Called to Serve: 20 years older- and wiser too!

This week was an adventure for sure! I turned 20! How crazy is that? I have always looked forward to this time in life, and now I am living it! Time flies by so fast! I would not want to be anywhere else at this point in my life though. I am learning so much. But most importantly, I am becoming closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the one that makes it all possible. Christ's Atonement is the most incredible act of love. I am learning that more and more every day in the mission!

Well you are all probably wondering what made this week so crazy... Well let's get started :)

Tuesday we had our weekly District meeting. There were things that were said that I felt were just for me! Funny how the Spirit works :) After our District Meeting, Sister Peterson and I had an appointment with our lovely Ermilisa. Ermilisa is doing really well. We were excited to meet with her! We taught the Word of Wisdom. Ermilisa of course ate it up! She loves learning about the commandments! She is seeing miracles happen in her life!! We committed her to live the WoW. She committed! Not that I was surprised haha, because she had already started to quit smoking before having the full lesson! She is so prepared for the Gospel it is INSANE! We just have to wait a little longer to get some things approved, and she will be well on her way. So just keep her in your prayers! She needs them!

Wednesday was a great day as well! We did some service at the local Ronald McDonald House. We decided to visit a former investigator, Jen. She has gone through a ton of loss in her life. She lost her husband, her grandparents, her mother, and this past week her father. She has guardianship over her two nephew's and niece in addition to raising her 11 year old daughter. So she has a lot going on in her life. We got to her house and saw that her car was there. I was so excited! We knocked, no answer. Knocked again, no answer. As we were walking over to our bikes, she opened the door! I was so excited to see her! She let us in and we visited with her for a few minutes. We shared the Plan of Salvation with her. I could see that she was very touched. Towards the last few minutes of the lesson, I just started testifying yo her that what we taught I knew to be true. I testified to her that God is very aware of her and her needs. Through the spirit, I was able to promise her that if she sincerely prayed about what we taught to know that if that is the plan that God has for her, that she would get an answer. While I was saying this, I of course started crying because the spirit was unreal! I felt such love for her! I was feeling a part of the love that Heavenly Father has for her! That was an incredible feeling! She committed to praying about it and we have a return appointment with her this week!!

Thursday of course was the best day of the week! I turned 20!!!! YIKES I'm an old woman now! haha jk. I had a really good day! Sister Peterson made me carrot cake cup cakes (carrot cake is my FAV) so that was super nice of her!! We had an AWESOME weekly planning session! and then had lunch at Chick-fil-A. That was a nice treat :) We then planned to go visit a referral from the Elders. We drove to the lady's house and knocked on the door. Well the Elders totally set us up! haha. It was a gathering place for a group of Jehovah's Whitnesses. That was super awkward. They wanted to talk to us of course and told us all about thier current WatchTower. It was pretty great. Sister Peterson being so gung-ho about the Restoration, decided to share the restoration with them. We got to the Book of Mormon, and i knew that it wasn't going to be good. There were 3 JW's there and they were throwing bible verses at us like no one's business. It was all very calm though, so we answered their questions to the best of our ability. So we may or may not have accidentally bible bashed with some JW's on my birthday haha That was sufficiently awkward lol

We later had an appointment with one of our new investigators, Dawn. We taught her about the Plan of Salvation. She seemed to get the jist of it. She has great potential! So we are excited to meet up with her again this week.

We had a dinner appointment with a Sister in the ward. She took us out to Panera. Its pretty similar to Kneaders, or Zupas. So that was really good. We got to talking with her and got some great ideas of how we can help unify the Pensacola ward and get more involved. That was super exciting!!

So my Birthday was a pretty GREAT day!!

Friday we had an absolutely AMAZING lesson with another new investigator Charli. She is another one that is so prepared to receive the Gospel. We did some How to Begin Teaching with her. That is just basically telling her what our message is about and how it will improve her life. She is excited to learn more. So after our discussion with her, we ended the lesson with a prayer. I had the prompting to just go sit in the chapel for a quiet moment. I asked Charli if that was something she would want to do. She agreed. We sat in the Chapel for about 10 minutes. The Spirit that was present was so strong. I have never felt the love of the savior so much in one moment. I looked over at Charli, and she was silently praying. I could tell that the spirit was testifying to her that this is the path for her. I of course became overwhelmed by the spirit and began to cry. When she was done praying, i asked her what she felt. She described exactly what she was feeling. She was so overcome with the spirit as well. She said that God has just answered her prayers. That was probably one of the most spiritual moments i have had on my mission thus far! I felt very blessed!

This week was awesome! We gained a new investigator, Marilyn, who has read all the way to 2 Nephi 4 in the Book of Mormon! She is even praying to know if Joseph Smith was the Prophet of the Restoration. The work is going very well here in Pensacola. Sister Peterson and I are working very hard and are very busy!! I love the work and am excited to see what is in store for this coming week!

I know that this Gospel is true. I know that our Father in Heaven knows us each individually and knows our needs. He loves us and wants to bless us. All we have to do is just ask to be blessed and show through our faith that we are worthy of those blessings. I know that the Book of Mormon is what it states, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It has drawn me closer to the Savior! I become more and more converted to the Gospel every time I read the Book of Mormon. I have seen its teaching change the lives of those I teach. I am so grateful to be blessed with this opportunity to serve a mission! I couldn't ask for anything better! It is changing my life in more ways than one! I love this gospel with all of my heart!