Sister Neel 8/2/21

 

☆ HELLO ☆

Ok big news you guys...I've been a missionary for 6 MONTHS come tomorrow!!! WAHOO!! SO SO crazy!! Nothing beats wearing a name tag and representing Jesus Christ! And the most beautiful thing is you don't have to have a name tag to be a disciple of Christ! That's just something we were born to do and a commitment we promised to fulfill each and every day. So go out and share! I can promise you it's life changing ;)).

It's officially the last week of the transfer which meant big big things happened last week. We've truly worked so hard to get this area back into motion and I hope to stay here for quite a while! Our members are already talking about having us over for Christmas so I guess it's a given now ;) 

So for starters we met with Kelly 4 times this week. 4 TIMES! She went from being able to meet once a month to now asking when our next available opening is! It's so special to see how the gospel is shaping her life. She decided to quit smoking and drinking all on her own, without us even saying anything and has asked for every other Sunday off so she can come to church. When we gave her a church tour she expressed that she wanted to be baptized!!! Best words a missionary will ever hear!! She unfortunately lives out of our area at the moment since she is currently staying in a Motel. We are hoping she finds a stable living area soon so that we can have an official address for her and be able to start the process of scheduling her baptism!! She still has a few more lessons to be taught but she's solid. Keep praying for Kelly and her living situation!! That would be much appreciated ♡

Update on Jeddy and Anson: we felt like it would be best if we met with them separately so we wouldn't get overwhelmed with both their questions at once. We were able to meet with Anson last week and he had a lot of genuine questions about God which allowed us to do some deeper personal studies to provide him with some helpful resources. He has a genuine interest in gaining a testimony of the Book of Mormon and reads a chapter every night. We're excited to keep meeting with him!

We've had a lot of miracles this week but more specifically after we finished weekly planning. Sister Stoddard and I both felt strongly that we needed to be saying more faith filled prayers together. As a companionship, we pray literally all the time. But in a recent meeting, President Maurer encouraged us to be bold with the Lord and have faith in the work He has for us. So we tried it out and WOW has the change been impactful!! Part of what we pray for is that we will find one new person a day. And since Thursday, that has happened. Right place, right time, led by the Spirit. On our way to church yesterday, we prayed that we would be placed in the path of someone in need of extra strength. After the meeting we noticed a man sitting towards the front and were told by Sister Christensen that he was visiting. We were able to have a wonderful discussion with him, gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and exchanged numbers so he could have a church tour! The stake president sat next to him during Sunday School so that the deep Priesthood lesson we were learning would make a little bit more sense to him. In the middle of the lesson, he raised his hand and boldly testified that He knows God has placed a peculiar people on the earth at this time to carry out a work He saw fit for us to perform. We were all amazed at his testimony and felt such a profound spirit as he spoke. Such an amazing tender mercy from the Lord of placing James in our path!

Anyways it's been a good week.:)) I'm learning and growing so much! North Carolina is starting to feel more like home and I couldn't imagine a more perfect place to be. Thank you guys for your prayers! I can truly feel them each and every day. I love you all!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel