Expect the Unexpected

All the sisters in the Georgia Atlanta Mission - May 2016
Becca is in the middle on the right side

Hey Y'all!

Wow! What a crazy week! I hope that everybody has had a wonderful Memorial day! It's the best time of year to remember our fallen brothers in sisters who serve our country. And it's also good to remember our own ancestors who came to this beautiful country to start a new and better life for them and their posterity!

This past week has been full of the unexpected! This is my amazing companion sister Kanongata'a's last week in the mission field. Because of that, our ward asked her to give a talk in church last Sunday. She was really nervous, but the entire week I was all happy with myself because I DIDN'T have to give a talk. :D And then, on Friday evening we were on companion exchanges and I get a text form sister Kanongata'a, telling me I'm giving a talk on Sunday. At first I thought she was joking, but when we got back into the apartment, she showed me the voice mail given by our new bishopric, asking me to give a talk. AHHH!!!!!!!!!! Suffice it to say, we spent a good portion of our Saturday writing talks to give at our 9am sacrament meeting the next day. Life of a missionary! :P

Despite a slightly more stressful weekend, we did have a great week. :) We did a lot of service for our members, which resulted in a crazy miracle! One of our recent converts had us over to help clean her house. Her husband, who is not a member and was never interested, was home too. Just a few days before, we discovered that he had been reading the Book of Mormon with their son who is also a recent convert and has been going through some difficult times based on his choices. This came as a surprise to us, so we brought it up when we saw him during service. He said he had gotten through the 7th chapter and liked it so far! At the end of service, we invited him in to hear a scripture we were going to share before leaving, and he came in! For the first time! :D We were so excited! He participated in the lesson and even said a prayer with us. We hope to help him continue to read the Book of Mormon and to also come to church. :)

It always seams that God puts opportunities and blessings in our paths when we least expect it. This next miracle is a perfect example of that. Last week on p-day, my companion and I had made it a point to try and contact as many people as we could through p day. At the library, we tried to contact every person who sat next to us at the computers. It even resulted in a little 80 year old man running away. Haha! I had never seen an old man run that fast! :D But anyway, we didn't get a single phone number or solid potential at the library. Then, later that day, we were at Home Depot to get a box. When we entered, we saw a worker there, and went up to ask her where the boxes were. But before we could do anything, she looked at us and said "Can I give you my number? I want to meet with y'all." We were flabbergasted. That had never happened, to either of us, and we didn't know how to respond at first. she then asked "Y'all are the missionaries, right?" Our brains kicked out of their freeze and we were able to give her a card and set up a time to see her. We hope to see her this week, so wish us luck! :D

This week has been, hot, amazing, and crazy! :D Just yesterday it got up to the 90's, with humidity and hardly a breeze! But we have seen so many miracles and blessings come when we hit the pavement with uplifted hearts. Just yesterday, we had decided to walk to an appointment with a member. We were low on miles, so we parked at the grocery store outside her neighborhood and decided to walk to the appointment and perhaps contact some people along the way. it was 10:30 in the morning and already it was 80 degrees! But we set out with high spirits, and not doubting we would find people. It took us a while, but we did find new potentials and were able to contact some old investigators! We were hot and sticky, and really thirsty, but we were happy. :) The Lord made us able to get though the day, as we faithfully did his work. 

Yesterday, we shared a scripture about the stippling warriors that I think really applies to us today. They were going into battle with the Lamanites, who out numbered them buy a large amount, however they had faith and did not doubt that the Lord would give them strength beyond what they could do alone, and because of that, they were able to win the battle and none of them had lost their lives, but: "Behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually; and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come."

At times in life, I feel like I have had many wounds, or trials. Things may not happen how they are suppose to, loved ones perhaps have died, families are broken by death, divorce, or other means. However, the Lord can make us stronger. He will carry us through our hardest trials, so that we can emerge triumphant at the end, without a life lost. :) All we need to do is have faith, and know that as long as we rely on Him, and do what he as asked of us, then we will gain the rewards and return to our Heavenly Father triumphant. Sometimes it's hard to remember, but at the times when it is the hardest to remember, that is when we have to know. Know that we are children of a God who would never want us to bare these wounds alone. I know that, with all my heart. :)

Y'all's Southern Bell,

Sister Welch