Called to Serve Him: Last Week 5/22/2017

Hello all! (: This was another spectacular week in the miraculous Florida Jacksonville mission. Everyday is such a blessing!!
   Monday was our "no" day. We took a nap and took time to write President Lee. Then people started asking if we were going to the church building to see everyone and we said nope. It was good because I needed a little extra time to rest and to prepare for the upcoming week. In the evening we ate dinner with the Mauerman family and their oldest son (still at home) was actually in charge, he's taking Japanese and is hoping for a mission call to Japan. So he made us some kind of Japanese soup. It was amazing and I was quite proud of my ability to use chopsticks ;) Then we went to a lesson with a referral from the Timuquana sisters. His name is Joseph and we were able to teach him right on the doorstep. We gave him a Book of Mormon and it was amazing! After our lesson with him we got some happy phone calls from our sisters. I will love and miss so many of them. But HEY! It's a little mission. (:
   Tuesday we had our final district meeting before transfers. It was just a little bitter sweat. I am sad to be saying goodbye to sister Thomas. She's going to the lake city zone and is going to be AMAZING there. I will really miss her though. Our district meeting was very inspired and it filled me with Purpose! I was ready to go see some miracles. We ate dinner with Lindsay and told her about being diary free. Turns out she is also dairy free and was giving me all sorts of tips and ideas. And she recommended a good dairy free Ice Cream so come June that'll be great. (: In the evening we went and were able to teach a couple and they agreed to take the lessons from us. It was awesome! We were really bold but I think it got the message to them better. Then we went and talked to their neighbor and he was really friendly and funny, but he's busy so we weren't able to schedule another appointment. But I can see him getting baptized in the future!
   Wednesday was Transfers! So we said goodbye and Hello to our new sisters. Yay!   They are always a good time to have a fresh view on things. We went and taught Miss Maya (recent convert), I love her! She is just hitting a hard time right now and I'm not sure what else we can do.... but she did come out with us for a few hours. We ended up taking her to a farm were she got a pig. Mhm.. it was too funny. Thankfully we agreed she's have to come get it with her mother. Having a pig in Reggie (our car)would have been a DISASTER! Haha. After that adventure and dropping her off we spent about an hour calling folks, we were able to send one as a referral to St. Augustine that was awesome! Then we went to a lesson but on our way we saw a white minivan stopped in the road we figured something was wrong so we pulled over. Haha. Turns out I know nothing about cars and I'm not very helpful. But we did help push it off to the side. I was a little surprised by how grumpy people were. It was sorta sad. Then we went to our lesson and it was great! We met with a LA and she's been struggling a lot but we were able to encourage her and offer her some help. Now she's expecting us every Wednesday at 8. (: I love it when they get to that point!
   Thursday was a busy day for us! We started out with a lesson that fell through so instead we went and got Melanie a milkshake because she'd had her wisdom teeth out. She was so cute and chipmunk looking. But it was good! Then we went and helped the Duling's with their flooring. They are putting in wood floors and boy oh boy is it stressful! O.o but it looks so nice when it's done. We might be going back this week to start on the living room. Afterwards we did our weekly planning and spoke with the zone leaders for over an hour planning for this transfer. It's gonna be the best ever! :D We were a bit under the weather that night and it was hard to feel motivated to go out but we did anyway and we went to try a lost sheep. It was a miracle because she was home!! And she answered the door and let us inside. She told us through her tears that she wants to get back on track and she wants and better future for her daughter. She asked how we had stayed strong and on the path and we both testified of scriptures, prayer and church attendance. She then shared how she had been praying for God to send her help and we came, it was so powerful Sister Tryon and I were both crying, and I am so thankful that we pushed through not feeling well and were able to be an answer to her prayers.
   Friday we planned our tradeoff and were feeling a bit over stressed so we called President Lee to council for a bit and he was a huge help! I love him so much!! Also we made a silly comment and it made him and sister Lee laugh. #Success! Then we went and tried a few people before going to help with the young women's spaghetti dinner. It was a lot of fun and a great way to build trust with the ward! We also were able to fellowship the Romeros a part member family the elders are working with. They are awesome and literally the best part of the night was getting a running hug from their little girl Peyton. Seriously so cute!! (: We spent the night trying less active members.
   Saturday we went to bread-line and it was great. We have really developed some trust with the other volunteers. It's so nice! Then we came home and went to a lesson with Joseph. We had a member meet us and it was so crazy! The first thing he did was had us his Book of Mormon and said he didn't understand it. We were shocked!! O.o But the spirit is a real gift and it gave us the words to say to get him to let us in and we were able to read with him. He still didn't accept the Book of Mormon back but it was huge! I think he'll be alright. We'll try to see him this week. Then we went home to grab a quick lunch and got a call from a member. He mentioned a sister in the ward was moving so we offered to help. It was another great trust building decision. She was so thankful! And it was fun, we also got to work with the elders. It took forever but we were able to spend about an hour proselytizing before dinner. For dinner we went to Panera and sadly it's been decided that it really is a girls place haha :P but it was good, slightly tricky not being able to eat dairy.. but oh well. The we got in contact with some investigators and they dropped us. It was a bummer but also a miracle because they responded! Tender mercies abound.
   Sunday was the best day ever! We had received Erroll Grant as a referral for a bible and when we went by on Monday night we met his fiance Regina who said he wasn't home but asked for the bible, we felt a little leary but we gave it and set a return appointment for Sunday. So we went straight from church to our appointment and I just had a really good feeling so we prayed mightily and went in. We were able to teach Erroll and Regina and their daughter Ciera. The spirit was so powerful as we taught the first vision and many of their questions and concerns were answered as we taught. When we got to the Book of Mormon Regina asked if she could have a copy to read! And when we shared a few verses with her she grabbed a highlighter so she could mark them. Then we asked Ciera if she had anything to say and she shared some spiritual experiences she's had and then accepted a copy to read also! Then to add a cherry on top we were able to have a kneeling prayer with them and Erroll said it, it was such a sweet and humble and grateful prayer. It was such a tender experience and lifted our hearts so high. I really felt like it was an answer to our prayers because we have really been struggling to maintain and find those who are seekers so it was AWESOME!! :D Then we went home and ate and studied quickly while making some gluten free cookies for a youth devotional we were in charge of. The devotional was Awesome! We were doing a faith walk but it began to rain and so was had to take it inside and thankful the member had a nice big house and with some adjustments it was perfect. The point was made and the leaders really enjoyed being the distracting voices. I think all the youth learned and felt the spirit. Our discussion was very spiritual afterward and I felt lifted. Right at the end a visiting bishop from Texas shared a few thoughts and a story about being a naval pilot in a storm. He closed his remarks by saying, "Sometimes he calms the storm and sometimes he calms the sailor." I thought that was so profound because I've seem that many times as a missionary. And it reminded me of my favorite scripture John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." I have such a testimony that this is TRUE! So fear not, the Lord is with you. :)
Pictures!!
1. The Japanese soup from Monday night. It was so yummy! Don't ask me what it's called... but it was kinda like a Ramen.

2. BEST District EVER! I loved these 6 weeks together. But hey this transfer will be great too. (Elders left to right: Leota, Rivera, Barnes, Hopkins, Reeser, day, Gardner, Aiken. Sister left to right: Yingling, Thomas, Me, Tryon)

3. My goodness! Saying goodbye was hard. Sister Thomas is such an amazing missionary and I have learned so much serving by her. She is so consecrated and obedient. She understands the atonement in a very real way and is such a light to others. I love her sense of humor and her friendship. She's AMAZING!!