Sister Neel 1/10/22

 

Hey ya'll!

Unfortunately covid has gotten pretty bad in our mission. Lots of missionaries have covid or are in quarantine which means we are slowly getting back to strict rules again :/ No district lunches, social distancing, masks on always and any covid symptoms puts you automatically in a 5 day quarantine. My companions and I just got out of our 5 day quarantine after being exposed 13 times and let me tell ya, we are PUMPED XD. I am beyond stir crazy haha. We got tested again today and the results are negative so we are good to go. For that reason my week wasn't super exciting but here's some highlights for y'all:

On Tuesday (before quarantine) we were feeling adventurous and walked almost the entire town of Holly Springs. If anyone knows this area you know this area aint small ;)) but we got some major benefits from it as we talked to anyone that would listen. One guy totally crossed the street once he saw us so I crossed and walked towards him, pulling out a book of Mormon to begin teaching him about it. Once he saw there was no way out he was more open and even got our number! Everyone deserves to hear the message ;))

At zone council on Wednesday, President Despain came to speak with us (President Maurer's first counselor) and gave such an amazing training!! He talked a lot about how we can put a suit/dress or even a name tag on anyone but that means nothing. Missionary work comes with alignment with God's will. He linked this to NASA and straight up jumped into an astronaut suit. He talked about how space creates isolation but so does missionary work. We isolate ourselves from worldly pursuits, home and exercise more empathy/compassion as we embark on this great cause. He gave us 5 tips to better help our companionships. 1) be clearly understood 2) be a leader over a follower 3) manage physical demands 4) patience = respect 5) show resilience. trust those around you!! He reminded us of Elder Gong's invitation to take care of our companions for the rest of our lives and promised us that "when we convey the spirit in our homes, we can help change other homes for eternity." It was such a powerful training!!

We got out one day to get slushies and on the way back in downtown, a fire truck drove by and began honking at us. All the firemen waved and shouted thank you for what we do. That was so cool! 

We had a pretty cool lesson with Kevin and taught him the Restoration. He asked us why we each came out on our missions and after sharing our stories he paused, looked at us and asked, "So who are you?" We each answered individually saying that we were a daughter of God. The feeling in the room was powerful and it awakened Kevin's understanding of who we are and the potential we have as God's children! His testimony is growing and it's such a blessing to witness. 

We had a recap lesson with Cole on tithing and the second time around he didn't take it so well. Which shocked us because when we taught him at the temple he was so about donating money to the Lord. We're pretty sure his mood swing was due to his quitting of coffee and the migraines he was having but it was still hard to hear. He said that 10% was too much to give to an organization and if his feelings about tithing prohibited his baptism then he didn't care. He was extremely bold with us and made it clear for a solid 10 minutes that we were asking too much of him despite the promised blessings and explanation of where the money goes. We walked away in total shock and confusion. Then 30 mins later he called us back saying he had done a lot of praying and even called his family to seek council on paying tithing. They encouraged him to do so and they aren't even members!! Cole called back, apologized and said 10% was a sacrifice that he could give to the church after everything the church has done for him. What a miracle turn around! 

We then had a pass off lesson with Cole with the aps and a member in the YSA ward. We highlighted sabbath day and went deep into the sacrament. Cole was ecstatic and grew a new love and respect for Sundays. We called Cole later that night and did a mini recap of the gospel of Jesus Christ and highlighted baptism since he's so close. Cole kept saying how nothing felt more right and how excited he was to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. We let him know this would be his last lesson before we passed him off to the AP's and we all got pretty emotional. Cole said that we would be a forever part of his life and someday he would tell our stories to his future family. He said that he's never been happier than now and us three would be the bestest of friends for life. He demanded he recieve wedding invites and promised he would fly in for all of us haha! Its hard to watch our time with him leave but he's grown a lot with the AP's and we get daily updates from them via phone call, Cole is doing amazing!! We are excited for his baptism!!

We had a Bible study with Charlie and went over James 4. He picked apart every verse and has such a unique outlook on the Bible. He's smarter than most 20 year olds I know! He recently got back from a gospel trip in Atlanta and was glowing with love for Jesus. His insights enhanced my learning and created a deeper passion for me to study the Bible more. We actually met up with him and one of his friends today for pickle ball and invited the ZLs since we're going to have to pass him off soon. Pretty much if you're teaching young single adults you have to pass them off to the young single adult elders. It makes sense but that's our entire teaching pool so pray for us as we now find new people XD

The rest of the week consisted of lots of naps, church movies, card games, Facebook work and walks. Let's just say we are so excited our test results came back negative today and we are free of quarantine! We haven't been home all day ;)) it's still a great time despite being stuck inside and that's a huge thanks to my sweet companions. Their blessings from heaven and we laugh more than anyone probably should XD I love my mission! I love this new year! And I love serving the Lord! Thanks for all you guys do and for all the prayers on my behalf and my people of North Carolina. I love you guys!!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel