September!

Hello friends and family!

They switched Pday from Monday to Tuesday this week, the libraries were closed yesterday!

This week was great, we were able to have a new Sister with us. Two Sisters weren't getting along as a companionship, and us lucky Sister Training Leaders got the call from President to go separate them. We took one to York, and one came with us. Nice little drive. And York is in South Carolina. So that was fun to say I have been to South Carolina. For like 2 seconds. It has been neat to see her change this week though, because at first she was ready to go home and wanting to leave, and we have been working with her and helping her out this week and she now is staying :) She is always down on herself and has low self confidence so I tried really hard to point out everything she does RIGHT. Positive thinking. It has been great fun being in a 3-some again. She has been with us all week though and is going to her area tomorrow. We'll miss her.

We have Elders in Huntersville now. They opened this area and are having a hard time finding people to teach and have been knocking on doors ALOT. Which is not the most effective. We sat down with the Ward Mission Leader and all of us and he suggested, just like President Craven always says, we are to teach 20 lessons a week. If you can't teach investigators, you teach Less Actives, If you can't teach less actives, you teach members the discussions. Hopefully the members will find that it is really good, and like what they hear and invite their friends to be there the next time!! Then you turn it into a teaching opportunity.

We have met with that Part Member family, and we found the real concern why they want to put of the baptism until December. It's not really because of the son in College, it's because the Dad is struggling with his testimony. The wife told us he is struggling and has run into some Anti material about Joseph Smith. So we are going to talk to the Bishop about it and have him work with him. But we had a great lesson last night, watched the Restoration and bore testimony of Joseph Smith and his divine role as a Prophet. It was powerful. I remembered when I was in New York and able to go to the Sacred Grove, and shared the spirit that I felt there. We are continuing to work with and love this family, and they were out of town for church this week, but they committed to come next week!

George is progressing! We taught him the Word of Wisdom this week. He says he has to pray about it. We took one of his coffee makers with us :) We had an awesome Returned Missionary with us who helped us teach. It was powerful. We had another lesson with George at the church. He drove us up there, because there was 3 of us we were allowed to ride with him. I was a little nervous to drive with him up to the church, a 79 year old man on the freeway. Scary. But he did a good job :) And the spirit at the Church building is so powerful and it really added to the lesson. He also was out of town this week and wasn't able to come to church.

Oh we had the neatest opportunity this week. President Craven did a fireside at the mission home for all Investigators, Less Actives, and Recent Converts. We just found out about it the day before and called around and one of our Recent Converts wanted to go! So exciting. It was fantastic. President Craven is an inspired, incredible man. I love hearing him speak. He is an expert on the Doctrine of Christ, which is what he spoke of. The recent converts loved it. They had more people than they have ever had at that fireside (they do it every month and usually 10 people come) and this time there were about 50! So they sat in the living room with President Craven, and all of the missionaries, (there were probably about 40 missionaries) sat on the staircase and crammed in the other little living room. It was so good to see people who have been in my district before, and just be with other missionaries and feel the spirit so strongly as President Craven talked about the Doctrine of Christ. It was amazing. It's strange how the mission home feels like a home away from home. The other missionaries really become like family and it's so good to see them :)

Yesterday, we decided to try something new to find people to teach. We went to a park and drew the Plan of Salvation on the sidewalk with the Elders! It was so fun. We had a blast, and got to talk to a few people. One of them is a Less Active that is NOT on our rolls, but lives in Huntersville. He came up to us shyly and told us he used to be LDS but hasn't gone in a long time. We were able to talk about "the Plan" and talk to him about why he needs the gospel back in his life! It's amazing how God puts those people in our paths. What are the odds he'd be at the park at the exact same moment we were. 

We were also contacting a referral from a member and had a cool experience. He opened the door and we were talking, when the Mom and the returned missionary son drove by and came on the porch and talked with us. They just talked for a little while, but then he said "You know, your family is incredible. I don't know how you do it, but your kids all turned out fantastic. I want my son to be like him. I want what you have, and I wish my family could be like yours" It was PERFECT>>>>>>>>>>>>> We were able to tell him it's because of the Gospel that they are like that and we set an appointment to go see him.

We have a lot of exchanges to go on this transfer! It'll be fantastic. I am so excited. I get to go back to Lincolnton! Woot woot! This week will go by fast though because we have Mission Leadership Conference all day tomorrow, and at least one exchange if not two. It's craziness. But it's so fun. I love change and I love always doing something different.

The members in Huntersville have changed my life. I know that I was supposed to be here to meet them. They are incredible. They are such examples to me of faith and what a family should be. I have learned so much from them. I love being in their homes and with their families, feeling of the spirit. I can definitely feel the difference in an investigators home, or someone else, vs. a home with a family that has the Gospel. I know the Gospel IS true and it IS the difference.