Tornados!

Last Picture Together- Sister Farber was transferred to York, South Carolina

Dear Family,

No, there were no tornados here this week. But everyone kept saying there would be. It was really stormy and gloomy on Tuesday morning, the day of transfers. Sister Farber and I were both really anxious and scared about transfers! Haha. Oh yes, and one of the reasons that I was so stressed out was that Monday I had my iPad, and then Monday night I didn't have it anymore! I thought, "Oh, I left it at the church in the family history center when we were emailing on Monday". So I wasn't too worried. Plus there is the "find my iPad app" that I could use. So Sister Farber gets packed up the rest of the way on Tuesday morning and then we went to the church to see if I could find it. I looked around and didn't see it anywhere, so then I logged on the computer to "find my iPad" and it says that it can't find it because it's probably not connected to wifi. I got SUPER worried then because I was almost certain that it was either in the church (which has wifi) or my apartment (which has wifi). So then I was getting really anxious, and of course started crying! (haha, I am such an embarrassment to myself ;) We hurried over to the Walmart across the street that we went to on Monday to see if it was turned in there, and it wasn't. So by then I was bawling and just kept telling Sister Farber that this was too much for one person. (Remember how I am an actress? I am little overdramatic) And usually Sister Farber doesn't get stressed, but she was super worried too, leaving her first area after 7 months, and getting a new companion, and now her current companion had lost her iPad, and we were leaving for transfers in like 2 minutes. The whole time I just kept thinking about when they tell us how we need to treat everything given to us very carefully because it is paid for by sacrifices from our families and from church member's tithing. Sister Chandler, who we have been very close with, was taking us to transfers and when she picked us up at the church, she was like "Whoah! What is wrong!" and then she told me she would be my stand-in mother and she hugged me and said "it's only a thing!" Of course, the whole time I was praying to find it. 

Then we got to transfer meeting and President Craven read a poem about a boy "running a race" and his father cheering him on, even though he fell on his face like 5 times. I thought "that's me, falling on my face right now!" Haha. So I cried a little more at that, and looked like a mess. Then when my name was called to stand at the front of the chapel, I looked over at the group on the opposite side and there was Sister Carter, my old MTC companion! I thought "no way... could it happen..??" I looked at the other sisters and started to rule out who could be my companion, one had already served in Winston-Salem, one had been in the ward next door, etc. and then there it was! Sister Carter and I are companions again! We were both so shocked! But it has been SO great and SO fun so far. It's been great to have learned so much in the last 10 months and then we get to come together and share everything we have learned. I feel we are going to work so well together. 

Together for 12 days in the MTC, now back together again after 10 Months!

So anyway, you might ask if I ever found my iPad?? Well, I told Sister Craven at the meeting I had lost it, and she seemed really worried and said we would need to call Salt Lake probably. Then after transfer meeting Sister Chandler took us dinner at a seafood restaurant, where we had fried popcorn shrimp and fried hushpuppies (like fried cornbread). Then we got to the church and I tried the "find my iPad" again and it still wasn't working. Then all of a sudden I just received the inspiration I had been praying all day for and I pulled out a chair tucked under the desk and there it was!! Yay! I was so happy. Then that night there was a really weird thunderstorm with no rain, and the thunder sounded like someone stomping, not like a normal "clap" of thunder. Sister Carter slept right through it, but I just laid in my bed and thought about what we would do if a tornado hit. I made all sorts of plans in my head at 4:00 AM. I found out afterwards that if there is a thunderstorm, there is generally not going to be a tornado. Or so I'm told. 

ANYWAY. I hope you got a good laugh out of my stories, because now that they have come and passed, I am laughing at them now, even though I wasn't at the time ;) And we didn't face a physical tornado, but my mind felt like it faced one!

We had some really great lessons this week! We met with Laquetta, who really has such similar beliefs to the restored gospel, and she loved when we taught the Plan of Salvation, especially the degrees of glory. It's funny how different parts of the gospel really stick out to different people. We also met with Emilia, who we met at the bus stop a few weeks ago. She wanted to meet at Starbucks. Haha. ("Do you want to grab something before we talk?" "Nah...I'm good. I don't drink coffee." "Well you can just have a tea if you want!" "......I just had lunch, I'm good!") And she is really interested in the Book of Mormon. She is very knowledgable about the Bible, and had a few questions about the things we talked about that she felt like went against what she knows from the Bible, but she really was honest and sincere in her questions, not like trying to prove us wrong or anything.

We also met with Wayne and he had us over for dinner and we brought a member couple with us, and the wife had just gotten baptized in Brazil. It went pretty well, he accepted a baptism date. 

We also met with Aliyah and it went pretty well! Last time we had met we showed her an “I'm a Mormon” video, because we were encouraged to be using them more in our teaching. I have wanted to, but didn't really know how to use it in a teaching setting. We showed her one about a boy named Paris (mormon.org/paris) who grew up in Alabama. But then this week she talked about how glad she was we showed her that video, because her friends had asked her when they found out she was meeting with us if there were even any black Mormons. So I'm a Mormon really is a success! 

We found 8 years worth of Ensigns!!

On Saturday we walked for 3 hours straight (car fast day) and the exhaustion did not hit me until we got home for dinner, and I just fell on the floor (on purpose) and the room was spinning! Haha. We are going to be in good shape. But then we went to see someone Sister Farber and I had tracted a few weeks ago who said we could come back again. We went to his house and he sat us down on his back porch with his family and began to explain about how since meeting us he has read hundreds of things from the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, some book by a BYU professor, and I am sure some other sources, and he began to tell us how deceived we are! He was so concerned about us and even cried at one point and pleaded that we pray and ask what the truth really is. He just went on and said that he knew we wanted to speak up, but anytime we did, he would just argue and reference the Bible. I really felt constrained by the Spirit to even try and counter what he was saying. It was weird. Anyway, I left still knowning this is the truth, but it really is a challenge anytime someone sits down and picks apart your beliefs and tries to convince you you are wrong. It bothered me, and I prayed a lot that night and the next day. 

This morning both Sister Carter and I had really great personal studies though, and without even us talking about it beforehand, we studied similar things and found a lot of peace and comfort. I know that the only way we can know this is the truth is through the power of prayer and the power of the scriptures. I am just so grateful for the power and the protection that comes from those two things. I may not be able to respond to every objection given to us, but I know the influence I feel, and I know that it is true, because it prompts me to do good. I don't always understand why we are faced with such opposition sometimes, but I am really grateful for the opportunities the Lord sees fit to give me to strengthen my testimony, even if it means facing direct opposition. (Alma 26:29, except they faced much worse than me!) The strength I am able to gain is obviously worth it to the Lord for Him to have us face things like that. That experience has also helped me to reflect on my life right now and to recommit to continuing to build my testimony. We are always moving forward or backward in our faith and testimony, it doesn't stay at a standstill. 

Sorry for the ramble today, a lot has happened! So for the phone call Sunday, would somewhere around 4:30-5:00 my time be ok for you? So it would be 2:30-3:00 your time? Let me know today if that works for you, if not I can totally adjust. I have a lot of flexibility :) I am so excited!

Love you!!!! I know that this is true! This is the Lord's work and it is only through Him that we can accomplish it. 

Sister Adams