Brad

What a week! Things get crazy with transfers, and with holidays, but even crazier when you combine them. But all in all, it's been a good week! 

We had a fun time in Laurel for District Meeting on Wednesday. We always get some prime quotes when we go visit other districts. 

Thanksgiving was so great! We spent our morning baking cookies and writing thank you notes for people in the ward. And then we had dinner with the Gwin/Wittwer family. I absolutely love them! They have a tradition to go around and say what everyone is grateful for. And I am grateful that I get to spend my last transfer here with the people of Purvis. It feels like home here, and I already get sad when I think about leaving. 

We finished our night by delivering cookies and visiting people. I think that might be a Thanksgiving tradition I keep. It's way more fulfilling than shopping all night. Haha!

But the greatest blessing of our week was Brad. Do y'all remember him? He's the guy that we went to talk to one night out by Lauren's house. We've seen him sporadically since then, but this week the spirit has just taken over and he is progressing so well in the gospel! We read Alma 36 with him, and all on his own he started likening the scriptures to himself. It was incredible! He is experiencing a lot of pain and heart ache right now, so he really felt like he could relate. We also read 2 Nephi 31 and talked more about the joy and peace he can feel when he's baptized. He said that's something he definitely wants, and he can tell that we have it. He came to church yesterday and for the first time I actually saw him smile a real smile. 

It makes me smile to know that the spirit is touching his heart and bringing him light in ways that only the spirit can. 

As we talked to him about answers to prayers, I decided to ask him a time when he had felt the spirit. And after he thought for a moment, he said, "Right now. Talking with y'all. It feels so peaceful." 

Brad is just another testimony to me of just how true this Gospel is. It's people like Brad that remind me why I chose to serve a mission, and how much I love being an instrument in God's hands. I love Brad.

Pictures:

Transfer Day: Working on USM Campus

Laurel District

Went for a run on Thanksgiving morning, just for you dad. ;)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving with the Gwin/Wittwer Family

Sumrall and Purvis

Sister Goold is just a little bit sick

Luck

This week, we got "lucky". It's like all of the finding we've done the past few weeks kind of fell together all at once, and God helped us to have 5 new investigators this week. 

And then we found out that Sister Goold and I will be staying together for another transfer here in Purvis! 

We have been SO busy this week as well! With actual missionary work, and not busy work. 

There were just so many little blessings this week. 

It's really not luck at all. It never is. There's always something more behind it. And that was Heavenly Father. 

How lucky I am to have been called to serve as a missionary in the Mississippi Jackson Mission-it's taught me SO much.

How lucky to have two feet to go out and share the gospel-hard work is good work.

How lucky to have Sister Goold as a companion- She makes me laugh like crazy! And we have a ton of fun together. She's fantastic, and I am excited to have more fun this transfer. 

How lucky to simply be here and enjoy my time on this earth and to experience new blessings all the time. 

To put it in Southern terms, I'm just

Thankful. Grateful. Blessed. 

Pictures: 

Mirror selfie at service. And yes, seminary rocks.

Exchanges with the YSA Sisters 

I decided to match Sister Goold

Selfies with Sister Goold, because that's what you do when you're friends.

Filling the Void

This week we have hit the pavement hard. We have been walking and biking, and it feels so good! Never did I ever think that I would miss biking in a skirt. But I did!

We started our week with exchanges in Philadelphia! It was pretty fun to go back and work with Sister Frandsen. We saw some people we taught when I was there, and it's pretty neat to see how they've changed and progressed over time. We also had an awesome District Meeting about putting on the armor of God....and well, we may have gotten a little excited about the sword of the spirit... BUT Elder Williams (as always) gave an awesome lesson, and it felt a little bit like going home. 

Sister Goold and I also won a prize for having the most contacts in our district, and jokingly we said we wanted a fish. And good ol' Elder Hainline followed through! 

Along with that, we taught a little budgeting class, and we did more service at Waterloo. 

But probably my favorite part of our week was when we went back to see the Fallon family. About a month ago, Angie told us that now just wasn't a good time for her to look into changing religions. But we've gone back a couple of times since then. So on Saturday night, we went over and got to sit down and talk with her. And she told us that she has still been trying out other churches. And that we have been in the back of her mind. She said that she has this empty sort of void in her, and she still hasn't been able to fill it. We talked to her about coming over and sharing the discussions with her to help her fill that space. And this time, she said yes!!! I've been waiting since August for this moment!! We're going back on Tuesday. 

Prayers are answered. We have been praying very specifically to find a family to teach here. And we've been so blessed to meet a few families this week, and to talk with the Fallon's again. 

I love this area, I love this work! 

The Gospel of Jesus Christ can fill any void we have in our lives. I know it.

Blessings in a Book

We just got out of a lesson with Ryan and Cameron and (as usual) it didn't go the way we had planned. Instead of teaching the Plan of Salvation, we read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. With Ryan and Cameron being as inquisitive as they are, it took a little bit to read through and discuss. 

We also taught the Young Women yesterday about how we got the Book of Mormon and how they can share that with their friends. We had them write their testimonies in copies of the Book of Mormon. 

It's really just had me thinking about the testimony I have gained of that sweet book. I know it is true. The more I learn about it, and the more I read it, the more I know that it just has to be true. It only makes sense. 

As I've been getting closer and closer to the close of my time here in Mississippi, I think I've started to gain a new perspective on how this one book, and this one simple testimony I have, is going to change my life. And not just my life here. 

How lucky we are to have access to something so divine. 

And how much luckier we are to have the chance to share it. 

It is a blessing to be a missionary. 

Pictures: 

Exchanges with the Laurel Sisters

Sister Goold and I (mostly me) ate a lot of cookies this weekend...and our new favorite pastime is swiveling across our home on our chairs.

I casually showed Sister Goold how to play the whipped cream game.