Marry me, Marietta...

Hello everyone!

It was yet another great week in Marietta!

But first, before I forget:

How many of you out there remember my girl Sister C and Franklin from wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy back almost a year ago in Snellville? (Probably only my mom because she's the only one who actually reads these things anymore.)

They are my celeb couple. #Franklin&SisterC5ever I have the most amazing news: FRANKLIN GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. After calling Sister C to get the monthly catch up about her happy wonderful life and she informed me that he got baptized and I literally dropped the phone because I was so excited. FRUITS OF LABORS, MAN.

Anyway....

So I am coming to find out that Marietta is actually also the promised land..(still love you Carrollton).There are a lot of super cool people here ready to hear about the gospel which is exciting!

To start, last week I mentioned our homosexual investigator. At the beginning of the week, we got a team up and headed over there to teach her the law of chastity. Each of us was so nervous because we really didn't know how she was gonna take it and none of us had any experience at all with a situation like this and we had no clue what to say. There were a lot of prayers and a lot of preparation going into this lesson and right before, the 3 of us just had peace and knew it was going to all work out. As we began to teach, it was incredibly awkward and didn't flow and we were having a really hard time getting the spirit to be there in the lesson. As we turned the pages in the pamphlet, an interesting thing happened when we got to the section about how to keep the law of chastity. The pamphlet mentions replacing 'undesirable thoughts, words and actions with wholesome ones.' and as our investigator read that sentence, the spirit flooded the room and she began to cry. She told us about a long term relationship she'd been in that ended about a month ago. The days were long and emotionally difficult for her and she had just wanted to wake up in the morning feeling true joy instead of putting on a 'facade' of being happy when on the inside she was torn apart. But then she told us that since coming to the church, reading the Book of Mormon, and studying with the missionaries, those 'undesirable' emotions had been replaced with 'wholesome' ones of peace and joy despite the difficult circumstance she faces. She knew the gospel of Jesus Christ was the answer! Her desire to live that old life has faded away and she told us she would gladly live the law of chastity because she knows it's what Christ wants her to do. 

As we left the appointment, the 3 of us had a party in the car because we were so happy that everything worked out the way it did.

On Saturday, we spent the day in Atlanta at a service project and then we got to go to the Temple with Sister Wustrow's recent convert Dietrich who is a straight-up G. Totally my homie. He had such an awesome experience (because duh, it's the temple) and so did I because guess what! When we pulled up, the entire youth group of the Carrollton ward pulled up at the same time to go do baptisms for the dead and I got to see all my old friends again! Tender mercies, man.

There were several other experiences that happened this week where God showed me how much He loved me and all His other children. I know that's one of those super simple, cliche, overused phrases that missionaries always talk about in their letters home, but for reals man, I know it's true. He loves me, He loves you, He loves EVERYONE. 

Life is good.

Oh, did I mention that I have 10 P-days left?

I'M OUT.

Sister Lawson

1. One time the elders took Dietrich out on a team up and they rolled up in this sick sled. 

2. She was really excited to take a picture with the fire truck.
3. P-day morning hike!

4. THIS CHURCH IS NASTY HUGE.

5-7. Temple time. :)

# DaHood....

Welp sorry I'm the worst and this is the first actual email I've written in about 2 weeks!

A little about MARIETTA:
1. It's about 20 minutes outside of downtown Atlanta and super different from anywhere else I've been.

2. Constantly smells like weed.

3. There are apartments EVERYWHERE. I'm convinced that no one here even lives in a house, because there are so many apartments.

A little about my comp:
-Sister Wustrow (German, so pronounced "voo-strow")

-She's 25 and from Namibia (down there by South Africa)

-Already has a degree in Accounting...DANG

-Way hard-working and exactly what I need for the last 2 transfers I have left on a mission!

Random: Today I've been out for 16 months exactly. Life is so weird.

A few fun stories from this week:

1. There was MASSIVE (and by massive, I definitely mean not massive at all) snow and ice this week. For Atlanta, ice and snow is a big deal because they don't really know how to deal with it and don't have the equipment to take care of it. So the whole city shut down and we were trapped in our apartment for a good little while. Not fun :( Church was cancelled on Sunday, BUT! We got to go to a YSA in downtown ATL that was open and after prying the ice shell off our car for almost an hour, we made it to church JUST to partake of the sacrament. That's a story I'll remember for the rest of my life I think!

