Another week has come and gone. My goodness! I don't know where time goes. It seems to just zip right by!

 

We had a wonderful week with many miracles. There are always so many miracles. It is amazing how much the Lord blesses us.

Last week, we decided that vegetables are overpriced. So, we decided to buy a tomato plant. They aren't just any old red tomato though. They're purple! It seemed only appropriate to name him. His name is Professor Plum. :] We are hoping to get a green bell pepper plant  today and plan to name that one Mr. Green. We went on splits with Sis. Clayton in the evening. She is such a nice lady. We visited the Youmans, a part member family. They are nice people. Sis. Youmans has been taught by missionaries for YEARS. I think her heart has become quite hardened for some reason. She didn't want to participate, but we are working on helping Bro. Youmans come back to church.

 

Tuesday was just a funny day. Jan had her baptism interview so the Fayetteville elders came up to Dunn to do the interview. They had a hard time finding the church building and after being lost for 20 minutes they finally called to ask for directions (typical). We decided to go and stand outside to help them see the building. They came up on the corner into the parking lot pretty fast and Elder May burned some rubber. It was so funny! He was so embarassed too. His face was bright red and it was hilarious. Somewhere there was a major miscommunication so we didn't have another male present which meant we couldn't be in the building. So, we pulled some chairs outside and Elder May interviewed Jan under one tree, and Elder Benson, Sis. Tillman and myself sat under another tree unti the interview was done. It was hot. Jan passed her interview! (of course) She was so excited! We had a lesson with her afterwards and experienced some technical difficulties in trying to figure out how to work the TV. We finally gave up. We had a nice lesson about enduring to the end from 2 Nephi 31:19-20. Jan offered the closing prayer and it was the best prayer ever. She expressed so much gratitude to Heavenly Father for how much the gospel has blessed her and for how happy she now is. It was definitely a tender mercy to hear her pray. She is the best.  We also met with a couple of less active sisters in Lillington. We had a great lesson on faith and prayer. Prayer is the first step in exercising our faith (see Alma 34:17). It was a great lesson! We are hoping they will start coming back to church. Work is proving to be a big obstacle....We did some tracting in the evening due to appointment cancellations. The nice thing about summer here is that everyone is outside! We were able to talk to quite a few people, but none expressed much interest. There was a guy who stopped us while we were driving and asked if I worked at a tattoo/piercing shop. I told him I definitely did not pierce his nose.

 

Wedensday we had a great district meeting on revelation through prayer. It was sooo good! We received some great revelation on how to help some of our investigators to have more effective prayers. One thing that I learned..and could do better at myself is taking time to ponder and think about what I have prayed for after I finish praying. It is so easy to jump up and to move onto the next task, but how much more effective our revelation could be if we would just slow down and think for a few moments. Anyways, it was really good. We were able to meet with a media referral after district meeting. His name is Tyler. He is a great guy. He is attending Campbell University (which I just found out like two weeks ago is a baptist college...random trivia for y'all). His dad and brother are both members and his brother is actually serving a mission in SLC. Crazy, right? He was raised by his mother so he had no idea they were members until a few years ago. His brother has been talking to him about the church some so he requested to have the missionaries come. He doesn't beleive in God (ironic since he goes to a baptist college and they begin every class with prayer...I am thinking it is a blessing though). We aren't sure how things are going to work out, but we are going to exercise a lot of faith that the spirit can touch his heart and be softened. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. So, it's a good start. :)

 

We met with the VanBeck family (members) for dinner on Thursday. We did a lesson with them afterwards about missionary work and it went really well! They are going to invite their neighbors over for dinner and start sharing the gospel with them. It is great to see members getting involved with missionary work. We also stopped by a potential named Kiosha. She wasn't home...again. Her mom has answered the door every time we have gone over there (which is getting up in the double digits now). She told us we must have something good to be this persistant and said she would like to come to our church. We invited her. I think she will eventually open up enough to allow us to teach her. She would be a great member! We received a miracle referral from the Elders in Fayetteville that evening. Heavenly Father really does answer prayers. They have been teaching her. Her name in Yolanda and she lives on the same street as one of our members! We are really excited to begin teaching her.

