Many, many miracles

This week I saw so many miracles. Literally each day this week I saw multiple miracles each day. Heavenly Father is so cool! So Monday after pday we had a meal with a couple from the ward. After dinner we were going to go tracting but it was super rainy so we went home and went through the area book, looking for past people that have been taught. We called lots of people but everyone said no. We called a guy named Kevin. He was really nice but said that he didn't really want to learn from us. His teaching record said that he is a really successful, solid guy so he would be someone good to teach. About 10 mins later he called us back. Background: About 45 mins. from Kirtland, in Hiram,the church has a Historic Site-The John Johnson Farm. It doesn't ever get busy out there so they have a few senior couples that live down there and give tours of it. Kevin said that he has an appointment in Hiram and he knows that the Johnson Farm is down there. He said that he is interested in taking a tour there and was wondering if he could set up a time with us. AHH this is soo cool! We aren't allowed to take that much time to go down there but we trust the missionaries down there to give him a really great tour. He said that he would call us after he takes a tour down there and let us know what he thought of it. Hopefully he will want to meet with us and learn more!!! On Tuesday we taught Stephanie (the girl that is getting baptized Aug. 17th). We taught tithing. She said that if she decides to get baptized she would pay tithing. Wait... We thought she had already decided to get baptized. Uhh... We asked her what was going on and she said that some days she believes it to be true and other days she doesn't. She said that she she was 50/50 at this point on wanting to get baptized. Shoot... Well we kinda have to know at this point so we can make sure that she has been taught everything and so we can plan a baptism. We were pretty much at a loss after the lesson. Sister Palmer and I sat down for like an hour in silence and tried to think of a lesson that would totally change her mind. We tried to think what did it for us. I have no idea. It was just a slow, gradual process. I tried to think of activities that we did at EFY and that helped the youth have a really strong, spiritual experience. I came up with a really great idea and Sister Palmer agreed to it. We decided to have a lesson that was centered on Jesus Christ. We wanted to watch the Mormon Message-His Sacred Name and then have her sit and write in her journal about Jesus Christ. We wanted her to be able to have an experience all on her own without us yappin to her. I typed up this little paper that had some good thought provoking questions about the Atonement that she could read during her time alone. (I'll tell you more about her lesson latter, I know I'm leaving you hanging...) So that was Tuesday. On Wednesday we had District Meeting. Blah blah blah. No one really enjoys district meeting. I guess they have to give the district leader a chance to talk and feel good about themselves. Opps did I just say that? Whatever. At the end of the meeting we were putting the tables and chairs away and in walks a man, Michael. He looked way confused. We were the only ones in the whole building so we were equally confused. (The missionary broadcast was on to something with having missionaries inside of church buildings so they can teach people when they just randomly waltz in.) He said that he really needs someone to help him get Jesus back into his life. This guy was a mess. Poor fellow. There are 10 missionaries in my district, that's a lot of people trying to teach one guy. The other set of sisters and us had to be at the Visitors' Center right away so we decided to leave it in the hands of the elders. As we were walking to our car we saw a lady sitting in a car in the parking lot. We went over to her and she said that she was Michael's girlfriend, Marci. We talked to her for a minute and we convinced her to get out of the car and have a lesson with the 4 of us. We sat on the sidewalk and talked for about 20 mins. As we were getting ready to say a prayer with her the 6 elders and Michael walked out and we all kneeled down in the grass in a circle and said a prayer with them. It was really cool. It really bonded our district together. Michael and Marci live in Kirtland so we passed on the information to the Sisters that cover Kirtland. Hopefully something comes from that!!!! It seriously was such a cool experience. On Thursday we had a lesson with a lady named Carmella. She is great. She agrees with everything that we teach but she is a little discouraged because no one else in her family is on board. She committed to coming to church. After that we had a lesson with Connie and her 32 year old son, Corey. We have been meeting with them once a week. They started out as being really argumentative but slowly they have started to agree with us and lessons have been going really good. We didn't have a lesson planned with them we just wanted to stop by and say hey. Connie, Corey and Chuck (Corey's 36 year old brother) were all home and weren't doing anything. They kept expressing to us how grateful they were that we came by to see them. Corey just recently bought a tan FIAT so of course I was going on and on about FIATS and how great they are and we walked out and he gave me a minute to sit inside of it. Pathetic, I know. We asked if they wanted to read the Book of Mormon with us so together we read Mosiah 4. It was so good. They agreed with everything!  It was almost our dinner time so about half way through the chapter we were like "ok so together can you finish the chapter?" Connie said "No no no please finish it with us. I don't want to stop reading." What the heck??!!! She was being dead serious. It was so cool. This never happens with her. We finished reading the chapter and she asked if she could take us all to the Cheesecake Factory. I was shocked. Heck yes you can!!!!! We had the best conversation at dinner. Connie asked us why we decided to serve missions and how the whole process works. She was really impressed with us and missionaries in general. She asked us what the biggest miracle we have seen on our missions was. Connie told us that she loves meeting with us and that "we are like a breath of fresh spring air." Corey said that he likes meeting with us because we listen to what he has to say and we help him become better. It was so nice everything they were saying. It is sometimes nice to be appreciated as a missionary. It doesn't happen too often but when it does it is nice. I was so touched they would say things like that. I think it was Heavenly Father helping me see that I really can make a different out here. Connie kept saying that she believes it is a miracle from God that we tracted into them. (Chuck is really nice to us but he is not interested in learning from us so he just kind sat there during dinner). Connie and Corey committed to coming to church but they didn't end up coming but they did say they would come next week for sure. That night Stephanie cancelled on us and we were so sad and mad!! We thought for sure this was the end of it with her. It was really frustrating. On Friday we got a hold of Stephanie and she agreed to meet with us on Saturday. fffeewww! Stephanie lives in our area but is 20 so she goes to the single's ward. We were able to get the ward mission leader of the single's ward to come to the lesson with us. We watched the short Mormon Message and then went in the chapel for the activity. We were in there for about 20 mins. I played the piano while everyone else just sat and wrote in their journals. We then came together and just had a really good conversation. Stephanie said that she doesn't really have a problem with anything doctrinal, it's more of a social issue. No one in her family knows she is getting baptized and her friends that know have been making fun of her. It was really great to be able to get that concern out of her. The 4 of us just really had a good conversation about everything. The Spirit was way strong. We crossed our fingers that something good would come out of it. The whole mission started a fast together Saturday night and we were fasting for all of the investigators that have baptismal dates for August (42 people). On Sunday Carmella showed up to church!!!!! Huge miracle. During Sacrament all of the sudden she just went up and bore her testimony. WHOA! It was a really good one. She even cried and said how grateful she was that we found her. She also pointed her finger and said I hope that you all appreciate the missionaries. Whoa! Amazing!!! I want her to get baptized sooo bad! One day I know for sure she will get baptized! Stephanie doesn't come to church with us because she goes to the single's ward so after church we texted her. This is how our texts went:
Us: Hey Stephanie! How was church today?
Stephanie: Church was awesome! I'm pretty sure I want to be baptized like 99!
Us:That's so awesome! What made it jump up to 99?
Stephanie: I was already leaning towards it but our lesson yesterday and church made me think a lot so I prayed and talked to a friend and read the Book of Mormon and I feel ready.
Us: Stephanie that is so great! Congrats. Who was the friend that you talked to?
Stephanie: Maddi, who is one of my closest friends from high school. She's really supportive.
Us: That's awesome that she is such a good friend. You should invite her to your baptism.
Stephanie: I already did :)
AMAZING!!!!!! Get ready folks. We're having a baptism Aug. 17th. I am so excited!!! 

 Everything is going really great here. Sister Palmer goes home in about 3 weeks so we've got a lot to do by then. Good luck Mccall with your talk! Record it and send it to me. I want to hear it. Is anyone else speaking at it? I love you all and miss you a lot. This is just really funny and I don't want anyone's feelings to get hurt but most of the Visitors' Center sisters out here have a sibling that doesn't write them. We started a club and I am part of it! Thanks Dall for helping me get in the club! Sister Palmer's twin brother doesn't write her and Lexi doesn't write Sister Neslen. Eh oh well. So for the past two weeks I have been only eating paleo. It is hard but good. I feel better. Oh ya, last night we had an end of summer picnic with the people from Community of Christ (RLDS) that work at their Visitors' Center. It was so much fun. They have about 5 interns in their 20s that have come from other states to work for the summer. We played volleyball. It was so much fun. I am actually really good (I know, you all are surprised)! We laughed so much last night. I love all of the sisters that I serve with. It seriously is like a huge sorority. There are sites sisters that live about an hour from Kirtland so when they are assigned to work it's usually a few days in a row so they can just sleep in Kirtland. About 3 nights a week we have 8-10 sisters in our house. It is so much fun. I love being a missionary. Has anyone had any cool missionary experiences lately? I would love to hear them. Also could everyone please make a Mormon.org profile? It doesn't take long. I use those when I chat online with people. It is good for people to see that Mormons are normal. Please let me know when you have made your profile so I can use it when I teach. I love you all so much and miss you!!!

Lacee
#10monthsout #comeseeme #visitorscentersistersarethebest #iloveohio #writeback #sendmepackages :)