“These are days never to be forgotten.”

That quote comes from the footnote of JSH 1:71, and I thought it very appropriate for my email this week because it has truly been an amazing week!

St. Patrick's Day P-Day

Monday: We had an AWESOME P-Day activity for St. Patrick's day, in which I may or may not have injured my pinky during an intense game of "spoons." It still hurts sometimes when I use it haha :P But I guess that's how you know it was a good game! I also had a nice conversation with Elder McGill, one of our ASL elders who is mostly deaf. He has a hearing aid so he can partially hear. Anyways, he was off sitting by himself so Sister King and I went over and communicated through the little sign language we know, playing charades, and speaking loudly and clearly. It was pretty fun :)
That night, we had a meeting about the booths for the fireside, and it really stressed out Sister King and Elder Frandsen. So we made a rather long to-do list of stuff that had to be done for the fireside. Elder Hillebrant relieved his stress by playing beautiful songs on the piano, which helped everyone de-stress a little bit. Especially because our list was rather long and intimidating, and Sister King and I knew we'd have to take care of the majority of it... because it was the week before transfers, and the elders in our ward are the Assistants to the President... so their week was pretty busy.

Sister King and Sister Shell being overwhelmed!!

We were also supposed to read scriptures with Frank, but by the time we were done going over things for the fireside it was pretty late. Frank understood and joined us and the elders for a kneeling prayer for help. The Spirit was very strong and helped everyone, and I think it was really good that Frank participated in it.
Then, we went on exchanges.

Tuesday: I was with Sister Flanery in my area! We got to go to the temple with our district that morning, which was amazing. We (Sister King and I) went through for some ancestors for our District Leader Elder Duvall. That was really special. Sister King and I felt very strongly that those two women had been waiting a while for that to be done, and were very receptive and grateful. After that, we had to drive an hour to go pick up our missing A-Frame for the fireside. So we had a fun little journey, and it was a beautiful day, so we went with the windows partially rolled down.
Then, we went to see Jenn. (Not the one in Caldwell, the one here who has some severe medical problems.) Sister King and I both felt very strongly that Sister Flanery and I absolutely had to go visit her on exchanges. So we went, and had a lovely chat with lots of laughter. Then, towards the end, Jenn asked if we had a spiritual message for her. "Of course!" I answered as I pulled out my scriptures. I was already in the process of opening them when I stopped and asked Jenn, "Actually, is there something you would like us to discuss? Like, any topic that you've been thinking about that you want to understand more that we could help you with?" So Jenn looked at me and said, "Um, yes, actually. Could we talk about hope? Because I've been kind of struggling with that lately." Sister Flanery had the perfect scripture- Ether 12:4 I believe- and we talked about that for a minute. Then Jenn told us that she doesn't understand what she should have hope in because she knows that her condition really won't get better. Thank goodness Sister Flanery was there, because she said everything perfectly. Sister Flanery told Jenn that her mom has terminal cancer, and that she used to feel the same way because she knows that her mom won't get better, and knows that eventually her mom is going to pass on. Then she said that after reading that scripture and praying she understood that she should hope for a reason and a purpose behind it, and not hurt herself by hoping that her mom would get better. She acknowledged that God can, of course, work any miracle but that realistically, that was the only thing she could truly have hope in. Jenn really liked that and the Spirit was so strong. She said, "I've never thought of it that way before." So we encouraged her to hope for a purpose and a reason behind all of her medical conditions, and that she'll one day know what those reasons are. We had a prayer with her and left, and I know we made a difference that day, and I'm so glad Sister Flanery was there to help her. Sister Flanery is amazing- both her and one of her sisters are on a mission, knowing that they may not see their mom again when they get home. And Sister Flanery is one of the most amazing sister missionaries I have ever met.
After that, we headed over to dinner with a guy named Taylor and a few other people in the ward, including Taylor's sister Ashley. We had a really good spiritual thought with them, and I felt like I should commit them to read Alma 36 this past week. So we're gonna follow up with them and see how that went soon!
Then, we still had some time, so Sister Flanery and I got some of our stuff from our To-Do list done so that Sister King wouldn't be so stressed when she got home.
Sister King was pretty happy :) And, she had a cd from Mercy River waiting for her at home, so that was pretty exciting!

