Sister Neel 10/19/21

 

bike pics. We look so dead ahaha

church :))

HELLO FROM NORTH CAROLINA!!!

Ok ya'll biking was an absolute party! We don't even live in our area which makes things lots of fun :)) The lower half of my body is currently nonexistent but that's ok. Just goes to show that some progress is being made ;) One day we biked over 15 miles and I vow to never do that again. Up every hill we climbed (which is 90% of Wake Forest) we would sing loudly "I LIKE TO RIDE MY BICYCLE I LIKE TO RIDE MY BIKE!!" Name that artist and you'll forever be my favorite ;)) But anyways our members were absolute angels and offered to pick us up for service projects or church without us even letting them know. It was so helpful!

Highlights of the week:

☆ Sister Hansen and I walked into our club house office to do some work on the computers and saw a bible study being hosted. We did our work fast and left to give them space but I felt prompted to hang around outside and do contacting until their meeting was done. The meeting dismissed and Anthony, one of the members approached us and we shook his hand and talked to him more about this bible study they hosted. Apparently they meet every Wednesday evening and when we asked to join he was so excited! It's a Young Single Adult class for people wanting to draw nearer to Christ and he said our insight would bless the class. We are so excited!!

☆ At church we were greeting members as they walked in and sweet Madilyn Montgomery ran up to us, gave us the biggest hug and said, "You guys are so beautiful." <3

We went on EXCHANGES this week and Sister Lykins came to Wake Forest! I took her to the Baptist Seminary to do comp study/ finding and she was pretty nervous ahaha! For those of you that don't know, we do have a college campus in our area! Only, it's for students going to school to become a pastor or gospel scholar and unfortunately...they seek out missionaries to try to 'de convert' us or demolish our testimonies. I told her everyone was a child of God and deserved to hear the gospel and her testimony was solid so we were going over! Faith over fear am I right? ;) When we got on campus, chapel had just been dismissed and there were students EVERYWHERE. We talked to everyone we passed. Handed out pass along cards, complimented outfits and had some great conversations with many different students. On our way out we passed this lady who called out our names and turns out it was MORGAN!!! A referral we had gotten and were trying to get in contact but were struggling to find a time to meet. AND HOW COOL SHE WAS THERE!!! We had a lesson on the spot regarding Word of Wisdom and questions she had regarding the sabbath day and church attendance. It was so cool!! She told us she felt like this was a way God was trying to speak to her by having us run into each other. It was no coincidence. We left with a return appointment and she wants to have us over for dinner. Such cool miracles!  

I then took her former door knocking and were able to teach 4 lessons on the spot and each one we have a return appointment with! We also got five referrals in two hours and every single one of them requested we pray with/for them. My favorite lesson was with Angela! Her mother moved in with her after health failure but she was extremely negative and degrading Angela. She asked if we could pray with her and bless her to receive the spirit of Christ in her. We shared a scripture out of the Book of Mormon and kneeled down together in prayer, praying for health and healing to come in Gods timing. Angela was brought to tears and she was so moved by our sacrifice to serve missions and uplift people like her. She wants a copy of the Book of Mormon and looks forward to our return appointment!  

Update on Sam! We stopped by his house on Tuesday and had an on the spot lesson regarding faith and met on Wednesday to talk about the sacrament and why we keep the sabbath day holy. We met on Saturday and did a virtual tour of THE SMITH FARM AND SACRED GROVE!!! Wow what a spiritual opportunity! We asked him where he felt the spirit the strongest in the tour and he said in the sacred grove. We felt prompted to pinpoint when the Holy Ghost was speaking to him and remind him what it felt like. We let him know how he felt was a way God was letting him know that Joseph Smith IS in fact a prophet and truly did restore the gospel. We bore such a powerful testimony of Joseph Smith, it moved us all to tears. We were about to end the call when I felt prompted to warn Sam of opposition. I let him know that Satan was aware of his progression and it was beautiful to witness these past 5 months how far he has come but to not let his progress be stopped. Watching the glow that was in his eyes was sacred and so special to witness! It's these kind of moments that plaster on my heart and create an indescribable joy within me. I'm so humbled and honored to be here as a witness and means of bringing people the fullness of the truth. I can't even begin to share how special it is when God allows you to feel a portion of the love He has for His children. His love triumphs how much I love my southern friends and that's saying something ;))   

Obviously as y'all know we biked a heck ton this last week. We had a pretty interesting situation where we had to bike over an hour home in the dark. The only way to get home was through a forest or alongside a highway. Our flashlights had gone out and as soon as Sister Hansen was swallowed up in the darkness of the forest, I suggested we take a different route. We pushed our bikes in a trench, filled with grass and mud up to our knees and in complete darkness unless an approaching car blinded us allowing us to see a few feet in front of us before it was dark again. Keep in mind cars are racing past us going over 70 mph and we are only a few feet off the road. Oh and to make this better...it's all uphill :)). It would have been easy to become negative but before I could get to that point I was reminded of a well known story in the Book of Mormon. A story where many people faithfully preserved in the darkness, clinging to the iron rod and obtaining their goal of reaching the tree of life. It was similar to our situation as we clung to the path and faithfully made our way back home (to what seemed to us as paradise at the time HAHA). That was a huge reason each step became easier as our legs and arms were screaming for us to take a break. I'm thankful for the Book of Mormon and the stories contained inside to give us the needed revelation we so desperately seek. I'm thankful for Lehi's vision and the strength it gave me to take each step and make it back home. An earthly home but a place of safety and refuge where we could feel at peace. I am SO thankful for the Book of Mormon!!

I love this gospel and I love all of you!!

Sister Neel