow, you need to go!

Then on Sunday- church was wonderful, (except we had no less actives or recent converts show up, so that was interesting, and not wonderful...) and we had a Thanksgiving themed linger-longer afterwards. Boy was it hard to say no to all that pumpkin pie... That evening, we drove to Niceville for the stake's performance of Handel's Messiah! It was SO beautiful!! And it satisfied my hunger for a concert, which I hadn't been to for seven months. The singing, the string ensemble, the Spirit- ahhhh, it was perfect. Not quite the Utah Symphony/Chorus, but still- incredible. I love the scriptures used by Handel- "I know that my Redeemer liveth!" Because of Christ, who truly has born our afflictions and carried our sorrows, who suffered, bled and died for us, death has no sting, the grave has no victory, there is joy and there is hope. And that is so incredibly real- I experience that joy every single day. There is nothing like it. I know He lives!

 

Nicky was very happy to get a package... 

especially with pumpkin food that isn't dessert!

 Sharing about Family Search at the pow wow!

Happy Fall, Y'all! (And Halloween, but that doesn't rhyme)

Another beautiful week here in paradise! One of the elders says "Another beautiful day in paradise!" nearly every time we see him, so I think I'll adopt and adapt that today. This week, I learned a lot about seeing and loving children more as Heavenly Father does. We had a lot of sweet experiences with coming to understand people's needs and meeting them where they are to invite them to come to Christ starting at whatever place they are at in their life.

We finally met our sweet referral Nancy, who ordered a free Bible and Book of Mormon. She has a strong desire to come to church, read the scriptures, pray, stop her bad habits, and be baptized! Even though we were just sitting on the grass, covered in cigarette butts, outside of her trailer, the Spirit was so powerful and I felt strongly the love that Heavenly Father has for her and I could sense her great potential as His daughter. It was incredible!

On Wednesday morning after our run, we came back to find that we were locked out. We knocked on the door of the maintenance man for our apartment complex (thankfully he lives next door), but no one answered. So we said a prayer, started walking, and within seconds he appeared around the corner and unlocked our door for us. Prayer is awesome and it works!

We finally got to see Carol again! We hadn't seen her and Justin for a couple weeks, but we stopped Justin on the street one day and set up an appointment for Saturday. Carol just poured out all of her current struggles and fears to us. I felt so much love for her as we listened, and we sought direction from the Spirit to know what to say. Brother Atris was with us, and as we all spoke, we didn't solve any of her problems, but we promised her the blessings of living the gospel and relying on Jesus Christ for strength through our challenges. She seemed visibly better, happier, and with more hope by the time we left. This is such a message of hope!

Friday was the ward Trunk or Treat! Sister Trawick and I helped the kids make ghost suckers with tissues and string, and also brought oreos for people to play the minute to win it game where you try to get the oreo from your forehead to your mouth just by using your face. :) It's a favorite of mine. Then we went outside, put up our decorations on the trunk, and passed out candy. So many people followed through on the invitation we gave them to invite their friends and neighbors!!!! It was awesome! We were able to meet a lot of them, too. Yay for keeping commitments!

Tonight we have to be in early, so we'll do some letter writing and such. Also, transfers are this Wednesday- Sister Trawick and I are staying here, but the first ward sisters are moving in with us because an additional set of elders is coming to the area and will be living in the sisters' old apartment. Lots of changes- change is good! :) Love you all! Have a blessed week!

Lotsa Pasta

This week we ate a lot of pasta at members' homes for dinner, hence the title of today's blog post. That's the extent of my creativity right now. :)

This week was bitter sweet: I forgot if I told y'all, but our investigator Melissa who we've been teaching since June, moved into first ward boundaries this week. We were super sad to lose her, but so happy and grateful that she's just a hop and skip away! We can still keep tabs on her, and that was definitely an answer to prayers. We had one lesson with her and Sister Tedone about baptism- she has an incredibly strong desire to follow Jesus Christ by being baptized so that she can become clean and become a new person, experience a "mighty change of heart" (Mosiah 5:2) so she can make promises to God and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and the joy, peace, guidance, and promise of eternal life that comes to those who are baptized by the proper authority and keep their promises to God. She is so excited, and we are so excited for her!! Later that week, we had a lesson at her new home with the first ward sisters about the gift of the Holy Ghost, and she seemed to like other sisters well. This way, they will be able to bring members from the first ward to meet Melissa and create friendships that will help her to become a part of the ward. Melissa accepted a baptismal date in November! AND- she got up on Sunday and went to the first ward at 9:00 in the morning!! That's early for Melissa, and although she was tired, she made that sacrifice and was actually there!!!!! Yay!! We're so happy for her! I'm so grateful for the opportunity Heavenly Father has blessed me with to be a part of Melissa's journey in coming to the knowledge of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

On Wednesday, we had a 24 hour exchange with the Sister Training leaders; Sister Saunders came here to Fort Walton with me while Sister Trawick went to Crestview forty minutes away to be with the other sister. It was fun! One of our kind of investigators Eileen took us to lunch to a Greek restaurant, where she is friends with one of the owners. Her friend gave us free baklava for dessert! I love baklava, but I was in a sticky situation! This kind lady had given us free dessert, but I wasn't eating dessert per the agreement with Justin not smoking... so after pushing it around a little with my fork, I asked for a to-go box, then took it home and later gave it to Justin to prove my faithfulness to my end of the bargain. :)

On Friday we sang hymns at a senior center and one of the gentlemen there played his harmonica with us- he was pretty good! It was fun!

