Sister Neel: 3/7/22

 

Hey guys!!

If you can believe it or not another transfer has come around and we are preparing for some exciting things!! Sister Johnson and I are staying in little Washington together; this is her last transfer so I'm officially killing her off (missionary terms;)). Kinda sad kinda crazy but I'm excited to wrap up her mission mems! I also got the call from President to be an STL (Sister training leader!!) Basically for those of you who don't know what that is, two sisters lead out the zone with the zone leaders and help conduct missionary meetings, exchanges, mission leadership councils with leaders in the mission as well as president and Sister Maurer and the APs, have meetings with stake leadership each week and party it up as a zone as we strive for big goals. This calling typically lasts until the end of your mission. 

I'm pretty excited! I got out of the car today when we met up with the elders and Elder Orr yells, "look at that stl getting out of that car!" And everyone started celebrating and cheering haha. BEST ZONE EVER!! President said we have some amazing work going on over here and he's excited to put me in here and watch it flourish:)) our zone isn't changing too much from this transfer so a lot of the homies are staying together and we are soooo excited to help lead out in the work of the Lord!!

Highlights:

☆ went on exchanges to Greenville again with sis gneiting and we got to walk ECU campus again! We met up with the ZLs and grinded on contacting. A mini miracle was our dinner appointment that night ended up being someone that fed my past district often when I served here 9 months ago! Such a fun reconnection again! 

☆ we had an awesome zone council this week and learned how to let the Holy Ghost lead out on our missionary work rather than our own efforts. We deleted all repeating events in our area book and have focused solely on letting the Lord guide each and every day. We've seen miracles from this week with incorporating more closely with the Holy Ghost!

☆ we went on a ferry ride with brother noe and that was amazing as always!! Hanging out on the island and crab hunting is always the best activity with our greatest friend! 

☆ last p day we took our district down to goose creek state park and played tag through the jungly forest. That was the best activity ever!! We skipped rocks across the water, picnicked on the sand and went turtle hunting along the waterfront. Today we met up with most of the zone at the church and played some basketball, got lunch, went fishing at a lake, took a nature walk and found this dope abandoned bridge, we found this little cabin and crammed in there to tell camping stories, got ice cream at the creamery and came back to the church for baseball games. This zone is SO. FUN! We hang out all day and I come home exhausted from all the fun haha 

☆ Sister Johnson and I were eating breakfast and heard banging and drilling noises under our house. Come to find out our handy man Al was under there and when he heard us coming down the stairs, he lifted a plank of the floor and shouted, "good morning sisters!!" Scared the crap out of Sister Johnson but I was dying. Gotta love 1800 homes 

☆ We've been grinding over here and found 8 new people this week. We leave our house at 10 am and don't come home until after dinner. We talk to anyone and everyone and share any restored principle on the spot. There are even times where Sister Johnson and I split the street and talk to all people on both sides. We helped one man weed his garden and turns out he had been taught missionary lessons 15 years ago but stopped after his wife died. So now we are teaching him again! We also ran into a lady named Courtney we've been trying to get in contact with for a lesson and she said her phone died and she had been praying she could find a way to run into us. Another guy we found painting his doorway and he expressed how much he loved to sing. I straight up invited him to come sing at our testimony meeting since anyone and everyone could express their love for the Savior. He was so excited and called us the day before to rehearse with us but then ended up not coming...bummer! 

This week was wild!! We met with Matthew every day and really just flourished with the restoration. I felt prompted to invite us all to come prepared with scriptures for a Book of Mormon share and turns out my reading and insights in 1 Nephi 8 correlated with dreams and visions he's had in the past!! What a powerful lesson. He struggled with Joseph Smith seeing God the Father and Jesus Christ but after much study with us and prayer on his own, he has had some sweet experiences where heaven entered his heart. He actually defended the Book of Mormon to a friend who thought our religion was pathetic. He tried to take his book of mormom and throw it in the trash but Matthew held it close to him and bore such a profound testimony. He said since we've sent him the 'why 1820' talk his understanding of the restoration has expanded and he's coming to know the truthfulness of the gospel. What a special lesson!! Keep praying for Matthew and his progression here in Washington 

All the rest of our people are doing good!! Lala and the Avery family are progressing so much! They are keeping commitments and seeing miracles. I truly love it here and love the progress we have made in this area. It feels like my little town and I adore each day I get to spend amongst the best people. 

Unfortunately my missionary friends are literally dragging me away from my email and wanting me to come hang out so I gotta dip! Love yall!! 

♡♡♡

Sister Neel