Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places: Week 66 - Latta, SC

Hello Family and Friends!

It's been an interesting week! Sister Parker and I were talking about how the days went by slow but the week went by so fast. Time is warped on the mission. I don't know how else to explain it.

Well, we had interviews with President Turner this week! I feel like it went pretty good. He did the interviews differently than President Holm. He asked us what we were studying, what our study methods were and what the most valuable thing we learned this week was. The interview was only about 10 minutes long. While Sister Parker was having her interview, I was talking to Sister Turner. I saw she had a picture of Sister Johnson and I asked how she was doing since I trained her. I guess she's still in West Columbia and she's training! I'm a Grandma! I never thought I'd live to see the day! I was excited for her!

We had a really good week with John. We finally got to meet with his wife, Faye and she's all on board! We've taught/re-taught the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ this week! Each lesson has gone really well, especially the Restoration. We brought Sister Weatherford with us to that lesson. She's a convert to the church and she used to be a part of the Holiness religion, which is what Faye's religious background is. The Spirit was so strong during that lesson! It was incredible! Then we went over last night with their next door neighbor and taught the Plan of Salvation! Faye said that everything makes sense and even John said that he learned something new! It was perfect!

So yesterday, we were just sitting in Sunday School while one of the elders started teaching the lesson. After about 10 minutes of teaching, his companion walked out of the room and this panicked look came across his face. So we got up to teach while he went after his companion. Before the mission, I don't think I could just pick up a spot in the lesson and start teaching. I would have been way too nervous. But it worked out really well for us yesterday! It was a great lesson about Charity. I'm glad that I've been able to learn how to teach while I've been out on my mission so I can be called upon in situations like that!

Here's some food for thought! Last night in our lesson with John and Faye, John started making a comment. He turned to his neighbor and said "I'm not sure if you've ever invited me to church..." and then continued on with saying how he's been going to a lot of different churches searching for the right one. That phrase stood out to me. How many people do we come in contact with, whether it's a neighbor or a co-worker that we can invite to learn more about the gospel? I want to invite y'all to pray for missionary opportunities and to have the courage to act on those spiritual promptings. We shouldn't be keeping anyone from having the chance to learn about the restored gospel!

Well that's about it for this week! I love y'all! Have a blessed week :)

- Sister Amy Christensen