January 08, 2013

"Sometimes you get disappointed. It makes you stronger."

David Rudisha

This letter is coming at you a little late because this week is transfers! We have our P-day on Wednesday instead of Monday so it kind of throws everything off. But anyways, this past week and a half has been CRAZY!!!

Sis. Gale and Sis. Ure in their fancy new PJ's 

Monday and Tuesday, Ohio reached its record low of -40 degrees, and our lovely mission still went out to serve. It was a life changing experience! Thankfully our time was spent either in a car or in a house. We did knock on a few doors and then decided that we were dying, so knocking doors was not an option for us. I will say that it is the weirdest feeling to have your nose hairs freeze!

We had Sister Mayberry come to New Albany for the exchange, and everything went great. We were able to help her out a lot, and she was able to help us and bring a good laugh to us. Everyone she came in contact with fell in love with her! It was a lot of fun to have her with us. We were able to get 6 referrals and teach 2 lessons, so I would count the day as a huge success!

Two twins that Sis. Gale and Sis. Ure are teaching.

We did a lot of service this past week for the members! I know that by doing that we have gained a lot of trust, and I know that it has helped Sister Ure and I grow closer as a companionship! We also held a youth Volleyball activity which went great! We had 28 youth there, and only 8 of them were members. In another 2 weeks we are going to do another one, and hopefully start teaching some of the friends. I know that we are teaching 2 of the friends this Saturday, so that is awesome! Sister Whitted helped out also, being an Olympic Volleyball Coach and all. She is pretty awesome and a great support to us as missionaries.

Sunday was amazing! I love fast and testimony meeting because the Spirit is always so strong. We had a member in our ward bring one of his friends, and she said, "It is impossible to deny that the Holy Ghost was present today." We asked if she would like to learn more about the church and also about the Book of Mormon, and she said yes. We are hopefully going to teach her sometime this week. I know that she is a busy woman, so getting in contact with her will be challenging. But we are game for it!

Sunday morning we had a brick hit us in the face... Emily, who is supposed to get baptized this weekend, cancelled everything. We were stressed and prayed right away. Thankfully, our relationship is so strong that we were able to meet with her Monday night and get her back on-date. But as a missionary, you gain this huge loving bond for those that you teach, and it is heart breaking to have them "break up" with you. We were almost in tears, but everything is fixed now! I hope that that never happens again... But then again, I do have 13 more months… haha.

Christmas gifts arrived just in time for Christmas!

Well, I am out of time, but I can testify that although there are challenges put in our path and then wind throws us off track, there is no one better than the Lord to turn to. He is the source of all life and knowledge. He can pull you through anything that is or was weighing you down. I know that I have turned to Him and asked for help, He has been there to help me. I know that prayer is true communication with our Father in Heaven! I know that this church is true and that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. I love reading it and bearing testimony of it everyday! I love my job!

Love, 

Sister Gale