Week #44

HAPPY 4th OF JULY everyone!

Hope you all have a wonderful time BBQ and watching fire works today!
I was thinking about it this morning how incredible it is that we have
the opportunity to be free and not only that but to have the ability
to worship freely! God really does have his hand in everything. I am
so grateful that I get to serve my mission in the states.

Well hmm what even happened this week? We've met some amazing people,
have thee best ward ever, and are loving the sunshine. We have been
working with a few less actives in the ward  which has really taught
me a lot about repentance and how real our Saviors Atonement is!

We have been in a trio for a good chunk of the week with a Sister who
is from the Tampa Zone. Sister Graff is companions with Sisters Bowen
and Lesuma! We have had a lot of fun adventures on campus with all the
incoming freshman. None of them know who missionaries are! It's
awesome to see how receptive they are to the gospel.

We met a girl named Irem, she is from Turkey, at the church this
past week. We were walking out to go onto campus and she was sitting
in the lobby of the church at 8:00 at night. We got to know her for a
little bit. She came to the church to help with cleaning and to practice
her English. She is here in Florida until the end of August. The cool
thing was we were able to have a lesson with her and she came to
church on Sunday and loved it. Yesterday we had a lesson and Sister
Cooper was able to come with us. She is thee greatest women ever. Her
and President have made such an impact in my life. She bore a powerful
testimony on the love of our Heavenly Father. Irem really started to
understand that God isn't just some all powerful being who watched
over us, but He is our father and He loves us. He knows us perfectly!

We had a lesson with Elias on Friday and we thought it was going
really well. The spirit was strong. What we didn't realize is that the
night before at the New Testament institute class they were talking
about pretty deep doctrine. Well Elias is still on the restoration and
trying to gain a testimony of Joseph Smith and all of the deep
doctrine really confused him. At the end of our lesson on Friday he
told us that he needed a few days to think about everything and study!
We were pretty bummed because he asked us not to text him, but three
days later we get a text from him asking if we could meet up. Miracles
happen everyday. He had so many questions. He has felt that the Book
of Mormon and bible contradict each other. We helped resolve some of
his questions and he said he would continue reading the Book of
Mormon! We are going to read with him tonight and hopefully he will be
able to feel at peace. He is awesome and still really wants to get
baptized!

My love for the scriptures has grown so much over the last 10 months.
There is nothing that describes the spirit that comes from the Book of
Mormon. Ether 12 is a gold mine. While I was reading this week I came
across the famous Ether 12:6! Heavenly Father is always there to help
us but sometimes it isn't until after the trial of our faith that we
receive the things that we need. Keep going, keep pushing, and know
that good things are always to come! Thanks for all of y'all! Love you
tons and have thee best 4th of July ever!

Love,
Sister Kenzie Graham

We tried to make cookie dough because it was that kind of a day! Well
somehow we messed up the recipe because we didn't have any eggs. It
turned into us experimenting, coloring the dough for the holiday, and
microwaving it! You could say they were thoroughly disgusting!