Sister Neel 5/4/21

 

Went strawberry picking and met so many amazing people!

Hey ya'll! 

Super crazy to think today's my 3 MONTH MARK!!! Wahoooo!! I absolutely love being a part of the Lord's work and can't even begin to describe how happy this gospel makes me! Here's to the next 15 months in the NCRM!

Also we received some BIG BIG news from President Maurer today!! FINALLY...after a long year of covid restrictions, we are allowed to GO INSIDE HOMES AGAIN!!!!! AHHHHH!!!!!! North Carolina is celebrating pretty hard out here!!! This is a huge step and we are SOOOO excited!!!! Don't get me wrong eating and teaching lessons outside isn't all that bad but having one of these rules lifted is kind of a big deal ;)) we still are required to wear masks inside homes if we aren't eating but I'll take that over nothing. We have a mission wide meeting tonight that will go over more details and to hype everyone up for this next week!!!! 

This week was pretty great! We haven't been able to have a lesson with Donna due to some stomach issues she's been having but she'll call us every morning to see how we're doing, ask us if we need any of her furniture XD and remind us how much she loves us. Come to find out she dated our previous mission president's brother and got in contact with him today and talked all about us sister missionaries and how much she loves the gospel. It was so sweet! Good things are being said about us down in Raleigh and we love it ;)). We had a lesson with Eddie and it went really well! He likes to deepen his learning and committed to praying to see if the Book of Mormon is true. We also were able to drop off a Book of Mormon and bible to Joe Parrish! We haven't ever met him before but he was able to open up to us a lot more of his past and the struggle it's been to get back to church. We shared Moroni 7 with him and emphasized the importance of charity and how God loves all of His children no matter our differences or circumstances. Turns out the previous sister missionaries had shared this exact same scripture with him, we let him know this wasn't any coincidence and God was trying to tell him something. Sister Larsen and I even felt impressed to send him the talk in general conference given by Elder Gong, Room in the Inn. We can tell his soul is awakening in a sense and the spirit is working on bringing him back to the gospel. It's actually pretty amazing to witness! 

We had a pretty interesting lesson with Darbs on Wednesday. We went over the plan of salvation and he again shared his unique beliefs. He believes in reincarnation and later told us he doesn't believe in church because his home is his sanctuary. We were able to discuss the importance of gathering in the Lord's church and worshipping as saints but then his mom came out and everything went downhill. She bashed us and bashed us hard. She was irate, yelling loudly, eyes wide, pointing her finger in our faces and demeaning our church. This lasted for a good 15 minutes before she let us know that she believes God and religion are separate and her purpose in life is to bring this knowledge to everyone and create that barrier. She also told us she has a connection to the other side and casts out demons from houses or will commune with them for wisdom. Super strange... Definitely not how we wanted the lesson to go but after she left we were able to wrap up with Darbs and he asked to meet with us again which will be interesting to see how this next lesson goes XD 

We had a pretty neat experience with our district at district council on Wednesday. Everyone was able to open up and share their personal trials which strengthened everyone else. It became a powerful bonding moment and provided the spirit to touch each of our hearts. We ended by each bearing our pure and simple testimonies which President Mauer has stressed for us to bear more. I have come to find that more often than not I bear testimony to all I talk with. Even though it may be small and simple I strive to leave everyone I see feeling better and bearing testimony of truth and light. Just like the Savior would :)) I encourage all of you to do the same and share what you know to be true and plant seeds in everyone's hearts. You never know how much good you can do :)) I love and miss you all!

Sister Neel