After exchanges

Wednesday: Yeah, we're only on Wednesday and my email is already ten years long. Deal with it!! Haha
We visited a member named Erica, and let me tell you, Whinnie (our GPS) could not find her house and we had to call Erica like 5 thousand times for directions! It was slightly ridiculous. But! We made it there and got to know her pretty well, and were able to have a nice discussion about the sacrament and the Atonement with her.
After that, we went to The Mission- that Christian group at one of the Lonestar College campuses. It was pretty good. We invited tons of people there to the fireside. At the end, though, they told anybody that wanted healing to come up and be healed by some of their leaders. I saw one girl praying with her hand on some guy's head and... well, it just made me so grateful that we have the true authority of God on the earth today in our church. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and that we have it, and that all the worthy men in our church hold it. I know that it is real and that it can work true miracles.
After, we went to the Mission Office to meet up with the Elders and do some things for the fireside.
Then, we went and visited with Janae. She is so wonderful and beautiful and amazing!! I love her. She was sorting through all of her music, so it was fun to help out with that and look through it.

Thursday: We taught Frank the Law of Chastity! It went really well, so thats good. Not awkward at all either. Halleluyer! He's just progressing so well. I remember that we were talking to him about some people we know that are learning tons about the church and reading everything and really like it, but they just don't believe it. And Frank said, "What?! Why?! Ugh. It just makes sense!" So, in the words of Frank, people... IT JUST MAKES SENSE! :D
Then, we met up at the Mission Office with the elders again to type up the program. We brought the elders some Chick Fil A and we all ate lunch while we were talking about the logistics of the fireside. Let me tell you, it was pretty hilarious to drive around with this GIGANTIC Chick Fil A bag on my lap and only two tiny girls inside a tiny car. Also, Elder Hillebrant ate all of the fries and I promise I wasn't mad at all... but I did want some fries. So I hope he enjoyed them for me!

After, we had an amazing lesson with Sandra. It was a joint lesson with the sister missionaries in Windrose, her home ward. It was the official "We're passing you off to the YSA sister missionaries" lesson, and it was really beautiful. Sandra is currently reading the Book of Mormon little by little. We read the story of Enos with her and talked with her about prayer and about how she can receive answers. She explained that she was having difficulty understanding which thoughts were hers and which thoughts came from God. We discussed that and gave her some tips for how she can know and understand. It was amazing, and she is just so prepared.
Then, on the way home, something scary happened. We were just driving along, minding our own business, when a white four door truck pulled out in front of everybody, and we had to slam, and I mean SLAM, on our brakes. We almost hit the car in front of us, who got in a three car fender bender with the other two cars in front of her. They pulled off into a parking lot, and we turned around and went over to them. One was a guy, and he took some pictures and drove off because his car wasn't damaged. The other two were teenage girls on their way to work, one of them who's from London and has only been here for a year. They were so shaken up and were on the phone with parents. We pulled up, parked and walked up. We asked if they were okay, and told them we had witnessed what had happened. Their cars weren't damaged, so after exchanging numbers and taking some pictures, they got our number in case they needed a witness for anything later. The truck that caused the accident was long gone though. The girls were shaken up, so I followed a prompting and said, "I know this is weird, but we're missionaries for our church... would it be alright if we pray with you? I know it will help." They immediately agreed, so I said a prayer from my heart and from the Spirit. They thanked us a lot and then got in their cars and drove away, and I know that they traveled in safety for the rest of the day. It was amazing to be part of that. I'm so glad we were there to help them!
Then, we did some things for the fireside and had an awesome conversation on the phone with Frank. He was helping us decide what to do with our other investigator, Erick. He told us, "Y'all should just teach him a lesson on faith. I mean, that won't fix everything immediately, but it will get him thinking and it will help him realize he needs more faith."
IT WAS SO AWESOME!! Look at our little investigator missionary!! It was such an amazing moment.
After that, we visited Ashley M, a recent convert, and talked to her about getting her temple recommend and going to the temple this week. Hopefully that all works out!
AND!!! The amazing cd I ordered about missionary work came!!! It is so inspiring and good and we've been enjoying it non-stop ever since.
Then, we went on exchanges.

Friday: Sister Andreason came here with me, to my area! That was fun. She loved all of our music, so that was pretty fun.
We were supposed to give Branden, a potential investigator from The Mission, a church tour but he had to cancel on us. Sad day :/ So we went and visited Misti and Kaylan and had a good discussion with them. Misti took some flyers to invite some people to the fireside, so that was exciting!
There was some HORRIBLE traffic that day, by the way. Tons.
Anyways. We went and volunteered at NAM and then exchanged back. Then, Sister King and I went over to Andrea's house and helped bake around 100 cupcakes for the fireside. So fun!

Saturday: We picked up some table cloths for the fireside, and all I could think was... "One day more!!" Haha, anyways..
Then, we did some planning. And realized that the transfer was ending and that we needed new planners. Whaaaaat??
Then, we visited with Jennifer. That was fun. We had another good discussion on the sacrament. She did a neon run (a 5K) that night, and it sounds like it was so super fun.
Then, we went to dinner with Kevin at Shogun. And Sister King and Kevin ate tons of nasty sushi and I enjoyed my tepanyaki chicken, veggies, and rice. Blech.
After that, we went to Kristin's house and brought her some ice cream, and had a really good talk with her. I love her a ton.

