Week 32 - Tage's Baptism and Marissa got hurt

Hello everyone!

Another awesome week here in Ben Lomond!

Here are some highlights:

- On Tuesday we got to got to go to the Brigham City Temple. I had never seen it before and it was beautiful. We had to wake up at 5am and be there at 6:30am so it was super early, but it was well worth the sacrifice! I love the temple and I'm so grateful to have two temples in my mission.

At Brigham City Temple

Snow everywhere

 - So on Mondays we all get together as a zone and play zone sports. We usually play knock out or speed ball. So I was playing knock out and some how turned and rolled my ankle. It hurt so bad, but I thought it was just sore. It wasn't getting better so on Wednesday I went to the doctor and they told me I had torn the ligament in my ankle and that it was sprained:/  They wanted me to rest and ice it for a couple days which just does not work with a mission schedule. Sister sharp made me stay in for a day, but the rest of the time we would get members to drive us around to take us door knocking, which was awesome because we got a lot of member present door contact lessons! So I guess it was a blessing in disguise!

OUCH!!!

- We had a zone conference this week where a bunch of missionaries got together and were trained by our mission president and others. So they asked us in the beginning of December to memorize the Living Christ by the apostles and so I did and I made Sister Schultz do it too! We then got transferred and then made our companions memorize it. They asked at this conference for people to raise their hands if they memorized it, so I raised my hand along with Sister Schultz and our companions now. We were he only ones who had memorized it, so they then made us 4 go up to the front and recite it from memory to everyone. Yikes... I was so nervous and was not planning on doing that. We recited it and it was really awesome though! We might of messed up a few times, but all in all we did it, and I really felt the spirit testify of its truthfulness as I spoke.

- So up until Saturday I had not fallen or slipped on the ice or snow.... So Saturday Sister Sharp and I were tracting in the blizzard (it has snowed everyday this week, were up to a foot or two of snow) and all the sudden I slipped and my elbow caught my fall... Ouch. Then like a minute later Sister Sharp fell. We could barley stay up it was so slick. I thought about how this relates to the gospel. In life we could be walking down the street and everything is fine and then all the sudden we can slip. That's like how in life sometimes trials come out of no where. We can be as prepared as we can like good snow boots, concentration, etc, but your still going to fall just like how we can be reading our scriptures, praying, and going to church, but we are still going to have trails. The great thing is, is that we have Jesus Christ right by our side to lift us up when we fall. He helps us get out of those trails in life and we just need to trust and rely on him. Man... I just love the gospel.

Walking through over 2 feet of snow with ice at the bottom
Not good!

Received a package from the Longhurst family in Kentucky
They are so nice

-  Okay MIRACLE this week! So we have been teaching Tage for a while now and he has been progressing really well and He was so excited to get baptized on Saturday. His birth mom (his family is divorced) is not a member and was against him getting baptized. Troy (his dad) was pleading with her to let him get baptized. So on Saturday his birth mom had custody of Tage and so we were all worried that she wouldn’t show up to the baptism and have Tage miss his own baptism. Well, Sister Sharp and I and the family have been fasting and praying all week that he could get baptized. I had to exercise a lot of faith and hope that God would help us and help another one of his sons Enter into this covenant and... HE DID! His Birth mom's heart was softened and she showed up and dropped him off (didn't even go inside though). It was a wonderful baptism and his brothers got to be baptized with him who were 8. It was so amazing to see his whole family come together after recently becoming active again in this church! God is truly there and he listens to all of us! I love miracles!!

Sister Sharp, Marissa, Tage, his brother and his father

Okay well that's it for this week! Sorry it's a little longer this week! I hope you all are doing well. I love this gospel and I know Jesus Christ is my savior and redeemer! It's great to be a missionary:)

Sister Lowe

Week 28 - New Area - Ben Lomond

Hello everyone!
So a ton has happened this week!

1. We had transfers on Tuesday, so Sister Schultz and I had to pack all of our stuff and move out of the apartment Tuesday morning. We made it to north Ogden (like an hour drive) and met our new companions. My new companion is Sister Sharp. She's been out for 6 weeks and is super sweet and nice! She's a two transfer missionary which means she’s only on a mission for two transfers to see if she can survive a mission. She was born with turner’s disease and is testing out a mission. So she will leave me at the end of this transfer. She's an awesome missionary though! Super diligent, hard-working, obedient, and positive! So I'm happy to be with her:)

2. So we live on the boarder of our mission boundaries! Like 10 minutes away is out of the mission. We can't even go to Walmart (even though it's so close) because it's in the Ogden mission...which really stinks but all well.

3. So the new area I am in is called Ben Lomond and everyone has told me it's a super hard area. When I got here I looked at the key indicators (stats on the area) and they were super super low...like no lessons at all in a week. So I was a bit scared going into this area. It's so different from USU where we would have like at least 10 member present lessons a week.

4. Also we had church this week and I forgot how loud family wards can be! Babies and kids everywhere! It was so weird not being in a YSA ward... I miss it, but family ward is good, the members are super nice here.

5. So Sister Sharp and I have been working super hard right at the start. I was determined this week to have better numbers and get more lessons in! We tract from morning till night. We have met some pretty rude people here though, we've had many doors slammed on us (which has never happened to me before), and I've heard the words "not interested" a billion times. Yep... It was definitely a harder week for me and an adjustment, but I'm trying my best to stay positive, and Sister Sharp helps a lot with that since she's been in the area already for 6 weeks!

6. So miracle!! On Wednesday we met this girl named Ashley. She said she doesn't know much about Mormons and wanted to learn more so she scheduled to meet with us on Friday at 1:30pm. So we went to her house and... No show. I was so sad because she was the only return appointment we got all week. Then like 2 hours later we got a call from a random number and I picked up the phone. It was Ashely!! She told us she accidentally fell asleep when putting her baby to sleep and was free right then. So we had a lesson with her!!! God is truly a God of miracles and that was the miracle of the week, to just even have one lesson!

7. So it snowed all week this week! Ogden for some reason has so much more snow! We tract all day so it can be a bit rough but at least the snow is pretty.

It's been kind of a hard week for me. It's been a big adjustment now being in a family ward. I just know that Heavenly Father is watching out for me here and as long as we have faith in him we can see miracles! I finished the Book of Mormon today and I started it when I got to the mission field. The Book of Mormon has brought me so much happiness and peace and I can't wait to read it again and again. I know it is the word of God and testifies of Christ throughout the entire book. I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Sister Lowe