Wow, another great week in the TSAM as always :) We met our weekly goal of New People again which was so great! We've been finding a lot of people through our own efforts, so now we just to have to find some member friends for them so they will come to church! Sadly no one came to church this week :( but we will get there soon!
We had zone conference this week, and it was our special Christmas conference so we got to hear several musical numbers! Also, we had the most bomb lunch! Every year for the Christmas zone conferences, some special members who barbecue come together and make a BBQ lunch for the missionaries! It seriously is the coolest thing ever cause the main guy brings his special smoker and takes 10+ hours to smoke the meat. I'm sad I didn't take a picture of it, but just know that Texas is the place to go if you want real BBQ ;) so yummy!!!
Funny quote of the week: Sister Monroe and I ran into Elder Rash who was with us in the CCM, we haven't seen him since like last year basically since he was in Austin. We pass him in the hall during break at Zone Conference, and the only thing he said to us was "Y'all got comp'd?" And then walked away. Hahahhah love that Elder
I went on exchanges with Sister Rice this week in her area, and we had the most amazing miracle! Our appointments fell through in the evening, so we went to a neighborhood and just started knocking on potentials. There was one particular house that we walked by that had lots of lights & Christmas decorations on outside, and I had the prompting that we should go knock on their door. I thought "Let's just compliment them on their yard!" So that's what we did! A middle aged man named Alex answered the door, and the first thing we did was compliment him on the lights. He smiled and said thanks and told us that he was also decorating his neighbors yard haha. We got talking to him and introduced ourselves, and we asked him if he would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ. He said, "I'm finishing dinner right now, but could y'all come back in 15 minutes?" YES of course we can :) haha so we walked around the neighborhood some more, and Sister Rice and I were discussing what we were going to do in case if there wasn't another female in the home, cause we really wanted to sit down with him and have a lesson! But tender mercy from Heavenly Father! We got back to Alex's house, and he opened his garage & set out lawn chairs for all of us :)
Alex went on to tell us throughout the lesson that he has been needing change in his life, but he hasn't known where to go to. We could not have had a more perfect lesson--we taught him the Restoration, introduced him to the Book of Mormon and read several scriptures with him, and invited him to come to church this Sunday. He agreed to read, pray, come to church, and meet with the Sisters again on Saturday. He was just so prepared! Wow! It was so cool. We were just so amazed to see how much God has His hand in our life, and how things just fell into place with our plans so that we could meet Alex that evening & teach him.
Some other highlights from the week: We got to teach the Laurel's class yesterday! Which was seriously so much fun, I love those girls so much and it just brings me back to when I was in Young Womens :) Also, Michele got a calling yesterday! She's teaching the 10 year olds in Primary, and we are so excited for her!
We also got to go to the temple with Michele. It was AMAZING! Our ward mission leader and his wife came, along with Elder Baughman who is one of the temple & family history senior missionaries. Aaron (one of the ward missionaries) works at the temple and was able to baptize all of us, which was so cool cause he leaves on his mission to Rome this week! Michele was really touched by it because Aaron sang at her baptism, and she especially felt the Spirit so strongly when she saw Brother Marshall be proxy for her dad's baptism :)
One quote that I love that President Polley said this week "We have the priviledge of sharing the fulness of the Gospel!" I truly am grateful for this opportunity to share the restored gospel with others. I know I probably say it every week haha, but it truly is wonderful to be a part of God's work! I know we all have that same opportunity, whether we wear a nametag or not. President Nelson gave an invitation to a small group of youth in San Antonio before the Devotional when he met with them for a Q&A, that President Polley shared with us at Zone Conference. When the youth asked how to help those who have fallen off the gospel path, or to invite others to learn more, the Prophet said 2 words-- "Be Beautiful!" He went on to say how we can share the light of the Gospel with our smiles & examples, and others will be touched. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has blessed my life in so many ways. It truly is a beautiful thing and I invite y'all to share that beauty with others especially during this Christmas season.
I love y'all with all my heart!
