Missionary work so worth it!

Friends.Families.Munchkins.Charlie and Paige,

Let us see well....unfortunately this week I started saying "Y'all" I cannot even fight it anymore. I made it 4 months not saying it.

This week I learned that I do not have enough patience....or humility. Or the Lord just thinks I need more, because MAN, Sister Jones and I are being tested around these parts. We started off the week doing great with 3 appointments set up every day. By the end of the week we ended up teaching 3 appointments in total. Without fail everyone besides those three canceled. We were laughing so hard because it was all we could do but cry and wine and be ridiculously frustrated. Even the ones that you can always count on to pull through canceled this week. I am not quite sure what I did wrong ;) I know that the Lord wants me to learn more endurance but I don't recall making the mistake of praying for patience. This weekend was definitely a little better though and our one incredible appointment with Tafv made it all worth it.

We ended up rescheduling several times with her, so our lesson plan ended up being really good because we studied for her for three days in a row. We were really nervous about teaching her though because she is a single mom, never been married at 21 and has a 4 year old, and we were going to teach her about eternal families. Several months ago she came across some anti Mormon material and so this has been one of those things that is a touchy subject. When we went in and sat down with her the spirit was already so thick in the room that it was easy to teach. She was so touched as we talked about her daughter and in the end we were able to get her to commit to prepare for the temple, which was such a miracle considering the past several months. When I got here she was the hardest teach, but now she is the biggest miracle every week. These are the moments that make missionary work so worth it.

As we taught her I felt impressed to share my experience of the temple and I was very real with her. As we both shared stories and testified she looked at us and so seriously said sometimes I forget you are real people and I am so grateful that you are the missionaries that teach me. I felt so much love for her and learned an important lesson. The most powerful way to show love is to be real with people and let them know they are not alone.

I am so grateful for my Savior, I am grateful that I can fail one hundred times and still have an opportunity to try again. The Atonement is real. Love you all and hope you are doing well!