My Last Baptism

Hey ya'll!

This week has been crazy!  I mean it, too!  Every single day, something not normally in the  missionary schedule happened, which was really fun to mix things up a little bit.

Okay, so Sister Webb had to get a prescription filled, but she hadn't been to the doctor in a long time, so they had to see her again. Well, the closest location of theirs was over in Georgia.  Well, we didn't want her to die or anything, so we called up our mission president, and he gave us permission to go save her life.  So Wednesday morning, we packed our snacks and put on our comfiest travel clothes, and drove all the way to the place I've been wanting to go for over 18 months.  Chattanooga Tennessee!  (Which is right next to Georgia.  Another place I'd really wanted to go to!)  After four hours of driving, we finally got there, got her into the doctor, and not a very long story made even shorter, she's still alive.  Yay!  Now the real fun begins!

We ran all around Chatt visiting people who were in the Ward with Sister Webb, which wasn't actually very many people because we didn't have much time, but it was so much fun seeing how happy everyone was to see her, and how happy she was seeing them!  And it was so fun because they all let me join in on the fun!  But alas, we had to go back home, but that's okay, because we had a lot to do this week, and we partied it up the whole way home.

The next day, we did all sorts of missionary type things, one of which was my departing interview.  It brought on all the feels.  I laughed and cried, and had questions answered, and thought about the past, and the future, and who I am now.  Literally everything I could think about, I thought about.  I left with more sense of direction in my life for the coming years, and a determination to accomplish it all. Finally, I'm on the right track.  I mean, not that I wasn't before.  I mean, I'm on a mission. But I mean, that's just what a mission does to ya.

The next day was zone conference.  My last one actually.  President gave some really good trainings.  I'd heard a lot of it already at MLC, but that's something really wonderful about getting a sneak preview.  Each time we hear something, we get something new out of it. President Griffin showed us a clip of a mission president seminar that he had the chance to watch not too long ago.  Elder Bednar spoke, and when I heard it at first in MLC, something he said pierced me to my heart honestly more than almost anything, but after hearing it again in zone conference, I've been able to apply it more to my life. He said something to the effect of, "A change for better using our own will power is not using the Atonement.  Our will power will eventually fall short, but when we allow Christ into the repentance process, that change in our life is lasting and eternal." This is so true.  I've seen good examples and bad examples of this principle in my life and the lives of those around me, it makes me wonder what ways I could apply more fully His atonement, and take the stress off of me, and make the good things in my life eternal and the bad things vanish away.  I think I've got a good start and eternity to go.

Speaking of using the Atonement, I know a really cool guy, his name is John, and I've had the pleasure of seeing him use at least a portion of it in his own life. Well, John got baptized this Saturday, and on Sunday he was confirmed! It was the most wonderful thing ever! I hadn't been so excited for a baptism in a long time!  It was so great seeing him take this first step to his goal of being sealed to his wonderful wife, Sabra, and their cute little girl, Judith. I love their family so much!

Seeing things like that is what this mission is all about.  I've learned and experienced so many things out here, but that is by far one of the greatest things to see.  People truly living the gospel, and coming closer to where we all want to be even if we don't even know it at the time.

Sincerely,

Sister Shelton

 

Just thought we'd take a quick stop to see the Chattanooga LDS church building. It's a civil war mansion!

Here's all of the sisters in my zone once again. I've come to love each and every one of them in their own special way! #ashevillezone

Gotta love the Murphy Sisters, too!

They decided to throw me overboard since I'm dying soon. Haha! Gotta love the grandmother, mom, daughter trio here! Obviously this mission fam doesn't like me too much. ;) #missionrelationships

I love Sister Wood and Ferguson!  And look at that cute hedgehog

sticker the back of Sister Ferguson's tag!

Here's us attempting a death picture.  It got awkward so we didn't

really get one, but I like this picture anyway.

 Quotes of the week:
　
Elder Swindler: Do we need to make sure any other doors are locked?
Me: No.... Well, actually try the one in the relief society room. That one's always sneaky.
Elder Swindler: It's sneaky?
Me: Just go check it.
John: Have you ever seen the angels on Doctor Who?
Me: Yeah.
John: I just imagined all these doors sneaking up behind us.

Christ is Sufficient

Hey ya'll!  

So this week has been crazy, but really good.  It felt like the last two weeks have just blurred into one, but it's okay because it just means we got a lot done!

On Tuesday we had MLC.  The travel down and back is always fun!  It's always accompanied by Elder Creasy asking, "Does anyone have any good jokes?"  And me asking questions like, "What's your favorite color?" and, "If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?" It's things like this, my friends, that make life enjoyable.  But for reals,  we were at MLC, and we were watching Elder Bednar talk about repentance, and how simply changing yourself for the better isn't true repentance, which caught my attention because I felt like I'd been teaching my investigators that, but then he went on to say how our own will power will eventually fall through, unless we rely on Christ, which is so true.  Christ really is sufficient.  

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Cherokee sisters, Sister Wood and Ferguson.  I had Sister Ferguson with me, and it was so much fun!  We were able to find the Stephens, a cute family who had been sick for a while, so they hadn't been able to come to church.  They said they were doing better though, so they said they'd come this Sunday.  

