Week 78 Nothing but Blessings!

Where to start where to start..

Holy Okie smokers! (sorry, that's probably not too appropriate, everyone smokes here though)

This week has been so incredible! We have Teria who is getting baptized on Saturday and we're SO excited. Be praying for Teria this week. :)

We then received another miracle with the Purcell family. This less active sister moved in with her active sister in our ward and she has two children who want to be baptized! We set baptismal dates with them yesterday. They're so cute and excited. 

Thomas came up to us yesterday when we were going over for a lesson, an investigator we have who is catholic and Hispanic but speaks fluent English, had a huge grin on his face. "Sisters, I did what you challenged me to do. I talked to my manager and asked for every Sunday off so that I could go to church, and he said yes! You can expect me there every Sunday"! Oh goodness. He is the happiest most humble 25'ish hispanic man I know. What a blessing to be a part of his life at this time with him. He is getting baptized on the 27th of Aug but we feel like it could be moved up. He needs to stop drinking and smoking. He knows he needs to though..so that's where it starts. 

Enid is incredible. There are a great deal of Marsheilles up here (since the islands are sinking) they all congregate to certain spots in the US all together. For the most part they're all family. They attend a branch after our ward meets and if we make a Marseilles contact we send it over to the four Marseilles elders. 

We also serve on an air force base here. We're not on it as much as we were in Ft. Sill or teaching but it's still neat. There was a HUGE airshow yesterday that they only hold once every couple of years. The Thunderbirds came and performed (exactly like the BLUE ANGELS father! Was it "A kind of magic" yesterday? Yes. yes it was ;) ) Ha Aaaaanyways. We went for a quick minute but the proselyting wasn't as good an opportunity as we first thought so we left. But you could see the stunts from the planes all throughout Enid. SO neat. I'm sorry this is a rather apostate email, but I can't help but feel like I'm living in Top Gun every day for a minute. There are SO many soldiers in their air force jumpsuits with aviators, driving around. (some on motorcycles..perhaps)  It's rather funny. 

So now to bring the spirit back, just a thought for the day. We were listening to "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox the other day with some recent converts. In it he states that he knows that it'll be Christ at that judgement bar, pleading for us to apply His Atonement and choose celestial glory. In Mosiah 26: 26-27 It says "And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed.

And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them.."

Does that not just break your heart a little? I know that Christ is more than with us every step of the way out here. He IS the reason that we can take steps forward here, and it breaks His heart when we choose not to see how much those steps of humility and progression with his Atonement will make us happy. I want to commit all of us to be more committed to that wonderful messenger, the Holy Ghost and his promptings. It's truly those little things that will bring us lasting happiness and take us home. 

Love you all!

SIster Call

Priscilla, Sister Sorensen and Sister Chamberlain

Priscilla and Sister Chamberlain and field....

Week 77- Enid time

Enid is the land of miracles!!

I'm SO excited to be here! Sister Chamberlain is one incredible missionary. She has such a great testimony of this gospel! Together we're going to..'tear' it up with the Lord's help! (sorry, that language was dumb) SO excited though! 

We are teaching this fellow Jack. Started just last week. He lives in a bus and we love him for it. He has been to church twice already and we're SO excited for him! He will be getting baptized at the end of this month, or first week of next. He is Albert Einstein from Oklahoma. That's what he looks like. 

There's also a woman named Teria who will get baptized the weekend that we receive permission from the first presidency because she is on probation. :( It'll happen though! She is prepared and wanting it so badly and the Lord knows it. 

Sister Chamberlain is such a wonderful human. What a great missionary. I know that the Lord knows. He knows what little Sister Call needs, especially this transfer. 

I love you all. 

I want everyone to think about the story of Alma and Amulek. They not only watched individuals who they taught and baptized, burned to death because of it, but those women and children willingly did it. Just perhaps weeks or days after they had even heard about this gospel. How in the world could they do that? Well, they had a certain perspective on everything. They knew just how much more there was to our existence than just this life. Just something to think about.

Have a wonderful week.

