Week 38: Holy Ghost Invites MIRACLES

 🎶There can be MIRACLES, when YOU BELIEVE🎶

Odds and Ends

---We were teaching a family and it was so big there wasn't more sitting room, so I sat on the carpet with the kids. Afterwards, I looked down at my dress to see about 8 grease spots from their carpet. I felt like a true adult when I rinsed it attacked it with a Tide stick, and used dish soap and laundry soap to all get it out. 

--- There's a member that told us that Sister Carter looks like his old middle school girlfriend, and it's so weird... he'll say "heyyyy girlfriend...just kidding!" hehe! he gives us each one dove chocolate every Sunday though, so I'm not complaining!

---A random man texted us and told he wanted a picture and our address... we said we can offer you a picture of Jesus and the church address!!!

---Sister Carter is mainly allergic to garlic, onions, beans. So we went to a member meal on Friday and the member says "We made homemade black beans without garlic and onions just for Sister Carter!" And I definitely put a stack o beans on her plate without thinking. She ate them and she was fine thank GOODNESS! They called us the next day and were like "IS SISTER CARTER OKAY DID SHE EAT THE BEANS?!"

---One of our friends asked us to call 911 for them because she can't call them anymore or she'll be arrested.

---Newberry started putting up Christmas decorations!

---The Church building has a pecan tree outside and so after church we went and the Williams helped us pick a whole bag full of them to take home! Haven't tried them yet though! 

---One of the people we thought were interested just told us to get a chaperone so we can come try his homemade pasta.

---Had grits for the 2nd time thanks to Sister Gonzalez! So yummy 😊

---We were on the phone with our mission president when a guy walks up to our car and says to please get off his grass. Bahahaha...it was awkward!

---One of the little boys in the ward drew dragon pictures for us! Sweet William

---One of the members tried to trick me into going down their scary basement and said the light switch was at the bottom. Thankfully Sister Carter saved me and turned after the first step and turned the light switch on! Being gullible is dangerous...

---We were teaching the first part of the Restoration and it was Election Day. So our conversation went like this:

Us: "God loves His children so he always calls another prophet to guide His people."

Crystal: "And I VOTED!"

---cont---

"We are so glad! Then a young boy had a question and turned to the scriptures to find his answer."

Crystal: "And iiiiii VOTED!"

We love her haha!

Miracles

☆☆☆So remember my 6th week into the mission when a guy named Brandon faked being interested? And I was heartbroken? So...we got a phone call on Tuesday that seemed too good to be true. A man named Robert. So we were cautious, but still had high hopes. I told Sister Carter about my experience with Brandon before, and how he just tricks missionaries. So we scheduled a zoom meeting with him and we were prepared. We get on the call and ITS THE SAME GUY. He fooled me twice. So I immediately whipped out my sticky notes and wrote a message out of sight from the camera. I showed Sister Carter. So we knew he was fake, but just as we did the first time, we still offered him the gospel. We still stood as representatives of Christ. We loved, shared and invited. Then we asked where he lived and he said "I'm like 28 miles away in Chaplin." Sister Carter and I are racking our brains... we're like "Chaplin? Chaplin? Uhhh Cha- OH do you mean CHAPIN?" And then he left the zoom call. We caught him in his tracks! We called him via phone and he was super scatter brained. We told him "Oh something went wrong with the zoom. Can we still set up to meet?" He says "Uh-sorry I just need to figure some things out." I definitely slid calling him Brandon instead of Robert, and he still responded to it. Caught red handed! We left him with a prayer. I said things like "that he'll be led to the truth and fins what he's looking for." But THIS was a miracle because we were able to recognize when the Spirit left, and we were able to still share and offer all we could to Robert or Brandon or whatever his real name is. 

☆☆☆Zone conference was amazing! We had an amazing training on how to help our friends keep commitments. And we had some amazing role plays as well! We also learned the importance of member and missionary work. The difference it makes statistically when we work together is phenomenal! This us how we can gather Israel faster! I've been rebuked and we are now more driven than EVER to her member involvement. 

