Sister Neel 11/2/21

Hey guys!!

We got transfer news yesterday and Sister Hansen and I are staying in Wake Forest!! This didn't surprise me one bit since I'm training. A trainer typically stays with their trainee for 12 weeks but President has been switching up a lot of things and we have some trainees that are leaving their trainers after 6 weeks to receive new companions!! Kinda spooky but Sister Hansen and I were the lucky/blessed ones that got to stay together so we are pretty excited over here!!

☆ Highlights of the week: ☆

****We got two bomb referrals! One is named Cynthia and she requested we teach her on grace so we shared Ephesians 2: 8&9 and she said our phone call was everything she needed at that time! We met again later in the week and shared John 15:13 which led us into reading the song lyrics from the hymn, "I Stand All Amazed." We read Mosiah 3:5-8 and introduced the Book of Mormon to which she requested a copy this week! 

****Our other bomb referral Edwin asked to come to church right off the bat Saturday evening and we gladly informed him of our church service the following day. We sent the address and he told us to be on the lookout for a guy riding a red motorcycle. Unfortunately he got the times mixed up and couldn't make it but we have another church tour scheduled this week and he's coming to church!!

****Our district dressed up as the Holy Ghost for a ward Halloween activity and rather than saying boo to people, we held the Book of Mormon and said 'trruueeee'. Most hype Halloween EVER

****A sweet elderly lady in our ward, Sister Jones, took us out for lunch at Mod Pizza and brought her inactive daughter and non-member friend. We had great discussions and brought up family history work which both of them really liked! We handed out pamphlets and invited them to check it out

****We had some bomb lessons with James, Shauna and Joyce and all committed to coming to church this week! Pray pray pray for them!

Our week was insane but super eventful! Last P day was Sister Hansen's birthday so I decked out the apartment in birthday decor so she could wake up surprised. I made her breakfast in bed. A whole whopping blueberry muffins, waffles with whipped cream/Hershey chocolate drizzle, grapes, a banana, a cute birthday cake in a cup and chocolate milk. And yes I made that all by myself :)) We opened gifts, went to lunch at a café with the district and carved pumpkins at the church while listening to halloween music, went to dinner with the Arsenaults at Red Robin, all the workers sang to her haha and then we went back to their house for cheese cake and board games to end the evening. Such a busy yet fun day! 

After district council on Wednesday, we got a call from the APs letting us know that a sister in our district was going home due to back pain and her companion (Sister Porter!!) was going to come stay with us until transfers. On Friday we drove to the mission office and surprised Sister Peterson with Hawaiian flower and candy necklaces we made. We had a meeting with the Maurer's as they wished her goodbye and let me just say that was so hard to watch...we weighed her suitcases, took a picture with the mission office staff and hugged goodbye. It's never easy letting someone go but I'm forever grateful for the opportunity I got to serve around Sister Petersen for two transfers and experience the joy and happiness that emanates from her being. She is by far one of the most compassionate and sincere sister missionaries I have ever met and we will miss her so much!!

We had first transfer training and all 64 trainers and trainees got to get together again for another 6 hour meeting. ABSOLUTE PARTY!! It felt so surreal to be back in this meeting only with my trainee and I LOVED being able to watch the disney pixar short film again they always show!! ;)) One of the main topics the AP's and President and Sister Maurer highlighted was our unique growth of testimony. Even an inch worth of knowledge was enough to come out on a mission and through our faith, we would see it grow and impact the lives of those we teach. It was so great and so needed to hear! We did a lot of role plays with deep questions on the spot and after pairing up with a few missionaries and watching our trainees teach us, I was SO impressed with Sister Hansen! She was wiping out scripture verses on the spot and asking thought provoking questions. She's such an amazing missionary!

Our miracle for the week was for sure getting back in contact with Sam!! We felt prompted to stop by his home Saturday evening but after seeing a bunch of cars in his driveway, we resorted to former knocking. We tried his house on our way back home only to see the same cars there so we stopped by anyway. He answered the door and was so excited to see us! Apparently he had an emergency work trip come up and his phone completely stopped working so he had no way of getting in contact with us. He joked that while he was stranded at the airport, he thought about calling us to come get him but forgot he had no cell service haha! BUT GET THIS. Sam read the Book of Mormon EVERY SINGLE NIGHT on his own without our reminders and his testimony is growing!!! That was SO SO good to hear!! We thought he had fallen off the face of the earth after our Virtual Historic Tour with him two weeks ago but turns out he was progressing all along! We have some awesome lessons set up for this week and he's coming to church! Keep Sam in your prayers!

Life is so good over here! Lots of miracles and blessings are happening and it's such a pleasure to be out here. I seriously wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I found myself and have drawn closer to the Savior than ever before and for that I am forever grateful for. I love you all!!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel