6 more weeks of Dothan!

Hey Y'all!  
I hope this email finds you doing well.  This week has been pretty fabulous.   I just don't know where to start.... Week five of the transfer is always a scary one.  Our fate shows up in an email at the end of the week that tells us if we are staying in our area, or if we are getting transferred.  Good news y'all! I'M NOT GETTING TRANSFERRED, AND NEITHER IS MY COMPANION!  We get to stay together in Dothan for my last 6 weeks as a missionary.  This is so insane. I cannot believe that my last transfer is here.  I feel like I just became a missionary! YIKES!  I don't want to life.. haha just kidding....I know that it is necessary for me to "life."  However, I don't have to 'Life" quite yet.  I am still a missionary.  So here are some fun missionary moments from the week :) 

Mary Jane

So we recently had a new neighbor move in below us in the blessed Sweetwater Apartments. We have never met him, let alone seen him.  We just noticed that he parks his FLORIDA SHERIFF'S ASSOCIATION vehicle right next to our beautiful new car sometimes.  Sister Jensen and I were just conversing about life last night, and we started to smell a strange smell.  Well, growing up in the good ole price 'merica I knew right away what that smell was.... It got to be pretty dag-gone bad. If we had stayed any longer, we wouldn't have been able to leave... So thank the heavens we have the Dothan 2 Sisters in our same complex.  We trekked on over there to spend the night so we wouldn't be influenced by the fumes.  Sister Jensen and I just found this quite comical.  We were just like "Why wouldn't this happen to us?!" Let's just add it to the list of all the crazy things that happen in Dothan.  Gotta love it.  

Jan

Oh Jan!  So dear friends and family, Jan is our most progressing investigator at the moment.  She is a power house!!! She was referred to us by a Sister in the ward, Sister Dobbs.  Jan is actually her Sister-in-Law.  We have had a couple of good lessons with Jan. This week, things got real.  Jan has gone through a lot of loss in her life.  Her health suffers, as does her self worth.   We saw her on Saturday night.  Rewind to earlier that day.  We had a couple solid appointments set up that we were excited for.  But then all of a sudden they fell through.  Luckily Jan was still willing to meet with us.  I am so glad that our other appointments fell through because Jan needed our full attention.  We opened that lesson with a prayer of course, but Jan offered it.  The Spirit in that home was seriously unreal.  Y'all, tears were streaming down my face as she prayed.  She is so full of the spirit.  She then told us some things she has been through in her life.  She wants to change so badly.  She wants more than anything to be closer to the Savior.  That night was definitely an inspired one.  We talked about baptism a little, and all of a sudden she just blurts out, "God has been telling me for a while that i need to be baptized."  Sister Jensen and I about fell off the couch.  

Jan came to church on Sunday.  She wasn't feeling well that morning, but she was determined to go. As the sacrament was being passed she leaned over to me, tears streaming down her face and told me she was feeling something in her chest.  She asked me if that was normal.  I smiled and said, "yes. Jan that is the spirit witnessing to you that you are in the right place."  She smiled and held my had for a good portion of fast and testimony meeting.  Every single testimony that was shared testified of the reality of the restoration of the Gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith.  These testimonies were just for Jan.  

All the members were so nice to Jan and made her feel very welcome as we headed to Gospel Principles.  Brother Kelley taught a fantastic lesson on the doctrine behind family history and temple work.  It was exactly what Sister Jensen had been planning to teach Jan.  The neatest thing was that she kept leaning over to sister Jensen saying that her sister that has passed can be baptized.  It was perfect.  She was even participating in the class!  Everyone was so surprised at her comments and questions.  

Third hour was combined.  We watched Elder Dallan H. Oaks talk from this last General Conference.  She said that he looked familiar to her.  We could tell she was listening intently.  She participated in the discussion we had after we viewed the talk.  It was amazing.  She is such a valiant spirit.  

We had a quick lesson with her this morning.  We had committed her to read the plan of salvation pamphlet in one of our past lessons.  She pulled it out, and that thing was covered in notes and circles.  She had really studied that pamphlet.  Then she pulled out this pad of paper that had two whole pages of what she had learned.   Sister Jensen and I were just so shocked as to how much she retained.  She was just testifying to us of what she knew because of what she learned.  It was AMAZING.  We are planning to commit her to a baptismal date of November 19th.  Please keep her in y'alls prayers.  She needs them :)

Eli

Eli is just the cutest little recent convert!  He is doing so well.  We have been having a hard time getting him to come to church though, because his family is not so motivated.  We had some pretty awesome lessons with him this week.  He just understands the gospel so clearly.  Even more so now that he has the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  We were talking about prophets and apostasies in one of our lessons.  We asked him why it would be important to have a prophet.  "It's important to have a prophet because that's how God communicates with us."  This kid just gets it.  He calls the apostacy "The Pit."  It's pretty great.  When he talks about prophets he describes it as us being high on the mountain top.  THIS KID IS A GENIUS!!!  We painted a rock that said "prayer" so that he could put it on his pillow in the morning so that at night he would have to move it and be reminded to pray.  Then when he wakes up in the morning, he will be reminded to pray when he steps on it. :)  He was pretty excited.  We asked him what he was going to name his rock before he painted it.  His reply was " My biggest fan."  haha he is just my favorite tiny human.  

There is no greater feeling than the spirit witnessing to you that the people you are teaching are changing their lives.  They are becoming converted.  They aren't just gaining a testimony, but they are changing their lives and becoming converted.  It is such a beautiful thing to be a part of.  I know that this gospel is truer than true.  It is perfect.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is here to help us, lift us, strengthen us, and change us.  I love being part of this great work.  I don't know where I would be if it weren't for my mission.  I cannot wait to see where these last 6 weeks take me.  

Have a blessed week y'all! 

Sister Melissa Jean Wood 

Pictures

#1: Shaving cream that was put on the handles of our car 

by our #truehomies the Dothan 1 Elders. 

#2: Life as short girls...

#3: Choose The Right~ 

~Commandments, Take his name upon you, Remeber him~

Current Temple Recommend 

#4: Because Alabama is BEAUTIFUL!!

            

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