Week 65 - Shell Island

Hey you guys! Hope you've had a wonderful week! Mine wasn't too shabby ;) Shout-out to my cousin whose birthday is today!

Monday:

The Lyles are the absolute best! They booked a tour for us to go on boat to Shell Island. We fed the birds, saw dolphins, and hunted for shells. Unfortunately, the island didn't live up to its name because we didn't find many shells... But we had a great time together! The Lyles are basically my adopted parents :)

Tuesday:

We decided to visit a recent convert, but he didn't answer the door. We decided to drive around his neighborhood, searching for someone to talk to. It was a very sketchy neighborhood, and we didn't get very far before we had a very bad feeling and saw two men walking towards us. We drove out of there as fast as we could, and I just prayed that the Spirit would lead me to where we needed to go. We pulled up by a lady in another neighborhood and had a great conversation with her. The Lyles took us out for lunch, and the waitress was super friendly. I invited her to church, and she was actually very interested and said she was looking for a church for her and her baby boy to go to. Then we went tracting all afternoon, and Sister Stites had her first experience of someone shutting a door in her face! She was surprisingly excited and said, "You are not a real missionary until that happens!" I hope she still has that cheerful attitude when it's the 20th time someone slams a door in her face ;). We had dinner at Heidi's home, and she had also invited the Lyles along. I was able to ask her a few questions that could lead into teaching the plan of salvation,  but it didn't go anywhere. :( 

Wednesday:

We had dinner with the Parks family this evening, and I absolutely love them! We got to meet the non-member husband. After dinner we all played a Book of Mormon card game and had so much fun! 

Thursday:

We went out with the Relief Society President to visit some people, and it was funny because she wanted to visit Sister Parks, since she hasn't had the chance to meet her. Little did she know we had just seen them last night, but it worked out good because Sister Parks had a lot of questions about her daughter being baptized and we were able to help her plan it. We are so excited! At our dinner appointment that evening, the daughter taught us how to sign our missionary purpose in ASL! And she taught us some insults to do when the Elders start annoying us ;)

Friday:

ZONE CONFERENCE! It was really good. The Spirit was very strong, and I received answers to my prayers. At our dinner appointment that evening, we taught a brief Plan of Salvation and the son played a "character" to be tough on us. The hardest part was he started out as an atheist, then went into Baptist beliefs, and ended with Judaism beliefs... 

Saturday:

Our entire day was filled with the Family History fair! People came from ALL over the area, even hours away. We did a lot of one-on-one helping. We got to take a break for lunch, so we drove down to Panera Bread. That was a fun treat! Today definitely put my limited Family History skills to the test, but the Lord blessed me. We also feel very strongly to start doing family history with the ward!

Sunday:

It surely was a day of rest because after church, Sister Stites hadn't been feeling well and rested. After, we drove over to visit Sarah and meet her mom and grandma. The grandma is actually quite interested in what we believe, and hopefully the mom will be soon. We are starting to find some people that might be interested, and we received some referrals. The Lord is surely blessing us!

I feel very strongly to bear testimony that I know Heavenly Father hears your prayers, is there for you, and loves you unconditionally even when you can't feel it. We were sent down here to experience trials and afflictions in order to grow, and we don't get to pick and choose them. Only our Heavenly Father knows what will help us grow the most, and He knows you are strong enough to make it through with His help. However overwhelmed you feel, take a step back and realize that if you have the desire to serve God, to be better and fit for His kingdom, then He will grant your desires. Hold onto those desires and keep working toward them! Just remember you can't put a time limit on patience... because that is paradoxical! I love y'all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Much love, 

Sister Burnham