July 23, 2018

Funny: So earlier this week my companion and I found an opportunity to serve someone in the community! There is this really sweet old lady who needed help cleaning her house. So, we came over all ready to work. We asked her "Where do you want us to start cleaning!" and she said "my doll room"........ So, we go deep down into the depths of her house, and in the very back room in her basement is this little bedroom. Every wall is lined with shelves covered in a plethora of dolls. She asked us to take down each doll and clean them carefully and dust the shelf then put it back. It was genuinely scary. She left, and Sister Marshall and I were alone in this little room, at one point she really thought the dolls were moving on their own. It was pretty creepy. However, all is well, because we got to serve a sweet little old lady.

Spiritual: So, I have noticed there are miracles pretty much every week I am here. This week something truly incredible happened. One day we were going about knocking on some people’s doors and we were about to leave to go do something else. We were at an apartment complex, and we both saw on the second floor one last door we both felt like we needed to knock on. We got there and knocked a few times. No one was answering at first, we were about to leave when she opened the door. We started telling her who we are and why we were there, when she just started sobbing, and asked if we would pray for her. She has not been a very religious person in her life. However, she has been going through some of the hardest times of her life right now. She has lost everything, the people she loves, her job, her car, everything. She let us come into her house, and we kneeled down in prayer with her. We prayed for her and told her that she is loved by God and "we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us" Phillipians 4:13. We told her there is hope and things can get better. She told us that she had been planning on committing suicide that day, and if we hadn't of knocked on the door she might have. Heavenly Father directed us to her door. She told us herself even though she didn't really believe in miracles that what happened that day was a miracle. I can testify with every fiber of my being that God really does love every single one of his children. All of us are cared for and loved by our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants us to have joy. I am grateful that I have this opportunity to serve God on my mission and grow closer to him. 

Where I am at: Williston is an amazing place! I love the people here they are so prepared spiritually. Just yesterday a man named William walked into church with sleeves of tattoos and jeans and looked so nervous. We went up to it and greeted him with a smile and welcomed him to church! He was so relieved because he was afraid people were going to judge him, but he has such a sincere desire to grow closer to God and do the things that Heavenly Father has asked us to do. We taught him a lesson right after church, and he told us he wants to be baptized! He is so ready and we are holding his baptism this Saturday! In the four weeks I have been here my companion and I have put three people on date to be baptized! God truly does prepare people, I feel so blessed that I get the opportunity to share with others what has blessed my life so completely. Through Heavenly Father all things are possible. I am so grateful for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.