Hello from the state where it's 95 degrees at 10 in the morning in November! haha Crazy, right? It's been humid the past few days too. I was getting excited that it was cooling down, but I guess that time will come soon enough.
Miracles of the Week:
Remember when I
went to Washington D.C. with Jaylen for National TARs? Well, one of the
girls we met there was from Florida. We were able to talk to her about
the church when we were there, and she seemed to have some interest.
When she saw on fb that I was going on my mission, she sent
me her address and her grandma's across the street and invited us over
anytime. Well, on exchanges this past week I figured out that their area
covers where she lives. I got out my address book and found her address, and
sure enough, it was in their area. That night we went to her house and
we found her dad home. It was actually a cold night, so we didn't talk
too long outside, but I told him I was friends with his daughter Nicole
and explained where we met. She is off at college-as I expected, but he then he said. Tell you what, You come over for
Thanksgiving." She will be home then! So I was able to get permission
from my mission President to go there for part of Thanksgiving Day! I am
so excited and we will get her in contact with missionaries near her at
her college, as well as to her parent and grandma! YAHOO! :) Updates to
come...
Also, the next day we came home for dinner and found
a note in the door. It read "Jaelyn. I was
friends with your dad in high school. Your mom contacted me and told me
you were in the area. I would love to get together if your schedule
permits." She left a phone number. I called her and had a great chat
with her. We are meeting for lunch this week and will see if we can
spark some interest in her learning more. She left the note for me on
the back of a flyer for a service project that she is doing for her
church as it had her contact info on it. We will see what we can do.
Pray that all will go well and she will have a desire to learn more!
Oh, I finally got a flat stanley picture, with a
cute mexican family here. Is there any particular pictures that you want
with him? Do I need to send it back by a certain time? I'm trying to
find a good place to take a pic... We are going to try to see the
Manatee's, but they don't come out until December...
Super cool Story with our investigator R. He is the
one who lost his wife about a month ago. This past week we have had so
much success and he has been taking leaps and strides in his progression
in the gospel. It is so neat! We were a little nervous before our
lesson on the Word of Wisdom because we knew he drank coffee and that is
usually a super hard things for hispanics to overcome. We were talking
about the blessing that can come when we are obedient to God's
commandments and the health and strength we can gain through obeying the
word of wisdom. When we talked about coffee, he didn't even blink. We
were expecting some type of reaction from him. Instead he said "I only
drink coffee in the mornings, and I never really liked it anyway. I can
stop now, no problem. I'll just fix myself some hot chocolate tonight."
haha We were both so in shock, we just looked at each other stunned, and
then laughed. We LOVE R! The member that was-with us- Hermana H.
also testified of the blessings she received from obeying the word of
wisdom. she is a convert as well. She brought him over a special kind of
hot chocolate the next day and he can't stop raving about it! haha He
is so funny! In church yesterday the lesson was on what we just went
over-the plan of salvation and how we can be blessed through temple
ordinances. At our lesson later that night, he was so excited about
being able to go to the temple. He couldn't stop talking about how the
movie we watched on temples made him so excited to go and also to be
baptized. After church, there was a baptism of a little boy in the ward.
R. Stayed to watch the baptism with us. He was so excited to "see
what's going to happen to me in a few weeks" and told us that he teared
up and got goosebumps when he saw the little boy going under the water.
He is inviting EVERYONE he knows to come to his baptism. So many people
have tried to talk him out of it, but he is so strong and knows, but
more importantly FEELS that it is true and it's what he is supposed to
be doing. He says "I've made up my mind and No one is going to stop me!"
And he means it! He has been disappointed in some people but says "It
doesn't matter what anyone else says or thinks. What matters is what I
think and what God thinks. This is between he and I." Now remember,
until we came along, R. really hasn't had anything at all to do with
religions since he was young. It is so neat to see his spirit change. He
tells us each time we see him how when he feels down or starts thinking
about his wife too much that he reads the Book of Mormon and he feels
better and can sleep at night. It's got to the point where he will tell
us something he was struggling with, and then he say "but I'm reading
the book and it always helps". That has been such a testimony builder
to me of the power of the Book of Mormon. It IS real, and this IS HIS
work. R. has been a great example of someone who was prepared to hear
the gospel and is just taking it all in! I am so excited to be able to
come back in a year (hint, hint) and go through the temple with him to
do the ordinances so his wife can be baptized and sealed to him. We go
to the genealogy class with him every week and that has been such a
blessing. He remembers so much and he knows it's the Lord helping him
because he is too old to remember much. In our lesson yesterday, the
spirit was so strong. I can't help but think that Poppa is on the other
side with his R's wife C, teaching her right along with us teaching him
so they can be prepared to be together for the eternities. God's plan
for us is so beautiful, and brings so much peace! I am so grateful to be
able to witness miracles at his hands each and every day.
I also received info from Hermana B, that one of my investigators-M is going to be
baptized!!! I have NEVER felt the spirit so strong in a first lesson as I
did with him. I am so excited and hope to hear more about that soon!
Follow-up: How did the service go this week? Any good reports?
This
week I really focused on loving and serving my companion. She had a
hard day one day and I made her hot chocolate :) haha Oh, I also made a
roast this week-my first time ever making one- and it turned out SUPER
good! I'm becoming quite the Betty Crocker out here with all these great
companions that I have that teach me (Hna Duong) or let me experiment
and they eat it (Hermana Rood) haha We have been having a great time!
Oh, I also had my first lobster here last week too. It was DELICIOUS!!!!
Missing my hispanic food LOTs, but I'll start making that again soon
cause we don't get it from people... I miss the spanish branch a ton
too! i am still in culture shock with the 2 english wards I'm in, but
well... let's just say that I pray A LOT! They are great wards and the
work is going to take off here, but I just miss Spanish world... It's
good motivation to really push myself in my spanish though.
Well, I think that's all for the week. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week. You are in my prayers!
XOXO,
La Hermana Gillett
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