☆☆☆In Zone Conference, we set some time aside to pray about our "Holy Ghost invites." This is where we go pray about who the Holy Ghost wants us to invite to be baptized. We prayed 4 times and I got a few names, and Sister Carter wasn't getting much. Then the 5th time we prayed, I thought of Adam, and Sister Carter thought of Ethan Carroll's girlfriend(who we've never met, and don't even know her name). We wrote down a total of 11 names. But these two in specific had MAJOR miracles come after. 

☆☆☆So at first we thought the 'Adam' we were prompted was one we used to teach. But then... the Lord showed us ANOTHER Adam! And we are so pumped! He has a huge testimony and his wife Shawn is out bestest friend. God works in mysterious ways!

☆☆☆The other miracle from the Holy Ghost invites is Ethan Carroll's girlfriend. We reached out to him, he's a return missionary of 7 years and isn't coming to church very often. But we reached out to him and invited him to bring his girlfriend to church. No response. Then on Sunday ETHAN walks in with none other than hid GIRLFRIEND SEOYEON! AHHH GOD IS SO GOOD! It's moments like these that I know He's real.

☆☆☆We were able to get Kiara, Ty, Jynoah and Jakee all to church! It was just about the cutest sacrament ever! Jynoah said her wrist stopped hurting after she had the sacrament. And they sang their little hearts out! We gave them sticky notes to write something they liked. Everyone greeted them it was so cute!

☆☆☆We had 14 kids running around when we got to one of our appointments. I plopped on the ground with a children's Book of Mormon and they gathered around! They all had the cutest questions and it was amazing. I wonder if that's how Jesus felt when he said "suffer the children to come to me." I love kids! They were getting out of hand a little bit, so I did something my sweet Sister Dayley taught me. You hold up your hands and say "Open and shut them, open and shut them, open and shut them, open and shut them, fold them in your lap." And BOOM they're reverent! Ahh! Works like a charm, and then they are ready for prayer.

☆☆☆For our sweet little girls Paris and Taraji, we decided to open the lesson with me singing "Choose Him Again." The Spirit was so strong. We asked them what they learned after the song, and they learned things the song didn't even say! If you haven't listened to that song before, GO LISTEN TO IT! I sang it with my sister at my Grandpa Hamiltons funeral. That song will always be dear to my heart ❤️

☆☆☆Our friends the Sherman's told us they don't want to meet anymore. Big sad. Bur the most important thing is that they have the truth at their fingertips, and they know we love them ❤️

☆☆☆Ricky is trying to go to the temple. We've been encouraging him, and we taught him what happens in temples. We had him pray right there and he said the Lord told him 6 months. The Lord is going to make it possible!

Birthdays 

Happy Birthday to my cous Sam! He's a little speed reader and is just so sensitive and sweet!

Happy bday to my uncle Taylor! Always offered to take me around to ride horses♡

Pictures 

I voted! Daddio sent my ballot 😇

Cold over here

Ricky made us chicken bites

my newest squishmallow

Newberry mural 

Zone conference - West Columbia zone
Front: Elder Cayson Forsberg, Elder Carter Drysdale, Elder Landon Rigg, Elder William Knight, Elder Carter Panter,
Elder Logan Ogzewalla, Elder Ryan Crook

Middle: Elder Doug Hoffman, Sister Pam Hoffman, Sister Louise Mueller, Elder Kent Mueller, President Chris Monson, Sister Marie Monson,
Sister Dora Cooper, Elder James Cooper, Elder Victor Ramos, Sister Sherry Ramos

Back: Sister Grace Carter, Sister Brooklyn Palmer, Elder Ethan Deppe, Elder Lane Riley, Elder Noah Evans, Elder Logan Kingsford, Elder Tate Larsen, Elder Zachary Larson, Elder Nigel Jones, Hermana Sadie Marvin, Hermana Sarah Richter

Preacher Ogzewalla