Sister Neel: 4/25/22

 

Hey guys !!

It's officially summer over here on the coast. Lots of sunshine and warm weather which has made this place paradise. Everyones out on their boats, tubing, surfing, or hanging out on the grass doing BBQs or sand volleyball games. We have spent most days by the beach or along the waterfront, making great contacts and getting much needed vitamin D 😜 real quick funny story: elder crimson, one of the zone leaders, is from Hawaii and bet us that we couldn't get darker than him in a week. When we showed up for p day he was absolutely shook. Our skin tones are almost there, so you can basically call me a Hawaiian at this point ;))

But anyways legit most of the population here in Washington are rarely seen in cars anymore and more so on beach cruisers getting to their destinations. Oh and it's a jungle now that all the green has come in. Palm trees and Spanish moss galore. You guys I'm in HEAVEN

Highlights:

☆ we did service at eagles wings, a food pantry that we attend for a few hours each Tuesday afternoon. They had a professional videographer there to shoot a commercial to promote the business and show the influx of product that has come in and what's been done of it. The guy filming asked me to be in the video and give a tour of the storage unit as well as show the people coming in to pick up food. So basically I'm famous now in Eastern NC ;))

☆ we did a BBQ with Matthew and brother Wilson and man those slap. He even served us fresh key lime pie which was soooo good. Brother Wilson asked us if we knew southern Spanish and we said no. He told us that whenever he sees people he always says "como esta yall." We were dead it was so funny 

☆it was Sister Brinkerhoff's birthday this week!! Big 2-0!! We decorated the apartment and made a cake the night prior. And then her birthday was spent at goose creek doing a hike with brother noe and a picnic lunch and studies by the beach and a surprise dinner in Greenville with elder and Sister Johnson. They made homemade cafe Rio and crepes again and were sweet enough to decorate their apartment and buy gifts for us. We ended the night with blowing out her candles with Matthew by the waterfront. The wind was so bad so I had to basically hug the cake while Matthew cupped his hands around the candles just to light them. Once he got them to finally light, we sang the fastest happy birthday song I've ever sang and Sister brinkerhoff quickly blew them out. Then Matthew yelled, "celebrate your life!" Ahaha man it was so fun. We went out on the dock and ate cake while watching the sunset light the water on fire. It was amazing 

☆ we got a phone call from sister missionaries serving in the Georgia Atlanta north mission. Turns out one of the people we had taught previously and since had dropped, has been reaching out to missionaries all over the world in hopes to find new friends and learn the lessons. Charles has no desire to be baptized, even after missionaries from all over the world have answered or gone over every lesson or question he has possible. Charles saw the Georgia mission Facebook page, liked it and was taught a lesson by the sister missionaries before getting passed back over to us. We had a good laugh with them over the phone after they heard his story and told them we would reach out to see if anything had changed. Surely enough, nothing had. Charles just wanted to hear how they taught the gospel message and to make new friends but had no desire to convert. This past week we have gotten multiple referrals with Charles name on it from missionaries all around the world. We are working on getting him to stay local haha and not world wide. It's been super interesting 

☆ we had a mission wide STL meeting with the APs and they trained us on the document in our mission Google drive on our purpose and the things that make up our calling. We talked about unity with the zone leaders and how we need to be one as we work together go help assist the missionaries here in our zones. They told us to counsel with them and utilize one another, keep each other informed and make the zone a place where safety and love abounds. It made me so thankful for the zone I have the the people I get to serve around! It was hilarious though, because at the end, Elder Stocking was saying how much he loved the women in his life and his mom was his top priority and we were second 😄 he went all mamas boy on how important women are and how valued they are to this great work. Elder Hardy backed him up and it was funny. Gotta love AP trainings 

☆ we had a lesson with Sister Villalobos and Sister Draper, her ministering sister, and it was so good to comfort her and provide a little more hope in her hectic life. I asked if I could use their restroom and this is where the fun began. The door barely closed and wouldn't lock so I knew that I would just have to make things fast haha. Then the shower curtain moved. And twitched. And floated out and back in. That's everyone's biggest fear right? Something being behind the shower curtain. I froze and watched the curtain twitch again. My heart started beating fast and then suddenly a cat darted out from behind and jumped on the bathroom sink. It took everything in me not to scream. But you better believe I jumped and jumped hard. Man it was scary haha. I told my companions this story and we were all dying. I told them the last thing I wanted everyone to hear in the living room was a blood curdling scream come from the bathroom hahahahaha

☆ Michael drove down from Raleigh and took us out to lunch at Olive Garden! It was fun to catch up and see an old friend 

Those were a few of the fun times, here's a few of the spiritual times.

