Mosiah 28:3

Every week seems like a year. I don't even know where to begin!

One of the most lovely moments this week was contacting less active sisters with Sister Thompson (a returning less active, and a kindred spirit). We stopped by a lady's house whom we had never met, and knew nothing of, and got to share with her Romans 8:37-39. She loved it. Then we sang "I am a Child of God" and her little 3-year-old granddaughter was so enraptured, she looked at us with big eyes, and begged for us to sing it again (:

We are finding prepared people. On Friday, we stopped by a former investigator's house quick before weekly planning (my most favorite thing to do... ;) and lo and behold, he welcomed us in with open arms! We barely had a chance to ask if there was a woman present! He set us down in his library FULL of every religious work I have ever heard of, and commenced sharing with us his concerns about mormonism. It was miraculous. Sister Olive was sure I had at least met him before, but he was just very nice and welcoming. I love people like that.

Another couple like that are Richie and June. (I always think of Juniper when we teach them.) June and Richie are from Long Island. They grew up there, and have the thickest new yorker accents I have ever heard. I LOVE it. Missionaries had been helping June with her family history, and she was glad to see us again. She loves to talk about our purpose, tolerance, how to find a good spouse, how to raise your children... and then Richie will chime in, and they start teasing each other, it's so great. It makes it all the greater since he broke his hearing aid last weekend, so he was shouting out his comments about the plan of salvation. Bless his heart. We all agree that we were brought together for a reason. I learn so much from them. They make us feel like family, which is a much needed feeling for me lately.

The Hudson's and the Ramages both cooked us AMAZING southern home-cooked meals this week. I love banana puddin' and flakey buttermilk biscuits. :)

I hope I am learning to follow the Spirit more accurately. We just pray and pray, and sometimes I feel like we have no direction, but we go and do and try our best, and then miracles happen. I know I prayed for greater faith, so this is probably why Heavenly Father is letting me act on my own, without a clear answer. Ether 12:6, right? I received a beautiful feeling at the first transfer training for Sister Olive this week. I was overwhelmed with the knowledge that we are witnesses called, and there is no higher calling than that. It is like Elder Packer said, "at once a light to follow, and a burden to bear." I am so grateful we can be yoked with the Lord.

What are y'all doing to hasten the Lord's work this week? I hope you know how much Heavenly Father loves you! He has a plan. We finished studying the old testament in institute with Brother Jester and Brother Pipkin, and I was struck with how repetitive it is! Over and over again, Heavenly Father reaches out to us. "25 Behold, doth he cry unto any saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me ALL YE ENDS OF THE EARTH, buy milk and honey, without money and without price. 27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance." -Nephi

There is no greater joy, than the joy in service to God.

I am grateful for the gospel, and for the little, beautiful, wonderful things the Lord allows into my life. Things like the sunset yesterday. North Carolina is the garden of eden- quote, President Bernhisel (: Wish I could send you pictures, but I did get a copy of Brother Pipkin's baptism picture from the Elders, so enjoy. Pardon my bad hair-do, it was a hectic day.

