I Got "Pushed" Off the Porch into Bushes!

Happy Tuesday!

Wow, I don't think I've ever been so excited for a P-day, probably because I'm so used to them on Mondays and I desperately needed a break to rest and not be go, go, go for one day out of the week.

Earlier this week we were running out of the door and I got the prompting to go grab my lotion off my desk to lotion my legs in the car. I ignored it, but then it came back again so I did what I was told. In the car, I found out that I had a tick on my leg! GAH. I was grossed out, and I had get help from Sister Brooks and her tweezers to pull it out. I had to report it to Sister Lake who is the nurse for all missionaries, and she said she's glad I noticed it early so I wouldn't get Lyme Disease. Oh fun!

We were trying to teach W. about the Word of Wisdom this week, and he lied to us saying he read the pamphlet about it and he compared it to Matthew 4. He ended up dodging us at least two times while rescheduling and leaving notes saying that he was out to dinner with his family even though we double checked to see if he would be there. We popped in on him Sunday before church and we were finally able to figure out what's been happening with him. We're guessing that the family he's been seeing last week (his niece graduated) has been telling him lies about the church such as LDS are rich white folk in the West and mostly in Utah, and it goes on. Sister Warner and I were able to clear a LOT of things up, and it really surprises me that people believe everything that they're told and they don't go straight to the source. He doesn't want to be baptized anymore, but we're going to go over the Restoration with him again because he asked us why there are so many churches on Earth, which the Restoration answers. He's going to physical therapy a lot for his arm so we don't get to see him as often as we like.

I also forgot to mention that I don't have celiac disease, woo hoo!

We're getting a lot of investigators (and former investigators) that are interested in learning more about our beliefs, but they are almost always too busy to meet with us once a week, and a lot of them say that we can come back 3 or 4 weeks later. We're praying intently to find solid investigators that we can meet with constantly, but many people are going out of town since it's the summertime. I don't feel inclined to talk about any of them until they're progressing.

C. is one of our former investigators, and we met his father W. who is an 86 year old man who is just a sweetheart! The Okonkwo's invited him over for dinner since he was a band director and can play many instruments. Their son Jacob has a gift for playing the piano, and they were hoping that W. could help inspire him to practice more since he doesn't realize how well he plays. We only stayed for dinner (teaching a few gospel principles here and there) since we had to leave for another appointment. W. ended up staying for four hours total, and had a blast! W. has many talents- one of them cooking Sunday dinner for his entire family, so having church from 1-4pm makes it hard for him to come. Yet he did say that he'll try to work out his schedule so he can come this week.

Sister Warner and I were jealous about how people were talking about going camping, so we decided to make a blanket fort in our living room, and put our mattresses underneath it. We slept out there for over 3 nights but put everything back into our rooms because at times the blanket would fall on us in the middle of the night and wake us up. 

The remnants of our tent

We're going to roast marshmallows over the stove today to pretend we're camping. Fun fun! Sister Warner had leftover sparklers from 4th of July so we lit them last night in celebration to Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day!

I've loved having inspired training from President Harding about how members and missionaries are really uniting as one to help others received the restored gospel. I'm in awe on how members really open to us missionaries about their lives, and how we continue to learn from one another about the Plan of Salvation, faith, and how to apply the Atonement into our lives. I know that as we continue to bind together, missionary work is going to blossom! A quote I heard this week was, "If you were being arrested for being a disciple of Christ, would there be enough evidence?"

We met with Co. who is a less active in church, and he taught me more about faith. He told us a funny story about how he really wanted a brother because he already had two younger sisters. Throughout the nine months everyone was telling him that it was a girl, and the doctor was never wrong looking at the ultrasound. He was persistent and kept on saying, 'Nope, I'm having a brother." When his Mom had her baby, everyone was shocked when they found out Co. indeed got a brother! With faith, anything is possible haha!

Sister Warner and I were at another families house and one of their daughters J. was talking about how she wanted to go on a mission, but felt inadequate. I felt prompted to talk to her how I too felt inadequate, but I had to want to study, pay more attention during church, and to really want to gain as much knowledge as possible to not feel so inadequate. I told her a big portion of how I was able to become the missionary who I am today, and I feel like it helped her a lot. Sister Warner told her about how Satan uses 'comparing' to make us feel bad about ourselves, and how we should try our best to avoid it.

We saw H. on Saturday (she's the daughter in the family who attends the Community in Christ church)- she was studying for finals and she was sick but she still let us in! It was so great because she had so many questions about the Plan of Salvation and she said she was going to start reading the Book of Mormon. We set up a time to come on Sunday, and we got her texting number so she could tell us if she needed a ride or not. She didn't show up for church since her Mom took her to Atlanta, but we went to her house that evening and she wasn't there. Her Dad answered the door and told us that he appreciates our efforts, but H. told him that "I told them I'd go to church, but I don't want to and I don't want to hurt their feelings." Sister Warner and I have been getting the weirdest vibes from him ever since we've met him (which is about the 3rd or 4th time) and I feel like he was lying to us. We mentioned that she was asking a lot of questions, but he was just saying she's inquisitive and ended the conversation. We're pretty sad so we texted her asking if it was true, and if so that she'd have a good summer and so on. She's never replied.

We taught Brother G. about prayer this week, (he's the man that came to church on Easter and one other Sunday after many years of inactivity) and he promised that he would go to all three hours of church. It was so exciting, since he also made a goal to finish reading the Book of Mormon by November 11th, my 21st birthday. He reads the chapter twice to make sure that he completely comprehends it. For some reason he wasn't there, and right when we went to visit him yesterday, he left in his truck as we were praying in the car. He hasn't returned our phone calls so we're a bit worried about what happened.

Sister Warner and I enjoy leaning on each other as we're tracting because it takes less effort than just walking upright in the hot weather. So we try to make fun of it and push each other in bushes every now and then, or into the curb, or anything like that. (Yes, we're so mature, but it's what we do). We were talking to M. (a potential) at the door and she was going to ask her Mom something, Sister Warner leaned on me to the left and I didn't expect that to occur. I had my left leg crossed over my right, so when I moved my left leg to stabilize myself, I had nothing to stand on! I screamed and there was SO many bushes and potted plants that I knew I could crush with my body weight since the porch was raised. Thankfully I only scraped up my shin, a bit of my hand, and I didn't crush any of their plants. I would have hated to experience M. racing to the door and seeing me fall off her porch and  breaking her potted plants. Thank goodness for small miracles! Sister Warner was laughing and I was freaking out and we had to try our best to regain our composure as she came back to the door. Phew!

I haven't mentioned this, but I had been getting headaches every day since the weather has gotten really bad in Fayetteville. I've been, and am continuing in drinking a LOT of water. I'm even getting Crystal Light so I drink a lot more, but they haven't been going away. I got a priesthood blessing from the Elders at a members home. Long story short, Sister Lester's son was there because the Elders couldn't have gone into a members house without a male present. She found out I was getting headaches so she went out and bought us powerade because apparently EVERYONE knows that you're supposed to drink a powerade every day plus water to prevent headaches. I've heard that you needed to drink powerade, but no one told me it was because you lose a lot of electrolytes when you sweat. This is why I did theater and choir, not sports haha! But now the headaches have been a lot better, and I'm getting them under control.

We had a bee that came into our apartment because we enjoy having our sliding door open to let in the breeze. Sister Warner was making fun of me for watching the bee walk onto the piece of paper so I could put it outside.  :P  

Hey Little Bee--I have a plan.  You don't hurt us and we won't hurt you.

We also found a dead wasp in our car the other day, we keep the windows partially rolled down to let the breeze in. This is just a bug infested week!

I hope everyone has had a great week, and to "always remember to rise up and become the person you were meant to be!" "As you lose your life in the service of Father in Heaven's children, Satan's temptations lose power in your life.

-Sister Sudweeks

Timber, CRASH!

Happy Monday!

Just so all of you know, I'm going to be having my P-day next week on Tuesday, instead of Monday because of Memorial Day.

Last Monday was just miraculous, I don't think I've ever had a better P-day! We taught W. with the Grisham's, and we talked a lot about the Plan of Salvation, and being baptized by proper priesthood
authority. He accepted to be baptized on May 31st, woot woot! The spirit was really strong in the room, and I know that he felt and recognized it. We had companionship exchanges on Tuesday so I
wasn't there for his next lesson. But after Tuesday we had set up a lesson on Friday, and he wasn't there! We went by on Saturday and Sunday to get in contact with him, but it's like he disappeared. It doesn't help that he doesn't have a phone so we were unable to get in contact with him. The Grisham's went over to pick him up, but he wasn't home and our post it note was still on his door.

Then after our appointment with W. we went by to try and see R. (who isn't very active in her Community of Christ church) but she wasn't there considering she does 24 hour shifts as a firefighter. But we met her oldest daughter H.. It was a bit awkward at the door because there was the Dad who we really didn't talk to much before, her uncle, and her. But we set up another time to see them, and they said yes. We walked to the car and H. ran after us. She asked us who we are, and what we do. It was so cool testifying to her about the Restoration because her eyes were just longing for knowledge. She was talking about how she wanted to get back to church, and to really know the truth. We gave her a Restoration pamphlet, and set up a time to see just her because she was going to be at school during the other appointment.

The companionship exchange was pretty early in the transfer, but the sister training leaders wanted to get to know me considering we're in the same ward. I really enjoyed being able to see the difference on how Sister Sullivan attempts door approaches versus what we do. Now I get to intertwine all of our ideas into one! It was cool because Sister Sullivan was talking to me about why she thinks President Harding sent me here to Fayetteville and took me out of Atlanta. She knows that I have the vision to baptize, considering there's a baptism every week in Atlanta in at least one of the companionships. I have the faith that we will baptize, and I have the attitude that it doesn't matter where we are, and we'll succeed because we're doing the Lord's Work. She begged me to keep the fire going, and to spread it to Fayetteville, so that's what I'm planning on doing!

On Wednesday we went to the Hope Center Memory Care for the elderly who have dementia. We played a card game with them with HUGE cards. We each gave them 7 huge cards spread out on the table. Sister Warner and I took turns picking a card out of a smaller deck that we had, and
called it out. If they had that card, they took it out of their pile, and flipped it over. Whoever got rid of their cards got to choose between two kinds of crackers. It was the cutest thing, because whenever someone got rid of a card they got so excited! One of the ladies kept on saying, "I told you I just came from Vegas!" over and over again. [=

We saw H later that day and she told us that she read the entire pamphlet, and she even had read the definitions in the back. She had questions about the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthood and we were able to explain it to her. H. asked us what time church was, and wondered if her friend A. could come to church too. H.mentioned about how we have Books of Mormon, and if she could have one.  She was thrilled when we told her that she could have the copy she held in her hand. She is just golden! Sadly enough, she told us to come by on Friday, and no one was home. We came by on
Saturday, and told her Dad that she wanted to come to church since his wife and she were gone. But Sunday rolled around and she was nowhere to be found. We're feeling that we're not going to come by so often, so we don't creep the parents out or anything like that.

Zone training was on Thursday, and I was so excited to see the Newman's in the temple. I gave Sister Newman a big hug, and Elder Newman a huge handshake. :) He joked that Atlanta was crashing and
burning without me, but they think they'll manage. Sister Newman didn't believe that Sister B. was going to get baptized for a long time, but she mentioned that she thinks she's making little baby steps, and noticing that their week goes a lot better if they go to church, versus when they don't. During zone training I learned that discouragement is a form of pride. Who knew?! I thought of the
scripture in Alma 5 where it tells us to strip ourselves of pride, so we will be prepared to meet God. Now I'm going to try even harder not to get discouraged!

Sister Warner and I at the temple.  Aren't we color-coordinated? 

