Last Week in Ocean Springs

So turns out that even on a mission, I am really bad at making my brain shut up so I can sleep. Haha, I got 5 hours of sleep last night, and it's bringing me right back to my Snow College days! 

We found out last night that Sister Lamb is going to be training!! I'm so excited for her, she sure is gonna learn a lot! And it'll be fun to see! 

But this also means that I am in the midst of packing and saying goodbyes, and I'm pretty much going to be on the verge of tears for the next 72 hours-at least. This past week sure has been a good one to go out on though. 

We had exchanges at the beginning of the week, so I went with Sister Saunders to Orange Grove. That was pretty crazy. But we taught some awesome lessons, and I got to meet their investigator, Isaiah, who was baptized this weekend. I don't know why I worry so much about exchanges, they always end up being a good time. 

We sat down and had a real good talk with Josh and everything we've been trying to tell him for the past two weeks finally came together for him. So that was awesome, and he's doing much better now. 

Sam is still awesome. We also taught him last night, and then he taught us! He and his cousin Nick showed us how to skin catfish! And the weirdest part was that I actually really enjoyed it! It was fun! The South is changing me, y'all. 

Our Saturday was pretty crazy. Keshia and Adrienne were baptized in the afternoon! They are so cute! They couldn't stop smiling, and they had a lot of family there which was awesome. Sister Lamb and I taught the Restoration to everyone and the spirit was so strong. I'm so grateful that we have the priesthood back on the earth so that we can experience all of God's blessings. 

After the baptism, we zipped off to the library for a big family history event. We set up a lot of return appointments to help people later this week. Also, just a note, I actually don't know like anything about family history work...but if you need to make an account, or recover a password, then I'm your gal! 

There sure are a lot of things I'm going to miss about Ocean Springs. The beach, the food, the ward. But mostly I'm going to miss my sweet companion and the people I've been blessed to share the Gospel with. I have fallen absolutely in love with them, and it's hard to leave this. But I know I'm leaving it in good hands, and the work will only continue to progress. 

Haha, just another week learning about the will of God being greater than mine. It's time for me to go have another adventure, I suppose. 

My Little Lamb and I

Exchanges

Biloxi District at its finest

Keisha and Adrienne

Eating by the Beach

 Uhhh...it was 4/20 so we took a picture with Josh's weed tattoo....

Saying goodbye to the McLain's (don't mind how disgusting I look. I'm not a pretty crier, and we had just been skinning catfish for awhile) ​

Happy Easter

Well. This isn't going to be very long. But it's been a good week! 

I mostly just want to talk about Keshia and Adrienne. They are amazing. They're getting baptized this week, and I'm the literal worst because I haven't talked much about them, and I still don't have pictures with them. But I love them! Adrienne prayed for us for the first time ever this week, and it was beautiful!! Keshia also said the sweetest prayer ever. She thanked Heavenly Father for Sister Lamb and I and said she couldn't have picked better missionaries. 

I'm telling you, I don't deserve them at all. They have been so accepting and ready to receive the gospel. They read, they pray, they come to church. I love teaching them! Really, they were pretty much handed to us on a silver platter. They're awesome. And have the sweetest testimonies. I can't wait for their baptism!! 

This week we also had some more gumbo with Paul and Janice, I've seen and smelled my first magnolias, we made delicious cupcakes for a baptism, and we got Easter packages! Sister Lamb's mom sent me the cutest little lamb, so now I can always remember Sister Lamb! Not that I could ever forget her, but the lamb sure does make me happy! It's name is Pamela. 

Gumbo with Paul and Janice

Finally got to see and smell magnolias

Packages from home

Cupcakes for a baptism

My new Lamb - Pamela!!!

We also started teaching a nine year old named Karson and his seven year old brother, Karter. I love them!! They make me want to move back to the South and raise little Southern kiddos. They're too cute! Their mom is a member, and so she talked to us last week about teaching them. Members make the biggest difference in the work. 

I am also learning a lot of new skills, because today we finished dyeing Elder Pierre-Louis' hair purple. 

Easter was also a great time to reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He has made it possible for us to start over, to be forgiven, and to have true and eternal happiness. We can never repay him, and He doesn't ask us to. All he asks is that we try harder every day. And He promised to help us do that, too. I know I would be a very different person without that knowledge to help me along. 

Happy Easter!!!

Easter with the Pettet girls

​

The Philosophy of a Bouncy Ball

There's a lot to learn from a bouncy ball. 

Elder Robinson (a senior missionary here, who's about to go home) taught me that. 

The philosophy is that the bouncy ball always comes back up. But it has to go down in order to go up again. The neatest part is that the more force that is used to throw the ball down, the harder it hits the ground-obviously. And smacking the ground can leave us bruised, broken, and hurt-despite how hard we may try to avoid it. But then that same amount of force pushes that bouncy ball right back up again. 

