I hope this email finds you well. I have had a wonderful week here.
Tuesday we had Zone Conference, and it was fantastic. One of my favorite ones from my whole mission! I loved Sister Garns's talk. She talked about the name we wear, and how we need to do our best to represent Him. President Garns talked about following the Spirit, having urgency in the work, and how we all need to be a little closer to our Father in Heaven if we are to do His work in His way. He talked about leaving everyone we teach or talk to with a feeling of "exquisite wonder." It was awesome. Then the Assistants to the President gave a training about being truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through sacrifice. I learned a lot of things, it was great!
On Wednesday we went on a full-day exchange with the sisters in West Palm Beach, and I went with Sister Healy to their area. Sister Healy is from California, and she came into the mission at the same time I did. We had a great day together, and I loved being in a Spanish area! We got to teach their investigator that has recently been through back surgery. It was awesome to see how that has humbled him and prepared him to receive the gospel. The Elders came to give him a blessing, and he loved that.
Thursday we had an awesome lesson with the Henry family. We found them last week, and on Thursday our goal was to help them set a baptismal date. Erica (the mom) is very busy with school and work, and she feels pretty attached to her other church "Acts 2." Terrence (the dad) and Jessica (the 15 year old daughter) are both very receptive to the gospel. We had planned to teach them the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but before the lesson we were praying and I felt that we should teach them the Plan of Salvation because it would be new information that would leave them with "exquisite wonder." Sister Peterson agreed, and the lesson went very well. At the beginning we asked them what they believed about where they came from, and they all had a different answer and really were not sure what to think. The Plan of Salvation cleared up a lot of their questions, and they were all excited at the prospect of returning to the Celestial Kingdom. However, when we extended a baptismal date Erica was still hesitant. Jessica was so excited about it, and so she was quick to agree when we asked if we could kneel and pray about the baptismal date. We asked Terrence to say the prayer, he did, and the spirit filled the room. When he finished praying we all waited in silence for a few minutes, then Terrence asked Jessica if she would like to pray. Jessica's prayer was perfectly specific. She pleaded that God would help them know if they need to be baptized on Nov 25, and the spirit amplified times 10. Before we had even sat on the couch again, they had all agreed to be baptized because of the way they felt. It was awesome! We were so pumped when we came out of that lesson!
On Friday we spent the day visiting less-actives and inviting them to come to the ward Halloween party. We were so excited when one of them showed up, with his non-member wife. The Halloween party was lots of fun. Freddy and Darlyne came, Freddy was dressed up as "Where's Waldo" and Darlyne was dressed up as "Darlyne." Their kids looked adorable in their costumes, and they had a great time. Another miracle we saw that night was that a young man we had met in the park earlier that week randomly showed up. We were showing him around the chapel, and when we were nearly finished he admitted that he had met with missionaries many times before and been to church! We had a quick lesson with him, and left him with a Book of Mormon. It was great!
Saturday it poured rain all day. Turns out it was a tropical storm. We laughed because we would have had no idea if Freddy had not mentioned something when we stopped by to see their family. They are doing well, but we are still waiting for Darlyne's divorce to go through. Freddy always has the right answers for everything, and they can't wait! Most of our appointments ended up cancelling due to the storm, so we ended up knocking doors in a lot of rain. It was fun.
Sunday we had church. Freddy and Darlyne were the only investigators that came, but we were happy to see them. In Gospel Principles we were talking about staying faithful in the church. The teacher asked why someone might fall away from the church. Freddy raised his hand and said he believed someone would fall away because they forgot the covenants they made when they were baptized, and how that was something that they had wanted. I just love how much they have changed, and how badly they want to be baptized. We are still praying for a miracle, and we know that it will come in the Lord's timing. After church we went to go see the Henry family again, but it turned into a pretty tense lesson when Terrence's brother who was visiting was intent on picking apart everything we said. However, I know that he felt the spirit because we both did our best to be bold in our testimonies. It is never easy to look someone in the eye and defend your faith, but I love the quote that "the truth is like a lion, if you set it free it will defend itself." That makes our job easier, because all we have to do is testify with love and with the spirit.
Have a great week! I love you all!
Sister Monson
Zone Conference
Ward Halloween Party
Zone Conference
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