2. As we were walking up the stairs of an apartment complex, a man approached us, while we talked with him, Sister Wustrow says "Sir, you smell REALLY nice!" (she's foreign and doesn't realize that's weird). He started laughing and I was just like "OHHH MY GOSH!" and he looked at me and said "You know what that smell is right?" and I was like "ohhh yes..." and he's like "Should I tell her?"...."be my guest."......"Yo, it's weed. and some %$^& GOOD weed " and I just busted up laughing hahaha. The moment he walked up, I knew the smell. Soooo to break up the awkwardness, we said a prayer with this high-as-a-kite man and went on our way. :) life is weird.

3. Our most progressing investigator right now is a gay-woman who has been to prison but has re-shaped her life the last 10 years and wants to follow Jesus! Soooooooo it's quite the adventure but I'm excited to see where it goes because it's a totally new challenge.

Sorry, I don't really have much else to say I guess.

I for sure have been able to see that God really is in every single detail of our lives this week though. I know I'm in Marietta for a reason at this time and I'm determined to figure it out!

LIFE IS GOOD Y'ALL, SEE YA IN 3!

Sister Lawson

1. Last lesson with Ariel!

2 Compy and I are excited about the snow.

3. Any way to get the message out. (Mormon.org)

Please forgive me.

Okay, I really stink and REALLY didn't use my time wisely at all today. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. Good thing that nothing too exciting happened anyway.

The most important news is that tomorrow I'll be transferred and will be doing that STL thing again. 3 MORE MONTHS GUYS. Can you believe it?

Soooooo......stay tuned for some good adventure stories next week instead. :)

PEACE OUT YO!

Sister lawson

1. He really didn't want us to come by...

2. Shoutout to the Pfaus for being my faves!

3. My weird district.

4. Last pic with "The Crew"!

5. I haven't bowled in 16+ months....not a good idea.

Picture Journal

Wow, is it super bad I don't want to write a weekly email this week? 

It's literally the last thing I want to do because I have major "Post-Christmas Blues".

Here is my week in pictures instead: (Sorry no captions for the following)

The Week of Realizations

GUYS I love my life.

But instead of giving you the mundane details of my life for the past week, I'm going to send you that "spiritual stuff" I've been promising to send for a while in the form of a letter to my president, copied and pasted just for you. :) You're so special.

"Hey president!

It was a really great week this week. Nothing all that incredibly exciting happened, but it was a week where I had some major realizations, and i was able to reflect back on a lot of the experiences I've had in the last 15 months. The dots started to finally connect this week! At church yesterday, 6 moms of the 9 missionaries serving from the Carrollton Ward got up to share an update on the boys' missions and to share something each of them had written about their feelings on the Savior at Christmastime. At the end, the Bishop's wife got up and read the thoughts her son on a mission in Brazil sent her. One line of what he said in particular hit me so hard that I spent the rest of the day reflecting on it:

'The Lord doesn't need you for the work, you need Him.'

When she read that, I had a flashback to last transfer when we were at a District Leader training meeting run by the zone leaders. At one point, Elder Barton asked us what it means to be a 'good missionary'. People gave their responses--most of them revolving around physical things a missionary does--work hard all day, be exactly obedient, follow the spirit, etc. But then Elder Barton shared an experience he had with a particularly difficult companion who was disobedient, hated working and really didn't have the desire to be there in the first place for one reason or another. He spent that entire transfer working, studying and praying to help that struggling missionary have a good experience loving the work, loving the gospel and loving the Savior. They didn't get much 'missionary work' done that transfer, he said, but to this day, he still considers it to be the most successful 6 weeks he'd ever had in his life because at the end of it, Elder Barton had seen that missionary grow into someone who loved the work and loved the Lord. More importantly though, Elder Barton himself had grown into a more charitable and devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. He had found himself in more ways than he ever would have had he just 'done missionary things' and dragged his companion along with him whether he liked it or not. After telling us this story, Elder Barton said something that has stuck with me to this day and that i reflect on almost daily:

'It is more important for you to love those around you--whether it be your companion, your leaders, other missionaries or the stranger on the street--than it is to baptize. The Lord really doesn't need you for the work because He is powerful enough to get it done without you. But you will change and others will change when you love the way the Savior did.'

