Mothers Day Fun!

Hey Y'all!

Happy Mothers Day to all you amazing mothers who read this! The world wouldn't be the same without our special and wonderful influences in our lives. Ya'll deserve a day set apart to celebrate your divine calling!

This week has been busy busy busy! We had two 9-10 hour meetings in a row! The first was a sisters specialized training where all the sisters in the mission came together to hear from Sister Foote, have a couple workshops, talk, and just have fun. At the end we had a clothing exchange where sisters brought in any cloths they didn't want anymore and gave them away to other sisters. Any leftovers goes to thrift stores. That was a very fun day, being able to see all the sisters, especially the ones that I came out with. :D

The next day was Mission Leadership Council, where all the zone leaders and sister training leaders came together and received training from president and sister Foote. It was more of an open discussion on how we can better help our mission be the best that it can be, but it was still fun. We were able to talk with and learn a lot form the other leaders in our mission.

Since we had two meetings in a row, some of the missionaries living near the mission home had the opportunity to take sister training leaders who came from farther away in the mission out on exchanges. Sister Kanongata'a and I had the opportunity to have Sister Hansen and Sister Welch out with us. That's right! I went on an exchange with Sister Welch! Hahaha! And, we had many miracles come from these exchanges. We were able to have both companionship take a member out with us on a team-up. Sister Welch and I took Sister Cardon, an amazing member of our ward. We had a set appointment that fell though, but the Lord blessed us in another way. We were able to see "L", who is an investigator who LOVES service! We taught her an amazing restoration lesson on her front porch, then found out that she had been reading the Book of Mormon, and really liked it! She said it helps her to understand the Bible better. We committed her to read a certain chapter from the BOM and Sister Cardon invited her to a service project the Relief Society was doing the next night for refugees in Croacia. We left that lesson on a high! "L" never came to the service project, but we are still hopeful that she is reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. :)

More amazing miracles came from us following the challenge our Mission President set for us as a mission. He asked us to contact 15 people a day. Contacting them means that we walk up and try to either share a gospel message, or give them a pass-along card like the #hallelujah Easter card or something like that. Now, you may say that is too hard, and I'll be honest, we have only exceeded the goal once in the week that we have been doing it, but many miracles have come from it! One day, after Mission Leadership Council, we decided to go out to a park and walk around a big path that circled a pond. We went the opposite direction everyone else went so they couldn't run away from us, hehe. >;) Although we didn't find many people interested, we ran into our progressing investigator "H" and her daughter "T" who we hadn't been able to get in contact with all week! We talked with them for a while, then prayed with them and tried to set up a time to come see them this week. What a huge miracle! The Lord knew exactly where we needed to go, and guided us right to there.

The next miracle came when we went store contacting. We weren't going to go, but we needed to bring a treat for an appointment we had with an investigators son. So we headed over to Walmart, parked, and prayed for those who are ready to hear the gospel to be put in our way. I no sooner stepped out of my car, when I heard someone tapping on the window next to us. It was this woman sitting in her drivers seat, poining at my name tag. At first I was really confused, and so was she. Then she rolled down our window, and said "You still have your name tag on!" We laughed lightly and told her that we wear it all the time. She laughed too. :D We then decided to give her an Easter card. At first, she was all "I don't need that, I already am christian." but after a few minutes of talking, she became interested in what we believed. We told her about the Book of Mormon, and shared a short restoration lesson. She went from being not interested at all, to taking a Book of Mormon, an Easter card, and a Restoration Pamphlet, with the promise that she would read it and call us when she was done. How crazy is that?! The Lord answered our prayer immediately!

The next day the appointment with our investigator and her son fell through, and we ended up with two bags of tacki's that we didn't really need to buy. But I know that we didn't go to that store for treats, we went for that woman we gave a Book of Mormon to. I hope and pray that she calls us back, wanting to learn more. :)

This week has been truly miraculous. :) We saw so many miracles and had so many spiritually uplifting experiences, and to top it all of I was able to call my family for mothers day. I thank my family for preparing me to go out and serve the Lord. I don't know where I would be without my mom and all the other motherly figures in my life along with my family. They taught me how to be courageous and serve the Lord without doubt or fear. I have never been a missionary before coming out here, and yet they prepared me more than any experience could have. I would love to share what was said of the striplings warriors: 

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them."

"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

This totally applies now. We are in battle even now, but we don't worry or doubt. If you remember at the end of this story, these warriors went into battle and all returned alive and well. Not a single soul was lost among them, because they had been taught by their mothers to never doubt our God. He knows all, and will lift us up and help us when we need it the most. They had no idea how to fight, yet they were kept safe and fought fiercely for their loved ones and their religion. Now, in 2016, we are still fighting a war. I am out here, serving him as I see many of our Heavenly Fathers children fall to satan. But I won't doubt, my parents have taught me differently. The Lord will help and deliver me in ways I cannot even imagine. All I have to do is live what I have learned from my mother. :)

Y'all's Southern Bell,

Sister Welch :)