Week 47-New Years Y'all. New Years

So sorry mom, I totally didn't allow myself enough time to write a long email because of he hem, all that talking with the Lani. 'Twas wonderful though!

This week went pretty fabulously though. The Rodriguez family are still progressing wonderfully. They might or might now have rescued us in the snow yesterday. Our cars were grounded and so we were out walking in the snow (yes, SNOW) okay okay. More like Ice with a little sprinkling of white stuff on the top. As they were driving us back Brother Rodriguez might or might not have purposefully spun a few doughnuts...he hem. Let's just say this here missionaries heart hadn't thumped that hard for a while. 'Twas scary. And obedient? *cough* he hem. eeehh. 

Christmas was wonderful. We spent it with a few families and I honestly felt right at home. I mean, with all of the kids crawling around you, pulling your hair and yes, perhaps planting a huge slobbery wet kiss on your cheek, and then the parents just being laughing bystanders as you try to fight them off, yes. Was one wonderful day. 

President surprised all of us on Thursday when he walked right into the middle of District Meeting. Poor Elder Moore, he's already pretty white (it's okay. He accepts it) and his face turned completely chalk pale.(He's our District leader by the way so he was doing the training)  Did one swell job though! Fun fact. I've actually served with Elder Moore for almost 8 months out of my mission! He was in my very first district.

So mom and dad..we might or might not have taken Communion on christmas eve night.

All is well though! No worries, the church is still true. An Investigator invited us and the elders to a Christmas Eve candlelit ceremony Thursday night at her Methodist church. Hey! We love church swaps! So we went and oh boy, 'twas quite the experience! All the way from the choirs 100 year old looking robes, to holding apostate candles, (no fire for us, remember?), and then standing in-line to eat of some pretty good tasting french bread and grape juice. It was actually a pretty comical sight I can imagine, 4 awkward LDS missionaries all nervous in line, looking around, wondering if this is sacrilegious or not..Glad we went though! It was really a beautiful service. Like that there Methodist church. Truly some of the nicest preachers we've run into have been Methodist :)

We actually went on exchanges for the first half of this week with a couple of companionship's and so not too much has happened this week but hey! Good thing the Atonement is real! 'Twill have much more to report on next week, to be sure.

Love you all, sorry I didn't send any pics this week. The computer's being slightly dumb.

Sister Call 

Week 46-Christmas Season; An unspeakable Gift

2 Corinthians 9:15- "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift"

My heart is pretty full right now. The Savior being born into this world really was the beginning of all hope. I encourage all of us this week to take a step back and think on just what a savior being born has done for us in our lives and will continue to do.

The Rodriguez's came to church again yesterday. What a beautiful family. They are members already! Speaking up in class, volunteering to help the Elders Quorum to deliver meals to needy families, meeting with Bishop to discuss goals..BAH! How did we get so blessed??

*iiiity bitty plot twist though* Turns out that they're actually not married right now and that her actual husband is lost somewhere in New Mexico but they need to find him and get divorced before they can get married...

talk about a MISSIONARY NIGHTMARE OF A PICKLE.

So yeah. That happened. No worries though. The Lord's aware of their situation and their desires to get this figured out so that they can get baptized. Sister Cox and I have complete faith! (D&C 123:17)

I want to let you know that I am so grateful to be out here. Everyone says it, but I am! I've never been so constantly happy in all my life, just doing my best to help others come closer to their Savior along with myself. "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel" I can whole heartedly second Joseph Smith. This gospel changes lives and we are all enlisted in this great work! I love serving His children and through them, my Savior every day.

I challenge all of you to do just a little more of that during this Christmas Season. Just remember the cheesy but wonderful phrase "The Reason for the Season" and I can promise you that you will find more happiness in your life because, true, He's sure not going to change your circumstances, but He's going to change your heart which is what really matters.

I love you all! It's not about the presents, but that little baby in the stable.

Sister Call

And Merry Christmas!!

