Consecrate this Land

Dear Family,
Wow! What a great week. Seriously, there are a lot of great things
happening. Where do I start...
Well, Melinda did not get baptized this week, because she is still not
moved out. And we're shooting for this Sunday, but not really sure.
She's supposed to move out by Friday, and she doesn't even know for
sure if she has a place to live!! I would be such a mess if I didn't
know where I was going to be living the next week. She seems to be
doing pretty well, though. She came to church and told us later she is
SO HAPPY that she got to take the sacrament (it's been like two weeks
since she did) and she just kept telling us how great she felt. It's
so wonderful getting to see the gospel through people learning it for
the first time :) So please pray that she can move this week!! We have
no idea what will happen if she doesn't... Might have to go to
Charlotte to a shelter.

The Ellis family said they don't want to meet with us right now,
because she's been feeling overwhelmed with just moving here. She said
they really liked the lesson though. We'll probably just invite them
to future activities. Luckily they live across the hall from the
missionaries, so hopefully one day :)

The Drew family is doing great!! We taught them about tithing and they
were great with it. Jayden, the 13 year old son, has not been too
involved in the past, but has been pretty involved lately and reads
along with us in lessons. We also talked to them about temples,
especially since it was mentioned quite a few times in church last
Sunday, and they loved that, too. We asked them if after they were
baptized they would prepare to go to the temple and they very
enthusiastically said they would. They're great. Things seemed to be
going too perfect, and we've just been waiting for something to come
up. Then on Saturday night as we are leaving their apartment, they
were pointing out some pictures on the wall and talking about some of
their family members. They talked about Charity's dad, and I asked
where he was. She said "he's here" and I said pointing to where we
were standing "he lives right here? In this apartment? How long have
you been married?" "Oh we're not married, we've been together for 12
years though" Noo! Totally took us off guard. Seriously, there has
been no mention of him whatsoever, he never comes out, and we've never
heard of him until now! We've been trying to teach the Law of Chastity
for a while but keep feeling conflicted because we didn't know what to
do with such a wide range of ages, especially with Charity being 8.
Anyway, it will probably be a few more weeks until they get baptized,
but besides that they're great. :) also, they're like the 5th person
that has told me I look "just like" Julia Stiles (sp?), she's an
actress. I don't know why. It's kind of funny. They were like you know
who you look like...? And they started trying to find a picture and I
totally guessed it before they even said. Anyway, they didn't come to
church yesterday, because Tom (the boyfriend of Sis. Drew) was not
feeling well and she needed to stay home with him.

Probably my FAVORITE miracle from this week though was William!! Wow.
You always hear about things like this happening, but it never seems
like it actually does happen. So he had cancelled an appointment
because he was sick, and I was a little worried, but not too much. So
he rescheduled for Saturday and we had Christopher, a recently returned
missionary, come with us. William said he "didn't read much of the Book
of Mormon, only to 1 Nephi 11", which we told him was really great. He
felt frustrated because he didn't think he understood it very well,
but then he started telling us all the stories he'd read about Nephi
and his brothers. The lesson started off seeming kind of rough,
because he just kept saying he's feeling frustrated and confused, and
kept saying that he just didn't know how he was supposed to know it
was true. We planned to talk about the Holy Ghost and recognizing
answers, which was definitely what he needed. Christopher really related
with him (they are the same age) and shared with him about how he
didn't really start going to church often until he was 17 years old,
and how he came to know it was all true. Slowly William's frustrations
seemed to melt away. Christopher asked why he keeps letting us come
over, and William said it's because he really honestly wants to know.
In zone meeting we learned about having members involved in getting
people to church and talked about having the member actually invite
the investigator. We had Christopher do that, and it was PERFECT! William
said "actually, I've really been looking forward to it being Sunday
all this week. I just want this day to be over so it can be Sunday
already." Then Christopher said the closing prayer and afterwards William
said "wait! I have a question" he looked like he was thinking very
hard and he said "do you.... Feel something when you pray?" We asked
what he meant, and if he felt something. He said "Just now I felt
like... A blanket just covered me, and it made me feel so warm. Like a
full body hug or something. And I've only felt that one other time...
When I read the Book of Mormon." YAY!!!! Best lesson ever. It started
out with him so confused and ended with so much clarity! Then it was
even better when he came to church. After gospel principles I turned
around and asked how he was feeling he said "educated! And really,
really good. Actually, last night I prayed on my own, and it was
really amazing. I almost started crying even! This has to be true!
There is no way it's not true." I didn't even know what to say except
tell him how happy we were! After church he came down the hall with
William and they were talking about what getting baptized is like.
We asked how it was at church and he said "I feel like I'm at home!
And I kind of feel like I already knew a lot of the people
here..they're all familiar!" WOW. This Ward is so great too, they all
talked to him and got him set up with the employment specialist and
Christopher is like best friends with him now. Apparently he was even
talking to our Ward mission leader about what you have to do to go on
a mission. Haha he still has a while until then, but it's seriously
been a huge change. He was so happy and friendly and when we met him
he was kind of a wallflower and told us he doesn't usually smile a
lot. We are so happy for him!!!

