Hey Everyone!
Well, I'm glad that Mom is back. :) Sounds like she had a fantastic trip and everyone else survived. Wow. I'm really glad that you were able to spend some time with your family. That is really sweet that they would put together a reunion just for you. I remember Grandpa Lozier, but that was a beautiful description of him. Someday, I can imagine you walking a mile, holding your oxygen tank and pulling Dad up Woodland Hills drive. :)
Tell Steven I loved his joke! I loved it a ton. :) And he should tell that one to Grandpa Bradshaw next time he comes over. Congrats to the BYU teams! WHOOT!!! :D I SUPER happy about that! This week there was a guy that wouldn't quit ragging on BYU- I didn't even tell him I went to BYU, just that I was Mormon and I didn't believe in plural marriage. When he left, the lady we had actually come to see said, "Sorry about that. I don't know much about BYU, but they probably just aren't as good as Alabama, and that is why he won't drop it." I had to laugh just a little bit.
Although, :) It sounds like you got a little bit of Alabama weather! Sorry about sending it your way. But aren't they terribly fun?!?!?! I mean, they are only fun when you can actually get dry at some point fairly soon, but for a few hours they are quite fun. Was it cold rain or warm rain? I might fall over in shock if you had warm rain. But that wall of wind sounds great. :) And congrats to BYU!! They play really well in any sort of abnormal weather.
Also TTTTTHHHHHAAAAANNNNNKKKKK YYYOOOUUUUU for the CD's and the Bug Repellant and something else that was in that package. THANK YOU!! I have certainly used them and I will continue to use them a TON! Thank you.
This week we had transfers, and my new companion is Sister McDougal. I have some pictures of her, and then I have some pictures with Sister Jackson, with Elder Robison and the Ward Mission Leader before Elder Robison left to Australia (He was a visa waiter), and some pictures of our district. It is quite a fabulous district, they are all pretty awesome. I also found a picture that I thought Dad would like. :)
Transfers were absolutely incredible. There is just something inspiring about having an entire chapel FULL (we had to bring in extra chairs) of missionaries singing "Called to Serve." Something that I've discovered since being out here is that EVERYTHING- every hymn, every lesson, every spiritual thought, EVERYTHING is about missionary work or applies particularly well to missionaries. Jacob 5 is absolutely incredible when you look at it from a missionary perspective, that was one of the many jewels I gained from being sick last week, and it is amazing. It just opens up a whole new view to everything.
This past week has been a week of progression. Our investigators made some huge steps towards baptism, three investigators read from the Book of Mormon for the first time, and several less-actives attended church.
On Saturday we had a lesson, and we invited the Elders to come. We got there after the Elders and we could feel a super strong spirit from the moment we walked in the doors. I don't know what the Elders had done, but that Spirit stayed for the rest of the meeting. Any time you have 5 missionaries in a room teaching in absolute unity, you know that the Lord is guiding the discussion. It was incredible. We talked about the things that they had to do in order to be baptized and how we could take care of things. I think they have been staring at a mountain doing nothing because they are paralyzed by the very thought of this mountain. We were able to remove many of the barriers, help them see how they could climb the mountain, promise them they would have the ability to climb the mountain and helped them make the first step. It was a fabulous experience, and I think they realized for the first time that our baptism is different from any other baptism from any other church. It wasn't just joining a church that liked the Book of Mormon, but it was truly becoming clean.
The next day we had a "Come and See" Sunday. It was one of the most powerful sacrament meetings that I have ever attended. To start off the meeting, our youth speaker spoke with such incredible eloquence- simply and purely. I think she might have been better than many general conference talks I have heard. Not because of the astounding doctrine which she preached, but because of her pure and beautiful testimony. Next we had a talk on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our investigator finally realized why she needed to be clean before her baptism. Afterwards we were able to hear the testimony of a man who was an honest searcher of truth before his conversion. He explained many of his thoughts and feelings about the church. It was an absolutely fantastic sacrament meeting.
To top it off, while I was walking out of the Relief Society room, one of the Less-Actives gave me a hug and told me that something I had said pricked her heart and that is why she came. She has always been a great friend of the missionaries, and she has loved every single one of them so much, but she has rarely been able to actually get to church. She is incredibly active in the gospel, but not active in the church, and it just breaks my heart. But somehow, something I said pricked her heart. It stunned me to think that the Lord would allow me, a little missionary with little impact and who is quite often forgotten, to say some small thing that pricked the heart of this amazing lady. It was beautiful. And I am so grateful she told me.
The next day we had a "Come and See" Sunday. It was one of the most powerful sacrament meetings that I have ever attended. To start off the meeting, our youth speaker spoke with such incredible eloquence- simply and purely. I think she might have been better than many general conference talks I have heard. Not because of the astounding doctrine which she preached, but because of her pure and beautiful testimony. Next we had a talk on the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and our investigator finally realized why she needed to be clean before her baptism. Afterwards we were able to hear the testimony of a man who was an honest searcher of truth before his conversion. He explained many of his thoughts and feelings about the church. It was an absolutely fantastic sacrament meeting.
To top it off, while I was walking out of the Relief Society room, one of the Less-Actives gave me a hug and told me that something I had said pricked her heart and that is why she came. She has always been a great friend of the missionaries, and she has loved every single one of them so much, but she has rarely been able to actually get to church. She is incredibly active in the gospel, but not active in the church, and it just breaks my heart. But somehow, something I said pricked her heart. It stunned me to think that the Lord would allow me, a little missionary with little impact and who is quite often forgotten, to say some small thing that pricked the heart of this amazing lady. It was beautiful. And I am so grateful she told me.
Yay!!! I'm actually pretty glad that Brother Nelson lost my scripture. :) When I went into the MTC, I memorized a different scripture that has thus far really come to define my mission- D&C 123:17 "Therefore, dearly beloved bretheren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie within our power, and then may we stand still with the utmost assurance to see the Salvation of God and for his arm to be revealed." I originally had 2 Nephi 25:26, but I really want D&C 123:17, if that is okay.
Thank you for your testimony and your diligence in everything. I am so grateful that I come from a family who is set down so firmly in the gospel. I love you all tons!
~Sister Pratt
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