Not gonna lie though this was a tougher week when it came to finding new people or getting our progressing people to take the next step. Lots of frustrating moments when we would schedule lessons and no one would show up, then there were 3 missionaries just distraught and dying in the hot sun haha. But that's just missionary life. It happens but you move on. We still saw some great successes and that's what keeps ya going 

We met with sidderian and had a baptism lesson where we went ham on covenants and expectations since we were now pushing his date back to May 7th. It went really well and Sidderian agreed that he needed to become spiritually ready and willing to keep more commitments. Then at our next lesson he never showed up and we had fellowshippers drive 30 minutes in to attend. To make it better his phones not working anymore so now we are prayerfully trying to figure out what the next step needs to be for him. Keep him in your prayers!

We had a lesson on the water with Ernist and taught the gospel of Jesus christ. Ernist kept telling us he felt something so strong whenever we spoke on Jesus Christ restoring the gospel. And once we pinpointed the spirit, everything changed. That's where lessons take flight. Once what they are feeling has been identified, everything clicks and there's no going back. The promised blessings are theirs and they more fully know how to receive answers to their questions or confirmations to the desires of their hearts. It's absolutely beautiful. We're committed Ernist to pray about being baptized and come to church regularly each Sunday. It went really well!

We had a lesson with the Cabrera family but the parents both speak broken English. Most of the lesson consisted of her speaking in Spanish and her children would relay back what she said to us in English. Definitely super interesting but sweet family. Their home makes you feel like your in Mexico with all the decor, vibes and all that jazz

We taught the restoration to our friend Charles Summerlin. He's a former we started talking to again after sending out our mass general conference invite. He watched all the sessions and told us he missed speaking with missionaries. He was taught all the lessons previously but fell away after a life trial. We are going back through the lessons again and he said he's investigating another church as well. We went hard on priesthood and the restored gospel, sacrament and covenants so he could see what set us apart. He told us he still wanted to pray about which church to join so please keep Charles in your prayers!!

Although this week was rough when it came to finding, a few of those we found were super cool. We were former knocking one night and decided to stop by Elizabeth's home, someone who hadn't had missionary contact in years. Before we could even get out of the car she began walking up to us and once she realized who we were she yelled, "now where y'all been?! I've been waiting for you. I need me some more Jesus in my life and I want to come to church." Whoa! So cool!! We had a mini lesson and then committed to meet again! Another cool story was with willow. We were parking lot finding in Walmart one evening and saw a Walmart worker struggling to push the carts. We walked over to her and began talking only to hear she was having the worst day, didn't have a good family situation and was broken with no money and no hope. We prayed with her in the parking lot and shared a scripture of peace and comfort. We brightened her day and she told us she could now finish her shift on a more positive note. We're excited to meet with her again 

Lastly, Matthew calls us at least three times a week to tell us about his "God moments." Miracles he sees when God leads him to those in need. He helped a struggling lady fix her bike, heard her life story and shared a scripture from the book of Mormon and promised her blessings. Another man was deep in the forest, with only a tent and bike to get him by. Matthew stopped and talked with him, shared restored gospel truths and handed out our card to this man to call and hear more. He was brought to tears and began crying on the phone as he told us these stories and how in awe he is with God allowing him to be such a light in others lives. We are so proud of him and consistently are blown away from his efforts and growth 

All in all it was a good growing week for me and the people we are teaching. Missionary work is called work for a reason and you learn new things everyday. Whether that's about yourself or life in general. It's the joy of serving a mission and becoming a better version of yourself on a daily basis. Learning and overcoming is the path of life and its best served with Jesus on your side;))

I love you all! Until next week ♡

♡♡♡

Sister Neel