April Showers Bring May Flowers! (Unless the hail crushes them)

This week we had the glorious experience of taking four recent converts to the temple, and it was incredible. Our ward has been on fire with missionary work these past couple transfers and I feel so blessed to be a part of it! Being in the temple was a special experience. It always is, but only having the opportunity to go once every six months makes it indescribably stark against the day to day routine. The spirit abounds and exceeds any other fear or worldly emotion. Only peace, joy, and understanding exist. I love the temple. I was struck with the realization that, despite its beautiful interior, it really is plain. It uses simple geometric shapes, most everything is white or neutral, and while there are a few paintings of the savior in each room, the beauty of the temple comes from the pure light and spirit of Christ the radiates in all that transpires there.

Sister Garner and I are doing really well. I love her so much, she is one of the most positive people I have ever met, and she really helps me see a more eternal perspective of things. When there are bumps in our schedule, she's always calms and ties up loose ends by finding the positive in each individual circumstance. I'm grateful for her, she's teaching me a lot.

This week was a smidge discouraging, just because we spent so much time trying to find new investigators in every single way we knew how, and we weren't having any success. At least not in that area, but we did meet a lot of people and at least try to share the Gospel. Sometimes I feel like God's just building our characters. :) Last night, at 7:30 pm, we both felt impressed to go visit a family that we've been trying to get in contact with for months. Sister Hirschi and I found them when we were looking for a less active member named Alicia. The mom's name was also Alicia and she seemed really confused when we asked if Alicia was home because they had just barely moved in a couple of days before. They seemed promising so we kept trying over and over again, when I'm sure normally we would have given up and assumed they weren't interested.

But last night, the Dad, Kyle, and their two kids came outside and set up chairs for us and we taught them the basics. None of them have any religious background, but they said they've been looking for it. They have been craving church for their family. So for the first time on my mission, we were able to teach somebody about God, about Jesus Christ, about Adam and Eve, things they had never heard much about. Seeing their faces transform from inquisitive to ecstatic made my heart melt. As we began talking about our need for a Savior, Alicia came home from work and immediately joined us, so we were able to teach their whole family about what it means to have Faith in Christ, and how we show that Faith. It was amazing. It was the answer to so many prayers to be able to teach such a powerful lesson to a family that is in such dire need of the Gospel. Watching it transform lives always reaffirms our faith of its truth.

One more thing before I take off, I hope everyone I know in my life knows that I am grateful to know them and that I love them. I am constantly reminded that we are a sum total of the experiences we've had, and people have such a large influence on us as a whole. So thanks for being part of my life. :)

I LOVE YOU FOLKS.

Bye!

Sister Best