Sister Neel 9/6/21

 

TEMPLE DAY!!! So many people came, there was standing room only available in the celestial room!

Hello everyone!!

What a week it has been in Wake Forest! To say I love it here is an understatement. I have fallen in love with the people and feel so blessed to have been called to serve amongst so many heavenly individuals! Everyday is such a gift and I couldn't imagine anywhere more perfect to be. This ward, our teaching pool, our cute city submerged in a forest...wow...paradise. 

Ok here are some highlights of the week:

* MY ZONE GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!! Literally nothing beats this experience

* We had zone council and talked about recognizing the Holy Ghost in our day to day activities and how to not remain idle. Super powerful takeaways!

* We did some chalk art at Joyner Park and found three people out of it! All of which APPROACHED US FIRST HAHA! We taught them the Restoration on the spot, gave them a copy of the Book of Mormon and took their numbers down to set up follow up lessons!

* During fast and testimony meeting yesterday, Brady Steelman, a 17 year old guy, stood up and bore testimony on missionary work and said Sister Stoddard and I are some of the most powerful examples to him of hard work and Christ-like love. So sweet!!

* We went to Soda Box and both workers were return missionaries and bought our drinks for us!! Literally so kind

Lots of miracles happened though! We had some pretty solid lessons! We do a Book of Mormon reading with James every other night to help build his testimony and we extended a soft baptismal invitation which he accepted!! We had a lesson with Sam and read Joseph Smith History with him to help solidify his testimony on Joseph Smith and later dropped by during the week to teach him about baptism and temples!! He is coming a long way with his personal revelation! 

Bradford reached back out after 2 months!!! He was someone the previous elders were teaching when we came into Wake Forest but he was extremely difficult to get in touch with so we dropped him. Out of the blue this week he texted asking if we could meet and we've had 3 lessons so far! This man loves the Book of Mormon but needs a lot of help understanding its concepts. We also got a lesson with Joyce, a sweet lady we called one night while going through area book and were able to teach the Book of Mormon and read passages from 3 Nephi 11! We have so much in common. One of them being she used to live in Little Washington, my previous area. Wow I miss it so much!!

We had a lesson with a part member sister in our ward and she gave us a referral on the spot! We did a zoom call the following day with all four of us and taught Samantha the Restoration. We were going up to Morrisville that afternoon for a family that Sister Stoddard had previously taught in her past area who was getting baptized and Samantha happened to live just 15 minutes away! We met up with her and did a church tour at the Apex building and one of the YSA members happened to be there playing the organ which happened to be a HUGE miracle as Samantha was able to meet a friend who would be able to sit by her during church! Samantha is by far one of my most favorite people I've met on my mission. She's been looking for a religion that has pretty high standards and specific traits she feels like she needs and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints offers everything she needs! She asked questions ranging from Word of Wisdom to Law of Chastity, our standards and if it was true that we wore garments haha! The temple happens to be across the street and we were able to help answer her questions regarding temple work and baptism as well! She's been struggling with applying for college since work has been crazy and when we told her about BYU pathways she almost fainted. Seriously Samantha is so elect and special!! Her spirit is powerful, you just want to be around her forever. We reached out to the AP's to make them aware of her attending their ward and we plan to do a pass off lesson this week! Samantha texted us after the service and kept thanking us over and over for leading her here. She already has a dinner appointment set up this Friday with the bishop and his family which is AMAZING!!! God is truly a God of miracles!! I just love her so much!!

Ok last story...man so much success happened with part members ahaha! On Monday evening we stopped by Jocelyn Hutchison's house. Her family went inactive when covid hit and haven't been back since after joining a catholic religion. When she opened the door she was quite surprised to see us but let us in anyways. Her story has been pretty tragic...they moved away from home and then shortly later their daughter passed away around this time last year. It's taken a toll on her little family but more especially her 7 year old son. She opened up and shared all of this without us asking and went on to let us know every detail about her. This time of getting to know her was truly needed and over time she became comfortable enough we were able to get on a more personal level and share inspired words that came to mind we knew she needed to hear. Her husband and son came home and we shared Heleman 5:12 committing them to build a strong foundation as a family and work towards their goal of being ALL together again. At that moment...her daughter's spirit could be felt in the room and everyone felt her. The veil thinned and Olivia was right there....it's hard to explain but the feeling in that room was tangible, on fire, heaven felt near. There wasn't one dry eye in the room and we were able to promise this feeling could last into the eternities as they kept their covenants with God. I've never felt so close to the Spirit during a lesson before but wow...what an incredible experience to be a part of with them. We can't wait to meet with them again soon.

Being a missionary is just TOO COOL!!!! I wouldn't trade these experiences for anything!! This gospel, the Book of Mormon, eternal families, temples, missionary work...it's all taken on such a new and brighter meaning and my testimony has grown so much! I truly feel so blessed to be able to put on my name tag each morning and be a representative of Jesus Christ. Everywhere I go, I try to picture what He would do or say to everyone He is around and it helps me remain closer in tune with the Holy Ghost. I couldn't be happier :))

I love you all!!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel