I'll give my whole heart to Him

Where the HECK did the last 6 weeks go?

I feel like the last transfer just slipped through my fingers... it's crazy. Time needs to take a break, and SLOW DOWN. haha

Anyway, I survived another transfer, and Sister Stewart and I are staying together in Leesburg! Good thing too--- because things are really going places, and this transfer WILL be one of miracles!

 

This week just seemed to zip by as well! And it was so full of lots of awesome things.....

Monday, we had a sweet FHE planned with a member in the ward, that they had invited friends over, BUT it snowed lots that night. And we weren't allowed to be out driving. So we weren't able to go :( #BUMMER

but they turned out to have a great night without us!

 

Tuesday after district meetings, we had our Zone party to celebrate reaching our goal! And for this party, I had been asked to bring a baked good... So on Monday, I made these scrumptious cookies called $250 cookies. Pretty much, they are melt in your mouth, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. We made them with our WMLs wife a week ago, and I had decided to make some for the zone! Only problem is, it called for 2&1/2c blended oats, and 1 c. grated choc. chips.... but WE DIDN'T HAVE A BLENDER.

And we were grounded from driving our cars.

So. What did I do? I chopped those oats by hand, and took the chocolate chips and a cheese grater and grated them one.by.one.

It took f o r e v e r

I felt like a pioneer.

hahahahaha

but hey, those cookies were a real hit! Every body LOVED them, and were begging for more.

It's probably because I put a few special ingredients in there.... aka. blood, sweat, and tears. also LOVE. ;)

 

Moving on now.

We met with Michi that night and let me tell you.... my mouth is still gaping open from that lesson! The Spirit was so strong, it was almost overwhelming. We had planned on teaching her the plan of salvation... but ended up teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ! And then we pulled out Mosiah 18, and posed the question, "What have ye against being baptized?"

We told Michi that we love her SO much. We really do, and we will always love her no matter what. We pointed out how she is so amazing to us, because she is already living the life of a member of the church... she's just missing out on the blessings of having the Gift of the Holy Ghost! God has all these blessings he wants to POUR out upon her, and the way to receive them, is through baptism!

I can't remember the exact details and events... but I do remember that for the first time, she didn't cringe at the thought of baptism. And for the FIRST time, she opened up and shared some really deep, personal experiences.

Then she told us this, "You know, before we started doing.. this, when it came to God, I was like 'ehhhh'... but now, I'm all the way there."

 

WOW!

This girl went from not even believing in God as a being... she just believed you could find good and truth all around us.. in spiritual things. She prayed to the universe... and now, 5-6ish weeks later, she has faith in God! That, is a miracle. The Spirit has been working hard on her! :)

The lesson went on, and we discovered that her real concern now, is with Jesus Christ. So now, we are just trying to help her find faith in Christ, and come to know for herself, that he is the Savior of the world.

 

So lots of good things happening there!

 

Wednesday, we went to a lady in the ward, Sister Kowalski. She lives out in the boonies in a big farm house. She broke her foot 3 months ago, and it still hasn't healed, and now she's home in this huge house on a farm... alone. So we went to do some service for her... And you know what she had us do?

COOK.

haha. She had us put together big freezer dinners like casseroles and soup that she could just put in the freezer and give to families in the ward when they need them. It was sweet, because she is professional at cooking, so I learned a few neat tricks! [[mom-- wanna know an EASY way to shred cooked chicken? Just put it in a big bowl, and take the egg beaters to it!]]

 

Thursday we had another great lesson with Summer! We taught the Restoration using our Apostasy cup lesson. Once again, she loved every bit of it. We asked her how she knows that God loves her and she told us "Oh, because he guides me every day and grants me peace."

 

Ah.

Of course. Because that's how every 11 year old would answer that question. ;)

She is SO ready to accept this gospel! It is really just a matter of teaching her all the lessons!