Love, Sister B

So run, that ye may obtain

How are you all, my wonderful family and friends? Brother Pipkin was BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED this weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I even express what a miracle this is? Moroni 7:35-37, 41 I bear my solemn witness that the Lord, Jesus Christ is at the head of this work. There is no other force or power great enough to transform individuals, to take them from the dregs of society, to heal them physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially, and then to redeem them from their sins and purify their hearts and grant them the hope to live a joyful life. If any of you need proof that God is real, that Jesus Christ is His only begotten son, or that they are personally and intimately aware of you individually, consider the story of this man. Kenneth Pipkin grew up in a segregated community on the other side of the river where blacks were not expected to go anywhere or become anything other than manual laborers. He experienced substance and physical abuse, and ultimately lost everything about three years ago, when his work position was eliminated from the health care system. Brother Pipkin wandered homeless for 3 years searching for a job. He traveled from state to state, and never wanted to come back to North Carolina, where he would be judged and categorized by the mistakes of his youth. He was led back to North Carolina to live with his sister in May of this year. Late this May, he met the Sister missionaries coming out of the Library. He had hit rock bottom, and was smoking his last cigarette. A week later, he had read through 2nd Nephi in the Book of Mormon, and called us for a ride to church. His transformation has been total and complete. He has fought an uphill battle that has tried all of our faith, but through the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, He has come through VICTORIOUS. I know that our Redeemer lives. We sang "Our Savior's Love" at Brother Pipkin's baptism, and my heart was so full, I can't explain it. The gospel truly can help and heal us. It is the key to living a happy and whole life. At Zone Conference this week, I cried to see some of my long-time brothers and sisters bear their final testimonies to the missionaries. They are going home already! President Bernhisel calls it an Alma 26 experience when we come together at conferences, and are so happy to see each other and know that we do remain faithful to the truth. I am especially going to miss Hermana Richardson. If any of you out in Provo this fall get a chance to see her, give her a big hug for me. President Bernhisel is so inspired. He taught us at Zone Conference about raising our vision and of having the faith to accomplish miracles for the Lord. I felt impressed by the thought that I NEED to Baptize my brothers and Sisters. Just like I need to eat, or sleep, or make music, pray, or be connected to my immediate family, I NEED to baptize my brothers and sisters. A quote from Elder Oaks came to my mind: "We do not preach and teach in order to bring people into the church or to increase the membership of the church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives... We invite all to come unto Christ by repentance and baptism and confirmation in order to open the doors of the Celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God. No one else can do this." Brother Lykins counseled us last week to focus our efforts on serving the ward members. We have had so many miracles doing this this week, plus it makes missionary work more fun (: I have baked more in the last week than I have on my entire mission! Thank you for all those delicious recipes (: I love you all. I know we are chosen to represent the Lord because of the covenants we made with Him when we were baptized by His authority. It is an immense privilege. In every little way possible, we need to discipline our lives to become more consecrated followers of Christ. This morning in study, I had an epiphany about Charity and Virtue. Possessing the pure love of Christ gives us the capacity to discipline our lives. When we know how much we and those around us are worth to the Lord, our desires change. I guess I already knew this, but I didn't know it. Charity gives us perspective. So, in the words of Paul, "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth air" When we remember the purpose; when we have a vision of what we are working towards, our every day actions become more meaningful, and we run and fight with certainty and intention. I love you all. Sister B

Freedom

Alma 58: 10 “Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people. 11 Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him. 12 And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty.” "God is in control of the planet" was one of my favorite quotes from fast and testimony meeting yesterday. It was from Sister Mona. Sister Mona suffered from a brain aneurysm about 7 years ago, and stays in the scariest "nursing home" that I have ever seen. It literally makes you want to cry. Yet her testimony is amazing. She simply loves the Lord and trusts Him with her whole heart. It seems that much of the time it takes a huge event like a brain aneurysm to shock us into putting our full faith in Jesus Christ. Why is that? I am grateful this week for our country. I love the United States. The principles we were founded on were inspired of God. This week we had a great experience fasting. We have been praying for our investigators who are living together to be able to get married, or separate so that they can continue to progress spiritually. Yesterday, after church, she called us to let us know that they were separating for now, because she knows its what she needs to do in order to heal, and come closer to Christ. We were floored!!! We found her a place to stay with a member, and are excited to set a baptismal date with her today. I know that Jesus Christ is at the head of this work. He will do His work. I am grateful that we can influence the world for good through fasting and mighty prayer. There are so many wonderful blessings we need to be grateful for!!! I am studying the New Testament after numerous promptings to do so, and have been finding answers to the questions in my heart about our Savior. I am astonished at how consistently He gives of himself. He truly has the answers that we seek. He is mightier than all the Earth. He knows what we need, and what our families need. It's the best (: I love you all and hope you are feeling close to the Savior, and the warmth of His Spirit. He really is there. Love, Sister B

