Called to Serve: The Dreaded Week 5...

Hey Y'all!

I hope that this email finds you doing well. This has been yet another crazy week here in Sweet Home Alabama. So much happened, its all just a blur. But i will do my best to share what happened this week :)

Monday night after all the P-day activities, Sister Jensen and I had a lesson with one of our newer investigators, Chris. He is so ready for the Gospel. We taught him about the Restoration, and he absolutely loved it. He understood all of it. Also, in the previous lesson we had with him, we had committed him to read the intro to the Book of Mormon, and the Testimonies. Well, y'all he read all of them. So he is pretty much a boss. We were supposed to have a lesson with him again on Wednesday, and Friday nights, but somehow there was some miscommunication with the member that was supposed to have him over, and so we ended up just having a lesson with him on Friday. I was not able to be there for that lesson, i was in Mariana Florida for exchanges. So that was a bummer. But from the sounds of it, Chris is just loving the Book of Mormon. He is already up to chapter 9 in first Nephi. He really wants to get Baptized, and he has a date set for October 22!! He expressed to Sister Jensen and Sister Whatcott that he wants to quit smoking before he gets baptized. Mind you , we have not said a word about the Word of Wisdom! I am telling y'all, he is prepared! He came to church on Sunday for all three hours! He pretty much loved it :) October 22 here we come!

We decided to switch things up this week and had district meeting in Eufaulla instead of here in Dothan. So we spent the night with the Eufaulla and Dothan 2 sisters in the warehouse in Eufaulla. Yes, it is a legit warehouse.... Anyways, District meeting was really good. We had a lot more participation than usual, so that made for a great meeting. The district was kind enough to get me a gift for my birthday. It was pretty fabulous. They all wrote a little note with some birthday wishes. That was very thoughtful of them haha.

After district meeting, we drove to an appointment we had in Headland AL, with our investigators Gloria, Stephanie, and Louise. Gloria was the only one that made the appointment, but we made good progress with her. We reviewed the restoration with her, and she remembered most of it. Her only hesitation is coming to church. She has been to the dothan 1st ward about three or four times before. She just has to get back into the swing of things. She said she would try to make it on Sunday. That will be a big hurdle for all three of them to get over, that is for sure. After Gloria, we visited a couple of less active sisters, who just happen to be sisters haha. Jean and Dean. They are the cutest little things ever. Jean used to be really active, and serve in the temple, but her health has taken a dive, and she hasn't been able to come to church in a long long time. She loves the missionaries though. I think that is the only interaction she has with the spirit other than her own personal studies. She is such a sweet, strong woman. And she is awesome, because her name is JEAN! :) Later that night we had dinner with the Durfee's. Brother and Sister Durfee are such solid member missionaries. And Sister Durfee is a fantastic cook. She made us some amazing quesadillas and homemade salsa, and tortilla chips. I learn so many cool things when i watch her cook :) We couldn't stay long though, because we had to meet up with the Geneva sisters for exchanges.

I got to spend all day Wednesday with Sister Chase. She is such a sweet Sister. Some of our plans fell through, but it wouldn't be an exchange if they didn't. haha i got to know Sister Chase a lot more, so that was fun. She shared a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe with me, so i am actually trying them out today :) She is currently serving in Geneva Alabama with Sister Shank. I totally spaced with pictures this week.. so sorry.... But just know that it was a great exchange, and we both learned a lot :)

Thursdays are the lovely weekly planning days. We got a good portion of it done before we had to head out for some appointments. We saw Sister Ney, a less active sister. She just has some health issues that keep her from coming to church, and she is also hard of hearing. So it is hard for her to get anything out of coming to church. She has been reading her scriptures everyday though, and you can just see the spirit entering her life again. She is so much happier, and a lot nicer to be around. haha sorry for y'all who had to be around me pre-mission... i was quite an ornery person haha. It is amazing to see the change of heart taking place in the people we work with. It is so neat!! We were also able to see our dearest Marcy this day as well. She is doing alright. She has some guy staying with her while he is working on getting his own place. He is bad news though...So please keep Marcy in y'alls prayers. She needs the strength! She is VERY prepared, but the adversary knows that. So he is working on her as hard as we are. Later Thursday night we had an exchange with the Mariana Sisters. I got to go to Mariana with Sister Polanco!

Exchanges were great! We were without a car, so we got to walk everywhere! I got to work on my tan :) We got to talk to this interesting lady, named Terri. She was super open to talking to us, then all of a sudden it turned into a bashing session. She was telling us that our church is wrong for "tracking" people, and connecting them to their families. She doesn't think that Jesus cares about families... so that is awkward.. all we could do was bear simple testimony that Christ did live, and that he loves all of heavenly father's children. She cut me off in the middle of that, and told me that she believes what Bob Marley says about Jesus, and that her religion is Rastafarian. So that was interesting. I am so grateful to know that we have the restored gospel. That we know that Christ has once again reached out in love to heavenly father's children by choosing a prophet to lead and guide us in this dispensation. I feel so bad for people who refuse to listen to just a sliver of truth when we bear testimony. She wasn't being belligerent, but she was just being very inconsiderate. But She is still a child of God and He loves her. Maybe someday she will open the Book of Mormon that sits in the trunk of her car. It will change her life if she lets it.

Saturday we had a great lesson with little Eli. He is going through a tough time though. Please keep him in y'alls prayers as well. He is still working towards October 8th for his Baptism date. Later in the evening, we attended the baptism of one of the elder's investigators. It was a great service. He was so excited and ready to be baptized. Its been neat to see how he has progressed to this point. After the Baptism we got the news for this coming transfer.....Good news is, i am staying in Dothan with Sister Jensen!! YAY!!!

Y'all i am absolutely loving dothan! i cannot believe another transfer has come and gone. I have learned so much and have come to love all of the people we work with here. Its a fabulous place.

Y'all have a blessed week!! :)

Love,

Sister Melissa Jean Wood