Hello! Hola! Wingapo!
This past week has been crazy long, but awesome! As I said I was in Greeneville for 4 days. I love being there! I am so grateful for the chance that I have had to be serving there. To be involved in the work and with the teaching that is going on there. Last transfer they had 4 baptisms and this week they have had 2 already. So they are on fire! I was able to Semi train a girl that just came out. It was actually her 2nd week on the mission. She is a really great missionary! We had a lot of fun! Sister Edwards is from Alberta Canada. I just love her!
I had a really awesome spiritual experience while I was in Greeneville. Sister Edwards and I were praying about where we needed to go tracting. We were both led to a certain street so we went out. Well, there was only 2 houses on that street so we tracted them and decided to tract the street next to it. Well we had some really good lessons. A couple of return appointments and we were freezing!!! So we decided to start tracting the other side of the street on our way back to the car. We got to the second house and We knocked on the door and a woman answered and let us in for a minute to warm up. I thought for sure that she wouldn't want to listen, so as I was giving a schpeel about the Book of Mormon, I felt the strongest prompting to talk to her about how the atonement has changed my life. I bore my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and how it has changed me completely. She was crying. I was crying. It was amazing! We got back to the car and I had another strong prompting to write my testimony in the front of a copy of the Book of Mormon and go back to her house and give it to her. I did and she was so glad. She started crying again and I just hugged her and said that I know that this book will bless your life like it has blessed mine. The spirit was so strong and I have no doubt in my mind that I was needed in that specific spot in that specific time. Melissa usually works until about 6:30pm..Becuase she works so late, we wouldn't have been able to tract her street when she would be there because it would be dark. Because it snowed, she was off work. She was home when we were tracting that street! Had we gone the day before or the day after, who knows if she would have been there!. She doesn't even live in that house, but she is going through a divorce and is staying with a friend for now. . She was there on that day for a reason, as was I. I don't know what will happen with Melissa. I don't know if she will read the Book of Mormon or if she will join the church. But I do know that the Spirit told me what to do and what to say. I listened, and my testimony has been strengthened greatly! I am so grateful for experiences like this that help me understand my purpose as a missionary. I am here to invite otheres to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. I am so grateful for the amazing gift of the Holy Ghost! What an amazing blessing it is in our lives!
We tracted into the coolest guy!! His name is Anton. He is 26. He is 6' 7" and is a huge black guy! He is so funny! We had so much fun talking to him for an hour on his front step! I am so excited to teach him! He has 2 sons. One is 5 and the other is 7. The 5 year old's hands are as big as mine.. Yes, Anton got a kick out of that! I will keep you updated on that! We are meeting with him later today. We are also teaching a woman named Ebony. She is also black. She is living with this awesome rastafarian(sp?) looking man named Cliff He is so crazy! We taught Ebony about the Book of Mormon yesterday and we are going back tonight to teach her about the Restoration. I am excited to see where that will go.
We had our Zone Christmas party on Thursday! It was so much fun! I love being with my mission family! I truly have grown so close to all of them and love them like I love my own family! I am so grateful to be here now. Not a year ago or in another year. I am here now for a reason! I love it here! I wouldn't change this time for anything in the world. And on the days that it gets hard, I continue to remind myself of just how important this work really is and just how rewarding it has been to serve. I got your packages! Thanks so much! I still have a few under the tree but I did open some, and the ones that I opened are wonderful and so thoughtful! I truly appreciate you so much from the bottom of my heart! So.. THANK YOU! THANK YOU!!
Sister Stapleton and I had to speak in sacrament meeting on Sunday. We were assigned the topic of the birth of Christ. Well there is only so much that you can say about that.. I talked about the importance of repentance and baptism and how without the atonement.. neither of those would be possible. So I leave to you what I said to my ward here... as we remember the birth of Christ, remember the reason He was born. Anyway.. I am almost out of time, but I want you to know that I know that the church is true. I know that we have a living prophet on the earth and that Christ not only died for us, but that He lives for us too! I love this gospel so much! I love knowing that God has a perfect plan for me. One that I could never dream of planning for myself. I am so grateful for His timing in all things. Even when I don't understand them. I love being here and I love being able to share the real meaning of CHRISTmas. I love my Savior so much. I pray that someday I will be able to see Him and be able to know that I am clean because of His atoning sacrifice.. As for now.. I have a lot of work to do. Thank goodness for being able to repent and be better tomorrow than I am today! It's such a blessing to know that we have the knowledge of how to apply the cleansing power of the atonement in our lives! I could go on and on.. but I only have 9 minutes left...
Christmas is coming and I am a poor missionary. I would love to send you all something.. but I just can't. So know that I am sending you all of my love! As far as calling.. We will be able to call from our mission phone.. so no need to send calling cards or anything. A member has also offered to let us use their cell phone because we can only talk for 30 minutes on our mission phone.. so it just depends on what time we are able to use their phone. It will most likely be in the morning. (might be early for you guys.) We have 3 appointments so far for that day. We are going to the Bishops house in the morning and then to the Creek's(the ones that I went to for Thanksgiving) house for lunch and the Smith's (Cami's family) house for dinner. Busy day. That is also our p-day so I won't be e-mailing on the usual monday.. I feel like they keep changing it on us. Oh well. haha
Anyway.. I love you so much!! Seriously!!
Love,
Sista C
