New York Utica Mission: Week 21 - I Love Sharing the Gospel!

Hey Everyone!!! Its been another great week!

Some highlights...

So since I already kinda said goodbye to people at Meals on Wheels because I thought I was leaving last week, when I walked in to Meals on Wheels this week then everyone started clapping! It was so sweet!! They were so happy I was staying another six weeks! :') And yesterday some of my favorite ward members came up to me and were happy I was staying too, it was so sweet! The people here are the best!!

We had a pasta dinner at Meals on Wheels because they were having a fundraiser (our friend who volunteers with us there paid for us--she's the sweetest) and it was super good! Pasta and homemade meatballs with Italian bread, salad, and then pie and cake for dessert. Yum!

This week with a couple of the less actives that we visit we read the Proclamation of the Family with them and showed them pictures of our families and they showed us pictures of their families. It was so fun!! They loved seeing our families (especially Sister Priests' and my nieces :) ). We had a lot of fun looking at the pictures of them when they were younger and the cool experiences they have had too.

So we were teaching one of our investigators this week and we were planning on teaching the restoration but as we were talking with her I got the impression to talk about faith and how we can increase our faith and read from Alma 32 and it was just really cool to see how the Spirit led the lesson. One of the best parts was that we started with the first point of the restoration (God is our Loving Heavenly Father) and then Sister Priest and I were both on the same page of where the lesson needed to go without saying one word to each other about changing our plan. The Spirit is the best thing in the world! Missionary work and just life in general can't be done without it!!

The other day it was really rainy and cold and we had a lesson scheduled with one of our investigators (T, who is 17) in the afternoon. The lesson was going to be outside because that's the only place we could meet so he cancelled and then later that day we were tracting from 6pm to around 7:30pm and we were about to go to one of our other investigators apartments to teach him but then I felt like we should walk on Route 11 for a little bit (the main street that we live by) and talk with people who were just as crazy as us to be out walking. So we did and a couple minutes later we see a guy walking towards us and we were like "Is that T??" and it was!! So we talked with him and asked if we could just teach him right then. So we walked a little further down the road and sat on a bench where people wait for the city bus. We talked about the Book of Mormon (we already taught him the restoration) and how important it is and he told us that his step dad who he was really close to passed away and I felt prompted to flip to Alma 40:11-12 that talks about what happens after we die to help bring him comfort. Even though we were all crammed on a bench next to a busy street at night in the rain, the Spirit was still there guiding that lesson. In the lesson Sister Priest felt prompted to ask him to be baptized and he said yes!! I just love being a missionary!!

Sunday there was a fireside for the youth in the ward and the theme was preparing for a mission so the YM leader asked us 6 missionaries to be in charge of the fireside. We showed a couple videos that are on the missionary page on lds.org and bore testimony, talked about our day to day lives, answered any questions they had, and talked about the miracles we have seen on our missions. The Spirit was so strong and it was another testimony builder for me and made me so grateful that I chose to serve a mission. It has honestly been the best decision I have ever made. There is nothing more important than sharing this gospel with God's children!! It is worth every sacrifice! And I got to know the youth better after talking with them while we ate refreshments. I love this ward so much!!

And to top the week off we had a lesson with one of our investigators (C, who we tracted into a while ago) after the fireside. When we were at the church, a super awesome member overheard us say we had a lesson to teach and asked us if she could come -coolest thing ever! It was such a great lesson!! We taught the Plan of Salvation and it really answered his questions and he told us that his mom passed away and how he has wondered and hoped that she would be in heaven. We read from the Book of Mormon with him and shared our testimonies and I felt the prompting to ask him to be baptized so that's what I did and he said yes!! He said he will pray about a date so that isn't set yet but he said yes!! AHH! We were just so happy after that!! When we got home the first thing we did was say a prayer of gratitude for the awesome day we had!

I love mission life! I love the people here! I love having the opportunity to share the gospel everyday and help brighten people's lives! I love all the tender mercies that we receive every single day!! The Church is True!!

Sister Horne

Our District