Week 8

Miracles! Miracles! Miracles!
 We've had so many breakthroughs with our investigators and I can't thank 
Heavenly Father enough for all His help and for answering all of our prayers! 
We've been having people that we've been seeing forever finally getting their 
prayers answered and finally seeing how important and how true this Gospel 
really is.  
One has the hardest time coming to church and we were finally able to introduce 
him to some members and for the first time he's expressing that sincere desire 
to come to church and open up about how he feels about the Gospel.
 The other loves the Spirit that we bring in her home, but has been having a 
hard time accepting the Restoration. We sat down with her yesterday and watched 
the Restoration DVD with her. The Spirit was so strong and she had no words to 
describe how she felt. She is so excited to come to church with us this Sunday. 
Best experience of the mission so far:   We received a referral from an elder 
who served in this area a while ago, so Friday we went to the house, but no one 
was home. So we're walking across the yard back to the car and the guy drives up 
- right there. So we're awkwardly standing in his yard, behind a closed gate, I 
might add, and he just happens to drive up right then and there. Just imagine 
the awkwardness.  Let it burn a little. Fun times.
    But he immediately got out of his truck and was like "Well isn't this the 
most beautiful sight ever?!" He was so welcoming and so excited that we were 
there, his name is Larry and he is the most amazing person ever. He is SO 
RIDICULOUSLY ready to receive the Gospel!
    He told us about how he had never read the Bible, but once a preacher had 
handed him a copy and he said that as soon as he had it in his hands, he felt 
this tingling feeling in his chest and he didn't know what it was, but it felt 
good. We had an answer for what that was.
    He also was telling us about how sometimes he has this awful guilt for 
things he did in the past and he didn't know what to do about it and he 
sometimes doesn't feel like a good father or husband because of that. He 
proceeded to ask us if that was normal to feel that kind of pain and how to not 
feel that guilt anymore. We had an answer for that.
    We talked for a while with him and we was saying how he felt like he was 
going through the motions and he was at a time in his life where he just needed 
some peace and he didn't know where to find it. We had an answer for that.
    He's going through a hard time right now and has a lot of hard choices to 
make and he was asking us if it would be okay if he asked God for help with 
that. We had an answer for that.
    He also was talking about how he believes that God has an order for 
everything. He looked at us so sincerely and asked if we had been sent to him 
for a reason. He was like "What if I had spent an extra five minutes at the 
store on my way home from work? You would've already stopped by and then left. 
Do you think it was just a coincidence that I came home right before you had 
left?" We also had an answer for that.

   This is a Gospel of peace. This is a Gospel of answers. And this is the 
Gospel of truth. We have all the answers we'll ever need and we have a Father in 
Heaven who is watching out for all of us. He had been preparing Larry for almost 
50 years for the moment where he'd find Sister Conley and Sister Carr in his 
front yard. I CANNOT imagine living in this world for 50 years and not knowing 
where to turn to, or where to find peace and happiness. I can't even describe 
how much I love this Gospel. I'm so grateful that we have those answers that 
these people are looking for. Can you imagine if we had been talking with him 
and didn't know how to help him or what to say to him? I usually get super 
nervous when I teach, but the entire story of the Restoration came out perfectly 
and I know for a fact that that wasn't me speaking to him. I wouldn't have been 
able to do it. I'm so grateful for the Spirit, it'd be impossible to do anything 
without it.
   I'm grateful that a 14 year old farm boy decided to act on his faith and ask 
his Father in Heaven for guidance. We watched the Restoration with an 
investigator yesterday and I've never felt the Spirit so strong. I think of Dad 
everytime I see the Smith's split wooden fence and it's always a reminder to me 
of how so beyond blessed I am to have parents who lived their faith by example 
and passed the blessings the Gospel on to me. I'm so grateful for the peace that 
comes with knowing that I get to be with that family for all eternity.
    I'm grateful for a Father in Heaven who answers our prayers and has given us 
the blessing to live in this day and age where we have the fullness of His 
everlasting Gospel. I'm grateful for a Savior who gave us the chance to find 
peace and happiness in this life. He lives and leads this Church. I'm grateful 
for the Book of Mormon. I've never realized how amazing it was until I came out 
here and had to bear my testimony of it 20 times a day. It's true! It's true! 
It's true! It's my favorite thing ever to hand someone a Book of Mormon and 
promise them that if they read it and pray about it, they'll also know it's true 
because I know how real that promise is and how much it will strengthen their 
faith in Christ. Uhhhh, I just can't get enough of it. I love you all!
Love, Sista Carr