We were going through a lot of our potentials and former investigators this week and visiting the ones that have gone to church, or have accepted a baptismal date so they show some potential. We were able to make an appointment with S., who accepted a baptismal date last year. Her teaching record was VERY incomplete, and I now vow to always update the area book no matter how tired I am so the missionaries after me don't have to feel frustrated or not know completely what's been taught. We had Sister Davis out with us, and before we go into every appointment, we pray. I can't recall who prayed, but we prayed that we would be able to discern her needs and concerns, and that she
would be able to open up to us so we could best help her come closer to Him. It was astonishing because she told us her entire life story within the last 6 years, and it was just wonderful on how open she was with us. S. admitted to us that it's not good enough to just watch church from 10-10:30am on Sunday, she needs to do something more. Sister Davis told her to come to church, and that she would pick her up. She accepted, and we were just dumbfounded on how easy everything came together! Once again, S. had a family emergency Saturday night, and she was up really really late so she didn't come to church either. Dang adversary!

One of the cool miracles that happened this week is that we went over and saw Brother G.. He's inactive, but came to church on Easter. We read with him 2 Nephi 31, which is the doctrine of Christ. Sister Warner asked him, "What can you do better after reading this chapter?" He said in his own words that he wants to become more active in church. He's been inactive for over a decade! He was there looking sharp in his suit and we sat next to him. He only stayed for sacrament meeting, but he's making great progress! =D

On Saturday we went to the ward's service activity to help some of the members. I thought to myself after living here for 2 weeks that I want to live someplace similar to Georgia- with a lot of trees and a
big yard. But after having to rake up SO many leaves, and hauling branches so we could put them on a trailer to dump them somewhere else, it made me think otherwise. My shoulder blades and wrists hurt so bad although I didn't rake the same way to overuse certain muscles. But it looked SO good after we finished, and I really wished we had taken a before and after photo!

After we finished up with that house, we went to a member's neighbor who needed one of her trees to be cut down, and to take down her old old fence. The nails of the fence were pretty rusty, so I started to kick them out one by one. Oops! Kids really do look up to the missionaries and start imitating what we do! They joined along as the Bishop was cutting down the tree with a chainsaw. We didn't think that it was going to be very productive kicking the fence down, but the kids were determined, and they have so much more energy than us. According to Sister Warner I had a really determined look on my face to break the fence and my sore abs are proof haha! The Bishop yelled TIMBER! and the tree crashed on part of the fence that we needed to also take down. I don't think I've really seen a tree being cut down, but I felt the ground shake because it was a huge tree. The men cut up the tree into little and not so little pieces and we had to put it in a huge pile. That alone was a task itself! But it felt good helping the neighbor, Sc. out. We found out later that the night before she prayed asking that God's servants would come and help her with her yard. A few hours later, her neighbor (the member) came over and asked if we could help. She prayed for us at the end and the spirit was so strong. Sc. is very set in her beliefs, but we predict that it's going to take many little steps for her to be open with us.

One of my favorite quotes that I saw this week was, "Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve. Mercy is when God doesn't give us what we deserve." I find so much love from God when I hear that quote, and we should always be appreciative for what God does for us!

-Sister Sudweeks

Sit, Karma, sit!  (OK, maybe not on my lap!) 

P.S. W. got baptized in Atlanta! P. hurt her ankle so her baptism has been
postponed till next week.  Here is a picture of Brother and Sister B. and their famous dog Karma!   

I've Shed Blood, Sweat, and Tears This Week!

Happy Monday from Fayetteville!

Life has been crazy with all of the packing, transferring, moving, and unpacking. The culture shock coming here from Atlanta could have not been more drastic. I miss Atlanta greatly, but I know that this area is going to be the best area yet because it's my new area. [=  I love my new companion Sister Warner- she's from Washington and she's been out about 11 months. I feel like I've known her forever, and we're going to learn a lot from each other bring so many people unto Christ!

I'm going to miss Sister Bradford!  She was an awesome companion!

My new companion--Sister Warner

I'm just going to recap what's happening with my other investigators back in Atlanta because the other sisters who originally have the car on Tuesday, gave it to us because they wanted me to say good bye to people. Brother and Sister B. just absolutely broke my heart, and they told me that I will always be their daughter, and they'll pray for me every day that I'll have success and be safe. I had to say the closing prayer before we left and I just bawled right on their coffee table. It was kinda awkward cleaning it up with a tissue after we said amen.I don't think I've ever received such huge hugs from one person before.