Earlier this week, I went on exchanges with Sister Heaton and she asked me what was the biggest lesson I've learned so far and what do I want to accomplish in the 3 months I have left. After thinking about it a while, I told her what Elder Barton said and that that was the most important thing to me now. I've stopped caring about the numbers, I've stopped caring about how many Book of Mormons I give out, I've stopped caring what the leaders think of me and I've stopped worrying about if I'm 'good enough' in the eyes of others around me. The Lord has made it very clear to me in the last few months that i'm doing what He wants me to do if i'm bringing others unto Him through Christlike love and coming unto Him myself. 

I've felt more peace and more joy in the last 3 months on a mission than I have my entire life because I feel like I'm just now starting to scratch the surface of what it REALLY means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. It means living the way that He lived, loving the way that He loved, and being the way that He is.

Our teaching pool has been low for 6 weeks straight, it's cold and wet, it's Christmas and I miss my family, the doors aren't opening, and Sister Smith has way more Christmas presents than I do (haha), and yet I'm STILL so happy! its' kind of funny how it works out like that sometimes. This Christmas compared to the last has been the most fulfilling and happiest of my entire life and it's not even over yet! The circumstances I'm in now would have really gotten me down in the past but now I really couldn't care less. You've been telling me over and over again, President, that our circumstances have nothing to do with our joy and i'm just now starting to really see that. It all has everything to do with where our priorities and focus are. 

The story of Martha and Mary became my new favorite this week because of this idea:

 38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.

 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word.

 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.

 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

I feel like for most of my mission, I've pondered and prayed and fought and battled with myself to know what "the good part" was for me to focus on and the Lord has revealed it to me at last! 

I had a friend this past week tell me that they've seen a huge change in me in the last 15 months. They said, very lovingly haha, that I used to be "vicious" and too-ready to recognize the weaknesses in others rather than in myself. I had to agree with them. But they also said that I've changed in the fact that my capacity to love others for who they are has increased tremendously. I am by no means a perfectly charitable person yet, but I am getting better and I think that's the miracle of the Atonement. It can change a weak, silly, naive, "vicious" girl into someone a little bit more selfless, a little bit more kind and a little bit more understanding who wants to make her Heavenly Father proud, despite all the weaknesses and imperfections she has.

I know it's cliche to say, but I really am so grateful to be a disciple of Jesus Christ this Christmas season and to represent Him and the life that He lived. In the process of losing myself for His sake, I have found myself in more ways than I ever thought possible. 

It's both a privilege and a burden to tell you how I feel about Him and what He has given me. A privilege because I know He lives, that He loves us all and I want everyone to know that! But a burden because words literally fail me when trying to express the thoughts and feelings of my heart. Let my teardrops on the keyboard be a testimony to you of what I feel and what I know. 

He lives, He loves us, and I know that He would have still come down and suffered all that He suffered even if it was only for you."

__________

Sorry for the novel, but I feel really happy today. :)

I love you all, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

--Sister Lawson

1. The cutest, most Southern and Christmas-y church I've ever seen! 

2-3. A scary ghetto antique store we went to on exchanges that I actually loved more than I can describe.

4. Once upon a time, I forgot my name tag at service....#Crafty #Art

#LIGHTTHEWORLD

Unfortunately I did the worst job ever of keeping track of exciting things that happened this week.

**Before I forget--Shout out to everyone who has emailed me in the last couple of weeks! I'm really grateful for you, even though i can't respond to you all. You da bomb! Also--Shout out to Brooke and Abbie for getting home recently or coming home this week! THAT'S SO WEIRD!!!!!**

Ariel is still going strong and made it to church this Sunday with her boyfriend Hunter which was ADORABLE. They are so perfect for each other, it's not even funny. Pictures will come soon, I promise! But yeah, they came and shes' still super excited for baptism on the 31st. :)

There were a whole lotta fall-throughs and rescheduled appointments this week which is frustrating because you just want to have a normal day, but then you remember that you can't because when you're a missionary, nothing ever goes according to plan. I feel like most of the time, we are just scrambling for something new to do because Plan A, B, all the way through Z always fall through simultaneously. Is it bad that I can't wait for the day that I won't have to plan out every single second of every single day? Because, yeah, I can't wait for that.

Caroling was taken to the next level this week! Sister Smith and I worked on a giant banner for at least 3 hours and it turned out pretty dang good, in our opinion. We took this sign to the populated town square and sang our guts out to passers-by and to the cars driving down the streets. People constantly were stopping and rolling their windows down to hear us sing and some were even asking if they could record us for their Snap Chats and Instagram's haha! We did it for 3 nights straight and I sang the loudest of all the missionaries which means my voice was completely gone 3 nights in a row. Christmas time is the best. Definitely one of my favorite memories of the mission!

