Teach Repentance, Baptize Converts, and Connect Generations.

Hey Y'all!  I hope y'all have had a fabulous week!  This week has been pretty crazy here in Bonifay. My goodness, I cannot believe that one year ago I was just three weeks away from heading to the MTC.  That was quite the roller-coaster of emotions haha. I really felt bad for those who had to get on that roller-coaster and didn't have a ticket...lol It is even crazier to think that I have been a full time sister missionary for 11 months!!  YIKES I have experienced a lot of emotions this week as well.  What I love though, is that I always learn from these experiences. What got me through this week though, was much prayer, fasting, and diving into the scriptures.  Monday was just a regular preparation day.  We got a lot done, thank goodness.  I think the amount of things we get done on preparation day determines the attitude we have for the rest of the week.  We grocery shopped at the Piggly Wiggly.  Sister Richins had never heard of one, so that was an adventure.  We got the apartment clean, and laundry done.  It was quite the exciting day haha.  I even had time to bake us some chocolate chip cookies! :)   But later on in the evening, we had dinner with Bishop and Sister Ard, and Brother and Sister Holley.  They are both such cute little families.  We had Pizza and salad.  Not to mention all the desserts that were brought as well.  Sister Holley shared a neat story about Family History.  As I have become more familiar with the "how to" of Family History, my love for this glorious work has grown so much.  It is neat to hear how missionary work is not only happening here, but on the other side of the veil.  This truly is the Lord's work.  I absolutely LOVE it! Tuesday was a swell day.  We had a really good district meeting.  We talked about integrity, and finding.  You wouldn't think that those two things go together, but the do in so many ways.  All that was said at district meeting was very beneficial.  After district meeting, we had the chance to go out with a couple sisters in the ward.  They attended Time Out for Women a couple weeks ago, and they are just on fire!  They have been visiting all the sisters in the ward so they are able to get to know them and feel more unified as women in the ward.  We had asked if one of them could come with us to see a couple people with us, and it turns out that those two people were on the list of sisters that they had planned to see this week.  So that was such a tender mercy.  We were able to see Liz, and Jenny.  It was awesome to get to see how these tow other sisters were doing their best to strengthen their friendships with other sisters in the ward.  We talked to Liz about temples and family history work.  She has always been gung ho on family history, so this was right up her ally.  We set up a time to help her get a family search account set up for that Friday.   Later on in the evening, we had a great lesson with our investigator, Robert.  He is searching for a lot of peace and truth in his life.  So he is right where he needs to be to receive that.  I just hope and pray that he opens his heart to the promptings of the Holy Ghost as we teach him the discussions.  He has a pretty solid member anchor though.  She is a super awesome member missionary!  She will even share her testimony in lessons we have.  It is amazing.  I love that she can get out and help others come closer to Christ, even when she is going through some of the hardest things anyone could ever go through.  She is super woman!!  Wednesday we were able to volunteer at the thrift store, and bag up some pizza.  Who knew that would be so much fun?  We had a great lesson with a less active brother, Steve.  Because we didn't have another sister with us, we just had to teach him from his porch, through the screen door, as he sat in his recliner in his living room.  As we were discussing a particular verse of scripture, the heavens decided to weep.  It just started coming down.  I couldn't hear a word anyone was saying because it was so loud.  I just about jumped out of my shoes when a clap of thunder followed a bright flash of lightning.  Never a dull moment in Bonifay.  We also got to see our dear Ariel as well. I was super excited about that.  We were even able to talk about the B word... Baptism.  She is a bit hesitant, but she has questions.  That implies she has been thinking about it.  :)  YAY!!!  Our favorite member missionary was kind enough to have us over for dinner, and made us yummy spaghetti!  Thursday was a good day.  We had our weekly planning session in the morning.  But we had an appointment with an investigator, so we ended up finishing weekly planning later.  Our appointment fell through. So we just headed to our next appointment with Ariel.  We had another great discussion about baptism.  She is thinking about it. So she will come around sometime.  She just has a lot of things that get in the way of letting her feel the spirit.  It is the spirit that converts, not the missionary. So it is so hard to teach when the investigator is not letting the spirit teach them.  