This week has been SO FUN!  I get more and more obsessed with missionary work every day! We had such sweet experiences this week. The highlight of my week was Neil’s baptism. I couldn’t help but cry during the whole service. The spirit was just burning inside of me and filling my soul with joy! He bore such a precious testimony afterwards and I saw him cry for the first time. It was such a joyful experience! Yesterday, he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. I asked him how he felt after. He just looked at me with a smile and said “Everyone should have the Holy Ghost”. It is just the beginning of his spiritual journey! We are now preparing him for his callings and home teaching assignments, re-teaching him the lessons at members homes, preparing him to receive the Aaronic Priesthood then doing family history, then getting to go to the temple to do work for his parents and grandparents. He will be able to receive his Patriarchal blessing, continuing to study the Book of Mormon, Bible, Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine and Covenants, then in a year he will receive the Melchizedek Priesthood then his endowments in the temple! And, of course, we will continue to garden for him each week! I can’t wait! He will bless so many lives in this area. He is 78 and as sad as this sounds, he only has about 20 more years of life. I want to work as hard as I can to prepare him to be an amazing missionary in the spirit world and continue his journey to Christ, even after he leaves this earth! I love looking at photos of him from college and imagining what his spirit looks like!

It is so interesting how our bodies, minds and spirits all function separately and sometimes one has control over the others. It is my goal to unify all three to work together and accomplish Gods purpose for me. For example, sometimes my body is tired and weak but my spirit is strong and ready to work! So I follow my spirit within me. “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life eternal”. Although our bodies may age and our minds may be distressed, It is my testimony that as we listen to and follow our spirits, we will be able to do God’s will and be FILLED with peace and joy! Nothing is more satisfying! Anyway, although there is a lot to do with Neil, we still have 20+ investigators (although only half are really progressing because so many people are on and off vacations) and tons of potentials and lots off less active members and recent converts and members that need service and love. We are busy with community service and then we need to grow our teaching pool by tracting and talking to people on the streets and then there’s all the other “missionary stuff” we gotta do! SO LIFE IS CRAZY AND THERE IS NEVER A MINUTE TO REST besides sleeping haha. I kid you not, even during meal breaks, I am fervently writing in my journal. SO life is crazy busy and crazy awesome and the work is just exploding here! 😀 God is blessing us greatly. I love Him very much.

After the baptism on Saturday, we went into the chapel to do our personal studies for an hour.The chapel was dark except for some soft window lights. Sister Saunders played the piano and I sat in the middle of the church pews and just prayed and prayed with my whole soul and let everything out to Him. All my struggles, weaknesses, pains, all my joys and gratitude and wonderful experiences and blessings. I shared my thoughts and testimony with Him. I repented of all my mistakes and plead for forgiveness. I felt the weight of sin lift from my shoulders and I thanked Him for my Savior and told him how badly I missed Him. It was such a sweet experience to have that sacred time to talk to my Father in Heaven and have a little break from the busy schedule. I miss him so much at times, but it is my testimony that we WILL return to live with our Heavenly Father again and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. We will once again be wrapped in their embrace and look in their eyes and hear their soothing voice. It is my hope that I will hear the words “well done” when I am reunited with them. Until then, I know they are with me, and with each of you. Whether we realize it or not. They have never left our sides. They will never leave our sides. I know this to be true.