W. did not get baptized last Saturday, because according to Sister Bradford, he almost got shot. Good bye Atlanta, I'm so grateful I'm in the safe city of Fayetteville? He's going to get baptized this week,
along with P.   D. (P.'s relative who was investigating the Jehovah's Witness church) came to church yesterday and she absolutely loved it!

D on the left, P. on the right and baby T.

We taught S., the wife of Brother M. on Monday and since we were finally able to get a member that spoke French to help us teach, we progressed so much! S. is a sassy little firecracker who really has
that desire to know because she would ask so many questions. I loved it because she originally just nodded her head whenever we tried to teach, but now she finally has a personality and I'm so excited for Sister Bradford and Sister Joseph to teach her!

Sister Joseph was originally in Atlanta before I got there, so she's familiar with MARTA and the area of Atlanta so Sister Bradford is saved from getting lost on MARTA every time she gets on or off a bus! God really does know what he's doing with each and every one of his children. I predicted that she would get a former Atlantian but I don't think she believed me.

K. is just a miraculous story to tell! I sent out a mass text to everyone on Monday, but K. didn't reply. The first thing he said to me when we walked in on Tuesday was, "You're leaving me?!" and he sounded devastated. We asked if he's gotten his answer yet from the blessing that he received, and he told me. "You were the answer and reason on how I got my answer." I was trying to include Sister Bradford and the other set of missionaries that he got in contact with in the last three years to be polite. He said "No," pointing to me, "It was you. When you testified to me telling me that I would get my answer at General Conference, with tears in your eyes and you looked straight
into my eyes. I knew deep down inside that this church was true, but you just validated it." I was shocked, but then he continued, "You don't speak much compared to your other companions because they've been out on their missions longer, but I wish you would. When you speak, there's so much power, and I can see God in you when you speak." I just got chills and felt the spirit so strong because I knew that he was telling us the truth. I wanted to cry again because he said that he knows that God has a plan for me wherever I'm going next. I'm going to touch the lives of others elsewhere just as I had touched him, and all of the people I met in Atlanta.

K and I saying good-bye   

K. got a great temporary job offer in New York City for about 1 1/2 weeks and he'll be making a lot of money being a chef there. Thankfully he'll have enough money to get caretakers to take care of his parents after he gets home, so he can finally come to church! Through these last six months I've never seen a person be so persistent in trying to come to church, and now God has finally blessed him with a way in having him do so! He'll be baptized on June 14th, and I'm going to try and get special permission to go to his baptism since it's only about 20 minutes away from where I'm currently serving. The best part of it all, is that K. finally prayed with us! K. has never prayed in
front of anyone that wasn't considered family, but since he knew I was leaving and I meant that much to him, he closed our meeting with a prayer. Now if that isn't a miraculous miracle, then I don't know what is! =D   I am so grateful for this amazing experience!

It has been so hot in Fayetteville, and since it's more upper class versus Atlanta, not very many people want to talk to us here while tracting because they're comfortable in their religion and all that
jazz. A LOT of them are set in their ways, and they pray for us that we will come to the truth of which church is true. We tell them all the time to pray about it and ask God and they'll receive an answer, but most of the time we just switch pass along cards. I can really see why certain people serve in the South. People question your testimony all the time as we encounter ministers and pastors, but I have a firm testimony of the gospel, and it cannot be shaken!

I'm so blessed to be in a car all the time now so I don't have to endure all of the humidity! All of the members are telling me my hair is going to get even curlier, which will be a sight to see! The ward is
SO great when it comes to feeding us, and getting team ups. The only difference is that the member only comes out with us for an hour, and back in Atlanta they would come out with us for as long as we needed them to. But it's still great that they want to be doing missionary work. Members are wanting to teach their friends here, they just need to gain the courage in doing so. We have 18 ward missionaries, which is absolutely crazy, but so good! The ward list is only twelve pages vs Atlanta's 48. I'm so happy I don't have to focus as much on less active work here in Fayetteville, and I can really focus on my purpose as a missionary.