This week I've been studying charity and love, the greatest of all Christlike attributes. In St. John 17:3, we learn that eternal life is knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I looked into the word "know" and found 1 John 4:7-8 which teaches that God is love, therefore, to know God we must love Him and His children. God is love; every thought, word, action, decision, and attribute of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is motivated purely by perfect love for all of us. As a missionary, I want love for God and His children to be my pure motivation; as I strive for that, the verses in 1 John 4 promise that the love of God will dwell in our hearts and that we will be "of God."

I love you all!

Testifying

October 17

On Wednesday, Sister Trawick and I biked to a media referral, which is when we get a text and email from the church saying that someone has ordered something we need to deliver, usually a free Bible and/or Book of Mormon. A woman named Louise had ordered a bible, so went to deliver it to her. She was very sweet, and thanked us for the bible and told us she was excited to take it to her bible study. Then her boyfriend James came outside and started telling us his theories about the bible, and what he didn't like about the church and our beliefs. I told him it was fine that he had his own beliefs and opinions, and that we respected him, but that we would like to express our beliefs as well. Basically, we testified of Joseph Smith and his reality as a prophet of God, that he truly was visited by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and shared how we had come to know that for ourselves by a witness of the Holy Ghost. I could feel the Spirit confirming my words as I spoke, and strengthening me to defend my beliefs. Then Louise said, "I believe that, too. Just because of you saying that- I believe what you just said about Joseph Smith." Wow! What?? I didn't know what to say! So James said, "You do? How do you believe that?" Louise- "Because I can feel that she knows it's true, so it must be true." It was incredible!!! We had never experienced anything like that before. We asked her how she felt- she said she felt good, she felt it was true. Unfortunately, Louise and James had to go before we could get much further, but James even apologized for being abrasive and said he was open to learn more. I am so excited to see how they progress!!

That evening, we went to Young Women in Excellence at the church. There were so many people there to support them, and so many young women received awards. They are incredible examples to me in their faith and diligence- I love them!

On Friday we saw Justin and Carol with Yogi. They both accepted the invitation to keep the Word of Wisdom! Amazingly, Carol had stopped smoking just the week before and said she would give up her twenty cups of coffee a day. Justin agreed to stop smoking, and I said that if he did I would give up something, too: sweets and treats. So of course at our dinner appointment that evening, Satan tempted me with pumpkin pie cobbler... if Justin can turn down a cigarette, I'll turn down pumpkin, which is my favorite. :)

Then yesterday: Carol came to church!!!!!!! She brought Julie and Dimitri (Justin's kids, her grandkids), and Dimitri was a little all over the place in sacrament meeting, but they came! And they want to come back! Yayyyy!

The Holy Ghost is incredible! How wonderful it is that Heavenly Father has given us the opportunity to have a member of the Godhead with us constantly after we are baptized and as we are worthy- what a gift! I am so grateful that the Spirit is the real teacher, not me- we're just the instruments. It testifies of truth, and that witness is undeniable. I love you all!

Joy!

This week has been so joyful!

On Tuesday, Sister Trawick and I went the home of the Pilkingtons, Tammy and her daughter Taylor who is a junior in high school. They each had friends in mind that they have been wanting to give a Book of Mormon to, so we helped them practice what they would say. It was neat to feel the Spirit there as it led them to know what they might say to their friends.

The miracle of this week was with Jane C'olon, a less active member of the ward. She was baptized about twenty years ago and used to take her children to church, but hasn't attended for many years. Two years ago her daughter was killed and she has struggled and grieved so much from that. Every time I have seen her she has been sad and cries for her loss. I have prayed a lot about how to comfort and help her through inviting her to Christ and making the gospel a part of her life again. This week, the thought came to mind that we should take Ruth Tedone to go see her. Ruth, a member, had a child of her own killed many years ago. When we arrived, it didn't take long for Jane to open up and explain her sorrow and frustrations of dealing with her daughter's murder. Sister Trawick and I hardly said a word for the hour we were there while Ruth listened lovingly to Jane, expressed deep empathy, shared her own experiences, prayed for Jane, and spoke of how she has been healed and found joy through Jesus Christ. Near the end, Jane told Ruth how much hope she had given her, that she hadn't felt this good since before her daughter died, and that she was sure her daughter was sending her a message. I saw Jane smile for the first time since I had met her! Then, she asked Ruth,"Do you go to church every week?" "Yes." "Could I come with you on Sunday?" and she came! And she's planning to come next week, too! But as exciting as it is that she wants to come to church, I am even more excited and happy to see the light, hope, and love that has started to fill Jane- it is incredible. I was filled with so much love for Jane, Ruth, and for Heavenly Father for inspiring this connection of two of His precious daughters.

Another miracle: Justin's mom Carol has started joining us in the lessons! She has a lot of faith, her family is the most important thing to her, and she is interested in finding out more about the gospel. She described that she has seen a big change in Justin since we started teaching him- that he is happier, more patient, and more kind. Wow!

The message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is one of incredible hope, joy, and change- we experience those things as we strive to live as He did and as we make Him the center of our lives. It brings me the greatest joy to see these changes come about in the lives of those we teach! That change and joy are real and they come from God- it is our choice to let the Spirit enter our hearts and to act so we can begin to experience these things for ourselves. I love you all! And as they say in the South, "have a blessed week!"

Sister Trawick and Sister Jamison!!

Beautiful beach view

Tour of the Apartment...