"God brings us down, just so He can lift us higher."

Oh Ardmore,

What do I even say :) It is quite different than any of my areas so far. Pretty sketchy BUT a lot of people that need the gospel. The work here is pretty slow but that just means I need to square my shoulders and knock on doors. The members and people are really nice haha but all they have said is how sorry they are that we have been sent here. I just find it hilarious. Time to turn things around, the question I ask myself is "Do I have the faith sufficient?" YES Lets do this. It is definitely going to be a challenge. 

Let me just tell you though, God does reward us for our diligence. There is a quote I found in my studies this morning:

"God brings us down, just so He can lift us higher." 

That is my motto for this transfer and I saw that fulfilled this week.

Here we are day 1 going to see 4 different people and they all fell through, several doors tracted, and less actives checked on- no answer. Day 2 just about the same. Day three, a mimic of the day before. They felt like the longest days of my life. Day 4- THE MIRACLE

Our whole day looked about the exact same and then the evening hit.

We went to go check on a woman and there was a girl sitting on the porch who we asked "Is Debra home?" She went and looked and while she did that the little boy on the front porch was trying to get his brother to play football with him. He wouldn't and so I told him to throw it to me. MAN, I love kids, I think sometimes I forget being on a mission because there are so many restrictions on how we interact with them. Then the dad came out and we started talking about the Book of Mormon. He was really open minded and we gave him one. He read several scriptures from it and overtime 5 or 6 more people came out on the porch and joined us. When we brought up being able to be with our families for eternity their eyes were opened and they wanted to know more. We ended up giving out 3 Book of Mormons. 

That night we went to dinner and once we got in I realized I did not lock the car. We went back out and as I locked it, a man in a truck was calling for us. We walked over and he told us he saw the elders get out of the car earlier and so he put his information on a sticky note and stuck it on our car. He used to go to church because his ex wife was a member and he ended up reading the Book of Mormon and felt it was true but was not ready to change. He told us he wanted to meet with us. HOLY MOLY!

Had we not come to dinner at that very specific time, we probably would not have met that man. 

The lesson learned is that- when you are doing things in your life that feel like they are tedious, keep going. God blesses us for our efforts and really does make the difference. We had tracted all week and it was doing nothing, but out of no where the rewards were there. 

I am so grateful that God works in very specific ways in our lives. I am excited to be here in Ardmore but I have a feeling this is going to be a transfer to remember :)

For our crazy moment of the week:

We went to volunteer at the humane society and walked dogs. I picked a pit bull (I love them) and she was pulling on me real hard, I have got marks on my hands from the leash still. When we got done with the walk I went to put her back in the kennel and she launched at another dog and they got into a fight. My adrenaline was pumping. Thankfully someone came and helped us, but there was blood everywhere and on my shoes. That was quite the experience. The next time I just chose a small little harmless puppy...

For anyone that would like it, here is my new address 

1210 10th Ave NW

Ardmore, OK

73401

Hope you are all doing well, would love to hear from ya ;)

Love,

SIS E