Wk # 45: Month TEN

Hello my lovely people!

I hope life is treating ya'll good!

We've had a pretty fun week! Last p-day we kicked it off with a campfire with our district! Man! have I missed a good campfire! It was lots of fun!

I also learned that when you MELT the butter instead of SOFTEN it to make cookies, your cookies end up looking like pancakes. haha lesson learned. still good though! 

Campus is starting to get a little busier, which I am SO grateful for. School starts on Monday, so Sister Wood and I are so so excited! 

A couple of our investigators aren't doing super hot right now, so we are really sad about that. We're still working really hard to help them feel the spirit and recognize the importance of having the gospel in their lives. But on the bright side, we got three new investigators this week, and whoa. Have we experienced some amazing things with them!

I'm going to tell you about "D" and "H". 

When Sister Wood first entered the MTC, Sister Bacon met her at the curbside and helped her the first day. While going through the MTC, They realized that Sister Wood was getting sent to Tallahassee which is where Sister Bacon was from! After the excitement of that news, Sister Bacon told Sister Wood to go baptize her family. (Sister Bacon was a convert of a little over a year I think...) Sister Bacon expressed that as much as she would love that, she didn't think her family would ever convert, especially her mom. 

They parted ways, and that was that.

"T", a.ka. Sister Bacon, just returned home from her mission last week, and now attends the 5th ward in which we serve. There was a sweet reunion between T and Sister Wood and lots of catching  up. As we got talking, I found out that T served in Lisbon, Portugal and knew Jake! Small world!

At T's reporting to the high council, her mom was overcome with the spirit and expressed her desire to have what T has. HUGE miracle.

T called us very excited and asked if we would be able to teach her mom. Unfortunately though, we only teach single college age students, and so we gave her the number of the missionaries that serve in her mom's area. The missionaries serving there are elders, and super good missionaries. We were SO sad we couldn't teach her, but knew that Heavenly Father's plan is perfect.

A couple days pass and we get a frantic phone call from T saying that her mom does NOT want elders to teach her, she wanted sisters, and specifically the sisters that she had met in the hallway of the church (Sister Wood and I). So, we talked to the elders, and they said they would pray about it and figure it out. 

The next phone call we got was the elders saying that they had prayed and felt that it should be Sister Wood and I who taught her.... We were SO EXCITED, and we knew that we needed to teach her mom as soon as possible so the desire to learn didn't fade away.

We set up an appointment, and prayed and prepped so hard for the lesson. 

IT WAS THE MOST POWERFUL LESSON OF MY MISSION.

I have never experienced the spirit so strongly, so powerfully, and so clear in my entire life. The pure testimony that T shared and the desire she has for her mom and her sister ("H") was so tender and so genuine that we all got a little emotional. D's change of heart and willingness to try and to learn was incredible. H is twelve and was asking profound questions out of a sincere desire to learn. 

I was humbled to have experienced that, and to have been given the opportunity to be the missionaries who teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to this sweet family.

It's experiences like this that make everything worth it. 

I LOVE THE GOSPEL!

I have a very simply humble testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the enabling power of the Atonement, and the gift of charity are so very real. The world may be dark, confusing, and chaotic, but the gospel will ALWAYS stand firm. It will always be a light that changes the hearts of many, and brings eternal happiness into the soul of the despair. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is truly the Lord's prophet called to lead us in this day and age, and I know that the priesthood he holds is essential for our progression. How grateful I am to have the opportunities of growth and experience in serving my Heavenly Father and representing my Savior. 

"I love ya'll and I'm so extremely grateful for you!

Much Love!!

Sister Holmes"