General Conference, Miracles, and Amusing Mentions

I hope you are ready for the long haul today!

First of all, General Conference. Wasn't it just grand? I didn't take very many notes, but what I did had very strong impact for me. A summary of my thoughts over 4 sessions:

Do not make discipleship complicated. We need to define it and act on it. Simplify your worship. Really figure out what belongs to the Lord and what you still need to return to Him. If we yield to God he will take us as we are and tell us what we lack yet. I need to brush my teeth more. We must counsel with the Lord. Have you ever met with a counselor? They listen to you, and you talk, but in the end you have to trust what they are saying is true and right. Doubt and pride lead to personal apostasy and we all encounter that at some time in our lives. Be willing to allow others to help you. Don't just be curious, be ready and willing to act. Build a life of vision, grit and love. Inspire, don't impress. Through coming to this mortal life we have all sold our birthright for a mess of pottage. But through the Atonement, we can all enjoy it once again in a greater way. Fill the measure of your creation. Every day is the culmination of my life- what do I testify?

Conference according to Hermana Kelene Amethyst Fletcher, in a nutshell.

But now let's talk about a miracle:

We are walking along in a kind of sketchy area and we see these three hoodlums on the other side of the street. Both my companion and I weren't sure how comfortable we felt talking to them, but we just thought to ourselves, "Are we missionaries or not?!" So we cross the street to talk to them. Right after we say "Hi!" the oldest one asks us, "Are you Latter-Day Saints?". No one calls us Latter-Day Saints. We respond that we are, and he says that he is too! We find out that he joined to church when he was 13, fell away when he was 17, and at 23 had gotten into a really rough time in his life. Well, we tell him he can still change and General Conference is coming up, will he watch it? He says yes, gives us his address, and we part.

Friday night before conference we stop by to give a Book of Mormon and meet his cousin on the porch. We start teaching her a brief lesson and this guy walks up! He joins in and gets a lot off his chest and says, "I lied to myself, I lied to God, and I lied to you, I didn't watch General Conference." We tell him it hasn't happened yet! You can still come! He agrees but says he doesn't have a ride. We tell him we will find a ride for him if he will be ready to be there at noon. We call our handy-dandy wonderful member-missionary and it is all set up. The next day, HE COMES! And then he comes to Priesthood session! He fellowshipped with Bishop and a bunch of elders and brothers and we are so excited for him to come back.

Conference brings miracles, of this I have no doubt.

And finally, some amusing and wonderful things that happened this week:

*We were knocking on doors in a new trailer park and because I'm often a little foolish, I forgot my umbrella. And it started to rain (side note, it has rained for almost 2 weeks straight). It is coming down. It might as well be time to build an ark it is coming down so hard. But we keep knocking. Herman Limb has her tiny umbrella that is barely keeping even her dry, and I look like a drowned cat. We knock on a door, and the woman doesn't have any interest in what we have to say, but all of a sudden she barrels out her door to her car and gets out an umbrella. And she gives it to me! and says keep it and pay it forward. It was one of the nicest things anyone has done for me on my entire mission.

*We are teaching a lesson with two of our investigators, a cute family of four, and we are following up on if they read the pamphlet. The mom says she read a little bit and the dad says, "Actually, I don't know how to read in Spanish". Oh-my-goodness-you-can-have-it-in-english. We taught them in English. :D

*You probably all know this, but there was a hurricane that recently blew past our mission. I was in Nags head for THREE MONTHS waiting for a hurricane! We had our 72 hours kits stocked and ready, we had our routes, we had our members, and not TWO WEEKS after leaving, the elders there get evacuated. The injustice of it all!

*we were teaching a lesson on a porch and when we stand up I point out a large stain Hermana Limb randomly has on her skirt. Then the boy we were teaching says, "And you have a little on your back too" Not a little- a LOT. It looks like she had sat her light pink-easily stained skirt in charcoal. Well she is embarrassed and we hurry along. We don't have time to go change before our next appointment, so what do we do? Find a nice little forested area where she straight up TURNS HER SKIRT INSIDE OUT. It looked pretty good. And I got a picture. #missionlife

*Once upon a time we met a random lady and we set up a time to come back in that area (she was English so we couldn't teach her, but we wanted to see how she was) and she says, "It's my birthday!" ...we all know how I am about birthdays. so what do we do? We make cupcakes! With frosting! And an Ensign! and we go to celebrate her birthday. She wasn't home, but her car may or may not have been left unlocked so we put it in there :)

To end, in regards to ponderize, I received two very distinct thoughts. #1) I never realized how prideful I was being, thinking what I wanted to think. #2) Ponderize Isaiah. I've been wanting to read and study Isaiah for a very long time and this is just the thing I need to bring his words into my life.

And so, what is my scripture?

Isaiah 1:16-19 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

Con Amor,

Hermana Fletcher

PS-

Sometimes it is the end of the month and the day before P-day and I realize we don't have any food.