Sister Neel: 2/18/22

 

Wut up everybody 

I officially love road tripping. Always have. Always will. But now it just hits different with all the trips we make to Raleigh or to other cities here on the coast. We drove to the mission office twice this week; one for transfers and the other one for a fun surprise president bombed on us Wednesday evening. I'll share more in a sec :)) 

But first things first my new companion is sister buss!! Love this girl. Here's a few fun things about her:

☆ shes been out on her mission for 8 months and is from Laramie, Wyoming. Cowboy country 🤠

☆ we've been in the same district before while I served in wake forest 

☆ shes love to weight lift and disc throw

☆ she did technical theatre, color guard, orchestra and choir all throughout high school 

☆ she went to byu i before the mission, wasn't a fan and will be attending university of Wyoming going into agriculture and meeting her dream rancher man📢👀 (literally her plans)

☆she's amazing at decorating baking goods and has a creative talent in art and painting. There's not much she can't do. If the outlet stops working, she can fix it. If the tire needs to be changed out, she can fix it. If my phone wigs out, she can fix it. She's just gifted with the ability to create and learn 

☆she loves to tell stories and will keep us up late at night to share her favorites from pre mish

☆she has a super mono tone voice but has the funniest humor and is as sweet as can be 

So that's comp #1. President Maurer told us Wednesday evening we had a sister missionary (comp #2) being emergency transferred from Chapel Hill to join us here in Washington so her previous companion could train. So now we're in a trio!! We picked up sister brinkerhoff on Saturday and have had a blast since. Here's a few things about her too:

☆she's been out in her mission for 10 months and is from tropic, Utah 

☆I've emailed her quite a bit throughout the mission and we always loved seeing each other at transfers so it was pretty exciting to see president make us companions 

☆she loves being in the mountains and fishing almost as much as I do ;))

☆ she loves to hunt 

☆she has 9 dogs yall. 9 DOGS

Other than that, that's all I know for now but I'm excited to keep getting to know her!

Okie dokie now for the highlights:

☆ our bestie neighbors, Buck and Barb, Kathy and Tony, took us on a tour of Washington helping us to see the historical side of our cute town and the things that went down during the Revolutionary War. Apparently there's homes on the water that still have cannonball holes in them from when the ships attacked. They showed us the fun old leftovers of comedy buildings or an abandoned ice cream factory that was huge in the 1800s. We saw the court house where George Washington attended a few trials. I've never been a huge fan of history but my mission has really opened me up to wanting to learn more about where I live 

☆ we went to sister milans house to make cookies for our big Easter church invites. Our stake had a goal where each ward would invite 125 people to come and see the Easter program, so you can believe how excited that made our branch. Especially Sister Milan ;)). We made several batches of cookies and decorated them which turned out to be fun. Sister milan made us tacos but she fried the tortillas in so much oil that it was soggy and they wouldn't even stay wrapped up without tearing. That was fun to eat 

But the cookies were a success! We stopped by 6 part member families homes to invite them to church and had wonderful conversations with them all. Some of which I had never met before. We even saw the Willis's again!! They feel like family and are always so excited to see us drop in. Even tho sister willis isn't a member she always begs for us to come back 

☆ we got yelled at by this lady while street contacting cause she was convinced we didn't worship Jesus Christ and refused to worship false prophets. Even though we introduced our church with His name in it and showed her our badge. A few others followed after that throughout the day but you just keep going. You keep serving and finding those elect ones :))

☆ we sang on Easter Sunday with our branch choir and that was special! The last verse when the congregation comes in on 'I know that my redeemer lives' is always so powerful! 

☆ we stopped at Burger King on the way back from Raleigh to grab food and when we walked in, this couple turned around and just stared at us while we ordered. They asked us why we dressed so nice and she told me I looked like I was on my way to attend a wedding haha! We explained who we were and when she saw our badges she freaked out. She and her husband were currently taking lessons from the Raleigh elders and absolutely adored them. They welcomed us over to their table and were super loud and funny. You could tell their relationship was a ton of fun with her southern personality and his New York one. Her husband told us that if any one tried to mess with us to tell them that uncle Pete (him) had just gotten out of jail and hadn't taken his medication yet. It was so random but so funny. We love all those that we meet!

