Alooohaaa!

Hello everyone!! It's July! HOly Guacamole time is flying! It's already week 5 of the transfer. This week has been really great! Really! After a dry spell and a lot of patience the Lord is rewarding our efforts. It all really comes down to trusting his timing and his plan. Every time I doubt, and the end of the day I always end up thinking "what was I worried about?" He always provides a way.

This week had so much happen!! We had exchanges on Tuesday and I got to be with the lovely Sister McCullough from dear old Davis High School!! It was a blast and she's the cutest! I learned so much from her example and it was fun. We reminisced about the good old high school days. It was a blast!

Wednesday we had service at Give Kids the World, an organization that gives terminally ill children tickets to Disney World. It's really incredible. And I actually was able to have some incredible gospel discussions!! I was talking to one girl who was on a mission trip for another church and she asked me what my thoughts on "grace vs works" were and I told her about the Plan of Salvation. She was really intrigued by it so I asked her if she wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon. She did! Then later Iwas talking to another girl from the same mission trip and I asked her if she had any questions about Mormons and she asked if we believed in different levels of heaven. So I taught her the Plan of Salvation too! She said she always wanted to know what other religions believed and I told her the best way to do that was to read the Book of Mormon so I handed out a second copy!! The Elders were dying... 2 copies in an hour? Then when we were chilling in the break room another lady struck up a conversation with us. I asked her if she knew anything about what Mormons believe and she said "no tell me" So me and Sister Heywood taught her the restoration and gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon too. Unfortunately, none of them lived in our area but the last lady lived in the Elders area. They couldn't believe it when we told them we met her right after they left hahaha. They met with her a few days ago and she told them if she found out it was true she'd get baptized! Go figure!! 

We also found out one of our YSA referrals was actually really solid and also on date for baptism. At the beginning Iwas really salty about sending all of our awesome potentials to other missionaries but I had to keep reminding myself that we're all on the same team and it doesn't matter how they get to the waters of baptism as long as they get there!! The Lord definitely returned the favor though because all week we had been striving towards our goal of one person on date this week and we didn't have an opportunity to meet with the person we were going to put on date. So I was really bummed because we had worked so hard to make it happen and it didn't seem like it was going to happen.. But then some Elders from Conway called us about a referral they were sending over that was already on date for the 21st!! Crazy!!! It was such a blessing. My goodness the Lord is so good to us. Our efforts are paying off and the work is picking up!!

Let me tell you about the craziest ward party ever. So the Primary President sister Scherer is the most extra lady ever!! She threw together the most bomb luau ever!! They asked us to help and her husband was like "yeah it will take about an hour" we got there at 4:00 and didn't leave till 8. Yeet. And they were our ride so we couldn't leave!! But I'm glad we were able to help. They only had like 3 people there. But it was beautiful. They had a bounce house and snow cones and games and freaking hula dancers!!!! Holy cow!!! It was the best day ever! And M- came with her daughter and granddaughter and she loved it!! M- told us this is the church she wants to be a part of and now we're just praying about a date.

Friday we biked to an appointment which we had confirmed this morning and then she was a no show. So we were a little bummed but decided that the Lord put us in that area for a reason. So we went across the street and talked to an awesome lady and her two daughters. They had so many questions and we gave them a Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment. To add to that the lady who flaked wasn't really flaking she just got called into work and didn't tell us. Then the heavens opened and we got drenched. So we biked like mad because our house was like 3 minutes away but we were soaked by the time we got home. I decided by that point there was no going back so me and sister Heywood danced in the rain.

Sometimes all you can do is dance in the rain. In Florida you see a lot of rain. You can try to avoid it but most times you can't. And you don't get to choose whether it rains or not. You don't get to choose how much it rains. But it always does rain no matter where we are. And all we can do is decide if we want to put up our umbrella, stay inside, or dance. 

I also want to testify of the Plan of Salvation. It's always been my favorite lesson from the missionary discussions. I've always been very passionate about eternal families. Now it means more to me than ever. My dear grandfather passed away last night. He was one of my best friends and my biggest fan. It's really hard to be here right now but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. I know I'm where he wants me to be and he's not that far away. This way is better because now he can be with me all the time. Although this is the hardest thing that's ever happened I know God's plan is more perfect than my plan. He sees all. He knows all. And I feel peace because I never doubted I'd see my grandparents again. I thought it would be a little sooner but it's ok if it takes a little more time. A missionary leaves their family for a short time so other families can be together forever.