The harder is goes down, the higher it bounces back up. 

This week I feel like we've sure had a lot pushing us down. We hit the ground hard y'all. And it hurt. 

It started with Sam, who was supposed to be baptized this week. His testimony is still golden and he's ready as can be. But on Tuesday we had to tell him that he can't be baptized yet. He has some legal standings that need to be resolved in order for him to be fully repentant and baptized. And they aren't supposed to be addressed until his court date in September. That was definitely not the news we wanted to give him. 

We saw Bonnie earlier this week and she decided to move her baptismal date to April 15. Sister Lamb and I both felt better about that and so the date was moved. Bonnie's son, Tony, told us that day that Bonnie had been drinking and we didn't believe him-she seemed to be doing a lot better. Quite frankly, I really didn't want to believe him. But a few days later, on Thursday, we went to see her. And my heart quite literally broke.
I have not been that sad since my first few feeble days in Mississippi. 

Bonnie was drunk as could be.

She gets very depressing when she's that drunk- like a completely different person. She saw no point in continuing to live. She felt that no one loved her, and that included her Heavenly Father. 

I don't like drunk Bonnie. At all. 

Sister Lamb and I stayed to talk with her for an hour but we had other appointments to be at. We testified of God's love, and with tears flowing down both of our faces we left.

So we were pushed down a lot this week. We smacked the ground hard. 

I've learned a lot about the will of God, and I'm still learning to trust in Him and to have patience. Because this is still His work. He's in charge here. 

But because He's so good and merciful, He's picking us up. 

We also got a new investigator this week. His name is William Tootle. We met with him literally right after our lesson with Sam when we had to tell him about his baptism. He was a member and chose to have his name removed from the records. He held the Melchizedek Priesthood and was endowed. But after 3 years away, he knows this is the truth and he wants to come back. He already knows who he wants to baptize him, and he wants to work to get his testimony where it needs to be in order to stay this time. 

Then at church yesterday, we got 3 solid referrals from members of our ward for people who are interested in learning the Gospel. 

Bonnie is doing better. She's going to get the professional help she needs. As she's gotten more sober, her optimism has come back. She even came to church yesterday!

And after we told Sam about having to wait to be baptized, his teary eyed response was, "No matter how long it takes, I'll be ready." 

So I know that Heavenly Father's plan is greater than mine and Sister Lamb's. This is His work. Not mine. 

I trust Him. 

Pictures: 

1. Holding Tony's (Bonnie's son) iguana

2. William Tootle (What a fantastic name!!)

3. BBQ with the McLain's

4. Chris Herbert from our ward. He got home from his mission in December, and has been a stellar member missionary! He's headed to BYUI this week!

Just Start Over.

We officially taught Sam the Law of Chastity this week. And how do two 19 and 20 year-old missionary girls teach a 23 year-old country boy about keeping himself pure and clean?? You sing, of course! The lesson went really well actually, and we got to talk to him more about temples and that's always awesome. Sam is great! Here's to hoping he can be baptized this Sunday. 

Bonnie relapsed this week. She drank on Tuesday night. That was hard. But it was most heartbreaking when we saw her on Wednesday and you could tell she just felt awful about it. She told us she felt like the dirt of the earth. She didn't want to drink, and she knew it was the devil tempting her. But she really was doing awesome, and she's back at it again. And it provided an awesome opportunity to share more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ with her. Later in the week, when she was praying, she thanked Heavenly Father for his Son Jesus Christ who is our repenter, and atoner. How right she is. When we make a mistake, we are so blessed to be able to start over and try again. 

Her baptism is still scheduled for this Saturday and she knows it will give her the strength she needs. 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is amazing. 

Josh is happy, happy, happy! We watched Sunday's session of conference with him at the Pettet's, and we watched Saturday's session with Bonnie at the Beeston's. It was all great! I love hearing from our church leaders. They truly are men called of God. 

Conference with Bonnie and the Beeston's

Oh, and there have been some sick storms here the past few days. Tornado weather is upon us! Luckily, no one was hurt. And I still haven't seen a twister. 

We're also dying Elder Pierre-Louis' hair purple. So that's cool. 

Oh! I almost forgot! So at interviews this week Sister Olson challenged us to contact 20 people a day. As in, meet 20 new people in some way.  So we're sitting here at the library emailing and a guy named Essie starts talking to us. So naturally we start introducing the gospel to him and he's met missionaries before! We're getting real into the conversation, and he's seeming pretty interested and I asked why he had been in Texas (where he has met the previous). He said he was probably getting into some trouble. As he said that, a cop totally walks in and starts walking to us. And then another cop, and another!! The first cop says, "I need you to come with us." and the three cops escort Essie out of the library!! And that's a story of how contacting people in Mississippi goes. Only 19 more to go today!!