We are teaching a few people, as it's really hard to get in contact with someone after the first lesson or sometime contact. We're teaching a man named W. who came to church for the first time this
week! He was afraid that he wasn't going to feel welcome because that's one of the issues he had with religion in the past. But he has some pretty solid fellowshippers who really relate to him, and we're
going to teach him again tonight. He's been praying about a baptismal date, and he said he'd decide after he went to church. So that will be one of our topics for tonight, so that's exciting!

One of the cool people that we met while tracting was Rachel and her daughter Ally. One of the things I'm getting better at is to show others that we as missionaries are just normal people. I somewhat hate small talk, but I know it's necessary for people to get comfortable since we are
strangers randomly knocking on their door. We were driving and we saw this guy petting his cat outside. I joked to Sister Bradford that I would awkwardly say, "I like your cat" in a weird voice as our opening line... But by the time we got to their yard he was gone, so we had to knock on their door. They ended up being very laid back. They asked for one of our pamphlets and where our church was located because their church is about 1 1/2 hours away so they haven't attended
too recently. We found out that they go to the Community of Christ, a branch off of our church. I wish I could have seen the look of their faces when they read about Joseph Smith in the Restoration pamphlet! Either it's going to go really bad, or really good. I'm hoping for the latter. [=

Sister Bradford is allergic to gluten and she noticed that my stomach hurt every time I ate it, so I went to the doctors for some blood work to see if I have it as well. I know that I have the celiac gene thanks to my dear sister Christie, so I will be finding out around Saturday if I have to stay away from bread and pasta, my favorite food group out of them all! It was fun because I was able to talk about the Restoration to the doctors due to paperwork complications of being a missionary. It was great to realize that I planted a seed into their head about the gospel. [=

See my Boo-Boo?  (This is the Blood Part of my Title--get it?) 

It's great to be a servant of the Lord, because that's exactly what we do- serve. Serve our fellow being, serve our God, and to just remember to serve everyone! "By learning the answers to someone's prayer, we often find the answer to our own." - Elder Uchtdorf

 I love you all so very much, and I hope you all had a great weekend celebrating the joys of motherhood!

-Sister Sudweeks

One More MARTA Story: Jesus Liked to Party?!?

Happy Monday!

So, I figured I'd just let everyone know in case some of you just skim my emails and read the good parts. I'm being transferred out of Atlanta and going to a new area Wednesday morning. I'm completely shocked since Sister Bradford has one more transfer left, and doesn't know a lot about the less actives, members, or the area. I was pondering it over this morning and I know that God trusts Sister Bradford that I'll be able to teach her everything I know today and tomorrow, and that I'm needed some place else although I really didn't think I was leaving until transfer six or seven. (I'm going in my fifth transfer.)

This week went by SO fast. We had a huge tornado warning when we woke up last week, and it was SO windy and just pouring rain. It was pretty crazy since apparently a lot of missionary parents were messaging the Atlanta Mission Facebook page making sure everyone was okay. I didn't see any tornadoes touch down, drat! I guess that is still on my bucket list. But a scary thing that happened that day was that Elder MacDonald-Smith got hit by a cop car on his bike. Thankfully, he didn't have to go to the emergency room or anything, and he looks fine. He's walking and doing everything that he would be doing otherwise.

We're still continuing teaching S., Brother M's wife/fiancee? She's being reading the pamphlets we've given her in French, and she's been asking Brother M. a lot of questions. She came to church yesterday again and she is such a sweet person! Since Brother M. works at night and sleeps during the daytime, she doesn't get to go out much. We ended up taking her out on MARTA with us, and showed her around town and went to the Centennial Olympic Park with her. I think she enjoyed it although we did miss our bus... Oops!

 

We ran into a few LDS Students as we were giving S. a tour of Atlanta.  She's the beautiful woman on the left.

I've been having some back problems recently for the past week, but it's been getting better. I've been worried since it gets worse every time that I wake up in the morning because I sleep on my side and nothing else. I went to the nurse for strengthening back stretches that I'm supposed to do every day. Lets hope they work!