 

Friday we went on splits with Sis. Gunn (who is preparing to go on a mission). We stopped by a "less active" named Phillip. Turns out it was the wrong Phillip. It was his grandpa! his wife let us in and we got to talk a bit about baptist beliefs and our beliefs and then it turned into a history lesson on Asian population control. I'm still not sure how it happened, but it could be attributed to the fact that he is a professor of Asian studies at Campbell. He gave us the contact information for his grandson and was very kind. They are such a nice couple. We went to waffle house for lunch and visited with less active Rachel who works there. She is busy busy busy! She is a single mom, two kids, working two jobs and going to school. I don't know how she does it. She is great though. She is quitting her job that requires her to work on Sundays and will hopefully be able to start coming back to church. We had a good lesson with Bruce and Margaret in the evening. SIs. Tillman is so inspired. We used what she learned at District Meeting and I really believe it will be a big turning point for Margaret who claims she has received no answer to her prayers. (They have been meeting with missionaries for going on 10 months now...)

 

Jan got baptized on Saturday! It was a great service. Pres. and Sister Cotterell came and spoke. Sis. Tillman and I also spoke. She was so excited! It was hilarious. A miracle happened too! Her daughter came all the way from Carey (which is quite a ways away from Dunn) on her lunch break to support her mom. It made Jan's day. She was so happy. There were many tears of joy. After everything was said and done, I felt like passing out. Sometimes I think I stress out over the most ridiculous things. It turned out perfectly though. We also witnessed another miracle. Our dear investigator, Lewis finally met with Pres. Cotterell after 2-3 years (I can't remember how long for sure) of stalling and he can now prepare for baptism! Yay! The Hudsons also came. Margaret talked with Jan for quite a while afterwards and Pres. Cotterell and Bruce exchanged contact information (yes!). The Cotterells are leaving next week! :\ I don't know how I feel about that really. Our new mission president and wife are from Florida. Their names are the Bernheisels. He speaks Tawainese or Japanese or something like that. It should be fun! But I'd rather the Cotterells just stay. (sigh). Change really is the only constant in life. We had dinner with the Martins and helped them move their furniture around in their living room...only to move it back. Sofas complicate things. Sectionals are so much easier to deal with! Anyways, it was good.

 

On Sunday, Jan was confirmed. I forgot to set up a microphone and such (oops!) So, Bishop Ginn just spoke really loud. Jan was just glowing. She is so happy! Russ (her less active, but coming back boyfriend) seemed greatly humbled by the whole experience. He has made some big changes in his life. Everyone was out of town this week. So, Sis. Tillman and I taught gospel principles on Eternal Marriage. I was panicking the whole time wondering what the Hudsons must be thinking and also Jan because she isn't married. I felt very underqualified to be teaching that lesson. I think it turned out okay though. Lewis text us to tell us he was on his way to the ER and apologized for not coming to church. Poor fellow. I hope he gets to feeling better soon.

 

I read some great scriptures this week! Check out D&C 123:16-17 and James 3:4 and Alma 37:6 and 1 Nephi 16:29. (they all connect to each other.) It was a good reminder that we need to try to do everything in our power and then leave the rest up to the Lord and also that just like a large ship with a small helm, we can do great things. Sometimes we don't always know how much of an impact we make on a person's life, but whatever small service or act we do for them, it can mean a whole lot to them.

The church is true. Remember that testimony and faith are like plants. We need to nourish them with diligent (not just leisurly) scripture study, prayer, and dedicated service to others and the Lord.

 

I love you all. Thank you for your outpouring of love and support. It has helped a tremendous amount. :)

 

With lots of love,

 

Jan's Baptism

Sister J!