A Sister Missionary in Florida: Be Not Weary of Good Works!

This is where we had lunch last week. . .and we even saw
a less-active member from Hialeah who was visiting
one of our members!

Dear Family,

I'm leaving Miami Beach English tomorrow! I have no idea where I'm going to go, so it's nerve-wracking but I'm excited!

I don't even know what happened this week. My brain is so gone.

As you already know, I'm off into the wild blue yonder tomorrow. I will send an email as early as possible next Monday to let you know where I've gone. I am mostly content to be going. I will miss the members and the organization of the branch - they're so valiant and I have loved being a part of the work here. But I am excited for new places and people and experiences!

So yeah, this week was loca. I made 8.5 planner covers for missionaries in our zone, with 1.5 left to go! This ate up all of my breakfast, lunch, and post-planning time for the week, but it was great fun. I got to go through the talks I've accumulated and find quotes that fit each of the missionaries I made covers for, then put them together with a picture to make it pretty. And to think I didn't have planner covers for the first 5 transfers of my mission! (P.S. Extra thanks for the hole punch for Christmas! It wouldn't be possible without that :)

This is N, one of our investigators, and a member's son.

I rode a Miami bus for the first time this week. Our investigator N isn't too comfortable with public transportation, but she really wants to come. So we went ahead and rode on the bus with her! I got to contact so many people! And have fun conversations in Spanish :) Nicole is set to get baptized this Sunday, and although I'm sad I won't be here for her baptism I am way excited for her! (Also, earlier in the week she told us she had started working on quitting smoking... and we hadn't even talked about the word of wisdom with her yet. Her mom is joining her and will be getting baptized the following week, as she hasn't been to church yet.)

We met a lady the other night who had SO MUCH in common with a recent convert of about 4 months, J. So we texted J right after the harvest blessing asking her to come to the appointment the next day. Come the next day and the investigator wasn't home yet, and J could only be with us for an hour. So we prayed and decided to go see some backups. But we really didn't feel good about the next backup in the plan, so we decided to drop by K, who had seemed so elect a few weeks ago but with whom we had somehow never been able to get a real lesson. When we arrived Keisha was there with her two daughters (ages 9 and 10) and her boyfriend, who we had never met before. We talked about Jesus Christ's role in our lives (teaching the lesson around one inspired question) and left them with the Restoration DVD to watch. J, who had been pretty quiet, piped up and told them about how Joseph Smith had prayed to get an answer, and to get closer to Jesus Christ, and they could do the same. The Spirit was amazing, and they are going to get baptized! She was what they needed all along.

I noticed some contrasts in the Book of Mormon this week that really allowed me to look deeper into what was being said. In Alma 37:34 I learned that being "weary of good works" is the opposite of being "meek and lowly in heart, for such shall find rest to their souls." The way we're able to be spiritually satisfied is by continually working and serving others, putting others' needs ahead of our own - as we do so we will have the Spirit, receive conversion, and be happier, rather than being exhausted by focusing on our own needs. (Now comes the application... :)

I love you all a lot!