Sister Neel: 1/17/22

 

Hello Hello!

Currently writing this from an ice box ;)) No just kidding. But we are in the middle of an ice storm and hopefully get out of mandatory lockdown today at noon. The weather hasn't been horrible, just lots of freezing rain, barely an inch of snow, large gusts of wind and occasional power outages. Apparently North Carolina shuts down for stuff like this where as I'm used to five feet of snow and still being expected to get to work XD. It's been interesting for sure but we've had a blast here in the apartment...again XD.

This week was great! On Monday we had a lesson with Jackie, a former in area book. She lives in a super shady part of town but has the purest heart. Her husband isn't too big of a fan when it comes to our church so when he opened the door, he scoffed and shouted, "Jackie! It's the mormons again." XD We gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and read through 3 Nephi 11. She has a super unique understanding of the Book of Mormon and needs lots of support as she's experienced a lot of loss in her family. It's been a special experience to bring her this comfort so keep Jackie in your prayers as we keep meeting with her!

Tuesday was MY BIRTHDAY!! Your girl's an official adult now XD. Thank you for all the birthday wishes y'all sent! It made me feel so special 

Here's what I did:

*My companions made me breakfast

*We went store contacting and they bought me a bunch of gifts

*We had lunch at Mi Cancun 

* Ran into a Jonathan, a former in area book while doing visits and he told us all of his stories where he was raised in Zimbabwe and offered to take us on a trip there once we got home. That was cool! 

* We had dinner at the Nelsons home, one of the cutest families out here and they made my favorite dinner. Orange chicken, homemade rolls, salad and ginger ale. They bought me doughnuts and made them into a pyramid and put sparkler candles in them. The kids screaming happy birthday was my favorite part haha! 

* We did a bunch of visits and then my companions and I came home and played hot chocolate pong

It was a great day! Mission birthdays are kind of the best ;)) It made for some great reflections and a massive amount of gratitude for these 20 years I've had 

On Wednesday we had a Sisters Zone Meeting with Sister Maurer and Sister Harding, the area 70's wife. We talked a lot about self confidence and seeing ourself as Daughters of God. To see our spiritual worth. We learned a lot on how to study our spiritual gifts and bloom where we are planted. Sister Harding shared a lot of personal stories from her past and helped us see through her story that the Savior is such a fundamental part of life as we center our desires and passions around Him. I felt like it could be related back to my situation where I admitted I was nothing but knew the Savior was everything and could help me through my mental health journey. 

We had some deep conversations on Jesus Christ's Atonement and understanding that by us choosing God's plan, we chose not to be happy all the time. But we would find ways to grow through the trials. I think my favorite take away from that was wanting people to see Christ in me when they open the door or come in contact with me in public. I've been working on sharing that love He has for others and being a source where people know what I came here to do just by looking into my eyes. We ended with Sister Maurer each giving us roses and helping us see our potential and what comes when we bloom where we are planted. It was such a powerful meeting and something I think everyone needed to hear!

We did service at the food cupboard again and brought boxes to the lines upon lines of cars that came for their orders. It's always such a blessing to watch their eyes glosson as they see the enormous amounts of food that are generously donated for their aid. I love having conversations with these people and getting to know them better. The workers at the food pantry are such a delight and we are always laughing until our stomachs hurt. I was super touched when Debbie approached me and said, "Sister Neel you must be a dancer. I just know it." What a passion I miss dearly! 

That night we had dinner with at part member family and attempted to teach a lesson to the father who is a non member. He wasn't too receptive but has moved from rejecting the gospel to now being more open and supportive. Pray that he can continue to grow and be open to messages!

We had a lesson with Sequina, a girl we've been trying to get in contact with and her roomate has severe ADHD. She went off on a tangent at every point we gave and it turned into a real interesting lesson. She also couldn't hear so we were just yelling the lessons the entire time. It was hilarious haha!

Cole's baptism got pushed to this week since he announced he was moving to Raleigh!! My old turf! I'm excited for him and can't wait to see him get baptized soon! We actually were on the phone with him the other day and after we get off he calls back super fast and goes "LACE!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME IT WAS YOUR BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY??!!! I WANTED TO CELEBRATE WITH YOU!!! I'm on my way to get you a present now fool!" We were all dying XDXD This guy makes our days SO much fun!

A lot of our people are going through pretty hard trials at the moment. If you could keep Kevin, Vicki, Michael, Jeremy, Alena and Charlie in your prayers that would be amazing!!

Anyways there's my week in a nutshell. My head hurts from being inside so much so sorry if that was all scattered haha! Hope you all are doing well and I'll talk to you next week! Love y'all!

♡♡♡

Sister Neel