You Have to Have the Spirit 3.16.15

Dear Family,

I am pleased to inform you that I have not worn tights or leggings in two days. My legs are freaking out a little bit from being so exposed but mentally I feel on top of the world. That is all.

Well, it's Monday again!! It's been a LONG week with so many things happening but we made it! Last Wednesday we had Zone Training which meant that the Zone Leaders and us, the Sister Training Leaders, had to conduct a training session. It went pretty well I think. I felt the Spirit and I know that the Spirit guided those who taught. Sister Morrison and I trained on "Obtaining and Teaching by the Spirit" and I have been doing my best to implement it into my missionary work. 

According to Joseph  Smith, “No man can preach the Gospel without the Holy Ghost” and for anyone who has been on a mission, that is one of the quickest lessons you learn. I am grateful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and I hope that it's each one of our greatest desires to be worthy of that gift. :)

Since the Ludington sisters were at the Grand Rapids stake center for ZT we decided to go on tradeoffs with them then and then switch back Thursday evening. I got to go to Ludington with Sister Brockbank (my baby!! who's half way done with her mission......) and getting to Ludington was an adventure. Ludington is 2 hours away from Grand Rapids and so the sisters hopped from car to car to make it to training and we got to do the same thing going back. We went from car to car to car to area. It was great though. Ludington has been a struggling area and the sisters just "pink-washed" the area this transfer so they're starting from nothing. But we saw a couple of finding miracles.

When we got to the area, we checked up on a less active member but she wasn't home so we decided to knock the street. We weren't having much success but when we prayed in our car, we prayed that as we knocked we would be able to teach someone about the Restoration and gain a new investigator so I was determined to help that come true. We were walking down the street and there was a person walking toward us. I said to Sister Brockbank, "Let's go talk to that dude." We walked over and turns out the dude was a woman. Ha. Well we talked to her and ended up walking back to her home and doing her dishes and teaching her about the Restoration! And when we were done she asked for our phone number so we could come back! MIRACLES! It felt SO GOOD! And she gave me a bracelet and a pair of earrings that she made that I'll probably treasure forever. So it was a pretty cool door knocking experience. :) Miracles do happen but they happen according to our faith and faith means action most of the time, not just passive belief.

Grandville/Wyoming is going alright. We are having some trouble getting in contact with some of our investigators which is a little sad but I think this week will turn out pretty good. Ian is still doing really well. I've learned from teaching Ian that the Book of Mormon is a powerful teacher. I've learned that when you let the scriptures be bold for you, people take things a lot easier haha. We moved Ian's date to May 2nd now because he should be "retiring" from the bike club soon and he could possible be prepared by then to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Ian has changed SO MUCH since we've taught him and he told us that the greatest changes he's made in his life in the seven months he's met with the missionaries has been while Sister Morrison and I have been teaching him. That makes you feel good. :) The Gospel truly changes people.

I love you family. Isn't it great that we can be together forever? I hope you're as excited as I am to be an Eternal Family. I love you all for your uniqueness and the way you help me become a better person. I especially appreciate how you show me through your examples and faith how to become a more devoted and faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. I am so blessed to have you all in my life. :)

Well, that's it for me. I'm including a picture of Sister Morrison and me at Old Country Buffet to celebrate Chris's birthday. It had the most food options for Sister Morrison (like french fries and Jell-O! YUM!). Thanks for letting us celebrate! And the other picture is Sister Brockbank and I trying "Bacon Pop". I'm pretty sure it was left in the apartment by the previous elders. One taste was enough.

Love always,

The Michiganry :)

Bacon Popcorn