Laurel's Missionary Journey

Hello Everyone! Incredible things happen every single day as a missionary! I think this week certianly proved that. Remember the amazing youth who is introducing all of her friends to the gospel, Sarah? Well, she has been at it again! On Tuesday we went to a lesson with her and Hayley, and she had brought another one of her friends to meet with us! Her name is Michaela, and she is 11 years old. She loved what we taught and wants to meet with us again! She asked her parents and they are totally okay with her meeting with is as well, which is always positive. We also talked to Hayley about her desires to be baptized, and she set a baptismal date for June 2nd! She is so sweet and is progressing really well. I wish I was half the missionary that Sarah is! One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn't share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all of my friends growing up. Sarah will never have that regret! Brother Tom is also doing really well! We have been discussing the 10 Commandm...

Y'ALL!!! So remember how the work in Pace has been a little bit slow these past few weeks? Well! Thank y'all for your prayers because this week has been so incredible! It was like all at once everything that we had been hoping would happen, DID! The most exciting development has been with Brother Tom! For weeks Brother Tom has been telling us that he doesn't want to chose a date for baptism until he comes to church, but he hadn't come to church yet so he didn't want to make any commitments. This week, not only did he accept a baptismal date, he did it before he attended a service with us! He just said that it felt right, and he knew it was true and that he wanted to be a member of this church. He is planning on being baptized on May 26th. After that, he came to church and loved it! The members were all so kind to him and he loved the classes. He said he was "very impressed" and told one of the members of the bishopric to expect to see him back next Sunday,...

Howdy Friends! Imagine that you have had a bit of a difficult week and you are going to lunch at a member's home on a Sunday afternoon. You and your companion both have headaches and your stress levels are already a little bit higher than they usually are because of that. Now, imagine that you arrive to find out that the member with whom you are going to have lunch is about to be set apart as an Elders Quorum President, which means that the Stake President will be joining you for lunch. Then, the Bishop of your ward walks in. So we now have the Elders Quorum President, the Bishop, and the Stake President all at the lunch appointment. And you are going to give a spiritual thought. That is the situation in which my companion and I found ourselves on Sunday! With some minor internal freaking out, it ended up being really wonderful. The Bishop ended up not staying for the whole appointment, and I found out that Stake President Curtis is a motorcycle enthusiast, so it was fun to talk to...

Hey everyone!! My heart is very full right now. At this moment, I am just so grateful to God for everything that He has done for me. I am grateful for each person that I have met on my mission, and the impact that they made on me. My 11th month mark is tomorrow, and I have been reflecting a lot on my mission because of that. I am not the same person who stepped onto a plane nearly a year ago, and I can't even imagine who I would be without the time I have spent serving God. I am incredibly excited for the 7 months I have left! God isn't finished with me yet, and He won't be until the time I go home to Him. We have seen a lot of great things this week. As the subject line of this email states, I met Dobby! One of the members of the ward here in Pace as an authentic Dobby replica in his home, and he let me take pictures with it. My little Harry Potter loving heart just about exploded. Hey Mom, can I go to Harry Potter world for Christmas this year? Please? We have also been ...

Hello Family! It has been an incredible week indeed! Let me just start off by saying I love you all and I love the Lord. He knows me so well, and He knows exactly what I need and what I need to hear. He has my whole heart <3 This week we had the amazing opportunity to watch General Conference. For my non-Mormon loved ones, twice a year we get to listen to Prophets and Apostles speak and give us direction for our lives. It is amazing that even though these men are speaking to millions of people, in almost every talk there is something specifically for me. This Conference was also a particularly historic one! In January, President Thomas S. Monson, who had served as Prophet of the Lord for around 10 years, passed away. His successor, President Russell M. Nelson, began his work as the prophet in the following days. At the General Conference following the ordination of a new prophet, the church meets together in a special ceremony called a "Solemn Assembly". This is ...

Hello Loved Ones!! If you didn't notice the pun in the subject line, I would like to point it out to you. I am now in Pace Florida. And I am Pacing myself. It's dumb, I know. But it is the little things in life <3 This week has been insane!! On Monday Sister Kitchen and I prepped like crazy for the new Sisters that are in Fox Run now. In the middle of all the frantic packing, we went to the beach for the last time with our crazy wonderful district and we went and got Sushi with Autumn. She took us to a memorial in Pensacola for lost and abused children. It was overlooking the water, and being there with Her and Sister Kitchen is a memory I will always treasure. Those two girls are my Sisters, no doubt about it. We are going to have some wonderful reunions after our missions are over and then again in Heaven. On Tuesday we went out to lunch with some of the members in the ward, the Soresons. I had mentioned to them that I had never had raw oysters before and I would...

SO I have some news friends!!! But first, some highlights from the week. This week in the Fox Run Ward, two people were baptized, entering into a covenant with Heavenly Father. One is a man named Kenny Pedicord, who recently has been being taught by the Elders. However, he started his journey with Sister Adams and I all the way back in October. He is a great man and a diligent disciple of the savior. If there was ever a man who loved God, it was Kenny. He walked out of the font and got changed in a brand new suit, and I felt like there was no place in the universe I would rather be than there, seeing the Atonement of Christ work in Kenny's life. Autumn Herndon was also baptized. She truly is, I believe, the reason I was here in Fox Run for so long. The Lord knew I needed her. She had become one of my best and closest friends, and I know that that will last for this life and for eternity. After she was baptized she came out of the font dripping wet, and Sister Kitchen and I just...