W. is set for being baptized this Saturday, and he is so excited. He asked us to write down all of the commandments for him, including the Ten Commandments to make sure that he was following all of them. He passed his baptismal interview, and he's continuing on integrate himself into the ward. I was originally going to sing at his baptism with Sister Bradford, although I guess I'll be there in spirit.

K. FINALLY got his priesthood blessing from the Newman's, and it was literally one of the most powerful blessings I've heard in my life. The spirit was so strong, and I cried in the beginning since I knew Elder Newman was being a mouthpiece for God and it's exactly what K. needed to hear. It was amazing since he was warned that Satan wanted him on his side, and how he's going to whisper doubts into his head, and to have his friends discourage him about their different beliefs. He was told he needs to fast and pray to get his answer, and it said how he'd get his answer. K. was just beaming at the end of the blessing, and he has never been this close to being baptized before. I really just wish he didn't have to take care of his parents, and literally no one else in his family will let him take some time off so he can rest or go to church. 

We were taking out the trash for someone and this one lady randomly asked us if we could program her TV. We threw the trash into the dumpster (that was taller than us) and Sister Bradford missed and almost killed me with her trash. It was so funny because she screamed, "Get out of the way Sudsey!" (My new nickname) and my heart was beating so fast thinking I was going to get knocked out. We went into her apartment and fixed her TV as we taught her more about church. We didn't really get into much depth, but she randomly said to me, "Your face makes me want to go to church! Please see me again later on this week since I know you have to go. But I need to go to your church!" amongst other things. It was probably the most unique thing that someone has ever said to me here in Atlanta haha!

We continued to teach P. and D., and they are still set for being baptized this month. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. P. is going to be moving to Albany for school, but she expressed her desire to be baptized before she leaves. Unfortunately they accidentally slept in yesterday, so P. won't get baptized until the 17th, and D. the 24th. Sister Bradford and I met with them practically every day last week, and they are so committed to the gospel, it's so miraculous. 

Brother and Sister B. are still sick, and they've been going to the doctors. Sister B. is still reading her Book of Mormon, and read 3 Nephi 11 like we asked her to. She said, "I'm up to chapter 14." I'm somewhat, but not really surprised that she's been reading while being sick. She mentioned to us, "When I get baptized, I want a red foot." Sister Newman makes a big foot for each person that gets baptized because they're making a big step in their life. I know that she's progressing each and every day, we just need to be patient.

Zone Training was great, and so was the temple. It was so inspired since the prophet and apostles have been talking about how members need to become member missionaries, but I've been wondering HOW I can get members to become member missionaries? It doesn't happen overnight! So our training was mostly about how we can help members talk to more people, and to give them encouragement and advice on becoming missionaries themselves. I'm so sad since Sister Bradford and I didn't have time to get pictures together at the temple!

We met a crazy guy on MARTA the other day, who originally complimented Sister Bradford on her voice, she sings all the time. He started to talk to us about Jesus, and how we're representatives of Christ. He was shocked that we can't go to a party since he exclaimed Jesus went to parties. "Jesus went to a party and said, 'Keep the party going!' and turned water into wine." Oh boy... Misinterpretation of scriptures anyone?

 

This group is called "The Found Tribes of Israel."  They stand outside the MARTA Station at Five Points with their purple robes and candelabras and videotape people as they argue with them about what they believe..  Kinda awkward.         Oh...the memories! 

Overall, it has been an amazing experience serving the people in Atlanta. It's hard leaving a place where I called home, and all of the people that I've grown to love as I served them. I'm not entirely sure if I'll still be on MARTA if I'm still in the Atlanta area, but I'll miss telling crazy stories about people that I've met on there. I know God has a place for me where I can testify the gospel to others somewhere else in Georgia, and to help them become closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that I'm on a mission and I still have a year left to change the lives of others for the better. Thanks for all of your support, and I can't wait to see where I'm going to go next! Lets cross our fingers that I'll be able to handle the food there. [=

 

Sister Sudweeks

 

P.S.  Faith is not faith until it's tried.