More Adventures in August

 

August Adventures

 

Baptism and My 20th Birthday

So as you have probably noticed now that you're reading this, but my missionary email is not working right now, and so I am going to be using my gmail email for the next little while :) 

It is wierd and exciting at the same time that in 2 days I will be 20 years old, haha I don't feel that old 😅. We are going to go to Applebees for dinner on Wednesday for my birthday and have a fun day, may have the Canton elders be coming up that day as well, so overall it should be a very fun day! :) 

Hannah Saylor's baptism is this Saturday September 5th at 10:30 am! I am so so excited for her, she has waited a very long time for this :) Her boyfriend, TJ Lockwood is going to be baptizing and confirming her, so we are all super pumped for that! 

It was a very eventful week, some days not going to lie felt extremely long, and on top of that, me and Elder Moss almost got washed away on Friday by a tsunami of water from the rainstorm the state of Ohio had, and it triggered the Tornado alarms and so it was basically like we were in the ocean in a movie scene and were running back to the car to safety 👟⚡ 

Tuesday and Wednesday were both super good days! I gave a training at District council on Wednesday about "How the Gospel has blessed and influenced my life". It went super well and the Spirit was super strong! We then had a training visit with the Canton elders the rest of Wednesday and also had Hannah's baptismal interview too, which she did so so good at! :) Something I learned in district council was that of, "We each have a responsibility and duty to strengthen our testimonies everyday. But we also have a very high need to strengthen those people around us and their testimonies." Am I my brothers keeper -- we all ask ourselves this everyday, and the answer is: YES! because we can not neglect those around us and expect to stand in the presence of God and try to tell Him we did everything we could here in this life, when there are people who needed us but we didnt help them. Every soul, is great in the sight of God. We got pizza from the Cartwright family on Tuesday night. Sister Cartwright ordered it for us from Papa John's, so that was super nice. 

Thursday was a pretty good day! We were able to have a wonderful lesson with Sister Zook over zoom. She also said she is going to make me a Lemon Meringue pie for my birthday this week, so we will see ;) She really is the sweetest lady ever! we then had a super great lesson with Polly McCoy and her daughter. Polly was baptized back in April by Elder Johnson and Morwood, so we just call her every week to still teach her and help her. Then, Sister Demming (who IS the sweetest person ever) got us some more food from the store this week. She buys us groceries every week, haha even though we tell her that we are still allowed to go shopping, she says we just need to take the food because she is a senior citizen and it is her "senior discount"😂😉. 

Friday A.K.A. monsoon typhoon day. So, we are walking around Wadsworth up by their high school, and I am talking to a nonmember lady on the phone and teaching her as we walk, and all of a sudden it starts sprinkling. I just brush it off and think nothing of the water. I forgot I was in Ohio though, and while you're in Ohio you realize that a single drop of water leads to the whole Ocean coming. Less than 2 minutes later, I take off running to the car and hoping Moss is behind me still. Puddles everywhere, I'm still on speaker phone with this lady and I'm saying, "Yes uh huh, you're doing awesome! 'huff pant pant, sorry I'm running, but God loves you'd. Lightning was everywhere, the tornado sirens were going berserk, and water was coming everywhere. We made it to the car, finished the lesson, and got back to the apt and I was going to change because I was shopping wet from head to toe. Well . . . I also forgot that this was Day 2 of our apt complex shutting OFF the whole water system at the complex from 8 am to 4 pm for maintenance. So, I just dried off as best I could, got dry clothes on, and we got some lunch and went to the church the rest of the day where we had 2 great messenger calls with 2 amazing members who are so so sweet!! overall, very energetic and wet day 💦💦

Saturday was actually very avg type day, nothing too exciting happened, other than we found out from Wadsworth Bishop that we were invited to go to Church the next day!! I was so pumped. We also went on a walk by Hinkley reservoir, which was so so much fun, and talked to a few people while we were there. Very gorgeous and beautiful weather day too :) 

Sunday . . . So, after 7 long months of me not being able to go to church in person . . . I was able to go to  church IN PERSON! I was so happy and it was so much fun to finally meet members of the Wadsworth ward after having been here in Wadsworth for 4 months. Such a great and marvelous day! We are so blessed as we are patient in long suffering, and strive to make good and righteous choices and decisions each and everyday :):) 

I learned so much this week, and honestly I feel like a completely different person in a short 7 day time period. This week taught me so much about perseverance and about not giving up. I know when we earnestly want to accomplish something, we turn our hearts to a feeling of gratitude for what we already have accomplished and then we turn our whole soul to Christ, who is the founder and creator of everything we are and do in this life. Dont give up on Jesus Christ. Dont give up on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And so important to remember is . . . DONT give up on yourself and members of your own family. Be who you need to be, and trust that Heavenly Father has a plan for you, because He does and I promise we will be blessed and receive blessing upon blessing, even miracle upon miracle as we labor with Christ to help Him figure out this new way of life, and help others feel the joy I know that we all feel. Reading our scriptures, and praying daily is what will lead us to this change of heart, and to becoming meek and submissive, "lowly in heart" and a desire that all men and women may come unto Christ, and be perfected in Him -- Moroni 10:32. ❤💙

Something I just wanted to add too, is the feeling of what is happening in the world right now. Covid, governments, hardship and trial all surround us on every side, and at times it may feel and seem very confusing and hard to escape each day. I was studying this week in Moses 1:39 as well as in D&C 121, where they both talk about the purpose and plan God has for each of us. D&C 121 -- "All things shall give you experience, and shall be for your good. And if ye endure it well, ye shall be exalted on high". In the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power and authority I have been given, I invite all of us to BELIEVE and to press forward. No trial is too hard that even the Son of God can not overcome. When our hearts are turned towards Jesus Christ, our hearts and desires become His desire, which is for all of us to become like Him and our loving Heavenly Father. We must only believe. Like our family motto after all these years now -- There can be miracles, when you believe, though hope is frail, it's hard to feel. There can and will be miracles, when we believe 💙❤😉

I love you guys oh so very much and I'm so so very grateful for you and appreciate you all so much! You all have been the greatest support for me while being here in Ohio and I'm forever and ever grateful I have MVP's like you guys by my side always, you all are the best and my favorite :) I'm so so excited to talk to everyone today! :) 

I love YOU ALL Forever and Always! :)

Elder dyl