Week 15: Goals, Dumdums and Planting Seeds

Y'all know the drill... time for a rundown of the Lord's work progressing in South Carolina!

Odds and Ends

-After some tips from mi madre, I picked out the most BOMB pineapple

-I made 2 goals at soccer night, one in the right goal... and one in our own... 😅 I was blocking the ball, and somehow my foot was angled just right...it rolled right in

-We have probably 15 of Sister Ballards Tupperwares from over the past two weeks(she loads us up with leftovers!!!)

-We saw a man sitting in the trunk of a car and had to make sure he wasn't kidnapped

-SOMEONE pointed to her missionary tag to explain the church she represented... and turns out she forgot to move her tag after the morning yoga session...and had no tag... and looked kinda silly (first time in about 3 months so I'm still proud of myself)

-I couldn't walk right for 2 days because I decided it would be good to do 100 calf raises while eating breakfast

-Traffic stopped for a woman ushering a family of ducks through traffic ❤

-tried fried liver

-We were given a packed lunch AND dinner on fast Sunday and had to resist some severe temptation

-We visited a house that looked like Spiderman had left his webs all over the front porch

-We visited a house with 19 dogs

Miracles

-Daniel: SO this guy named Daniel requested a Book of Mormon in August of last year. The sisters that were here tried to contact him, and nothing. So in October they just dropped it off at his house, and he never contacted us again. FAST FORWARD to Sister McGhee and I, walking up to the porch. We knock and we glance down and see THE GLORIOUS WORD, The Book of Mormon, just sitting there on the PORCH TABLE!!! SO yeah we even knocked a third time because we were SO excited. Nothing. We sadly turn away and get in the car and out loud i just BEG with Heavenly Father "Heavenly Father PLEASE we are about to pull away..." And then BAM. PRAYERS WORK PEOPLE. BAM that second a woman opens the door and comes out, her name is Sandy. We go up and there was another older woman standing behind the screen, who we later found out is also Sandy. TURNS OUT Daniel passed away IN OCTOBER and never got his Book of Mormon. The ladies were related to him, but said they weren't interested. Apparently we scared the little old lady, and I apologized for giving her a "fright." Who knows why I chose that word. (The Parent Trap anyone?) ANYWHO we left, but we kept getting chills OVER AND OVER AND OVER. Sister McGhee and i both KNOW Daniel led us there. SOMEONE HAD to be reading that Book of Mormon. There's literally glasses on top of it and a bookmark. It hasn't just sat there for 7 months. Ahhh the power of God, leading us there... ahhh it was so cool!

-Delores: We were teaching Delores the Word of Wisdom. She wouldn't even tell us how many she smoked, but committed to God that she would stop smoking COLD TURKEY to make her date for her baptism. We ran and bought her dumdum suckers, an alternative to grab instead of a cigarette that some missionaries like to give to their friends. She has been BLESSED in her faithfulness and hasn't smoked since. Please pray for her that she'll have extra strength to continue until her date on the 18th!!!! Her sweet daughter Ashley too!

Spiritual Thought

We had lots of lesson fall through this week. We had been trying so hard to get rides for some of our people to come to church, and those didn't end up happening. BUT. We know we planted some seeds of the Gospel in some hearts, and we know the Lord will bless out efforts in our righteous desires and attempts. The scripture Proverbs 3:5-6 has been on my mind. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." WOW. Read that again if you need to. TRUST IN HIM. Not your OWN understanding. ACKNOWLEDGE HIM. HE will direct your paths. I absolutely that promise. As i just recently told my friend (you know who you are), God always has a way to reach his purposes, no matter how messy they look here on Earth, it's PERFECT with His eternal view. Trust Him. You will be led to your Home. Yes, your capital H home (as Sister Nelson said). Find a way to trust him more fully this week.

LOVE Y'ALL TO PIECES. I get transfer news on Wednesday... I'll find out if I stay in Surfside or leave this beautiful place. I gotta take a taste of my own medicine and trust that what happens is what God wants and needs for me. But i wouldn't mind if he kept me here this entire mission. 😉

Ahhhh I'm sorry to those who emailed me and messaged me and I haven't gotten back to. I promise I appreciate the time you spent on me and THANK YOU for making me smile! I'll respond soon!

Love, Sista Palmer

Birthdays

No bdays for now... if I did miss someone's, y'all better tell me!!!