Week 45-MIRACLES

I am so blessed to be able to serve here in Lawton. Okay, I'm not telling you all this too be prideful or to make you scared, just to show you how the Lord works. So Lawton is (apparently) the fourth most dangerous city in the US, with just terrible things happening here every night (*shrug* as missionaries though we just live in our own bubbles so not too aware anyways) but yet..I've never met such wonderful, prepared people along miracles in any of my other areas. Never judge anyone or anything. His wonderful children are everywhere.

So last night we probably experienced the greatest miracle so far on our missions together, Sister Cox and I. This family, the Rodriguez's, showed up at 2nd wards Christmas party Saturday night. It turns out that they took the lessons years ago in Utah and weren't prepared at the time. They have now though come to know that it is true and that the need it in their lives. Turns out they actually live in our area and so we had a lesson with them last night. It's a wonderful couple with 3 children who are above 8. We shared the Restoration and the spirit was pretty amazing. Sister Rodriguez was in tears when we talked about baptism, telling them that they could have the Spirit with them ALWAYS. She stated that their family needed that in their lives and would absolutely love to get baptized. All eyes then turned to Brother Rodriguez. He looked around at everyone, kind of questioning, and then finally picked up on the silence. He turned to his wife "Oh you know that I've been ready for a long time. We're going into that font together"! Neither Sister Cox or I could honestly cry, we were just so speechless. Everyone, 

THE RODRIGUEZ FAMILY IS GETTING BAPTIZED JANUARY 9TH!!.

I know that I'm still not comprehending that this is even happening. 

We are then seeing a wonderful member referral whom we're teaching in the MEMBERS home. (missionary dream right there). 

A really tender moment happened the other night. We were with an Investigator Steven and his girlfriend, Jessica who's a less active. (hopefully I've told you about them before) We were teaching them the Plan of Salvation and at the end of it Sister Cox and I were testifying of it and the Book of Mormon for he is going to get dropped if he doesn't start reading it soon. I looked at him, holding that book, and all of a sudden the spirit testified to me so strongly of that book. I was literally overcome and just broke down. I told him that that book is true and that it changes me everyday and that I know that it can do the same for him. 

That's what I would like to finish on. I love the Book of Mormon. I love how it looks, smells, and feels as I'm holding it as we walk streets. I love the feeling that I get without fail when I open the pages. I know that it is right and it is true. I would like to invite you all AND myself to not take it for granted (like I know we all do) and open it more throughout the week to really find answers and comfort. They're there, I can honestly tell you that. It will truly "Bring you closer to God than any other book" and so that's all that needs to be said. Open it, read, and strengthen your testimony of the Savior and become a better individual yourself through it! I'm sorry that's pretty long, but it's true.

I love you all! Rather nervous/excited to talk to you in less than 2 weeks.. but mainly excited :)

Sister Call

Pic 1) Oh you know. Just a selfie of us and President at Transfers

2) Joseph and us (thank you for praying for him by the way. We know it's helping) Sister Chandler, Priscilla and Joseph

3) Sister Cox and I 'back in the saddle again'

Week 44-This here mission is SO much more than "OK." Please.‏

First off, I'd just like to point out that I'm pretty sure that I'm losing my sense of fashion. I'm sitting here in an old, rather ratty grey skirt, with an old funkily patterned navy blue shirt and some odd brown hipster shoes, with my hair in a braid with half of the hair falling out. I asked Sister Chandler if I looked slightly Amish. The hesitation before the elongated "Well, nooooo" was answer enough. *siiigh* Darn it. Guess the best part is the nametag. Hey. It's enough for me! :)

Aaaaaanyways. The work of Salvation continues! Not too big of a plot-twist, I'm sure. It's the best!

