June 27, 2016

Hiiiiiiii famiiiiillllyyyyy,

Where to start. Well, as you know, Pam had a baptism schedule for June
25th. We planned to have her interview on Saturday and she ended up in
urgent care for severe dehydration. We called and left a voicemail,
she called back and left a voicemail saying she was doing better, and
we stopped by, called, EVERYTHING, and couldn't get back in contact
with her about a ride to church and stuff. We tried by after church.
Nothing. So we try by Monday night and there is a note on her door
that said "Sister Hill and Sister McDonald" and my heart just dropped
straight into my stomach. We opened it and read it an in short she
said there is a ton of contention between her husband and her sister
seeing a program on tv about cults and how the Latter Day Saints was
one of them. She said she would be out of town for a couple weeks and
would give us a call when she was back. Since she only has a home
phone we had no way of contact. That was for sure in the top 3 worst
days of my whole mission. BUT, I prayed, got over myself, and we went
out tracting and had a wonderful day! At first I was bitter, seeing as
this is the 3rd solid investigator that this has happened to for me,
but I realized that God wants me to be happy and regardless of any
situation this is HIS work and it is my responsibility to do it the
best I can. Here, I made a picture about it even.

Well let me tell you he miracle part now. The next day I am on exchanges with Sister Vickery and we had a few minutes before our next lesson so we were just like ok we will stop by at Mariahs, and then the spirit said "No. Drive by Pams" and because I'm stubborn I'm like "why? She out of town and that's just going to make me sad" and the spirit is like "Drive by Pams dang it" (but much nicer) so we drive past Pams and her door is open! We didn't know if she was home or not but we prayed and passed it again and I knew I would always wonder if I was passing up a sign from God if I kept driving, so we went and knocked on her house AND PAM CAME OUT! And I gave her a big hug because I love Pam a lot. And she said she didn't know any other way to tell us because she was worried that we wouldn't want to come anymore. She is still planning on coming to church, she wants to get baptized, but she is worried about being harmed by her family at this point. We talked to her yesterday and she said things are getting better, bit are still crazy. So we fasted for her this week! Please keep her in your prayers, she wants so badly to be baptized but her family is SO against it. Ok let me tell you another miracle that happened with sister Vickery. We meet this guy named Randy and he's like " yeah I don't go to church anymore, I just have to many questions, and you know what I just really don't understand and wonder about all the time? If Christ was born In Jerusalem, then why in the world is America the 'promised land'?" And so we are like "WONDER NO MORE" and whip out a Book of Mormon. We kept talking and he shared an experience he had with feeling the spirit in high school for about 3 days, and how incredible it was, and how it left. And he didn't like that. We testified of how the gospel would bring the spirit into his life and testified of the power of the Book of Mormon. It was so cool and he was so excited for us to bring one and to meet his wife. Well, when we texted to confirm he said that a house visit actually would not be a good idea because he talked to his wife and she did NOT want us to come. But like, we have to get him the Book of Mormon somehow right? So we go over that day at a different time and pray really hard in the car before we go and we knock on the door AND THE WIFE ANSWERS. So we are terrified of course. Well she said that he had gone to get some groceries and we started talking to her and asked if we could show her a video. And she pauses, looks at us, thinks real hard, and says "sure, would you like to come in?" *angelic choirs in the background* we show her the video and get half way through the restoration when the garage door opens. Sister McDonald had never met Randy yet so it was only awkward for me hahaha but he walks in and looks at us way funny and it was awkward for a minute and he turns to me and says" did you get my text" and I'm basically like "yeah." #buticompletelydisregardeditbecausethegospelisimportant and we teach both the restoration and by the end they are both accepting baptism, wanting their own copies of the Book of Mormon and way excited for us to bring a restoration DVD. Sorry that was a way long story but it was so incredible!!! Now for some sad news. We basically dropped the schofields and it literally ripped my heart in half. Maureen was crying, and I don't think she has ever cried in her life but I made her promise that when missionaries come back in September that she will listen to them. Their family is just going through crazy and rough times so if you could keep them in your prayers that would be great! On an awesome note, we found a whole ton of super less active members who we had no records for! We are now officially reactivating the carpenters who haven't been to church since 2001, they are so awesome and are taking the missionary discussions again, and are going to try coming to church soon! We also met a lady named Cathy and her husband Mike, who literally wanted nothing to do with us when we walked up to them and now we are going back to teach them! Ah, the spirit is just amazing. It's incredible the help we receive from the lord to soften and prepare the hearts of anyone! We also had the awesome opportunity to go to the temple this week with our zone! The question we all went in with was how we can better teach repentance and baptize converts, and what we need to do to change to achieve our vision! It was an INCREDIBLE experience! I realized that I want my greenie fire back. Or, that I NEED my greenie Fire back. It's not enough to just work your butt off, it really isn't. I read in 2 Corinthians 4 while I was in the temple and I love that chapter but a verse stuck out to me that never has before. 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. And then in chapter 5: 17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And then in 1 Nephi 16: 29 And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things. Moral of the story if we have an enthusiasm for the Lords work and a desire for continual change he will renew us. All things are possible through him and the best part is we can do all things with JOY! I love you all a ton and hope you have a blessed week :) ~Sister Hill Sent from my iPad