And the Rains Came Down and Floods Came Up...

This is from her Oct. 5th email.  I'm a little behind...hoping to get caught up!  

The morning run that ended in rain! A good drying mechanism!

There was some worry, due to the hurricane hitting the east coast, that, here in Murphy, there would be terrible flash floods as well as trees falling over due to saturated soil combining with heavy winds, but all is well. We sure did get a good amount of rain which did cause a little bit to find its way into our apartment! But no severe flash floods. We were told that we were not allowed to drive over rivers, gorges, canyons, or standing water. Let me describe Murphy to you: Rivers, gorges canyons, dirt roads.... I think you get the picture. We were stuck inside for a good while :)

For only getting 4 days to work (one of them being pday...) we still got a lot done and saw many great things.

In conference, President Monson told a story about building the BYU Jerusalem Center and an Israeli Official making a comment about the light that is in the eyes of the students that would be attending there. That light comes as we embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ and we saw that in Ashley and Eve this week. They are currently less-active members, and we have been working on helping them to start reading the Book of Mormon and now doing it on a more regular basis. Right when we walked into their home, we saw it. We saw the light in their eyes because they had been reading the Book of Mormon. We didn't even have to ask, we knew that they had been reading! And sure enough, they were happy to report that they had been in the Book of Mormon several times this week and they too noticed a difference in themselves.

Any step we make towards God, he blesses us for. He blesses us way beyond what we sacrificed to get there. What a blessing it is to have commandments.

Julie and Jack are soooo happy. As they have fully jumped back into the church we have seen them completely change. We brought a member to our last lesson with them who asked if they had felt any change in their life after being baptized and returning to the church. They both delivered beautiful testimonies about how Jesus Christ and his gospel had changed their lives. One of the most powerful things that I have ever heard. The atonement is real. It is there to help us and I can testify that it does. It allows us to overcome things and is also the thing that gives us the strength to do so!

There is a family that is coming back to church after 7 years - a strong family. They had forgotten that it was General Conference and had woken up late, but the young 6 yr. old was devastated that she was going to be missing church! so She convinced her parents that, even late, they should still go to church. It worked out great because they got there right in time for General Conference! They were surprised, but also very thankful. As I thought about that, I recognized how much God will help people come back to church. He wants them back. He NEEDS them back. And he will orchestrate events in their life so they can grow closer to Him, if they choose. It was a small act that many could call a mistake or coincidence, but I truly felt that God had led them to the church to watch General Conference because He knew how much it would strengthen them. God is continually working with all of us. God will help those that we love to return to full activity (aka full joy) in the church. He will also direct us, his servants, on how we can help those that we love. 

It's so fluffy I could die!!