We had a lot of fun serving ice cream at the nursing home.  I always love going there.  It just brightens my day!  We had a great dinner with some members.  We even got to know more about the needs of the ward and brainstorm about how we can help the members here.  Friday was great.  We started off the day doing Family History with Liz.  She was on fire!  We were able to find a line that went all the way back to 1035!  She is excited to see what else she can learn about her ancestors.  We were even able to find people that she was not aware of.  It was amazing.  We helped some sisters decorate for a baby shower they were throwing for a sister in the ward.  That was a lot of fun :)  We ended up having dinner and the best Mexican restaurant ever!  I wish yall could come to Bonifay and partake of its goodness haha.  Saturday was another good day.  Well all days are good, some are just better than others. Saturday was just super awesome though. Sister Richins and I  both had really good studies that morning.  12 week training ( the extra hour of study we get so I can help train sister richins) was just amazing today.  We were studying in Chapter 9 of PMG.  That chapter is all about different ways we can find people to teach.  Well to make a long story short, I had a really neat experience.  I was pretty much being chastened by the Lord.  I felt so bad.  But what is neat is that the Lord reprimands us with love.  I have never felt so close to the savior like that in studies.  I was just overcome with so many feelings of gratitude, motivation, and self reformation.  The Lord truly knows us and hears our silent prayers.   We were able to spend the rest of the afternoon with our dearest Tammy.  We even made cookies to take to an investigator.  It was awesome.  Sundays are always my favorite though.  Especially fast Sundays.    Fast Sunday's just have a special spirit.  Sacrament meeting was wonderful.  I had the chance to bear  my testimony.  That is always so nerve wracking to me, but the spirit always takes over.  It always works out.  All the testimonies were just so profound.  The brother who is supposed to teach Gospel Principles was not a church, so Sister Richins and I ended up teaching the class.  I love to teach now.  That just goes to show how much the mission has really changed me.  Before, I wouldn't even raise my hand in the class to answer a question, or even actively participate in a discussion.  Now I love to be the one to lead the discussion and ask questions.  Strange.   We talked about tithing and other offerings.  It was perfect, because we were planning on teaching that later this week to one of the sisters that was in the class.  Another tender mercy of the Lord.    After church we did some more family history with Liz and Tammy.  They both seemed to enjoy themselves.  We were able to get Liz's Membership Record Number attached to her account.  She now has about ten names reserved to take to the temple to do baptisms for in June.  She is so excited!  I am so excited for her!  It just felt like all these ancestors of hers were just lined up and waiting for us to find them.  We talked about how all these people have been waiting for her to be baptized, so that she can do proxy baptisms for them!  It was great!  Later on, we had a great lesson with Terra.  We were able to see that she understands a lot about the gospel.  She has the greatest desire to come closer to Christ.  She not only wants that for herself, but for her family.  Her husband is not all in, so that is hard for her to progress because she wants so badly to progress as a family.  I am just so grateful that our Savior knows each of us individually.  He hears our prayers.  I know that as we pray earnestly, with all the energy of heart, we will receive and answer.  It might not always be what we want to hear, but it is always something that will help us to be better.  Luke 22:32 "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."  I know that as we do our best to be converted to the Lord and His gospel, we will then be able to assist in helping others come unto Christ and be perfected in him.  I know that this gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, has been restored to the earth.  Because of that restoration, we are able to receive guidance and council from our father in heaven, through his chosen prophets and apostles.  I know that as we desire to change from bad to good, and good to better, Christ will give us the strength we need to get through those difficult changes.  I know Christ lives.  I know that he loves us.  He is the only person that knows exactly what we go through and how we feel when we go through it.  Because of Jesus Christ, we can live again.  We can also live our lives to the fullest, while we are here on the earth, as we follow the savior's example of love and service to others.  Y'all have a blessed week! Sister Melissa Jean Wood 2 Attachments Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward 0.64 GB (4%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 4 minutes ago Details