During our exchange we got a phone call that seemed pretty desperate.  From Kim and Marty, some potential investigators.  They were just having a hard time all around, and said they knew how much God was with us and that we could help them.  So, we said we'd come by the next day to see them.  Well, we got there, and Kim answered and let us in.  Marty didn't want to let us in, because their house was a mess, and he felt ashamed, but he really likes us, and he was really happy we stopped by.  We talked to them about their situation for a while, and we found out that we were the first people they'd let in in over 5 years.  That was very humbling.  We told them we'd help them out the most we could, which would only be a little service around their place and us teaching them the gospel.  Which, really the gospel is the greatest thing anyone could give them, but what's even more incredible is that they recognized that. Most people don't.  They realize that they're struggling with things that are much bigger than Sister Webb and I can take on on our own,  but it's nothing that's too big for God.  It's a very humbling situation.  We were able to teach them the first lesson, and they ate it up!  We asked if they'd be baptized, and they said they'd pray about it.  It's really incredible.  I'm excited to see the progress with them, because I know some day they'll be doing great!

Well, Saturday night came, and we got a text saying church was canceled.  We looked outside and there was nothing on the ground.  Literally not a sprinkle of snow, and church was canceled.  There were a few flurries earlier that day, but really it was nice outside.  We were pretty disappointed because we had quite a few people who said they'd be at church.  We woke up the next morning to a layer of snow and a text from our investigator, John, asking if church was canceled.  We sent him a text saying it was, and then a few hours later we got another text from him saying, "Where is everyone? Is church canceled?"  Silly John got so enthralled with our frowny face emoji we sent him that it distracted him from the rest of our message, so he couldn't comprehend that church was canceled so we got a text from him asking where everyone was, and we were like, "Hey, since you and your family are already there, we'll be there in just a minute to go over the baptismal interview questions with you."  So we did, and it was a great makeshift Sabbath.  

I hope ya'll had a wonderful week!  Especially Sabbath, since we weren't able to have the sacrament.  Be grateful for the things you have.  We really do have a lot.  And remember, Christ is sufficient.  

Sincerely,

Sister Shelton

Sister Price and Sister Boles took us to the Biltmore for P Day!....

And then our district followed along with us!  #biltmorebowling #mostunifieddistrict

Not to mention Sister Boles is an incredible photographer!

Quotes of the week:

*hanging out behind the greenhouses*

Elder Creasy:  I like that we can all hang out at the lamest part of the Biltmore and have a blast.

Me: What's your favorite season?

Elder Creasy: Pepper.

Sister Ferguson: Do you know where liars go?!

Elder Stokinger: Liarsville....

Sister Ferguson: They are thrust down to hell!

First Training Ever

Alright friends!

So, this week was a busy one, but I loved it all!

We had Zone Training Meeting this week, and it was both me and Sister Webb's first time giving a training in ZTM. We gave a training on receiving revelation through prayer.  I don't know what it is, but that seems to be a subject that's been brought up a lot for me recently.  I don't know why, but it has been.  I guess God has something he's trying to teach me.  But hey, hopefully, the whole zone learned something from it.  It was really cool to hear everyone's personal experiences with prayer. That was something we tried to emphasize - the importance of sharing these experiences, because when we as missionaries share our experiences with our investigators, that's something that creates a bond, and they are more willing to share their experiences, and we're then better able to resolve their concerns.

After ZTM, we had exchanges with the Murphy Sisters. Sister McInnis came with me for our second exchange, and then Sister Roberts and Webb were together.  It rained a lot on that exchange, but we just kept going!  And we had an awesome lesson with Jai-mee.  It was all about faith and prayer and scripture study.  It was pretty incredible because usually you need to prepare for a lesson, but because of planning a training and waking up and going straight to the ZTM, we had very limited time to plan, so it consisted of "Let's read Matthew 14:25-33 and talk about faith." It was awesome because we're only asked to do what we can, and then the Lord will bless us.  That lesson, because of me and Sister McInnis doing all we could beforehand, as little as it was, was an incredible lesson, and God made up for the rest.  The spirit was strong, and I think Jai-mee is really going to try the things we suggested for her. :)

We had stake conference this week.  On Saturday we first had a lesson with John, and then we rode over with him and his wife, Sabra, to stake conference together.  It's a good thing, too, because there's a lot of Mormons here, and not much parking....  I love what the stake theme is this year, too.  It's "what's my next step?"  So, no matter where you are in life, realize that you have something to do and to work on.

I think part of my next step includes mastering goal making and keeping.  Something a wise elder told me a few months ago is to make daily goals - nothing big, just something that will stretch you a little closer to Christ each day.  I did that for a little bit, and then fell out of the habit, but since hearing a training given in ZTM, it's reminded me again the importance of setting goals.  A wise old apostle, who I can't remember his name said something to the effect of, "If you don't learn to master setting and teaching goals, you'll get to a ripe old age and look back to see you haven't accomplished much."  So there you go.  President Vann, our stake president, also suggested we use a scripture as a theme.  Mine is Alma 37:6.  It's one of my favorites.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week!  Remember to do good things!

Sincerely,
Sister Shelton

All the cute sisters in the Asheville Zone! #lovethem

Here's us partying it up on our exchange right outside of The White Duck Taco Shop.