All the Ordinances

Hey friends and familia!

This week has been awesome!  We had transfers this week. I stayed here in Loudon, and actually, so did Sister Shuler, but we picked up a third friend, Sister Parry. She's so sweet! We will only be in a trio for the week though because Sister Shuler is going home on Thursday. It's pretty crazy seeing so many people leave and dealing with all of the emotions, but it's good for her.

This week we ended up spending a lot of time with just a few people, but it's been good. One of them is Amber.  She's been an investigator for about a year now, but she seems to really be progressing now.  We saw her three times this week on her request, and we committed her to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and within an hour of our leaving, she sent us a text not only saying what the chapter was about, but what the chapter after that was about! It was awesome! She was so close to coming to church, too! She totally would have, but I guess we weren't clear with her on what time it started, but she's progressing really well.

The other person we saw a lot of was Marissa, and there is a very good reason for that. We had to teach her about a month's worth of lessons in a week, because she got baptized, guys! Marissa got baptized!  It was so quick, but she was so ready, and it had to happen this week because she'll be leaving this week, and I don't know when I'll ever see her again, but I will see her again. I made a pinky promise with her, and that stuff is serious.  But it was such an amazing baptism! She was glowing from ear to ear, and I don't think I'd ever smiled that much, either!  She had a font side confirmation, so it's the real deal now, guys. Marissa is Mormon. Or as her sister, Raven, would say, "Yes! We got another one to join the cult!"  Haha!  I love that family so much...

Now, I have to tell the story about our Sacrament meeting this week. Some of it was funny, and some of it was heart warming. Let's start with the funny. So we were all sitting in branch council that morning, and then Brother Webber said, "I just checked to see how many sacrament cups we had left, and I don't think we'll be able to have sacrament today." Thus, starting the wild goose chase.  The elders had to skip Sacrament meeting and drive all the way to Farragut to get some sacrament cups. While that was happening, Brother Cooper gave a nice talk, saying: "I wrote this out beforehand, but I think I'll say it just how I wrote it because it's funny. We all took the sacrament today.".... Then we went and sang a song with the young women for our musical number, and then the high councilman got up to give his talk. During the first few minutes of it, the elders all shuffled into the room with the sacrament all prepared. But it wasn't just the elders, it was them and one of the Johnson boys, and Caden, because he blessed the sacrament today. :)  After the craziness of not having the sacrament until the very end, it was an amazing Sacrament. It was so spiritual. It's amazing that we've been able to teach Caden and help him get to where he is now, and now he gets to help us get to where we will be some day through the priesthood he holds.  That's how the gospel works. Everyone lifting one another.  That, my friends, is an eternal principal.  It's beautiful, it's pure, and it's the truth. I say that in Jesus' name. Amen.

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton