Adventures from West Virginia: The Ripple Effect

Hello Friends,

Exchanges with Sister Huntington - From the Magical World of Spanish Fork

Isn't it weird, that you grow up and you always hear your mom say, "Don't talk to strangers", "Don't go into strange houses", "Don't walk around late at night when its dark", or "Don't knock on doors in questionable places". And then they say, "But please go on a mission!" (Where you have to do all of these things and much more :) haha)

So I am emailing on Wednesday because it is transfers! Sister Nelson and I are............................................. Staying! :) We are pumped to be together again! This will be my last transfer which is super weird. I feel like I just got here, what in the world?

Also, just so all you know for next week, we will be having Elder Muers of the 70 coming to our mission for a Conference and Mission Tour! Super exciting and all, but since this next week is Thanksgiving, we have to have the Mission Conference on Monday and Tuesday. So for the southern half of the mission (that's me) it will be on Monday and so I won't be on again to email until next Tuesday!

After Being in the Car for 2 1/2 Hours - So Tired

This week a sad/funny thing happened.... So our cars are a huge blessing to the mission! I cannot imagine what it would be like to have to walk the narrow roads of Virginia, all the time, everyday, trying to get all the places we need to go! But with the cars, we have a limitation on the amount of miles we can use on the cars. Depending on the area that you have, is the amount of miles that we are given to use for the month. So we depend a lot on effective planning, and on members to help us a lot. Since Sister Nelson and I are the Sister Training Leaders, we have to go out to the other Sisters in our zone for exchanges every week! Some of the sisters are close, and others are far away. Specifically Bluefield, WV. These sisters are an hour and a half away! We went on exchanges with them this week and we had a ride with members to get there and exchange on Friday and then to go and exchange back on Saturday. Well, I was in Bluefield on Friday and Sister Nelson calls me from Christiansburg says that our ride for Saturday canceled... AHH! So its 9:00 on a Friday and she starts calling all these members to try to find a last minute ride (someone that can sacrifice at least 3 hours of their time on a Saturday afternoon). At the end of the day we decided to just sacrifice the miles, because there was no one that we could find that could help. So Sister Nelson drives all the way up to Bluefield, (75 miles) and then we exchange and get on our way.. about 30 minutes out, I find the Bluefield Sisters phone in my bag...... AHH! Nice one, Sister Willis :) So we have to turn right around and go all the way back to give them back their phone, and its not like we can call them and tell them that we are coming! It was a struggle! So after about 2 and a half hours of driving and 220 miles... we got home! Oh man.. We have to be really careful with our miles now! Oh man, good thing we have good walking boots :)

Tracting

Amy's Endowment

Amy, Evee and Jared All in White

I also wanted to share something really special from an email that was sent to me today. This is such a Ripple Effect experience! Way back in my first area, in Ashland, Kentucky over a year ago.... I met Amy and Jared, and their daughter, Eevee. We were working with Amy who was a non-member, and her husband who was a member. In the months that I knew them, Amy gave up drinking coffee, they both started coming to church frequently, and Amy accepted a baptism date! In September of 2015, Amy was baptized by her Husband! I love this family so much, and they have brought lots of joy to my life :) the joy continue to grows as today, I learned that Amy and Jared went to the temple yesterday, and Amy was able to receive her own endowments! I am so so excited for both of them, because I know that this is what the gospel is all about. Bringing families together to feel this JOY! The gospel changes lives, and the Ripple Effect is real, the good things you do as a missionary can still effect the lives of those you touch for years! This is a testimony to me of how real and important the ripple effect is. I love my mission. My purpose is to bring souls to Christ. And that is what He is helping me to do.