Y'alls week sounded pretty busy and eventful! And yes we did get some storms this past week. From what everyone was saying about the storm I thought it was going to be worse than it actually was but it still was a really good thunderstorm. I'll talk about that day in my email, but yes we stayed at the church and planned all day instead of going out cause President Grayson said to.
My week was definitely one to remember and I'm grateful for the experience I am having training in the last stretch of my mission.
On Monday, It was Elder Irons last day in Alma and so he went and said bye to investigators and members here in Alma. It so crazy how fast times is flying by and I cant believe that my time with him is over cause it was a really fun and memorable couple of transfers.
On Tuesday, we drove up to Macon with Brother Roberson and had a great talk with him on the way up to Macon. Elder Irons got transferred to Beaufort South Carolina and he will love it there! Its a lot different than Alma and he even gets to go onto Paris Island which is where the Marines go and train and he will be able to go to the services on the base there. We had a trainers meeting with our new companions and a commitment that they left with us is for the new missionary to ask someone to be baptized in his first week on the mission and we both said yes and we were going to be good to our word. I became companions with Elder McGee! He is fresh out of the MTC and he was born in Kazakhstan in the middle east but was adopted when he was 4 and a half and then lived in Cincinnati, Ohio for the rest of his life. Its kind of fun being with someone who isn't from the same part of the country. I'm excited for the time I'll have with him. On the way back we stopped in Tifton, GA to eat some lunch hat Ole Times. I'm tellin' you what.... BEST COOKING I've ever had!! It was such a good buffet and come to think of it 'm still full from it 5 days later haha:) But when we got back to the trailer we had a planning session together and I told him about the area and the goals of this area. Its fun training again and while it is a growing experience where the weight of the companionship rests on you for the first couple weeks with challenge comes change.Elder McGee hasn't rode a bike in 7 years and has never rode a bike on the road before so I was cautious and took some back neighborhood roads to get where we needed to go until he got comfortable. Training again has really made me look back at my mission and it reminds me where I was and where I am now and 'Im tellin y'all when I come home I'm sure you'll see a evident change in me well at least I think so. Elder McGee was asking questions that I asked when I was in training and it was just the small things that I just do without even think about now. But I'm excited to be with him, he loves cars and he worked as a car detail-er for a Toyota dealership and I said that is what my brother does and we hit it off.
On Wednesday, we had received a call from the Zone Leaders about the storm coming through the area and we were asked to plan until 3:00 and wait the storm out inside. President Grayson was unsure of the storms strength and for our safety he told us to stay in for the rest of the day. Elder McGee and I went to the church and stayed there all day instead of in a rickety old trailer where if something did happen we would be safe. We planned for the upcoming week and studied at the church. We also took breaks playing basketball which was a good break for me haha. The skies got really dark around 7:00 p.m and the wind kicked in with A LOT of rain fallin' from the sky and until 2:00 am the next day it rain super hard! It was fun watching it fall from the sky!
On Thursday, we stopped by Sister Rewis' home for a little bit and talked with her about the Restoration and focused on prayer and coupled with prayer is faith. She was grateful for our visit and with all the service that we've done for her she is very tickled and feels loved right now. We tracted and talked with as many people as we could. I'm trying my best to be the best trainer I cna be for Elder McGee by helping him make decisions so that when its his turn to lead he wont be lost and have no idea what to do and its miraculous at how much his teaching has improved over just the past week. He is becoming more comfortable and he is really starting catch fire. We went out to Nickols where we tracted a bit in that area and we had some interesting is it odd or is it God moments haha... I haven't worked in Nickols much and we decided to go out there before we got picked up by Brother Roberson to go to President Peterson's boat house for dinner. But we tracted into 2 less actives who had been praying to receive comfort from God and that day we knocked on there house, not only that but we met an elderly man who is kin (family) to members in Douglas. It was very successful and then we had a great dinner at President Petersons boat house and ate some catfish, french fries, and hot dogs it was really good! Soooo southern!!!
On Friday, we had a pretty successful day talking with people. It seemed that every door that we knocked on people just doubted and commended us for what we do and how hard it must be for us serving here in Alma. They said that there are over 90 churches in the small town of Alma and they kept saying good luck finding people who wants to become Mormon. But I know that they are out there we just have to have faith! It was a really good day and a quote from conference kept running through my head all day and it was from this past conference from David A. Bednar and it says," A missionary is not called to a place, he or she is called to serve." It doesn't matter the location but it matters that you serve and how you serve.
On Saturday, we set up a stand at a local grocery store with church materials and posters in hopes that people would ask questions. Not a lot of people came up and asked questions but it was till good to be in front of all those people who will hopefully one day ask questions.Elder McGee asked these two ladies to be baptized that day after having a solid Restoration lesson with them! It was something we had been preparing for all week and he did a great job. We role played it (practiced it) and really prepared well and the reason it went so well was because of our preparation. They said they would pray about it and let us know this week how that prayer went. We went back to Nickols and met with a few less actives out in Nickols and shared 2 Nephi 2:22-26 and Sister Adams was on cloud 9 when she saw us and she really enjoyed our visit! We also saw the Juarez and they excitedly said that they would be more than happy to come to church tomorrow!
On Sunday, it was an amazing Sunday! There were more people there this past week than there has been in my whole time here.It was really great to see less actives becoming reactivated and with families moving their records from Douglas to Alma to help support us here for the time being. We had a very powerful testimony meeting and we talked a lot about the Holy Ghost and how we can recognize it and feel it throughout our days. We had a full class in our second our and it made me really happy watching the church grow!! Prayers are being answered and its great too see. I'm grateful for this area and my life has changed because of it. That night we had a pretty great night where I felt prompted to look in the Area book and go to a less actives house and we went to Mrs. Burketts house where she let us right in and her husband has been against missionaries in the past but allowed us to share a message. We shared John 14:26 and testified of the Holy Ghost. She loved our visit and I'm sure that he did too. At the end of the night our plans fell through and I was put in the awkward position of it being 8:00 p.m with no one to see. We decided to tract and this lady opened the door and SLAMMED it super hard and then we walked away and she went to her garage door and yelled..." 8:00 ON A SUNDAY NIGHT ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!!" then SLAM! We decided to go to a different area and tried a less active I didn't know it turns out the less active didn't live there anymore, but this lady invited us in and she loved our message and invited us to come back in a week so her daughter who is coming back from prison can hear the message too!! Lets GOOO!!
Training sure is fun and I know that in the situation you have that it is what you make it out to be and attitude is key! I LOVE Y'ALL and have a GREAT week!
-Elder Hill
#Stormin #ElderMCGEE!
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| After the Storm! Alma GA, April 2017 |
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| Come talk with us! :) Alma, GA, April 2017 |
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| Elder Hill and Elder McGee, Alma, GA - April 2017 |
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| Hurricane is coming! April 2017, Alma, GA |
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| Southern Cookin' - April 2017, Alma, GA |
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| Here comes a storm! Alma GA - April 2017 |
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