Marisa = Queen

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope you all had the best week/Thanksgiving. Here are some highlights of my week.

Okay, so flashback to a couple of weeks ago when I was serving in Indianola. Sister Hopkins and I went to visit a referral who said she wasn't interested. We noticed a dude sitting on his porch, so we went to walk over, but he was gone, and there was a big pit bull barking at us and running across the deck. We decided to knock on the house next door. When we went to knock, the dude walked back outside. We walked back over to him and asked if he wanted to hear a message. He said yes, so we walked up and sat down and realized real quick that the man wasn't in the right state of mind. We respectfully told him that our message is the most important message he could ever hear, but that the Holy Ghost testifies of the truth we share, and that he wasn't in a place for the spirit to be. He then proceeded to tell us, "I'm Jesus." We quickly looked at each other, then he said, "Nooo hey-soos, but Jesus in English." We were relieved, but then he told us we should probably have guys with us when we're out at night. I'll spare you the rest of the details, but the spirit told us to leave, and needless to say, we got out of there real quick.

Brother Littlefield, who visited our mission last March, said, "Satan will place people in your path to waste your time because he doesn't want the work of the Lord to move forward."

This was a perfect example of that. Sister Hopkins and I were upset because he wasted our time, but we both said we would come back to the house we felt like we should've knocked on in the first place.

Okay, this is where it gets good haha. This week we went on exchanges, running it back in good ol' Indy, and I was with Sister Slagle, who is from Layton, Utah, and is so cute! She asked me if there was anywhere I wanted to go, and I told her about one house that we didn't get to knock.

We knocked on the door, and Amy answered! We told her who we were and invited her to church, and she said that she didn't realize there was a church in town. She told us she would think about it! She also said she had a bunch of questions, and we told her that the messages we have to share will answer all the questions she has. It was so cool. I'm so grateful that we went back!

We went to Starbucks with Marisa for our lesson, and she told us she wanted to buy us hot chocolate. We told her no, but she said, "You guys are literally changing my life; the least I can do is buy you hot chocolate." It was so sweet and meant so much to us! It actually felt like we were just hanging out with our best friend.

Played in the Turkey Ball on Thanksgiving and went 1-1, rip. Our team probably could take BYU, though; that's all I'm saying.

Oh, we also do service every week at this place called Habitat for Humanity where we just build stuff. We've built a deck and a ramp so far. It is literally so much fun! Pretty much, I could build a house at this point.

The biggest highlight of the week, though: with it starting to get cold outside and dark at 5, we are changing our schedule around a lot and really trying to think of new ways to find people to teach. We are really trying to think outside of the box!

This week we went to the mall and went up to people and asked them, "What makes you happy?" and asked them if we could video them for a reel. Stay tuned because we are gonna post on our Facebooks. It was actually so cool because so many people would stare at our tags and ask us what we do! We saw so many miracles because of it. It's actually crazy because never in my mind did I think I would walk up to random strangers and ask them if I could hold up a fake microphone to them and film them. It was a "fear no man" moment. I feel like I can really do anything now.

I also was able to go to lunch with Michael and Roxann, who I previously taught when I served in West Des Moines. It made me so happy seeing them, and it made me realize how the relationships I have made on my mission will last forever.

It was also Chad Man's birthday this past week, so if you have a chance, please text him and wish him a happy birthday! It would mean so much to me! I am so grateful for my dad and his example. I would not be on a mission if it wasn't for him! He really is my best friend, and I love him so much.

My spiritual thought goes off of last week's a little bit! This is a talk that I've been studying a lot recently.

"Of the many magnificent purposes served in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, one great aspect of that mission often goes uncelebrated. His followers did not understand it fully at the time, and many in modern Christianity do not grasp it now, but the Savior Himself spoke of it repeatedly and emphatically. It is the grand truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed, Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven. He did this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more fully in order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely."

This talk changed everything for me. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior with everything I have!

I want it absolutely clear the love I have for them.

If you want to read this talk, here's the link:

The Grandeur of God

Let me know what you think!

God loves you, Jesus Christ paid the price for all sin. Their love is a love we cannot fully comprehend, but it's always there.

I'm so grateful for this life-changing opportunity!

Love, Sister Lil

Also, I don't know if I put this, but here's my new address:

1770 92nd St. #2210 West Des Moines, IA 50266

1. okay these ladies are so iconic they are sisters ans every year they dress up and go do funny things and film a video. this year they were old ladies 

2. thanksgiving with the harrops 

3. my toes currently from ballin too hard on pdays

4. drinks and snacks from randy 

5. the sisters made us a full course meal