WEEK #4

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!
This has been thee craziest week yet. I don't even know where to start. This week has been full of ups and downs. I think thee hardest thing about my mission so far is saying good bye to people that you love. I definitely have such an appreciation for the MTC  and my district. It's crazy how you can become so close to those you have only known for a short few weeks. I don't have much time but I'll try and share a few highlights from this week. Monday night we said our "see you laters" to our teachers and district. It was hard but it's also so amazing to know that we are all going exactly where Heavenly Father needs us to go. Unfortunately we had some bad news early that day. Sister Cook has this infection in her foot that is keeping her in the MTC for the next couple of weeks. Please keep her in your prayers that her foot will be able to heal quickly!

Tuesday morning we woke up at 2 a.m. to be over to the travel office at 3:00 man it was definitely an early morning!! Our bus left around 4:00 to the SLC airport. Sister Barkdull was our travel leader, she's honestly the best. She was in charge of all the plane tickets and getting people where they needed to be. We got to the airport around 5:00 checked our bags in and then the adventures to Tampa began. The best part about the airport was that I got to talk to my family. Ahh I love you guys!! We boarded our plane and Sister Suman and I were just so excited for this new journey ahead but also a little bit nervous because we we're going to get new companions. When we landed in Tampa you could just feel the moisture in the air. Seriously so crazy. I don't think I have ever felt so nervous in my entire life. When we got off the plane we met our mission President and his wife. Oh my goodness oh my goodness I love them with my whole heart. They had thee biggest smiles on their faces and just made me feel right at home. Sister Suman, Sister Barkdull and I had the opportunity to ride in their car with them back to the mission home. As we talked I realized that the Lord calls you to your mission president. He gave us the best advice and words of encouragement. When we got to the mission home we ate the greatest meal with the greatest people. I'm sure going to miss Sister Suman!!
We stayed at a hotel Tuesday night and we had a huge long talk with the AP's about being on time to work out in the morning. Oh don't you worry guys, guess who's alarm didn't go off... That's right this girl. We woke up in the morning to a knock on the door! I yelled to sister Barkdull and and I swear she jumped out of her bed faster than a cheetah! We both were so embarrassed. But don't you worry our AP's got us back with the work out. This was thee hardest work out of my entire life. Let alone the fact that it's humid and super hard to breath outside. Elder Menlove is in the military and made us do one of his military work outs! Haha it was quite the sight.

Wednesday was the big day. We got to meet our trainers and find out what areas we would be serving in. My trainers name is Sister Martin oh she is wonderful and very spunky. We are serving in Palm Harbor area which is super close to the water. When President Cooper called our new companionships I started crying. I was so excited to start serving and get to work but it was hard to leave my two very best friends. Sister Suman and Sister Barkdull were my rock through the MTC. But once again Heavenly Father reminded me that it's only for a short little while, And that he had other plans for me. That's why I am serving a mission! In times of sorrow the gospel will always give you peace and comfort! Wednesday was a crazy crazy day! The drivers here are nuts. I thought Utah drivers were bad until I came to Florida. Haha everyone weaves in and out of each other, slams on my their breaks and honks their horns. Super sketchy! We got everything settled, dropped some sisters off and then we had a teaching appointment. I was super nervous because this was the very first lesson in the field. Our investigators name is Leslie. She is 19 yrs old and has a thee cutest 1 yrs old daughter. She told us right off the bat that she wanted to get baptized! Like WHAT.... So so awesome. The only problem is that she doesn't have a religious back ground which means we had to teach very simply. It definitely pushed me and helped me to rely on the spirit. I've learned a lot by watching Sister Martin teach. Leslie doesn't understand a lot and doesn't remember a lot, but the one thing she does understand is that Heavenly Father loves her! I'm excited to keep teaching her. We invited her to come to church on Sunday and guess what... She came! We were so excited, and the best part was the Ward was so loving towards her.

Thursday we biked to our investigators. The area we cover is pretty big, and the elders that were in our area just got moved, so we have lots of people  to talk to and work to do! Fun fact about biking in Florida is that you instantly get super super hot and sweaty haha :) We barley bike out of our apartment complex and there is this lady sitting at the bus stop. Her bike was laying on the sidewalk so we stopped and asked if we could say a prayer with her. She went psycho crazy on us and started yelling at the top of her lungs that we worship Satan and that she didn't need a prayer from us. It actually really scared me but my companion handled it really well and we went on our way. The funny thing was I wasn't offended or mad but I had this love for a lady I just met off the street. I realized that this was an attribute of the Savior. I wished more than anything that we could have shared message with her, but I knew that lord had a different plan for her. Later Thursday night Sister Martin had an STL meeting she had to go to with the zone leaders. The funny thing was the other STL is in a different companionship. So we got to go on splits. The awesome thing was Sister Bowen ( a sister I knew from the MTC) was the sister I got to go on splits with. We are both greenies in the field haha that's what they call us out here. Our companions told us we needed to go tracting and try and find people to teach. I was so scared. Sister Bowen and I just cried to each other because we had no idea what we were even doing. I had been tracting earlier that day for about 3 hours but Sister Martin did all the talking and I just smiled and nodded my head. But we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help us learn and grow and give us strength. We knocked on our first door and the man told us to get off his property. We knocked on every door in the neighborhood and the same thing over and over, " sorry we're not interested." It was getting dark so Sister Bowen and I decided to start walk home when all of a sudden the spirit told me to stop and wait. A lady got out of her car and opened her trunk. I walked over and asked if she needed any help taking her groceries in. She had tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong. She answered "I can't do this anymore!" My heart began to hurt for her as she explain that she has suffered from breast cancer for the past year. As I got to know Vicky we began to teach her about the restoration. We asked her if she knew that God loved her and she bore the most beautiful testimony on faith and how she knows that God is the only one that has helped her through this hard year. We asked if we could come back and share another message and she agreed. As we left her house I thanked Heavenly Father for rewarding me with an opportunity to teach her. I learned that when get out of our comfort zone we are able to grow.

Saturday was the general women's broadcast and I was so grateful that I was able to watch. Sister Clawson a Sister in the Ward picked us up and took us to the church. In our mission we only have 5 Ward building, so we have to drive about 25 minutes to get to the church. This is something that really hit me hard. Living in Utah you see a Ward building every mile. The joy and peace I felt when I say the church was something I'll never forget. I definitely took for granted growing up in a place where you can walk to church. This broadcast was one I'll never forget. Prescient Uchtdorf's talk was amazing. As we tracted this week it was long and hot and it seemed like no one wanted to listen. But like he said when we give it everything we got the Lord will reward us!

Sunday I got the opportunity to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting as the new missionary in the Ward. One of my favorite scriptures In the Book of Mormon is (2 Nephi 31:20)! Nephi is teaching us about the importance of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. In verse 20 it talks about feasting upon the word of Christ and enduring to the end. I love when it talks about feasting. When we feast upon the word it allows the Lord to bless us in ways we never could have even imagined. I love you all and hope that you have thee greatest week ever. I love being a missionary and I love my Savior Jesus Christ and his gospel!
Love,
Sister Kenzie Graham