 

Oh! We did have one really neat experience this week. We were talking to our Bishop one night and he said that his family wanted to do something special for one of our friends. We told him some suggestions of what they could do but after visiting our friend the next day, we determined that what they needed the most was a new roof because the one they have is leaking into the trailer and has completely destroyed their bedroom and the stuff inside of it. We were really scared to tell the Bishop because it was a really big thing to ask, but after some prayer, we knew that we needed to tell him. He was MORE THAN WILLING to help out and said he would do all he could to help them out! It was a huge act of charity that really touched my heart. I sat there having no idea what to say because how in the world do you thank people for doing things like that? I dunno, you probably had to be there to know how I felt but there were tears shed for sure. People are awesome! 

 

I think that's about all i can remember about this week. I'm excited for what the next one has in store! 

 

BYE Y'ALL, REMEMBER ALWAYS THIS--Jesus is the reason for the season.

I'm out.

Sister Lawson

1. A fun mural we found.

2. A pretty Southern, fall picture.

3. The finished banner! 3+ hours later...

4. Caroling on the Square. :)

 

 

Christmastime in "Carol"-ton

You know what's really cute about Carrollton? It's the best place to be during Christmas time simply because of the name. ADORABLE. But also it's awesome because Carrollton is just awesome any time of the year. 

 

This week featured a whole lot of meetings, going to the Alabama border, baby-sitting, adventures,  Christmas carols and Elder Barton's guitar. 

 

Highlights:

1. ARIEL!!!!!!! once upon a time on monday, we got a random text from a girl saved in the phone that said "Hey Sisters, I really want to start meeting with you again. Can we meet this Wednesday at 10 at the church?".....um k? So we did just that and met the most dry-Mormon girl you've ever seen in your life. She's been dating a member in the Buchanan branch and she's finally ready to be baptized! The best part is she already knows everything, doesn't smoke, doesn't drink, doesn't live with her boyfriend, is completely normal and cute, and reads the scriptures and listens to Jeffrey R. Holland every day. Our job is going to be super easy with her. We love her already! IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! She's on date to be baptized on New Year's Eve.

 

2. Sister Smith and I got to be fake-STL's again for the week because one of the STL's has literally been dying in bed sick for the last 7 days. Her companion was going crazy so we offered to babysit while I went to MLC with the other one. That was pretty weird. But we spent a lot of time in their area--about 2 days--to help her be not-crazy anymore. 

 

3. There was a tornado warning! My first one in the South. We were forced to go indoors soooo after attempting to make some phone calls for the first hour, we kind of gave up and did crafts for the rest of the time instead. Haha we are the worst. MY ATTENTION SPAN HAS SHORTENED, I SWEAR. 

 

4. At a Sister's Conference, I got to see ALL my friends again! Sister Howell, Sister Hines...Even Sister Samuel from Snellville came all the way down to see me. IT WAS SO HAPPY! I have really missed everyone.

 

5. The weirdest thing is happening...I'm officially going to be one of the oldest in the mission. All my friends are leaving next transfer and I feel like I know absolutely no one anymore haha. Life is so weird. 

 

6. In honor of Christmastime, our district has spent the last 3 nights caroling at the hospital and it's been the most beautiful thing. I've never felt happier! Thankfully Elder Barton is a wizard on the guitar and and can play just about anything, and make it sound gorgeous. (Kind of reminds me of my home-boy Elder Tingey...Shoutout to you in "The Greatest OCM!")...Anyway, we're planning to go sing multiple times a week so it should be really good. 

 

I've been spending a lot of time reflecting on last Christmas compared to this Christmas....I'm really really different. My attitude, my beliefs, my testimony, my likes, my dislikes...I feel like for the most part I'm someone completely new. I wanted to write a lot more thoughts on my nostalgia, but of course, I'm out of time and Sister Smith is waiting patiently for me to log off. :)  DANG IT! 

 

I'll try again next week I guess!

BYE Y'ALL! (don't forget to #LightTheWorld!)

-Sister Lawson
 

1. Awkward family Christmas card from The Carrollton District.

2. Bye Jimmy! Don't die! (he's our Recent Convert friend)

3. Parking garage selfies post-caroling.

4. Sister Smith making the most out of her study time.

5. The cooky elders + Jimmy

6. Run Forrest, run!