Thanks so much for the EFY cd! We love it! :) :) you are the best.

Had interviews with President Craven this week and it went well :) it
was supposed to be a 30 minute drive but we drove for like 45 minutes
to get there and then an hour back because Charlotte is crazy.
Terrible traffic. I never want to live there. Anyway, in my interview
he told me I would be getting a much younger missionary for my last
transfer, and talked about how some leaders don't get put in
leadership positions, and said that they've "given [me] some hard
mountains to climb" on my mission, and how they never worry about me
and could put me anywhere and know that I'd be ok. It was nice to hear
:) He also told me I should drink some more "boldness juice" because I
am so nice and trying to not ever offend people. True. Not only true
of my mission.

I knew there was something important to include..
Tuesday morning I got in the shower and hear a tiny "slap" and look up
to see what it was and screamed and said "how did you get in here!?!"
No joke- there was a FROG in my shower!!! Hahaha. Oh my gosh. So he
started crawling his way from the wall down to the bottom of the
shower to the ledge where he was going to get out. I stopped him
because I didn't want him roaming free in the bathroom. So I took the
fastest shower ever and then told Sister Tucker she'd never believe
what was in the shower. Gosh, I just wanted to keep him so bad, and I
put him in a Tupperware container, and was eating breakfast and he was
staring at me and breathing really fast so I decided to let him out.
It was FREEZING outside and as soon as we walked out and I tried to
dump him in the grass, he seriously has a death grip on the side of
the container, and I was so sad and I said "please, don't make me do
this any longer than I need to!! Just get out!" Poor guy. I think he
probably died, and I actually felt sad inside, and also ridiculous at
the same time. I really don't know how he got in there though. So so
funny.

Something we are trying to do is make really good relationships with
the members! Trying super hard. It seems to be working so far.

I'm not sure what else happened this week. We're on bikes starting
today. Should be fun!!

We had Zone Meeting, like I mentioned earlier. It was great! We
learned a lot, and in our role plays we were supposed to commit
someone to church and somehow involved a member in the lesson. One
"gem" (that's what they call it in this mission) someone had was
having the member invite them to church, and like I said before it
worked perfectly with William. Yay! After zone meeting we all went to
Cheddar's. It's super super good! I had chicken tortilla soup and a
sandwich. I hope one day we can come to North Carolina, so I can show
you around. Also, I drive past the Charlotte speedway once a week
usually. It's huge. I don't even want to see what it's like when they
have huge NASCAR races here. Must be crazy traffic.

Things are good though :) I love the Book of Mormon. Pretty sure I say
that every week. Oh well, it's true :) It's been great reading it so
fast because I get to see how everything fits together, and I feel
like I have a new appreciation for the different people in the Book of
Mormon, and the influence they have on generations of people after
them.

Also, this is an article I love from the August Ensign. Pretty sure I
shared it before, but I just really like it. It's called "Act Upon
this Land as for Years"

"In the spring of 1831, the Saints began to gather to Kirtland, Ohio.
A member named Leman Copley agreed to allow a group from Colesville,
New York, to stay on his farm in Thompson, a short distance from
Kirtland. In May 1831 the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith:

“And I consecrate unto them this land for a little season, until I,
the Lord, shall provide for them otherwise, and command them to go
hence;

“And the hour and the day is not given unto them, wherefore let them
act upon this land as for years, and this shall turn unto them for
their good” (D&C 51:16–17; emphasis added).

Much like the children of Israel following the cloud in the
wilderness, these Saints knew they wouldn’t be permanent residents on
the Copley farm. At some point they would move on. Yet no matter how
long their stay would be, they were to act as if they would be there
for years."

I'm always reminding myself to act upon this land as if I'm going to
be here for years!!
Thanks for all your support. Love you tons. Hope you have a great week.

Sister Adams