Life's a dance you learn as you go

Today I learned that my hope comes from stories. Scriptures, family history, memories, books, pictures: stories. (I feel this would be an effective 2 voice poem ;) ahhh those were the days. Soyoung is from Korea. She and her fiancee came to church yesterday, and it was miraculous. They enjoyed it. She took notes in her korean book of mormon during the entire meeting. It was wonderful. Kenneth is from here, and he never wanted to come back ever again, because people here can be straight up racist. (False traditions of their fathers) So, when we approached him and he was at his lowest low, he felt like Heavenly Father sent him angels. Angels outside the library in Dunn, NC. Pretty neat. I love the people of North Carolina. I feel my perspective morphing into a strange, versatile thing. I have a harder time defining my experiences, and the people I meet and talk with. Life isn't what I thought it was. There is more to it than I even now know. When I talk with strangers, I like to think about how much Heavenly Father loves them, and wants them to be successful, and wants them to find joy in this life. Satan works pretty hard. I don't feel bad for him. He knows exactly what he's doing, and he is evil. We were driving along the country roads, and I was singing in my head the John Denver song, and Miss Dot was driving and telling us about how Erwin and Dunn have changed since she was little. And I looked out the window at these strange green plants; I had been noticing that field after field of these strange green plants were speeding by, and I didn't know what plant it was, so I asked Miss Dot, and she says "Haven't you ever seen a tobacco field, Sister?" Wow. Culture shock. So, I feel I am becoming more educated (: We were told before we came out that swimming would be forbidden. On the contrary, we sweat so much, I feel that swimming is all we do out here. Yummmmy humidity. Feels like walking through a fluffy pillow (: Well, I love you all. Scripture of the week has been Mosiah 7:33. The Lord's timing is... not my favorite. BUT I am trying to bend my will, and hoping it will become my favorite soon (: Love, Sister B

Malolelei

It's been another great week in Dunn, NC! We are tremendously blessed when we are obedient to the Lord. The week started with a whirlwind: packing, cleaning and preparing for our new sister. I was bent and determined to vacuum the car before she got here, so getting that done a bit was a relief (: Tuesday morning, we left at 7am for Raleigh, and I got to learn about how to be a good example (inspired instruction). Right before we met our new sisters, President Bernhisel mentioned that she pronounces her name: Oh-LEE-veh, and I had to laugh. I said "well, we're two peas in a pod." It's nice to have a companion whose name is harder to pronounce than mine is hehe. It's actually spelled: Olive. So we have an olive and a butcher, nearly a round meal. We have gotten along great since the get go. Sister Olive comes from San Francisco, and she's Tongan, so she teaches me a lot about how to be pc and relax and go with the flow. It's very good, since I tend to stress out about being a good missionary etc. and she knows just what to say to put things in perspective. I am looking forward to this week, since she will be cooking me some tongan food (: I feel Zac should be jealous about this... Brother Pipkin had a very spiritual experience with us when we taught about patriarchal blessings. He changes every time we see him, he is becoming more peaceful and confident in the Lord's plan for him. We are excited for the changes he is making! He has gone almost a full week without smoking, and we fasted with him to help him curb his addiction. I think we often underestimate the power of fasting and prayer. We had a great experience this week with finding. We made a commitment to be early to every appointment on Friday, and to leave on time. When we arrived at our first appointment 5 minutes early, and were making a few calls, a neighbor of the less active woman walked out of her trailer, and over to her truck. She climbed in the truck to get something out of the bed, and tripped and fell. We quickly pulled up, and went over to help her. When we got over there, she looked relieved; she stopped calling for help, and began speaking with us. We introduced ourselves, offered assistance, and then explained to her that we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We taught about the Book of Mormon and read with her. She eagerly accepted an invitation to read it, and meet with us again this week! We are amazed at the blessing Heavenly Father provided as we sought to be exactly obedient. There is NO WAY we will ever again let ourselves be late!! Funny how the Lord is really targeting my weaknesses, and helping me become strong. I am grateful for the atonement. Ether 12:27. Love, Sister B

Desires

"Wherefore if ye have desires to serve, ye are called to the work." D&C 4:5

It is always a joy to see your desires being realized. One very obvious lesson learned over the past few months is that the Lord's ways are not my ways. 

We have the funniest ward mission leader. He is an army guy with 7 kids, and a firey testimony. He talks with us a lot about lining our will up with the Lords. A couple Sundays ago, he was teaching in Gospel Principles about Agency, and how the Lord lets us help in His work, even when we can't do much. He compared missionary work to an experience he had with his oldest son, Peyton. When Peyton was 3, he saw his dad working on a car, and wanted to help. He found his little plastic toy hammer and hard hat and eagerly came out to the carport. With great hopes, he asked his dad if he could help. His dad smiled, and nodded, and Peyton commenced tapping the front fender with all the joy and muster he could. 

