HELLOOOO!!!!
Another week has come and gone! Its been crazy here. Seriously shot gunning is the most stressful, discouraging, happiest, funnest thing I have ever done. We are spent most of our efforts this week on the Less Actives of our ward. There are definately a lot, and we love them all so much. Its amazing how much love I have for these people. I have never met so many interesting people in my life, and I have never loved people like I have loved Norfolk. Soooo..... I dont know if yall have heard.... THE MISSION IS SPLITTING!!!! craziness! It is splitting in July. It is exciting news! The Lord is truly hastening his work!! If i am still in Norfolk by the time of transfers in June, I will be in the NEW Virginia Chesapeak mission. Tide water side and i think the north carolina side of the mission are part of the VCM, as well as a couple new wards/stakes from the north carolina mission. This is crazy. So many new changes are going on and it is such an amazing experience to be in the field witnessing these miracles!!
This week we had Zone conference, and got to hear some trainings from the mission president. I have so much love for him. He really is inspired and he cares so much about all of us. It will be sad to see him released! I am learning so much, every single day. I am being stretched, more stretched than i even knew was possible. So during zone conference, the mission president picks at random a few missionaries to share a "training" which is basically a 5 minute lesson. This time it was on the restoration. We were asked to share the docterine, rather than just our thoughts on it. I was FREAKINGG out the entire day. I knew i was going to get called. I felt it. The idea of standing up infront of the APs, the mission president and his wife, and all of the missionaries who know so much more than me, and teaching them made me want to cry. I actually did cry. Yolo. Of course I was the only sister to have been called, and I went up there and said a prayer in my heart, and opened my mouth. The Holy Ghost is amazing. Only through the power of the Holy Ghost could someone as timid and self critical as me get up infront of all these important people and teach docterine. After I was done the mission president told me he was impressed that ive only been out two weeks! I guess that meant i did alright??!! My testimony of the restoration has grown so much. My whole life i have taken for granteed the uniqueness of our message! We have the truth! We know that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. We know that the book of mormon is the Word of God, and it is the proof that we can hold in our hands, study, and pray to find out for ourselves the truthfulness of the message! When we recieve this answer for ourselves, all other things will fall into place! This reminds me of Glenda. Glenda was a woman that the elders met while they were tracting in our area last week during our zone blitz. We showed up at her doorstep on Saturday and she looked upset to see us. The elders told us the wrong time/date to meet her, so she wasnt very impressed by us :( its okay though! She told us that she didnt believe in organized religion, and even though she had previously taken discussions from the missionaries, she knew she was going to heaven and thats all that mattered to her. As we were talking with her, she told us that she knew that the book of mormon was just like the bible and that it spoke truth! Ahh it was so cool hearing someone becides me say that! haha she still has a lot to learn, but i feel good about glenda :) we will see!
As I was thinking about this week, I felt so discouraged. We have been here for almost 3 weeks now, and we STILL dont have any investigators. I kept thinking we must be doing something wrong. But as we were planning last night, we prayed to know if there was anything we need to change about our approach. I felt this instant peace come over me, and got the impression that everything will be okay! We might not have any baptisms right now, but we have been working so hard every single day to bring souls to Christ. To work with less active members, to do service, to talk to everyone we see, and to plant seeds!!! This week we have our first LEGIT lesson with Krystal Owens. We saw her name on the list of potentials from the sisters that were here last a couple months ago, and i had this strong prompting to visit her. So we did, and she was so excited to see us! We finally got an appointment with her for tuesday! i am sooooo excited!! Sister wylie is going to richmond this week for leadership, which is basically an mtc for out in the field. So its me and sister lopez taking control of Norfolk while my trainer is gone! Another sister whose companion is going to leadership is coming up here as well, Her name is sister england. She calls herself my grandma becuase she trained sister wylie, who is apparently my mission mom.... Mission lingo.. its cray cray
I feel like i learned so much this week. THis is what i love so much about the gospel. We are always improving, always learning, always growing in our faith and relationship with the Lord. Sister England gave me a talk to read this week called "You Know Enough." EVERYONE GO READ THAT RIGHT NOW!!!! it honestly changed my life. We might not know everything, but we KNOW ENOUGH. When times get hard and we think we can not carry on, we can rely on the knowlege that Heavenly Father Loves US. He wouldnt give us any trial that we can not over come. He is always there for us, all we have to do is pray to him. he WILL answer us! He will take care of us because we are his children! One of my favorite quotes from this talk was "Faith is not only a feeling, it is a decision." We need to have the faith to replace doubt with faith. I have been so terrified to speak when we are teaching becuase i dont want to ruin anything, becuase i feel like i dont know enough. but i do! I have a strong testimony of the truth of this gospel, and i have a love for His children. Family, you know enough!! God would not place anything in our lives that he didnt KNOW and TRUST that we could overcome! Every little thing is gunna be alright and the great bob marley said.
There is power in a testimony, and i am going to share it with everyone here in Virginia!!!!!!
This week was crazy, and next week could possibly be even more stressful, but I am SO HAPPY!! I know this is what i need to be doing. I know that Heavenly Father is keeping his eye out for us. Momma, dont worry, I am safe and sound :) I am tough! I killed my first cockroach this week!
Hey, I met my first baptist pastor two days ago. We knocked on his door and he said "Nice to meet you, im PASTOR blah blah of the True Love Baptist Church. Come Knock on my door if you sisters even need help." It was fun.
Mommy, I got your package! Thank you so much. Grandma and Grandpa Taylor, have fun in Thailand! you crazy kids!
There is power in our testimonies. Keep them growing!! Share them!
Have an amazing week yalll. I cant stop saying yall. Its super embarrassing. Oh,also... so remember how i said i was called to speak in zone meeting? I was also called to be the chorister AND talk in church.... the Lord is really helping me get over my fear of speaking in public! Also, optimism is key <3
LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!
Sister Snow
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