2,179 miles of Missionary Labor

Quick update on last pday. We went hiking with our Aunt Ruth (She is my aunt, but Hermana Fowers adopted the name and began calling her Aunt Bailey too :) ha!) up on Roan Mountain. We were literally hiking in a cloud. At times we couldn't tell if it was raining, or just incredibly humid, but that just added to the experience.

We hiked a part of the Appalachian trail and met 2 hikers who were hiking the whole thing! 2179 miles from Georgia to Maine. whew! Maybe one day when I have 6 months of my life to put on hold and a friend who is willing to hike it with me I'll take on that adventure ;) (Knowing Rachel, it won't surprise me at all when she actually does this!) It was neat to see that part of the area where we are serving and learn that it was there that the missionaries of long-ago walked and taught. Although, I am so glad we live in the city with cars and phones and (soon!) Ipads :) 

The Saturday before I came to Johnson City, there was a girl named Kricket who was scheduled to be baptized, but felt pushed and so she backed out. Since that time, we have been trying to get back into contact with her, but to no avail. This past week, she contacted us and told us that she was ready to come back into the church saying, "my life desperately needs it." We had our first lesson with her, and she has been through a lot! It truly is by the hand of God that she is investigating again. She is a friend of Tori and Sydney's and is involved with the YSA program here. She set a date to be baptized June 6th and will simply review the lessons until that point. 

There seems to be a recurring theme in Rachel's emails.  Because they are working really hard to be obedient, investigators and those wishing to return to church have been coming to them.  The Lord knows who is ready to embrace the gospel in their lives and He will put them in the path of members and missionaries who will open their mouths and invite.  Our responsibility is to be spiritually prepared all the time, and pray for those opportunities to come our way.  Having a missionary out is the most wonderful motivation of all!!  

 

They FINALLY got their car back, but it STILL was having problems, so they couldn't use it after all :(

The Future is Bright!

I'll start with the baptism first :) :) Linda made it! It has been a year of missionaries, and she is grateful for every one of them. I feel so blessed and privileged to have been with her in her final weeks before baptism and then for the actual ordinance. She said she was nervous, but very excited! It will be so good for her grandkids to have the gospel in their home now.

At one point, Hermana Fowers mentioned that it was the best day on her mission thus far!

 

Later that day, we found a Spanish investigator! Our first one for this area. We were at a YSA activity at the park, and stopped to talk to him. One of the YSA members served his mission Spanish-speaking, so he jumped right in and they are around the same age. Immediate fellowshipper! :)

At that same activity, we found a group of girls from Saudi Arabia who are at ETSU to learn English! I think they just wanted to practice their English with us, but we were happy to talk to them! They even fed us lunch! But we asked them all about their religion (Islam) and were able to connect on a couple different points.

We have had quite the variety of cultures and languages this week! There is a less-active family in the ward that has recently started coming back to church. They have a 9 yr. old son named Jordan who is deaf, but his parents want him to be baptized, and know why he is getting baptized. There is a sister in the neighboring ward who knows ASL and came with us for our first lesson with him. He was sooooo excited to talk to someone that could understand him! His parents are trying to learn, but since he learns mostly in school, it is hard for them to keep up. So this will make a huge difference for their family, and for him. We are going to try to learn a little bit so that we can talk to him, but we mostly will just teach and be translated.

I love you all and wish that I knew a better way to express that to you, but those words will have to suffice :) We feel the work hastening. It's exciting! Catch the wave! :) 

 

Bikes and Beekeeping!

Happy Easter with Family on a mission!  YEA!!

What a weekend this past one was! General Conference was INCREDIBLE!! I am sure that everyone looks forward to conference weekend, but for us missionaries, it is like gold! And not just one piece of gold, but a whole treasure chest full! Like the ones pirates find in the stories! Everything about it is just the best! Revelation for us and for our investigators as well as direction to go with the ward and the area. 
 

        Thomas S. Monson, Prophet and President of the

            Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

April 4th also marked a very special day for me. Exactly a year ago I went through the Bountiful temple to receive my endowment: 4/4/14! (That means this that I've been doing this blog for exactly 1 year too!  Wow!  I stuck with it!  A miracle :) 

As I reflected on that event I was overcome with gratitude for my Savior and His atonement, for those covenants I was able to make, for parents who prepared me well, and for the opportunity that I have to be a member of Jesus Christ's restored church. It's hard not having a temple in our mission, but one day, I know that there will be. And what a day that will be! The saints here deserve one and I want to play a part in making that happen. It also helped me to remember how important a goal the temple is for so many people we work with: essentially for everyone that we work with! 

 

Bountiful, UT Temple where Rachel received her endowment 

                                          last year.  

Nashville, TN Temple, her mission temple district (I think:))

Above: An adventure!  Below: I think these are Linda's grandkids.  She is getting baptized this Sat.