#Blessed

Let me tell you about how blessed Sister Hall and I are. We got 3 new investigators this week!!!! They're super cool. One is like a 70 year old lady that has a British accent but is from the city haha she fed us lunch this week and was just cracking us up. She has started the Book of Mormon and wants us to come teach her more so that's exciting! 

The next one is a young dad who's recently been divorced. He's super funny and blunt about things and has lots of questions about religion but told us he'd read the Book of Mormon. 

The other one is a lady I've been trying since last transfer. It was just never a good time for her when we would go over. She lives just down the street from us and one day we were coming home and about to go inside to weekly plan or something when I stopped and said we should go see her. We're so glad we did because she let us right in! Her husband wasn't home which was kinda sad cause we want to teach families but she listened to the Restoration and said she'd read the Book of Mormon! That's my favorite thing ever, when people say they will read the Book of Mormon. That's where the true conversion comes. We were so pumped this week to finally have some new people to teach. My testimonies of the power of prayer and fasting have been strengthened sooo much since being out here. 

On Tuesday we went and visited a woman in our branch that was in the hospital. Sister O'Brien. My first week in Bennington I saw some sisters in the RS with these beautiful handmade bookmarks. I asked where they got them and they told me Sister O'Brien had made them! I complimented her on how beautiful they were and the next week Sister O'Brien came to church with about 4 different bookmarks for me to choose which color I wanted for myself. That is something that really stuck out to me. It was such a small and simple act of service but it made me feel really special that she would go out of her way to bring me one! About a month ago, she got really sick and had basically what is Mad Cow disease, but for humans. On Tuesday we went to go see her and she was pretty much in a coma state and very unresponsive but it was still good to see her. On Sunday we found out she passed away. It was sooo sudden and showed me how precious life really is. This sister was perfectly healthy a month ago and now has passed on. I'm grateful for the Plan of Salvation that we know she is around and healthy! What a sweet woman who left a wonderful impression on my life. 

Yesterday we had a broadcast from Salt Lake for the NorthEastern part of the US and Canada. Elder Oaks spoke and was very bold, I LOVED it! He flat out said "Tattoos and body piercings are graffiti on your body and not appropriate." he continued and shared how he stands with God's standards. I loved how bold he was. In the beginning of the mission, I was really shy about things like that. As I've been out longer I've become more bold and Elder Oaks makes me want to be even bolder! This is the truth! These are God's laws. We should not be ashamed to live them or declare them to be true. We of course need to be respectful, but not be ashamed when we tell people what is right or wrong. Our God is a God of high expectations. One last thing he said that stuck out to me is "Men are NOT the priesthood. Men HOLD the priesthood" many people get that confused and I loved that great reminder. 

Other funny stories from the week...

"Do you have this pamphlet or did your ex take that when she took the Bom?"

"Probably, she took everything but the truck and the house.." 

"Do you guys get doors slammed in your face?"
"all the time"

"You need to carry around a sign with you that says "Jesus says love your neighbor." And say 'I am your neighbor... so stop throwing dirt at me! Because I will throw it right back at you!'" *picture a 70 year old woman with a British accent acting this out* 

Pics

1. I did this only for Parker and Lacey... 

2. Swingssss

3. We woke up this morning to snow on the mountains... it's literally May, what the heck