☆ we also ate at ribeyes with president Peterson and his family. It's a cute restaurant right off of the water which gave us a spectacular view of the sunset and the boats coming in. Their chicken was to die for. Oh man it was so good 

This week was amazing!! Here are a few bomb lessons we had:

We met with Matthew and watched the Joseph Smith Restoration video with him at brother wilson's house. We sat out on the porch and gathered around the screen and the spirit was alive and prevalent. At the end of the video it pans around Salt Lake City and ends on the Salt Lake City temple. He quickly rewinded the video and paused, staring at the beautiful structure. We asked him was was the matter and he looks at us with tears in his eyes and says, "I've seen this before. In jail, I had a dream about a castle that was in the clouds and this looks exactly like what I saw in my dream. I have to go here. I have to be inside this temple." It was so profound and powerful as we talked to him more about the temple blessings. Matthew has to be regularly attending church until June and then a baptismal application will be sent to the missionary department regarding his baptismal date. He is being so patient and understanding through this process and remaining such a devoted faithful disciple of Christ. Keep him in your prayers!!

We had a lesson with the Avrey family!! We went through the life of Jesus by putting a small prop representing each day in easter eggs and having them open it one by one, reading scriptures alongside Christ's last week. We sat around a blazing campfire, underneath the beautiful starry night sky and you could hear coyotes howling in the woods nearby. It was spectacular and many amazing discussions were had throughout that lesson. We ended with a video the church has recently come out with, showing Mary Magdalene excitedly running to the disciples to announce that Christ lives. Watching Billy and his family become emotional while watching that video was powerful. It's hard to describe how life changing these moments are but I wish I could capture them up and have you each experience it. Nothing feels more rewarding than watching those you love feel of the Holy Ghost and know the witness of truth as it grows in their hearts. I love this family and love the opportunity I have to be so close with them

We really hit on sacrament attendance with them and are working on helping them feel comfortable attending church without fear of judgment. They were worried about coming because they had a huge meal to prep for on Easter Sunday but we continued to promise blessings. President Peterson pulled Billy and Tonya aside while we talked to the kids and really emphasized the importance of their family and the spirit that comes from just being in their presence. He let them know the impact they would have on the world as they continued to invest in the gospel and keep the commitments. He talked about the door with no handle on the outside and letting Jesus in as He knocks, waiting for us to accept Him. He promised that one of those doors was taking the missionary lessons and taking big steps to come to know Christ on a more personal level. You could tell it touched Billy and caused him to really think. We all left and prayed so hard God would soften their hearts and allow them to experience the tender blessings of the sacrament and spirit in the church building. 

The next day, sacrament meeting had just began when we got a missed call from Billy. We walked out to the parking lot to call him back and I looked up only to see him jumping out of his truck and walking towards us!!! I was so overcome with joy and sincere emotion, I ran to him and shook his hand, with tears streaming down my face. He told me he had really thought a lot about our lesson the previous evening and the words we shared. He said this morning he felt such a powerful feeling to attend church and the devil did everything he could to stop Billy from coming. He said, "I may be late but I am here." My heart could have burst. Billy came!!!! Walking into sacrament meeting with Billy right behind us and seeing President Peterson tear up on the stand was moving. Once we sat down, I gave two thumbs up to President, signifying how excited I was that Billy came! The entire meeting, you could tell he was impacted by the testimonies shared and kept nodding along with all that was said. He cried during the songs we sang and was swarmed by all the members once the meeting was over. He gave them each such genuine hugs, cradling his head in their shoulder and shining from ear to ear. President Peterson embraced him in the most tender hug and Billy became emotional as he explained to us how much the door with no door knob impacted him and the feelings he felt during our meeting. What an amazing opportunity to witness such a miracle!! We are praying that Billy's family will come next time and we can continue helping them progress

Man it was such a good week!! I love my mission. I feel so honored and humbled to be a part of these miraculous experiences and see the hand of the Lord in this great work. Happy Easter to everyone and I hope you all have the best week! Jesus loves you and so do I!!

Sister Neel