Gotta Love Small Towns!

Dear Family & Friends:

Things are a little crazy in small towns.

Here we are again at the end of another transfer, so by the end of today we will know what the next 6 weeks will entail.

Anyways this past week was really great because Sister Stoffers and I really focused on capitalizing on as many opportunities to teach as possible which was really fun.  Because with the nice weather we continue to do lots of service, but we were making sure to share formal messages with each of the people that we were helping out!

Last Monday was really neat because the Garvin's, who are branch missionaries, but are moving to Utah, asked if we could come and help them with the last minute cleaning and things that were more difficult for them to do, such as cleaning the cupboards, light fixtures, and fans.  What a wonderful opportunity it was to help them, because they are such wonderful examples of being Christlike and truly converted to the Gospel.  They truly have influenced a lot of people in this area, and even up to their last day here they were inviting people they knew to meet with the missionaries, because they have allowed sharing the gospel to become a part of them!

A tender mercy of Tuesday was when we had dinner with the Yancey's their daughter was home and had one of her friends there who wasn't a member, which always makes your day as a missionary! 

Wednesday we spent the morning in Cedar Rapids getting some work done on our car.  We were supposed to have an appointment with Davy (someone that Sister Alston and I met on exchanges), but we were stood up.  So we went and visited with V who lives in that same town as Davy.  Elder and Sister Templeton had taken 3 of the recent converts to Nauvoo on Tuesday.  It was V's first time to Nauvoo, so it was really neat to hear of her experiences!  

Thursday was wonderful, because we had our last district meeting of the transfer and the trainings were on sanctification and one of the trainings was based off of Elder Bednar's talk "Ye Must Be Born Again" or something like that where he uses a parable of a cucumber becoming a pickle and compared it to each of us becoming what God has designed for us to become.  

After district meeting we decided to drop by and try to meet one of the less active young women, and much to our surprise she allowed us to come in and visit with her right then!  She loves reading and has tried to start reading the Book of Mormon, so we are going to have a "Book of Mormon book club" with her.

That evening we were also able to have lessons with several of the members, and it was such a privilege because the night before we had picked out what we wanted to share with them, and we haven't visited these members in a while.  But somehow the message was what they needed to hear that day.  Anyways, it was another one of those times when you gain just a glimpse more of how much Heavenly Father loves each of his children!

Friday night we received a referral from the Iowa City Sisters, but the address wasn't sure, Anyways we decided to drive out to Tipton Saturday afternoon to try and contact this referral. We had narrowed down his address to two streets, and the nice thing about small towns is that within 5-10 minutes you can use deductive reasoning and locate where a person lives.  After finding Jeff's apartment we knocked twice, but there was no answer.  We only had like 30 minutes before we needed to head back for a dinner appointment. So we decided to work in the surrounding neighborhood.  The people were friendly, but then a tender mercy occurred!  We we walking and two golf carts were on the road so we wave and say hello and the first golf cart waves and drives on by,  but then the second golf cart stops and the woman yells out "Sisters!" Which of course catches your attention!  I was trying to figure out who she was because we have only one active member in Tipton, and this woman was not her.  So we introduce ourselves and we are pretty sure that she is a member that attends in Coralville, IA, but she has a beauty salon in Tipton, and she told us to come in anytime to see her.  So hopefully next week I will know a little bit more about Sheila!

Anyways after we part ways with Sheila we head back towards our car and decide to try Jeff's one last time, even though there were no new cars in the parking lot and just over 20 minutes had passed from when we last knocked.  We knocked and much to our surprise Jeff answered the door.  He said that right then wasn't a good time, but Monday evening would be better!  He even called twice yesterday to make sure that tonight will work for us!  So we have a member coming with us and we are excited to have a lesson with Jeff tonight!

Yesterday was great as well, and what a wonderful day to celebrate Father's!  It was really neat because the Sacrament meeting talks were all on Fathers and so it made each of us reflect on what we would have said had we been asked to speak on Fathers.  And how grateful I am to have an amazing dad who because of his love and example to me, it has helped me to understand and strengthen my relationship with my Father in Heaven.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Call

Highlights

Dear Family & Friends:
There's not a whole lot to report from Mt. Vernon but here are a few highlights from the week.

*Received the book, "The Power of the Everyday Missionary"  by Clayton Christensen, which I recommend to all.  I was so excited for it that I read the entire book this week! So many wonderful tips on how to be better missionaries and how to be better instruments in God's hands!

*Something that really hit me this past week was how the Gospel is about change. That Heavenly Father loves His children beyond our level of comprehension and how He desires more than anything for His children to return to Him.  That repentance is the most glorious thing.  That the Atonement covers everything and how when utilized feelings of peace and cleanliness come into one's life.  That even though a person may not have the Gift of the Holy Ghost, as they are working towards making covenants with their Father in Heaven, the light of Christ can radiate from them. And that an individual's past does not have to define who they are or who they can become!  We are working with a man who is working on regaining membership in the church and he is so humble and has such a desire to strengthen his testimony.  The Spirit was so strong as we were going through the lesson, because you could feel how much God loved him and desired for his return!  How wonderful it is to know that our Father in Heaven always sees us as we can become and does not define us by the things in our past.  And how repentance is real!!!

*Being able to feel the love that Christ has for His children and help remind others of the amount that God loves them, and how He is always by our side and willing to help. We were in a lesson with Heidi, and she has been such a great example, because since she lost her job, she decided that she would read the entire Book of Mormon as she works on finding another job.  She completed the Book of Mormon and still hadn't found a job, so instead of getting angry, she decided to start reading the Doctrine and Covenants, still she hasn't been able to find a job. So instead of getting angry or upset, she has decided that she will work on going through the temple!  She is wonderful and it was so great because she needed to know this past week just how much she was loved!  Which Sister Stoffers and I are way excited that she is working towards the temple, because what better place to feel of God's love, than at the temple?  

*Zone Training Meeting where we were able to receive trainings on Knowledge, the Power of Language, Using Time Wisely, and Sanctification.

*We were able to come in contact with Gerry, who is the referral from our branch missionaries!  She is a super cute lady, and her sister has grandkids on missions!

Anyways, this past week was great and I apologize that this letter is fairly short, but I hope you have a wonderful week!

I love you all!

Love, Sister Call