11/16-11/22

Hello, hello!

Wow, time is flying.

This week was great! :) 

Monday-- Sister Sargeant took some pictures of Sister Long and I for Christmas in Hart Park! It was so fun!!

We had a lesson with Jesse at the Burdick's, but we had the elder's that cover the area where he lives come and teach the lesson too, so we could have a smooth transition over to them! It was really great! :) Sad we don't get to teach him, but happy that he's going to be really progressing! (Great news we got Sunday--> Jesse went to church in his home ward!! And he loved it!)

Tuesday-- We had exchanges with the Brimhall sisters, and I went with Sister Newhouse! :) She's the cutest human hahaha I just love her. Sister Hillhouse fed us some tacos that were bomb! The Mahan's (a part member family that we had dinner with recently) came to Tuesday night splits!!! It was awesome! Aly is 17 and came with Sister Newhouse and I and it was a success. Someone gave us cake and everything haha!

We had a lesson with Brian about the law of chastity and it went really well! Brooke and Cody came, and they are AWESOME. So powerful having them in lessons! :)

Wednesday-- We got a voicemail from an investigator telling us she didn't want us to come back, awkwardly the same time we were knocking on her door... hahaha our lives are so awkward.

We set up a lesson with Tiffany and her family for the next day at 6pm!

We had dinner at the LIVINGSTON'S! :) love love love their family. They made CAFE RIO BURRITOS. My favorite.

Then we got to go visit Sondra! (She went into a chemical detox program at the hospital across town, for some issues she was having with some medication. We got permission from President Wilson to go see her!) The only people who are allowed to visit anyone in that specific hospital is religious clergy... That's us! :) It was super intense. We had to go through security and we couldn't bring anything in with us besides our car keys and a Book of Mormon and some pamphlets. We even had to take the staples out of our pamphlets! I felt like I was in a movie. It was awesome. Sondra was SO HAPPY TO SEE US!!! We had an awesome visit with her and got to pray with her. She told us she knows it's all true!!!! :) SO AMAZING.

We got in the car after visiting Sondra, and President called us and told Sister Long she was getting released as an STL and getting transferred... :( We are so sad to be parting!!!

Thursday-- We got to do service for the Food Bank for a food drive! We went to down town Bakes and held up signs and waved to people to have them donate food to the food bank! It was pretty fun!

I planned for the first week of my last transfer.... so weird.

We had some interested soup stuff at the Knepp's! They were making this soup from Honduras for a cook book trial thingy. It was super good! 

We had the James come with us to Tiffany's for the lesson... and apparently they forgot, because they said they would call us when it's good for them. After that we had a great visit with the James though! Such a great family! :) It was kind of a weird day, because Brian cancelled too, and it was last minute, and we can't knock doors when it's dark, so we visited with Janessa Haney and answered some questions she had about the Book of Mormon. She's so awesome! She joined the church a little over two years ago.

Friday-- We picked up Sister Olsen at the Mission home for the day! Her companion was going to the departing temple trip, so we had her for the day! It was flipping early when we picked her up, so we hit up some Krispy Kreme's on the way home! :)

We went to a lesson with Sister Olsen, for their area, and his name was Anthony. He's 16 and had his baptismal interview after our lesson. He's AWESOME! Him and his buddies remind me of Mason haha. They are so awesome. Sister Olsen had his two friends bear their testimony in the lesson, and it was so powerful. Anthony's life is DEFINITELY changed for the better by those two. Such good friends.

Then we went to a lesson with Kyle and Kaylee Burton and it went really well! We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they are little sponges. They love learning! Sister James and Lauren came with us and Lauren and Kaylee do choir together, so they got a long really well! Lauren asked if she could come to the next lesson. :)

Then we had dinner at Brooke and Cody's and Mike and Sondra came too! It was sooooo good! We watched the Restoration video with them, and they loved it. Sondra is so great! Oh yeah, Sondra got out of her program right before they came to dinner! She told all of us that she smoked her very last cigarette before dinner, and she wasn't going to buy anymore! She's officially quit!!! :)

Saturday-- We went over a program to help Mike and Sondra stop smoking and get through their urges to smoke. They expressed that they were super tight on money and wouldn't be able to afford to buy the foods and toothpaste and stuff that would help them quit. We called Sister Despain and asked if she could help us out, she is so awesome! She told us she would meet us that night at Walmart to get everything they needed!

Mike and Sondra and Brian made it to Anthony's baptism!!! THEY CAME TO A BAPTISM! :) It was soooo awesome! So happy they were able to make it. 

After that, we met sweet, sweet Sister Despain at Walmart and then delivered the goods to the Fortner's that night. They were so touched! It was such a neat experience in serving someone in that way, with something they really needed! They were so excited!

Sunday-- Sondra and Brian and Brother Mayfield made it to church!!!! So legit!!! :) They were just able to stay for Sacrament meeting, but that's okay, they made it!

The rest of the day, was saying goodbyes for Sister Long, since she is getting transferred. 

I taught the Gospel Principles class on the Gathering of Scattered Israel. It was super hard to teach about, and I felt like it was a flop. Haha but whatever happened, I hope the other's got as much as I got out of it. The whole time I was studying for it, I just kept thinking about the Allegory of the Olive Tree in the Book of Mormon, Jacob chapter 5. Before my mission, I didn't quite understand this allegory.. it's long, and hard to understand. While I was teaching the lesson, the spirit testified to me about the truthfulness of God's grand plan for His children. This quote, engulfs my feelings about this Allegory and the Gathering of Scattered Israel.

"There is much more here than simply the unraveling of convoluted Israelite history. Of greater significance in this allegory is the benevolent view of God that it provieds. He is protrayed here as one who repeatedly, painstakingly, endlessly tries to save the work of His hands and in moment sof greatest disappointemnt holds His head in His hands and weeps, 'what could I have done more for my vineyard?' This allegory is a declaration of divine love, of God's unceasing effort as a father laboring on behalf of His children. As one writer noted, 'Zenos's allegory ought to take its place beside the parable of the prodigal son. Both stories make the Lord's mercy so movingly memorable.'" {Jeffrey R. Holland}

I'm so grateful to be in the service of my Lord and Savior. I wouldn't change being His servant in this part of His vineyard for anything. The time is drawing nigh where Jesus Christ will come again. It's obvious with what is going on in the world. What greater time to live, than now, when the Lord is hastening His work and gathering His children who will listen to the Spirit and enter into covenants with Him. I hope we can all honor our covenants we've made with our loving, and ever merciful Heavenly Father. This work is His. He is the grand Architect and He will keep His promises with His covenant people. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the true and living church of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Wearing a name tag with His name, has brought the greatest amount of joy, and responsibility I've ever felt in my life. Let's share the greatest of all gifts with everyone this holiday season. What gift do you want to give back to the Savior?

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Loar

xoxo