Dear family,
I will have been out on my mission for six months this Friday. I just can't believe how fast the time has flown!
We went to Lake View this week. Since we don't have a lot of miles, we can't visit this part of our area very often. In fact, this is the first time that I have been able to go to Lake View! It felt like such an adventure. We didn't know the area and didn't have a GPS, so we had to use our maps. We have been using maps a lot more lately, since Sister Brown left with the GPS. We are getting pretty good at using them! I loved going to Lake View. It has so much potential. We visited four less-actives that I had never even met before. One of the less-actives, James McQueen, was baptized when he was 11 and stopped coming when he was 13. He is 49 now. As we talked, we realized just how little he knew about the gospel and about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All of his concerns would be easily answered with the lessons, so we are going to start teaching them to him. It is the perfect time for him! He just recently stopped attending his church and is looking for a new one, and he invited us back to teach him. I just love how perfect God is with His timing. Sister Brown had never met Brother McQueen although she visited his house a couple of times. God was waiting for him to be ready before he met with the missionaries. I know that His timing is not always our timing and sometimes that can be frustrating. I feel like I have grown more patient recently and more accepting of His timing. That is just one of the many lessons I learned while waiting for my visa! :)
We also had a cottage meeting this week. A cottage meeting is held at a member's home and members invite their nonmember friends to come. Someone will give a brief spiritual thought and then the rest of the time is spent socializing. It is a wonderful way for the nonmembers to get to know the ward/branch. President Harvey and a couple members shared their conversion story. I looked around at our little gathering and was just overcome by the love that I had for these people. They have been such a big part of my life here in Marion. I am so grateful that the Lord has allowed me to be a part of their life, even if it is just for a short time. I am really excited to be a member missionary, when I get home. I am going out with the missionaries all the time!
We had a scare this week. When teaching one of our investigators, I got this horrible feeling. I just wanted to run out of there. I am so grateful that we had a member there with us, because our investigator was beginning to scare me. It was the first time that I have been scared at all on my mission! Usually, I have a peaceful feeling no matter what kind of neighborhood we visit, but this was different. This scared feeling wouldn't go away! We even called President Holm to talk to him about it. We were still a little jumpy even after a few days, so we got a priesthood blessing by Sister Weatherford's grandson. During the blessing, the scared feeling completely vanished and I haven't felt it since. It was such a testimony to me of the power of the priesthood and what a gift it is to have a worthy priesthood holder in the home. I know that God's power is still on the earth today, and I am so grateful that I live in a time where the priesthood authority is present and that there are people who are worthy to use it.
(Please don't get nervous about this situation. We took care of it and we aren't teaching him anymore, so please don't get worried or call President Holm about it!)
We had a specialized training meeting, where President Holm talked about the rules and standards for missionary ipads. I guess our mission is getting them soon!
I love you so much! I am glad that you got to spend some time with the boys and Lexi skiing and I'm glad that your Bunko night went off so well! I loved that you had nonmembers there! Way to go!
Love,
Sister Daniels
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