Letter #44: ---

Well, it's almost transfer time again, and I have that dreaded "I'm pretty sure I'm leaving" feeling. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's also an exciting feeling...but I LOVE Ft. Laud so much and I especially love Sister Steg so much that I wish my time here would never end! I guess we'll see what happens with transfers next week. (oh my) President also hinted to us at MLC on Friday that they're going to be calling 2 new sister training leaders, so there will be 8 of us instead of only 6. It will be so good, since that way we'll each be in charge of 6 companionships instead of 8 or 9. We've all been trying to figure out whether or not we would be STLs until the end of our missions or if it would just be a temporary calling, but with the addition of 2 more it seems a lot more likely that I'll be an STL until I die. Perfect, since I love my calling ;)

I feel like one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission is how to truly rely on the Lord. Sister Stegelmeier and I have really been focusing on doing the work HIS way by trusting His timing, relying on Him for where to go, and making each of our harvests "inspired harvests."  Recently, whenever our plans fall through we always turn to the Lord and say, "Okay...why are we here right now? Who do you want us to see while we're over here?" After all, we firmly believe that He puts us where we need to be every moment of the day. On Saturday we had a huge miracle as we did so! We had stopped by an apartment complex to visit a less-active member who wasn't home. After leaving her apartment, we asked in prayer to be led to someone that God wanted us to find. We felt like we needed to go down to the third floor and as soon as we did, I had an extremely clear prompting that we needed to knock on the fifth door on the right. We did so and met Monique, who let us in to leave a blessing with her. She seemed pretty tired and worn-out as she knelt down with us for the prayer. We left a powerful blessing with her and both were able to feel our Father in Heaven's immense love for her. She felt the Spirit so strongly during the prayer that she was in tears by the end; there was a huge countenance change in her as well as the light of our Savior entered her face. She immediately accepted baptism, came to church yesterday, and is preparing for baptism this coming Sunday! I wish you could have seen her after church yesterday...there was so much light and excitement in her eyes as she talked about her baptism next week! We have seen so many miracles like this as we turn to the Lord and ask Him where we need to be.

In addition to the miracles, we definitely have had some really wild and awkward moments this week as well. Just for the record, when you're workin' in the hood and some guy asks if you have a boyfriend, the WRONG answer is "Nope!" (even if that's the truth!) Don't worry, I now have a witty response prepared in case someone asks me again. :)

Also...last week we had the BEST P-DAY OF MY LIFE! Oh my, it was a blast. We went to the science museum in Ft. Laud. First off, the science museum costs $14. And as excited as I was to go, I was telling Sister Steg that morning, "I really don't feel like paying $14 to go. I hope they have a 2-for-1 deal going on today." Anyway, we show up at the science museum and I was quite disappointed to see that there was no deal going on and the admission price was still $14. We were standing in line when this family behind us starts chatting with us. They asked us, "Are you nuns?" We explained that no, we were not, that we were missionaries. Then they were like, "Well, would you like a 2-for-1 admission coupon?" WOULD I EVER!!! I wish I could have seen my face. Pure bliss. I was so happy. And so I truly know that Heavenly Father answers prayers and gives us the desires of our heart, even when they're trivial :D I love Him so much!

Peace and blessings,

sis dougal

PICS:

2-for-1 tickets!! Lovin life!

The only gator I've seen in Florida...and it was at a museum! :/

 

(wind tunnel)