 

Thursday night we dropped by a member's home, The Jones family, to give a sweet, short message. I love being in their home! They were one of the first families I met here, and I just love them to death. It's a family of all boys (even their dog is a boy) and then Sister Jones... and she LOVES us! haha she was like, "You know, we usually have the Elders over, and whenever they are over it's SO rowdy here.... But it's so peaceful when you come! You bring such a lovely spirit!"

Anyway. not sure why I'm telling you this. Just know, I love that family. And every time I go there, the night is filled with genuine laughter and I leave happier than I came! #tendermercies

 

Now, for the Highlight of the week....

Ya'll Ready For This?!

 

SATURDAY WAS A BLIZZARD!

Literally.

We got at least a foot of snow here.

Maybe more.

And we weren't allowed to drive our cars.... so we walked everywhere! and I LOVED it! It was so peaceful. Nobody was out. Just two sister missionaries, owning the town. haha

We were able to help push cars up a snowy hill, because Virginians don't know how to drive in the snow....

And when we went tracting, the Spirit led us to this home... and the guy let us in! His name is Aaron . and turns out, he met with Elders last summer! But they mysteriously stopped coming over... (turns out, it wasn't a mystery. those Elders just never kept a teaching record for Aaron, so he fell through the cracks.) He's an older guy. Retired. And now he's the drummer in a band. He's kinda crazy... but he's read the BoM and marked it up clear to Mosiah, and we got a return appointment! So, we will take what we can get!

 

Sunday.... church was ALMOST cancelled, because of the snow. (even though the roads were clear by then. and it was 50* yesterday) so they only held sacrament meeting... but only the youth speaker showed... So they did a special meeting. A "Hymn-a-mony" Where people could go up to the pulpit, and bear brief testimony on their favorite hymn, and then we would sing that hymn. I WISH THAT HAPPENED MORE OFTEN.

It was really touching to me..... that is when I wasn't being distracted by a 3 year old! haha. We sat by our Ward Mission Leader and his family... and his little girl, Hailey, is a handful. She reminds me of Piper. She thinks she's a dog. Also, she just randomly kissed both me and S. Stewart on the cheeks during the meeting! It was adorable! haha

 

There's so many other great things that happened this week..... Sister Stewart and I laughed lots, we met and found lots of cool people, a 90 yr old woman kept asking me why I'm not dating anyone and then giving me marriage advice, and my testimony was strengthened immensely.

I spent lots of time reading a CES Devotional from this January by Randall L. Ridd. I highly recommend it. It's all about the importance of REAL INTENT. And I realized that I need to work on my real intent!

I'm really going to focus, from now until the end of my mission, on turning my Will over to the Lord.

Missionary work is not about what I want, it's about what God wants.

As soon as I stop seeking to do the things I feel are important, or I want to do, and start having an attitude of "Thy will be done" I KNOW I will find true happiness in the work! And I'm starting by developing an attitude of gratitude. :) So this will be a journey!

This week I was flipping through the Book of Mormon, and came across Alma 27:27-28, 30.

That scripture changed my week.

I want to be like the sons of Mosiah... That even in strugglings and despairs, and suffering through ALL manners of afflictions, that I still give it my all in the hopes of maybe, possibly, saving SOME SOUL.

 

I Know that The Lord will NEVER leave us comfortless, but He will always fulfill his promise, "I will come to you"

He came to me when my heart was depressed, and I am forever grateful for that. The Lord is my Light! Then why should I fear? He IS my Salvation from sorrow and sin, His blessed assurance the Spirit doth bring!

 God has sent us here for a purpose, and he WILL help us find, and accomplish that purpose. He will always come to us in our time of need.

 

Wherever you may be at on your journey of becoming like our Savior, I encourage you to not give up hope. He is forever watching over you, and will not let you stray too far. God will not let you fail. So never give up. Never surrender. Never let despair overcome your spirit. Even in your darkest hour, hang on a little longer.... Pray with all the energy of your heart for deliverance, and just like Joseph Smith, suddenly, a Light will descend upon you. Christ will come.

 

I love you all and pray for you! Keep doing what you're doing! :)

 

Love, Sister Carly Lewis

 

pics:

Zone!

Blizzard