Week 50

Hello there!!

How are you all doing? Thank you for your emails! I love hearing from you, even if it is a few lines!

I'm going to type as fast as I can because this was an awesome week filled with miralces and fun events and I want to tell you all about it!

Ready, set, go!!!

We had more lessons this week than we have the past few. That was exciting! I think because summer is starting to wind down people aren't as busy and we also had more evenings in our area this week because we worked a lot of mornings at the trail center. We had some great experiences in both our proselyting area and the trail center.

Highlights from our proselyting area:

TJ- He is about 17 and overall a very sad and depressed person. He has lost his mom not long ago and really doesn't have any hope. On top of that he's not the nicest and it's all his personality. We have hit the soft spot though, he knows I don't buy his sarcastic outer shell. Whenever he says short, depressing comments I just look at him with the face that says, "really TJ?? I don't buy that. Answer me honestly." Then he'll smirk (because he won't smile) and open up about how he's doing. He feels trapped in "darkness" and feels like he can't get out. I wish I could hand him faith and give him the secret to making everything better. I read him the experience of Alma the younger,  Alma 37:17-21 "And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy." He said he related a lot to how Alma the younger felt and wants to feel that joy. We committed him to pray to God and ask if He is really there listening. We sang him the hymn "I Need thee Every Hour" and it was powerful. He said he felt like angels were here singing. (Huge moment for him because he never says things that are positive like that and is serious!!!) You could tell he felt the Spirit. I really hope he sincerely prays and feels that God is listening.

Met with a less-active family that 4 kids. They are all cute and want to come to church but their parents are struggling with many things and don't want to make the effort of coming to church. We had a fun lesson where they acted out Nephi's story or getting the golden plates from Laban. They had a good time and got their energy out and then we got to the peak where we applied that to their lives and how they can have courage like Nephi to be strong and do what the Lord asks them to do. It was a good time and I love seeing when things click in kids minds and they have a greater sense of motivation after we leave to read their scriptures.

Fun Events:

We went to Come Home to Kanesville this week with Ayn, her husband, and Ayn's mom! Her mom is not a member but is interested in what the church teachers. She had a great time at the musical and said she wants to come to the Trail Center and have us take her on a tour. Ayn is really excited and thinks her mom will want to start meeting with the missionaries soon! Yay!!

We had a fireside on Sunday and a few of the Osmonds came to speak/ sing. Merril's kids were there. I guess Merril is the singer but he couldn't make it last minute. His son or nephew and Tom are deaf and doing a fundraiser thing here in Omaha. It was a good fireside and they talked a lot about overcoming trails and applying the atonement of Christ in our lives.

Trail Center:

I took 3 young adults on tour who were Christians and also Catholic. They were SUPER awesome and friendly! From the first few seconds of meeting them I knew we would have a great time. They were very open to learning about the pioneers and also the Mormon faith. I was able to share a lot with them and have some great discussions about faith and where they are at in life. By the end of the tour they were excited to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about the things they learned! I can't wait to follow up with them to see what their experience was like!! I felt like we were all best friends after our 45 minute tour. I love working at the Mormon Trail Center!!!

I also took a cute family on tour yesterday who was very open and also wanted to take home a Book of Mormon and read it. I don't have time to go into details right now but they were another great experience and so friendly and nice!

Well that about sums up the week!! I'll tell you the rest of what I wanted to say next week!! I love you all and I hope you are enjoying your last little bit of summer. :) Thanks for all of your love and support!! You're the best!

Love,

Sister Jones