Monday, November 11, 2013

Missionary Letter 11.11.13

Hello Friends and Family,
       This week has been one of the best weeks yet! So, this letter will be a little longer. I might not have enough time to type it all so I might leave ya at a cliff hanger, and I'll have to write mom a letter and she can type it into the blog!

        I hope mom and dad got my pictures and were able to upload those to the blog??? I haven't heard? In fact I haven't gotten any responses about what I wrote home about last week :) Hope all is well :)

       So nothing spectacular happened on Monday- regular P-Day :)
Tuesday- we went to Blanket, TX:) There should be a picture with me and my comps in front of that sign. :) It's a really nasty little town. There are a million grasshoppers EVERYWHERE! Some alive-- lots dead on the road... real gross….
          Something else about TX.... everyone has Cats and Dogs... Well, Blanket people have hoards of cats and dogs.... like YUCK!!! So it smells BAD--- like animal poop everywhere! However, remember like my 3rd week out we went to Blanket? We met a lady named Celia?
     Well, the first time we met her she really didn't want to talk to us... :/ But Sister Dunham worked her magic and we were invited back. So a few weeks later we went back and taught her the restoration and left her 3 Nephi 11 to read. She then told us she was going to be out of town for nearly a month. So we didn't go back until Tuesday. And soo--- as she saw us she said (in a very sad voice), "I thought Y’all forgot about me.".... Let's just say those are words missionaries NEVER want to hear!!!! So we assured her we hadn't and that we pray for her often. She told us she had read the chapter we assigned and she said she didn’t understand it, so we went ---and it turned out she read 3 Nephi 10... that would make sense why she didn't understand it. :) So we told her to read 11 this time :)--- but--- SHE DID READ! AND THAT, IN AND OF ITSELF, IS A BLESSING!
     So we taught her the plan of salvation. We opened her mind to thinking a lot… It's amazing how some people don't really ponder on where we came from and where we are going. Her mind was just a little ball and we opened it up to a whole lot of possibilities :) 
     *** The church is so wise in using pictures to teach the plan of salvation and what not! It helps soooo much! If you’re going on a mission, before you go, make yourself cut-outs of the Plan of Salvation and laminate them because you use them all the time :) We aren't sure what Celia is going to do, but we pray always that her mind is opening. She is a firm Baptist :) And she is older--- so it's hard to teach older people with firm beliefs :)

Wednesday was the best day of my life :)
     I told y'all last week that I was going to be given the opportunity to attend the temple this week :) Well, I did and it was amazing. We started the day off at 9:30 where all of my district met at the church so we could caravan to Lubbock! It was so much fun! We blasted church music and had dance wars with the Elders as we played leapfrog on the road..(Maybe not the safest), but the drivers weren't participating :) We had a ton of fun!
     Then the temple! Yes, the temple! Oh, how blessed we are to enter the house of the lord as often as time allows, and as often as we want. This was the best experience I had at the temple :) I prayed the whole time. I prayed for the person I was serving. I prayed for my investigators, my companions, my family, friends. And I prayed that I would be able to recognize the Spirit and take it with me as I left (because I wasn't feeling the Spirit as much as I would have liked). And let me tell you!!! That was the best temple experience ever!!
      As I prayed, I could feel the Spirit swell in my heart and I felt little foot prints prance against my heart (That didn’t happen, like not a weird thing). I just knew the Spirit was there, and I couldn't deny the feelings I had. At that time I knew I could never deny what I had felt. I knew the church was true and that ultimately my goal as a missionary is to find those elect ready to make covenants so they could enter the House of the Lord and be together with their families forever.
     The church is true. You'll also remember how my companionship started at square one again this week... Well, later that night we were lower than square one because Heather texted us and told us she decided to take a break from us coming over because she needs to sort out her feelings and that she would contact us when she was ready. I wasn't too heartbroken because I know one day she will accept it. She will. And I feel like it will be soon. She just isn't ready to commit.... I think....
     I continue to pray for her :) I am not the same missionary that entered the temple. I am more dedicated and more ready to work than I ever was before. I am loving the work, and I am not trying to convince myself of the love anymore :) I really do love this work!.

     Thursday we drove back to Brownwood not knowing where to start (because we were starting over). We went to go try a less-active. We were able to see him and we set up another appointment with him :) Then we remembered that the NW sisters had given us a referral, and so we went to go try to find them.... :) Cliff Hanger :)

 I'll write about more of my experiences this week because blessings have been poured upon us sisters :)   

I just want to say before I go: If you are thinking about serving a mission… do it!!! If nothing else, your love for the Book of Mormon will grow and you'll be truly converted. My scripture reading will never be the same as it was :) I actually have a love for the Book of Mormon. I'll write more about that as well. :)

     The church is true, the book is blue, and Jesus is a Mormon :) ha ha ha :)
I am doing great! As happy as I can be :)
I hope y’all can have missionary experiences this week and that you’re praying for opportunities :)
CTR ALWAYS
ETTE

With so much love,
The "new" and improved Sister Dawes :)

Have a great week!

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