Guys this week was so good. Seriously. Probably my favorite week in all of PTC.
This week school started up again which meeeeaaannnsss....THE DROUGHT IS OVER. People weren't joking when they said that summertime is dead in PTC. All summer long, we've been scraping the barrel, looking for things to do every day and really having little-to-no success because literally everyone flies away to foreign lands because Delta and money. I've never been so happy for school to be back in haha.
Awesome things of the week:
PAULINA IS BACK! We decided to go stop by one last time (we say that every time, but this time was for real haha). We had a "drop note" written and everything, totally prepared to leave it behind for when, yet again, she wouldn't be there. But she was there! And we had the best, most guided-by-the-spirit lesson of all time where she told us she didn't feel like she was being baptized because she wanted to--just because everyone around her wanted to be. She didn't know for sure that it was the true church, and was afraid of rushing into it. We were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and receiving answers through the Spirit and it was just so cool...the way Paulina describes feeling the spirit is my favorite thing: "When I feel the spirit, everything looks prettier."
CUTE RIGHT?
So yeah, we are going to be working VERY hard and taking baby steps with her to help her get an answer for herself and I'm very excited.
Some days were just so packed with appointments and things to do that we were literally running from house to house, only able to stay for 15 or 20 minutes..it was nuts!
I hit 11 months this week...I can't believe it's almost been a year!
We found a new friend named Stephanie this week and she is absolutely wonderful. :) She's someone that Sister Leyba and I found FOREVER ago and couldn't ever contact again! Her basic story is this:
Her entire father's side comes from Mormon pioneer ancestry, and somehow the church skipped a generation when her dad estranged her so she never knew she had Mormon family members. Since we talked to her the first time, she's reconnected with several of her family members and has even had her ancestors come to her in dreams and tell her she needs to join the church. She knows it's where she needs to be! There were several other really miraculous things about running into her, but the best news is that she's "the most elect" person in all of PTC. :) When we went by for our appointment, she was sobbing from beginning to end because of all these fears and conflicting thoughts she has of being judged for being a single, divorced parent, but because she also doesn't want to disappoint her ancestors. She has GREAT reverence for them and thinks of them any time she goes through something really hard which is super rad. This week we are going to go on a church tour with her and introduce her to several of the other "single divorced moms" in the ward which I'm very excited about. STEPHANIE RULES!
Sideth is still doing great. She's been reading the Book of Mormon every day, praying every day, and she came to church yesterday as well! CPR (Church, Praying, Reading) man, it really does save souls. Still shooting for baptism on the 11th!
Overall, this week was FAR BETTER than the last few months have been. I know that God has a purpose for me being here in Peachtree City, but it's honestly been the biggest challenge for me to realize what that purpose is during the time I've been here. I've started to realize that the biggest reason I'm here at this time is so that I can truly grow and become who my Heavenly Father wants me to be, to become refined through my trials and to really know and understand how "enduring to the end" will lead me to happiness.
A very wise past-companion told me today, "Happiness is a choice. It has nothing to do with external forces." Men are that they might have JOY! Sometimes it's hard to choose happiness, but I'm working on it day by day.
I'm out.
Sister Lawson
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