He hem. Before we begin, a few memorable moments that absolutely HAVE to get in the journal tonight or I'm going to forget. So Sister Sorensen (who's getting trained right now) and I went on exchanges on Wednesday. It was my first time leading out our area in an exchange. *gulp* Lawton is HUGE with not too much rhyme or reason really to the street numbering. My sense of direction suffers. But the day began with us out finding. We have some handy dandy "A Savior is Born" cards that leads to the video that we're handing out like crazy! There were two older gentleman outside and we walked up to them holding out a card and asking "Would you like to see a wonderful video that talks about the true meaning of Christmas"? They both stared us down for a minute or two while we've got our smiles plastered on our faces and Sister Call's arm begins to shake from holding out the card to them for so long. They finally opened their mouths "Oh, WE know about the REAL meaning of Christmas." Oooookay then. Roughest bunch of Jehovah's witnesses I've ran into so far. Oh boy, one was actually a former member of the church too! (#missionarynightmare) They get going at it and well, let's just say they didn't accept the card. We skedaddled out of there needless to say. We then got so lost getting to our next appointment that Sister Sorenson piped up, "Sister Call, I think you're driving on the wrong side of the road.." !!!! So that happened. We then went to a bible study that our investigator was supposed to be at at the Calvary Baptist Church. (the idea was to do a church swap) Sooooo uncomfortable!! Ooooh boy, we walk in and right from the get go we get the weirdest looks. Sister Sorenson and I just decided to apply the Madagascar Penguin's suggestion and "Just smile and wave." We left after just a few minutes of some bible thumpin' because our investigator, Joey, never showed up. (we didn't have his number to call him. it's a weird situation) But anyways, as we were walking out Sister Sorenson points out something behind us. I look back around and there's this lady who had followed us outside who was trying her best to flatten herself against the wall so we wouldn't see her, staring at us. HA!! Well what can I say, we are pretty scary. The best part of the exchange though was when dear Sister Sorenson committed two of our investigators to baptism, Juan and Julianne. (two younger boys from a part member family) All in all, one wonderful exchange!

The work is going wonderfully here, I am telling you. We have some great investigators and ward members. SO many of them came to the Ward Christmas Party on Saturday night and it was an absolutely HIT. Fellowhshipping opportunities are the absolute bees-knees. There is one in particular, Joseph. He's an investigator who'e about 30. He has SUCH a sincere desire to come to know his Savior and become baptized! His mother is completely in-active so he doesn't get too much support from her. He's trying to overcome some addictions with alcohol and drugs. He's also on probation up until march which is when his baptismal date is. We have a lot of faith in him. The ward's doing wonderful about fellowshipping him and giving him the support that he needs. Please send prayers his way, along with prayers for your own missionary efforts. If you have the desire and are willing to share, Heavenly Father will CERTAINLY place those prepared in your path. 

Last though before we're done here. Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (pretty sure Sister Burton shared this in the Christmas Devotional last night) I absolutely love that. Believing in Christ and living this Gospel allows a peace into our lives that can't be experienced anywhere else. I love you all, and please share that peace with others.

Sister Call

PS. This here is one of my best friends, Sister Chandler. I'm sure going to miss her. She's a hard worker and I was very privileged to be able to serve with her.

Mom here- Sister Chandler is finishing her mission and goes home Wednesday.  I asked Priscilla who will be her new Companion.  

Her response:

I shall be getting my dearly beloved....*drumrooolllll** MTC COMPANION!! SISTER COX!!! Oh goodness, it's goign to be so crazy to be back again. hopefully we've both changed and we'll STAY with those good changes, and not fall back into the companionship before (which wasn't bad at ALL. Haha we just honestly had no idea what we were even doing) 

More about Sister Cox: I asked Priscilla if Sister Cox is a Sister Trainer and where she is in the mission....

Her response: No, I will be training her.

She is up north actually. She shotgun trained Ponca City (this means she opened an area with a new missionary) so President trusts her a lot. I really am excited. She's a consecrated missionary if I ever saw one. We actually haven't really seen each other in a long time, but I'm excited.

I know she's hard some more difficult companions I feel like, but I'm honestly not sure

That's  our wonderful missionary, how we love her!!!