10/6/14

Ok folks buckle up! I have way too much to tell you in such a short amount of time but I’m going to try anyway. Now these are not in order of importance haha it's ALL important! :) OK SO First of all transfers...I am staying in Henryetta and Sister Gregson is leaving!!! :( I'm going to miss her so much! Seriously, she is so stinking hilarious and she was the breath of fresh air I needed. I am going to miss her crazy hippie ways and her random tangents about food and the troubles of society haha. BUT! You'll never guess where she's going........BERRYVILLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT??!!!!! My mind is BLOWN! :D I have been telling her this whole transfer about it and how I LOVE it and how Arkansas sunsets are better than Oklahoma sunsets haha and I kept telling her that I hoped she'd get to serve there eventually and BAM! She's headed there next! Wow! Haha I love how Heavenly Father works :) We basically trained and pumped each other up for each other’s areas and stayed together long enough to become best friends and now we must go on our merry ways haha. Gosh I wish I could keep her around but if there is anyone that I'd find acceptable enough to turn Berryville over to, it's her :) I love it! Also, Mom she's from Seattle so when we're done with our trip to Harry potter world we're gonna swing by Seattle because you know I love it and you love it too so now Cass just needs to love it haha! :) Anyway on to the next! Elder Allred, one of the Elders that I served with while I was in Charleston (he was in Greenwood and we shared the Greenwood ward) will be coming into my district this transfer!!!! I am SO excited!!! He's like a long lost brother and I've missed that kid! Not to mention he's hilarious :) SO excited! That just made my life when I heard that because sometimes it's a little awkward being in a district with all elders besides your companion but he'll clear that up right quick! Speaking of only sisters...we're losing our 3rd companionship of sisters from our zone thanks to transfers so there's only me and my companion (whom I don't know..The zone leaders forgot her name haha) and one other set of sisters in a zone of about 30 other elders...yay. Talk about minority haha. Now speaking of Greenwood.....holy cow do I have news for you guys. SO! I got a call from Sister Vendel yesterday night and as per usual I LOVE talking to her and I miss her sooooooo much. BUT! She had some news for me. When I was serving in Charleston there were some people we were teaching with the Elders, you may remember them the Eaton's/ weavers??? I wrote about them! Anyway! Before I left Charleston they had planned on getting married in March and they told me they'd come and get me so I could be there well...things happened and the wedding was pushed back. WELL! THE WEDDING AND BAPTISM ARE ON FOR THIS SATURDAY!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! AND! Sister Vendel has taken matters into her own hand haha and already talked to sister Hardgrave her bff that lives here and they'll be meeting half way and dropping me off to spend the night in Charleston to see the wedding and baptism!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT????!!!! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN STAND IT!!! I've missed Charleston sooooo much and then I get to go back and see my first people I taught get baptized ahhhhh! CRAZY! Man! I have been praying that Heavenly Father would send me things to make me happy and holy cow did he ever :) I just can't even believe it. And that's not even it! Sister Gregson and I had THE biggest miracle ever happen the other day. The other day we were sitting in the car and we were talking to our Sister Training leader and we were talking to her about how we were frustrated because we felt like we were surrounded by the prepared but that we couldn't seem to find them. We told her we weren't having any luck finding any new investigators and she told us to stop and pray and ask Heavenly Father to help us find someone new to teach. Well, as she's saying this a man walks up and sits on a bench in front of our car and we turn to each other and tell her "ok we thing we may have found someone". So we quickly said a prayer that Heavenly Father would help us find someone new to teach and if it was to be this man that things would go well. Then we get out of the car and HE starts talking to us! He asked what church we were from and who we were going to go teach. "Me? " he asked. And all we said was "Yep!" "Ok" he said. "You've got 10 minutes before I have to go back to work". So, we proceeded to tell him about the Book of Mormon and about how we have a living prophet on the earth today and how he was actually going to be speaking to the whole world and that we'd love for him to come and see what the prophet had to say. He asked us what time church started and said "Here's my name and number. I'll be there Sunday. And thanks for the book, I love reading. And they would you mind leaving me with a prayer before you leave". We just laugh and stare at each other like "Ummm ya hahah that would be ok" And we left! Isn't that amazing??? Seconds after, actually not even after. WHILE we were talking and hoping to find someone new and prepared to teach, Heavenly Father literally drops a man right in our path. WOW. That moment right there has changed me forever. Sometimes I forget that God WANTS us to find the prepared. He WANTS us to find success and he WANTS us to ask him for help. I have learned to trust in him and the promise he gives over 100 times in the scriptures "ask and ye shall receive". So, when life gets dark and dreary and you feel like you're never going to find anyone to teach, don't forget to pray. :) He is near and he hears our prayers. Holy miracle :) Now to wrap things up. General Conference. Oh. My. Goodness. Spiritual feast.  WOW! I am so blessed to be able to watch conference 3 times while I'm out here and I have to say I've never gotten more out of conference than I did this past weekend. It really hit me that we seriously are so unbelievably blessed to have a modern day prophet. Like RIGHT NOW. I have taken advantage of this fact my whole life and it took me until now, being stranded in little town in Oklahoma miles away from home and basically all civilization haha to realize this! We literally NEVER have to feel lost or confused about ANY topic of life or whatever! God speaks to us ALL the time through President Monson and the other authorities of the church. I have never felt more comforted and blessed to know that God speaks to us then now. There are so many times when I feel lost or confused and unsure of God's expectations of me, but now I know I just have to listen to the words of the prophets. I just have to follow their counsel and I'm golden! And as far as knowing how God feels towards me, the prophet talks about that too!  What a comfort it was to hear multiple people speak of God's love for his children. That as long as we're trying our best to do our best and keep the commandments, he is proud of us. There is NOTHING that can stop God from loving us. It's a fact. God WILL ALWAYS love us. I am so grateful for the gospel and for the resource of a modern day prophet. I invite everyone to read and watch and follow the counsel given by the prophets and apostles. The talks are all online at lds.org. Take advantage of it! You will experience a peace and a comfort that can't be found anywhere else. PHEW! I think that's all. :) Man! Can I just say I love this gospel! :)  I have never done anything more difficult or scary in my life than serving a mission BUT! I have never found more peace or happiness either. I know this is God's work that I'm blessed to be a part of and I hope I remember EVERYDAY, the love and the concern he has for each of his children so that I may share with them the message of his heart. That Christ lives and that through him we may return to our Father in Heaven to live in happiness forever if we just "come unto him".

Love you forever,

Sister Andrea Moreno