Sunday: It was finally the big day! It was surreal that it was finally here. Sister King and I fasted again, because we really needed the Lord's help on this.
We had ward council and got super pumped about the fireside all over again.
Then, church was good.
During Relief Society, we noticed that Angelica was not okay. So we asked if she wanted to talk out in the hallway and she started just crying and nodded yes. So we quickly and quietly left the room and started talking to her in the hallway. As she started talking to us, who should walk around the corner and immediately give her a hug than Kaylan- Angelica's visiting teacher! Miracle. We talked with her for a while as we walked around the church building. We suggested that Angelica get a blessing of comfort before church was over. She told us that she wasn't sure, and so we had a good discussion on faith. After, she thought, and said, "I think I should get a blessing." So, we went in and got called the elders and Johnny out of Priesthood to give her a blessing. I think Angelica was really comforted by it, and it was such a neat experience for all of us.
The cool part? The lesson in Priesthood was all about ministering and being ready to give blessings, and the lesson in Relief Society was all about the blessings of the Priesthood and receiving blessings.
SO COOL. I love Angelica, and I'm glad we were able to help her out.
Then, we went over to Andrea's house to eat some sandwiches for dinner and booked it over to the church. We started cleaning and setting up the gym, then the elders called and gave us the address for us to pick up the programs, and so we ran and grabbed those. Sister King and I were freaking out because there was a member there who was actually in a YSA branch that is in the HOUSTON EAST MISSION. WHAT?! Yeah, somehow they'd found out about it too. We were so pumped and freaking out and just excited. We were nervous because we weren't there to help set up because we had to go get the flyers. But then, we came back. And everything was set up! It looked beautiful! We just had to do some last minute things, and then suddenly... it was here!!!! We sat with Frank and his sister Daisy. We'd never met two of the speakers and were sort of nervous, we'd never heard the musical numbers rehearsed. It was flawless. The Spirit was so strong. Everyone spoke by the Spirit and said things so perfectly. And then, President Pingree summed it up by talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ- faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost were the parts he focused on. He said everything so perfectly and the Spirit almost felt like it was heavy because it was so prominent in that room. It was amazing. Frank and his sister Daisy were there. Sandra was there. Tons of other missionaries brought investigators. Tons of members brought friends. And here's the cool part.
Some leaders from The Mission came! Because they decided that we always support them and come to their stuff, so they can support us and come to something that we were doing! How cool huh? And you could tell, they were impressed, they felt the Spirit, and they liked it. Stewart, one of the leaders, talked with President Pingree for about 20 minutes. He was very subdued and didn't want to leave the chapel. And, when he found out that we had temples, he was very impressed and liked that fact a lot. At the end, right before we left, he walked up to President Pingree and said, "Sir, would it be alright if I go play the piano in the chapel?" Of course, President told him that that would be just perfect.
IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!
I have no idea how we pulled it off, but maybe its because WE didn't pull it off. Heavenly Father did.  Alma 17:3 says, "But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer,and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God." That's what happened with our fireside. We gave ourselves to much prayer and fasting, and so did the elders, and our whole ward gave themselves to much prayer. And it worked out because of the faith of all those who helped with the fireside. It was just beautiful and amazing. Sister King and I are still in shock.

Booth about Temples at the Fireside

Booth about Primary at the Fireside

We have at least 4 new investigators. One girl named Suzanne talked with our Bishop for 10 minutes, and Bishop Parker bore his testimony on the Book of Mormon to her and read Moroni's promise with her. When they were done talking, Suzanne told Bishop Parker that she was so happy that she'd met him. Sister King and I talked to so many nonmembers, and I gave Daisy a "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet and she loved it. It was just a big success. President Pingree talked with a lot of the visitors too, and there were tons of missionaries, and people loved the booths and all of the information available. And, dad, we used the "Introduction to Mormonism" dvd that you sent me forever ago, and people liked that. I may need another one, because Sister King felt prompted to give it to Stewart, so of course we did.
Y'all.
This whole fireside was a complete and total miracle. It was so completely amazing, and I'm so grateful I was able to be a part of it.
Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Also, I'm gonna send y'all a picture of the program ASAP so that if y'all want to have one, you already have the layout of what we did to work on :) While it was a lot of hard work it really paid off and was so worth it.
I love the gospel and I love y'all!!!

com amor,
Sister Shell

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!!! I love you and I look up to you so much :) You are amazing, and you are one of my heroes. Eu amo voce MUITO