Little Dot's Grand Adventures: Freezing in Maine!

Were you able to do contacts and tracting like normal last week during the big freeze?

Yeah a little bit but it was super cold so most people only opened their door a crack.

Yeah we had exchanges on Wednesday and Thursday and it was bitter outside as we went tracting. The Elders called and said that the wind chill was going to be -30 degrees! It killed and made your eyes water! Today we got up and looked outside and it was snowing.

Have you been able to find any new possibles/investigators?

YES! So our one investigator, S is doing awesome and we finally met her husband and she invited him to join us in our lessons and he said sure! During exchanges Sis. B went with the other Sister there and read the Book of Mormon and she had a lot of questions and was excited and they had her say the closing prayer and she was just so happy. Then...

How does the member missionary program work in your ward? Do you ever get member referrals?

We got a referral from Bishop named M. We got it on Friday then went to contact her on Saturday. She let us right in and was sooo happy to see us.We talked to her about her religious background and what she wants and how we are here to be her guides to help her come closer to Christ. She said that that is what she wants and she wants to change her life. So I extended a soft baptismal commitment and she said yes! Then she said she wanted to come to church and meet with us twice a week! She came to church yesterday and loved it! She stayed for all three hours and is excited to meet with us on Tuesday and Thursday. She also already knows that in order to be baptized she has to quit smoking, stop drinking coffee and get married to the guy she is living with. So she is already trying to quit coffee and cigarettes and is engaged just so she can get baptized!

Did anything in particular happen this week that strengthened your testimony?

So we had to teach the Gospel Principles class again and it was the first lesson which is about Heavenly Father. We had someone read one of the paragraphs in the book about how God is a Father to us. Well there was this one less active in there who said "I don't believe that. He hasn't provided for me." Sis B and I stood in silent shock for a second and then Sis B bore her testimony about how he loves us as we would love our own kids. She didn't respond so I also bore my testimony about how I know He is there for all of us. I don't remember what I said but I do remember how I felt. I could feel Him using me as His mouthpiece to tell this lady that there is a God and that He loves her. It was kind of interesting because I just looked right into her eyes as I talked and when I finally broke eye contact after I finished she looked down and let out a huge breath of air as if she were holding her breath. It was intense. At least I know that if I anything I can bare testimony that there is a God and He is our loving Heavenly Father.

Now that you are braver and eating all kinds of new things, has there been anything that surprised you lately or that was way different from what you usually eat?

I had deer stew with sweet potatoes and prunes in it. I also tried coleslaw and I still don't like it. I'm not picky at all.

If you could give one piece of advice to young men and young women considering serving a mission, what would it be?

If you truly want to grow in your testimony, come closer to God, change people's lives, and find the real best you then go on a mission. As soon as you get that confirmation to go don't hesitate, don't question it just go. Because the time you waste questioning it is the time that the adversary will come and tell you that you aren't good enough to go. You won't regret it

What is your favorite part about serving in Maine?

The people and the opportunities.
The other day we got to go give a presentation about our church with the Senior Sisters to a group of women at the Episcopal church. It went great! They had a lot of questions and some had even read from the Book of Mormon. The lady who invited us even testified about how even though she hadn't read it all the way through she knew that it was a divinely inspired book and not written by mere man! They told us that everyone loved it. They also said to give them a week and a half to process it and then they would have us back!

That awkward moment when....

... you lose the phone twice... Ok, so our phone just liked to slide off Sister Bee’s lap this week as we got in and out of the car.

I think I am getting transferred at the end of the month :( Whenever a missionary is about to get transferred they can tell and there are some signs of it too.

1. Everyone keeps asking if I am leaving

2. I feel like I am leaving (feeling like I have to rush and all of the sudden have all these ideas for the area, I keep telling Sister Bee things to do after I am gone, it's changed from "If I leave" to "When I leave")

3. All of the sudden our area went from kind of dead to having 2 progressing investigators and almost another one (Normally when a missionary leaves their area it is all of the sudden booming. Ex. when I left Manch we all of the sudden had 5 investigators)

Aahhhh!!!! So much has happened this week and I wasn’t even able to share much of it with you before running out of time.

Love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See you in 8 ½ months.

Sorry I didn't send pictures last week. To make up for it her are some from the last two weeks.