Hi everyone!

This past week has been packed with awesome, spiritual stuff! To start off, we had an amazing lesson with our new investigator, Teresa. The last time we had met with her, we gave her a Book of Mormon and a specific chapter to read, and also a Restoration pamphlet. When we went back Wednesday night, she had read everything we gave her, and she even made notes and wrote down questions that she had for us! The best part about this lesson was that she so readily accepted Joseph Smith as a prophet! Which is AMAZING, because that's a topic that a lot of people struggle with. She told us that she loved the way Joseph Smith described the First Vision. So we showed her the clip from the Restoration movie that shows Joseph praying in the grove. Afterwards, we asked her how she felt as she was watching it and she said that her heart felt anxious, but that it was a good, exciting kind of anxious. How awesome is that!? We are so excited to continue teaching Teresa, and we're planning on putting her on date for baptism tonight.

Something pretty cool that also happened this week was companion exchanges. I usually don't like exchanges, because it's weird leaving your area and your companion. But this exchange was fun! I went on exchanges with Hermana Gifford in McMinville, which is about 35 minutes away from Monmouth. Hermana Gifford is a Spanish sister, so obviously she works in a Spanish area. At first I was super nervous to work in a Spanish area because everyone there speaks Spanish and I do not haha. But it's amazing the things that the spirit can bring to your remembrance! The majority of the conversations that we had were all in Spanish, so I just had to stand there and listen. But it was so cool because I could understand some of the conversations! Not the entire conversation, but enough of it to understand what was going on. And on occasion I could understand a question when I was asked something. I now have a new found desire to learn Spanish when I get home!

Another great thing that happened this week was on Saturday. I was having a rough time because Satan was being a jerk and he wouldn't stop messing with my head. I was feeling all of this fear and anxiety and doubt that I couldn't seem to get rid of. So during companion study I told Sister Hart that I wanted to get a blessing from the Elders and I told her why. She shared with me a scripture that she had read during her personal study. It was 2 Timothy 1:7, which says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." There are no coincidences! Then, in the blessing that Elder Woody gave me, he repeatedly said that my Heavenly Father wanted me to know that only good things come from Him, and that fear and doubt are from the adversary. It was amazing, and so is the priesthood!

A funny moment from this week: We were eating dinner at a member's home and they had the football game playing in the background, and it was the Cardinals that were playing! Needless to say, I struggled to keep from looking at the TV haha. But the funny part was that I turned to Sister Hart and I said "oh no, the Cardinals are playing." To which she replied, "I don't even like baseball." I died laughing, and she couldn't understand why I was laughing so hard! She thought it was the MLB team that was playing, not the NFL team. I will never let her live that down, haha.

And now, my favorite experience from this week. We were eating dinner at a member's house the other night and we decided to show her an 'I'm A Mormon' message. This video was about a family who had lost their 4 year old son in a sledding accident and how they used the Atonement to overcome this trial in their life. The video reminded me a lot of my aunt who lost her son when he was 3 years old. As the video continued to play, the spirit that was in the room became so overwhelming that I couldn't keep my tears back. It took me a moment to realize that the reason why the spirit was so strong was because my cousin was there in the room with me. I knew from the moment that I thought it that Hunter's spirit was in the room with us. I was able to keep my emotions in check just long enough to bear my testimony about the plan of salvation. I know without a doubt that my family will be eternal, and that we will all be reunited one day in heaven. After we left the dinner appointment, I just had to sit in the car and cry for a few minutes because of how beautiful that experience was. I had never experienced anything like that before. After I told Sister Hart why I was crying and explained to her about how I could feel my cousin, she told me that she could feel his overwhelming spirit as well, and now that I had told her who it was, it made perfect sense as to why the spirit was so prominent during dinner. Families are forever!

Well, that's about it for this week! Love you all!

Love,
Sister Hanna