I often feel like I am doing a great work, when really, I am learning to take part in the great work of the Lord. It is really good to know that our desires are in the right place as we try to line our will up with His. We are finally beginning to see some fruit as the ward joins with us to hasten the work. Members are the only missionaries, as far as I'm concerned.

I got the picture for you all, so hope you enjoy it (: I dreamed last night that I was showing Gram my bike and telling her how great it was (: It really is a comfy ride. I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I can't wait to hear more of your graduating and massaging, and knitting and color guarding and organ playing and world traveling adventures. The greatest adventure is definitely ministering to our brothers and sisters. I'm glad we share those desires. Together, we must do a bit more than tap on the front fender of the work of salvation (:

Love,

Sister B

p.s. chocolate would not be good to send for the next few months. It is SO HOT. and humid sheesh, I didn't know it could be so uncomfortable to wear long sleeves! (: 

The great part about agency:

What a glorious week. Well, let's have any bad news first, I guess.... um... can't think of any (: That's just how wonderful this week has been! We got to bike down to the post office after emailing on Tuesday, to pick up some of Sister Turley's Birthday packages. I was super excited to test out my carrying rack. We bungeed the packages onto the back of my bike, and took off along the 421 back to our little abode. The honks and waves from people were abundant. They loved to see the Sister missionaries with little packages strapped to the back of their bikes. It was so cute. Sister Turley took a picture, but she forgot her camera cord today, so that's a bummer. Next week. 

Wednesday, I rolled down to Clinton to exchange with the trio of spanish-speaking sisters. 2 exciting firsts. I have never been in a trio, nor taught a lesson in Spanish, so off I went! We saw miracles everywhere we went. I guess miracles just seem more apparent on exchange, since you see the area with fresh eyes. One of our miracles was when we went to contact a potential investigator. She was in the shower, but her husband listened to a brief restoration lesson. We could tell he felt something, but he said he didn't want to learn more. We knew that we had been led to that neighborhood for a reason, so we went ahead and knocked on the next door. The lady we met happened to be the sister of the man we had just met. (This happens frequently, since the country folk like to keep their families close. They often live on streets named after their parents or grandparents.) I immediately wondered if she would have her brother's same reaction, but the Spirit knew otherwise. We listened to her talk about her life and her family, and we testified of eternal families. We were wrapping up, but I felt impressed to invite her to be baptized. So I did. We explained that baptism is part of what we have to do to be with our families again, and she said she would like to be baptized!! We prayed with her, and there were tears in her eyes. As soon as we finished praying she stretched her arms out to us, and said, "Can I have a hug?" We couldn't stop smiling. We exchanged hugs and set up a time to come back the next day. It was a fantastic experience! It is so important for us to focus on the Spirit to teach people how the Lord would teach them.

I admit, my experience teaching Maria en espanol was eye-opening. I understood everything she said, even though I have never learned Spanish! I still couldn't speak it, but the Spirit was strong, and I could understand her. Crazy! Sister Page and Sister Driggs both definitely have the gift of tongues. They have only been out for 3 and 10 weeks, yet they speak very well. 

We had an exciting time trying to save on miles, and decided to walk a mile or so down to another former investigator's home. It just so happened to be the most humid and hot day we have had so far this summer, and we were soaked by the time we got there! It was worth every bit. We met Priscilla at the end of the walk, and she let us in! The Hermanas hadn't been able to get up with her for at least a month, so we rejoiced. Another Miracle!

The last great thing I wanted to share was yesterday. Back in Dunn with Sister Turley, we kept finding and teaching and having a great time. Friday, one of our library contacts gave us a call and said he had been reading the Book of Mormon and wanted to come to church! He not only came yesterday, but bore his testimony of Jesus Christ, and asked Brother Lykins how he could become a member of our church. WOW. 

So, the moral of this week is: never doubt the Lord is preparing people for us to teach. Keep going, even when people say no 70x7 times, because there will be ONE who is ready and searching, and you never know when the others will come around. We met Brother Pipkin (the one who came to church) a week and a half ago before we heard from him, so, you never know. That's the great part about agency (:

Love you all! 

Sister B