September 8, 2014
So I feel that there is a lot of catching up to do...I have had some really next experiences in the last two weeks. I didn't get to share some of them with you last week and I have a little bit more time this week :)
So two Sundays ago, Sister Akin and I were out working and it started raining really hard and then all of the sudden there was a thunder and lightning storm. Sister Akin was really afraid of the lightning. I wasn't too phased, but it was starting to get really bad. (She has had not so good experiences with lightning before.) Well, we get in our car and are driving to the next place that we are going to when we hear the thunder and see the lighting at the same time! I also saw sparks from where the lightning had hit! It was a very surreal experience. I was amazed at that moment with how we were kept safe! The place we were going was in the same neighborhood as where the lightning had struck. So for a few minutes, we sat in the car and sang hymns. It was so peaceful to sing hymns amidst the crazy crazy lightning storm going on. The Spirit truly calms our heart.
Then on Monday we got to go to the Temple!! I don't think I had sent a picture last week, so here it is! :) It was a lot of fun to be with Sister Taylor.
Tuesday was our last District Meeting with our Fort Belvoir District. There were a lot of missionaries being transferred. We had all stayed together for two transfers...quite a long time! Tuesday we also took naps! We hadn't done that in a while. I realized how needed rest and relaxation is for out own bodies. We can't give of ourselves if we are worn down and not feeling well. So grateful that we chose to take the time to nap during lunch :) Here is one of my favorite quotes from a talk that I read this week from President Holland:
"Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicianspromise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill."
Wednesday was a great day...........our investigator Brian quit smoking! :)
He is so excited to stop! Repenting and living the gospel is truly joyous! He is a great example of that. He truly has a willing heart to become the best person he can. And he has recognized that it comes through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so proud of him!!! We took a picture with the envelope that we decorated for the "no smoking program" and the bag with his cigarettes and lighter in it! Such a happy day ...especially because he was so happy :)
Thursday was TRANSFERS!!! Sadly, Sister Akin left. I will really miss my running buddy! We had a good time! Now my companion is Sister Adair! She is fantastic! We have already had so much fun together. I know I will learn a lot from her. We are both similar in a lot of ways...fun fact, she only has sisters (just like me!). And we love talking to Hispanics and practicing our Spanish! She makes me laugh a lot! And it was funny because Sister Akin ended up going to Sister Adair's last area. They switched!
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| Sister Udall and Sister Adair |
I've learned a lot this week. Like I talked about last week, I'm learning to really follow the Spirit. Thursday night we were driving to our next place when I felt like we should go to Rita's house and Joselin's house. Well, I knew that I would definitely regret it if I didn't go, so I started driving that way. It was crazy because it didn't make logical sense at all. But I'm so glad I followed that prompting. Joselin's husband was outside when we got there and Rita came outside and started walking her dogs. The Lord truly leads us to the places we need to be and to the people we need to see.
Saturday I leaned another lesson about following the Spirit! We got a call from a member who had lunch for us. All we needed to do was to go and pick it up! So we drove all the way up to Alexandria and got it. On our way home, I had a prompting to turn around and go see this lady named Agartha. Well, I justified it and said that we needed to go home and do the rest of our weekly planning..... Not good excuses. Well, we got all the way home and I said a prayer and basically repented for not following the prompting. We got back in the car and drove all the way back up there! Repentance is real!! When we got there she wasn't home, but we called her and she said she would be there in about 30 minutes! I remembered another person that we could go visit. She was home and we had a neat visit about learning how to recognize the Spirit. Definitely not a coincidence! Then we got to go back and visit with that sister. I felt so much better after turning around and going back to see them. It just felt right. It was hard and a little humiliating to tell my companion that we needed to turn all the way back around, but it was worth it! I know that God wants us to repent so that we can receive all that he has waiting for us! I know that repentance is possible because of Christ!
Saturday night we had this wonderful experience. It was 8:45 or so and we went to go check on a less active. On the way there, we said hi to a man on his porch. His name is Kim. He told us that he was a member, but he hadn't gone to church since he lived in another city nearby. Well, he told us that he wanted to come to church! We got his number and we gave him ours. We were pretty amazed that he was there when we were!! (We had tried knocking on his door a couple of days earlier, but no response.)
Then Sunday morning we got a call at 7am. It was from Kim!
He said that the plans he thought he had had fallen through, so he wanted to come to church! We called a member and they gave him a ride to church! It was a miracle! He bore his testimony. It was really sweet. He also said that he felt really good coming back. He hadn't felt the Spirit this strongly in a while. It feels good to be a small helper in God's enormous work for all of his children!!
Well, that was that for this week! I hope you all have a great week and remember that God is there and loves us!
Love,
Sister Udall
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