Laurel's Missionary Journey

Friends, Countrymen, Lend me your ears! (Or eyes I suppose!) This week has been an interesting one, full of such great miracles! The first is an incredible new investigator named Pengpai Li. She is a wonderful Chinese lady who moved here to the States just a few years ago. Last month she decided to go to Temple Square and learn about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which she had never heard of before going to Salt Lake. Where she is from, she had never even heard the name "Jesus Christ". While at Temple Square, she was impressed by the Chinese Sister Missionaries she had met. Apparently one of them was from a town near where Pengpai had lived! That Sister had moved to the United States, met missionaries, got baptized, and then left on her mission all in a three year time span. Pengpai decided that she wants that happiness in her life, and she told us she wants to be the first religious person in her family and help all of her family come to know the truth ab...

Hey everyone!  First of all, Hurricane Irma did not hit anywhere near me. In fact, the governor of Florida apparently came to Pensacola where I am in order to be safe. It is just a little windy here! The eastern half of my mission got hit pretty hard apparently, so if I was still in Madison I would have been in the cone of influence. Thankfully I'm here in Fox Run, so all is well. :) There are so many amazing things happening here in the Fox Run area! We had a pretty funny experience a few days ago. We contacted a man named Bobby on the street and set an appointment with him to talk to him more about our message, and when we were driving to his house we realized that all of the houses we were passing were really nice. It honestly made both of us a little uncomfortable, because most of the work we do is in trailers or smaller homes. It made us both laugh to think about how much we have changed since coming out on our missions. There are some lessons you learn that you had no idea y...

Because we don't have a car anymore, we bike a lot here. We calculated it, and we bike over 12 miles everyday. Biking is not my favorite thing to do, and my legs are very sore. Sister Adams, however, is an amazing biker. She leaves me in the dust every single day and someday I will bike as fast as her! It is one of my goals for this area. By the time I leave here, I am going to be an Olympic Biker.  This area is so amazing, and I am so blessed to be God's servant here. We have had so many funny and interesting experiences. We went to go see a member of the ward, and when we knocked on the door of the address we had, a different lady answered! She told us that she was a prophetess, and we had the coolest conversation talking to her about personal revelation and our individual relationships with God. She gave us her business card, and we might be doing some service at her church sometime soon. There was also a day that we pulled up to an apartment building that you had to hav...

Hey everyone!!! So... this week has been a little bit of an adventure. Transfers happened, and saying goodbye to Sister Hulstine and Madison was very heartbreaking. I miss everyone so much, and I find myself wondering about our investigators all the time. However, I know they are in good hands, and I am loving the people here as well! My new area is in Pensacola Florida. I am serving in the Fox Run Ward, and serving in a ward is very different from serving in a Branch! In Madison I learned everyone's names in about a week. I think that it might take me a significantly longer time to learn names here. Especially because many of our investigators have the same name! (Or very close names!) There are two Amayas, an Alyasia and a Valacha, an Abrianna, two Dontrells, one Mary, and one Marylinn, and others whom I haven't even met yet. You all know I am so bad with names/faces, so prayers would be appreciated.  Sister Adams is so incredibly wonderful! We have basically been laughing s...

Hello Y'all! This week has been such a whirlwind of change and goodness! We started teaching an amazing family, the Mitchells, and they are so sweet and sincere with their desire to learn more about Christ and his restored Gospel. We are now teaching 14 people. It continues to amaze me that the Lord chooses such weak and simple servants to do his work. He truly loves all of his children, and I have loved serving in this area and seeing those miracles. On Saturday we got a call from President Smith about transfers! We found out that I am going the Pensacola Zone to serve in the Fox Run area, and Sister Hulstine is going to the Panama City Beach Zone to serve in Callaway as a Sister Training Leader! I have been telling her all transfer that she would be called as an STL. She is going to be such a light to the missionaries and the people in her new zone and area. As for me, I am a little bit terrified to leave Madison and to be done with training. But if the Lord needs me somewher...

Howdy all Y'all! This week marks three months since I have been out on my mission! That is so weird to think about, but I have been so grateful for every moment. I can't wait for 15 more months of serving the Lord and bringing the World his truth. Our recent convert, James Adderley, has been sharing the Gospel with his family. His sister, Malvise, his soon to be sister-in-law, Tia, his daughter, JaMea, and his daughter's maternal half-sister are all investigating the Church now. They said they have noticed a huge difference in Brother Adderley since his baptism, and they want that peace and joy for themselves. It is such a miracle and an honor to be able to help teach them and to share our testimonies with them. Brother Adderley comes to every one of their lessons, and you can see the joy on his face as he shares with the people he loves most in the world the joy of the Gospel. God is so, so, so good. Our other recent convert, David Stanford, was given the Priesthood and or...

The Lord loves us. Sometimes we feel like we don't deserve it or we could do more. But our Heavenly Father only asks us to do what we can and trust in him to lead us all the way. This week I am learning to trust God in all things and take everything one little baby step at a time. If all I can do is talk to one person, than at least I talked to one person! Our recent convert, David Stanford, bore his testimony for the first time ever this past Sunday. The joy that we felt as he testified of Christ was almost tangible, and I am so incredibly grateful to have been there to see it. He is going to receive the priesthood this Sunday, and we are so excited for him we can barely wait! We continue to see miracles in the work everyday, and the Lord truly is helping us to move forward and to find joy. Each day that goes by is another opportunity to commit ourselves to our Savior, and to remember that this truly is His work. What a blessing it is to be a representative of the Savior here in ...