Sister Call

1) This is Jack here. We love him

Week 76-New President going Hamm with the Spirit

The Oklahoma City mission is up in ca-hoots right now! (in all the best ways)

President Mansell has been having those poor AP's over at his house until who knows how long (1, 2 in the morning) completely diving head on into everything and changing it ALL up. About half of leadership, the STL's and Zone Leaders were dropped (including yours truly), almost EVERY companionship has been switched, and there are also some new callings in the mission, traveling stl or zone leader, who goes and stays with a different companionship every two days or so. (Those are Sister Ryan (from Spokane!) and then previous AP Van Halder)

I will be going up to Enid, I've never served up north before, always south or central, and I will be training Sister Chamberlain for her 2nd transfer in the mission. I'm excited to be that normal missionary again, completely focusing on proselyting. I know this is the Lord's will and I'm excited to go out and apply those lessons I've hopefully learned and hit the ground running with Sister Chamberlain! :)

OKC 2nd has been a blessing for me. Sister Jensen and Washburn have taught me a great deal. I love the city. Pretty excited to go to boonies again though.

Miracle time. What a blessing. Sister Washburn and I set a goal to be exactly obedient for a week and see what the Lord will do with that. I hope that doesn't sound hypocritical. We were being obedient before, but just taking extra care to follow everything, and well, we received a call on thursday of this lady, Debra Kimball, who has a lot of family who are members. She asked us "what do I have to do to do to be baptized"? I was on the phone with her "Well, you will meet with us and take some lesson.." She interrupted "Yes yes I know honey, I'm 61 and not getting any younger. My time is ticking. I know Christ is my Savior and I need this. Now."
...

Even as I'm writing this out I still can't believe it. Debra will be getting baptized. And just like that, Heavenly Father showed both us just how in charge of all of this is. I have such a testimony of Obedience. It truly is the first law of Heaven.

I'm sorry that I haven't spoken much about people this transfer I feel like. It has been a great deal of finding and then dropping in two weeks or less, but alas, it's progressing!

I love you. Keep up sharing this gospel.

Sister Call

1) Carla. She was incredible! We knocked on her door and she felt so strongly that this was all true. But then the father at the catholic church she did attend rather put an end to it all. Father Jorge rather ruined our morning :/

She's wonderful though!

Week 75- The Lord Knows

What a good week! Sister Washburn and I, instead of teaching a lot of lessons this week, were taught many lessons ourselves by our loving Heavenly Father. We're needing to drop a great deal of our investigators. They are not progressing. So it's go time! We know the Lord has plans for this area and we are working more effectively through the lists and members. The Lord sees our efforts and receiving a baptism is a very righteous desire of ours that we know, and so if we keep having the courage to follow the Spirit, then we need to trust that His will will take place in this part of His vineyard.

We had a miracle this week! Bernice Cook is a less active member who has rather slipped through the cracks. She hasn't been visited by the ward in a long time (so many less actives) and she was baptized about 8 years ago. We began teaching her and her non member family and she and her grandsons came to church on Sunday! They came pretty late and apparently sister Cook had a flat tire and so she went to get it changed, having dropped the boys off. We were sitting in gospel principles when bishop opened the door and motioned for us. We come out and there's these two cute 8 and 9 year old boys, staring up at us with their two kid Book of Mormon Stories books we gave them. "Do you know these boys"? Asked Bishop who was very confused. Huzzah! Miracle. There was Adam and John, both named from the bible they said. So cute.

With the area the past two weeks, Sister Call has been feeling pretty down. You look back on the work ethic, effectiveness of it, where you fell short on following the spirit, and (this has been a big lesson learned for me, learning just what my best is) you can say that you worked your hardest and did your best, you begin wondering what the Lord is thinking and doing up there. Aren't these His children that we're dealing with? Is this not God's church on the earth? 

It was Saturday evening and Sister Washburn and I just really needed to teach a lesson that day, if not for others, ourselves. We were trying all these doors, knocking a few, moving onto the next LA/Investigator/member, trying them, not home. Then knocking some more, until it was 8:45 and we were needing to wrap it up, when we knocked on the last one. (I know I know, everyone always says it happens on the last) This little old african american lady opens the door. She has the brightest smile on her face, and without us hardly saying a word, motions us right inside. Her name is Linda and she knows that she needs and wants to get back into church. She knew that we were meant to be at her door then. We went back to the car in tears and said a prayer of heart felt gratitude.

In answer to the questions before, yes. This is God's church. He was and is aware of us all along. I know this gospel is it. We have it in our lives. I love my Savior and I am in awe of how much He loves me. 

I love you all!

Sister Call