Week #15

Howdy Y'all!! 

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. There are definitely not enough worlds in the dictionary to explain what happened this week haha! It has been insane. I think I have learned more this week then I have in my entire life. 

GOOD NEWS!!! Sister Bowen and I aren't getting transferred!! We are staying together in Palm Harbor!! We are super excited to be staying here. Our ward is awesome and we are finally building up our teaching pool. Six weeks later and we are figuring out how to do things, which makes being a missionary so fun. One thing that I really learned from this last transfer is when trials come our way to look at the bigger picture. God has a perfect plan for each one of us which means when we are faced with a trial our Heavenly Father needs us to grow! I have a firm testimony that trails help us to get out of our comfort zone and progress. 

Tuesday we tracted by the water. Oh it was so beautiful! Funny story here in Florida you can have a million dollar home next to a trailer home. This was something that was kind of weird getting use to. We decided that we wanted to use our time more wisely so we drove to a park and started contacting. We talked to a lot of great people, but no return appointments so far. We still had faith that there would be someone in the park that would want to listen. It was almost time to head home when the spirit simply said go talk to her. There was a young girl sitting under the tree reading a book. We stopped and said hello and started talking to her. Her name is Rose! She has been around Mormons her whole life and said that she was interested in learning more. I noticed that the Book she had been reading was Mormonism for dummies. Haha a coincident I think not! We taught the restoration and set a baptismal date  SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON CHRISTMAS!! I knew that the Lord had prepared her. The most valuable thing I learned is that we are not here to prove anything. We are here to simply share what we know to be true and what makes us truly happy! When we do that those who are ready for the gospel will act on your testimony that you share with them. The best part is that she had been prepared by all of us. As Latter Day Saints it is our responsibility to reach out to those who are thirsting for this gospel. We don't have to ask them to be baptized right on the spot. Just leading by example can change someone's life who is sitting right next to you! 

Thursday we got a call during weekly planning informing us that we would be moving apartments! We were a little bummed this happened right before Christmas. We are the only set of missionaries in our ward right now because of the new zone that was created. Which meant there was an open apartment in our area, where the Elders use to live. About two months ago one of the Elders went home for medical reasons which meant his companion got emergency transferred. There hadn't been anyone living there for two months. We were a little bit nervous because the Elders in past had commented on bugs in the apartment. But we knew that this is what we needed to do so we began to pack and clean and pack some more. Friday morning we had a few lessons fall through. We came back and finished cleaning. 

Saturday we had a lesson with Rose!! She is amazing. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet last lesson and she read the whole thing and studied the recommended scriptures. She ended up teaching us the whole time. It is incredible to see the gospel of Jesus Christ bless someone's life. I was so impressed by her desire to read the scriptures. I got to witness that sacred moment. I'm reminded often how sacred this work is. We are excited to keep teaching her and helping her come closer to her Savior Jesus Christ. The moving Elders were suppose to be at our apartment at 1:00 to help us move to the new apartment. Well they didn't show up until 6:00.... it took us about until 8:30 to load everything up and make sure the apartment was looking good. We got over to the new apartment around 8:45 and started to unload. The Elders opened the door and this huge woof of.... I don't even know how to describe the smell. Sister Bowen and I went in to inspect for bugs. The very first drawer we opened had a huge cockroach. We opened the dishwasher and another cockroach. They Elders moved all our stuff in and most of the old furniture out. When all was said and done it was around 9:00. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and all the food was packed. We headed over to good old Walmart to buy a sandwich and some bug traps. When we got back to the apartment we realized how bad the problem actually was. There were bugs and cockroach waste everywhere. There was also a hot iron that had been plugged in and was on for the last two months. We have no idea how the apartment wasn't in flames. Since the Elders got emergency transferred there had been food left in the fridge for the last two months. I lifted up a gallon of curdled milk and boom another cockroach. That was the last straw. We called our STL'S and stayed the night in their apartment. 

We made a few calls and talked to the senior couple who is over apartments and they went and checked it out Sunday evening. We had to get all of our personal stuff out so it wouldn't get infested with bugs. Our old ward mission leader came and we loaded everything in his truck. So basically we are homeless right now. We don't really have an address right now because we have no idea how long we will be here. It was so funny because the Alexanders stopped by and the first thing he said about the apartment was it looks like it could use a fresh coat of paint. We were a little surprised that he didn't look at the cockroach waste. Sister Bowen and I had a good laugh at that one.

This week has been amazing. I'm so grateful for this gospel and how happy it really can make each one of us. I know my Savior lives and that he builds us up when we are weak. I hope you all have an amazing week. The church is so true an never forget that!! 

Love, 

Sister Graham 

2 Nephi 20:31