HERMANA PACE 01/31/22

Well transfers came and I am BACK in the Conyers zone. How it works in the mission is that there are multiple teaching areas in each zone (our mission has 7 Zones across GA). My first area was Stone Mountain and then it was Jackson, then from Jackson I went to Newnan! I got a call the day before transfer day indicating that I am being called as a Sister Training Leader (STL). At the transfer meeting last week I was told that I would be over the Conyers Zone! I am SO VERY excited to be back in this zone! The area I am over is in the town called Covington. I have had non-stop deja'vu because this is the Stake I have been in during the majority of my mission. It is really cool because on Sunday the mission was filming videos for Facebook of the members in each stake for their Facebook page and I got to see Angie Webb from Jackson! She saw us pulling in the parking lot and she started to get so excited! I have seen so many people from my last areas because we work hand in hand with the Conyers Stake Leaders! Sad though because Stone Mountain was closed/shut down this transfer and Jackson was white washed (meaning all new missionaries) when I left.

SIDE NOTE: When I got a call to be a STL, sister Johnson was called to be a trainer! So she is training right off of her training period! She is so awesome!

My new companion is Sister Pace and she is awesome. One of the sisters that I came out with on the mission was trained by Sister Pace and we have been wanting to be companions! She is from Utah, is the oldest child in her family, she loves volleyball and sports, she likes to go boating and hiking, and she has been out on the mission for 15 months. We believe that we will stay together for one more after this and she will "die" here. 

We are teaching one lady and she was just put on date to be baptized soon. The missionaries found her in the beginning of January and she has gained a MASSIVE testimony of the Book of Mormon and this church. She has so many member friends and will contact us every day about what she reads and how excited she is for her baptism. She was definitely prepared by God!

A cool little miracle! On Thursday we received a referral from someone named Ronnie wanting to learn about the Book of Mormon. Initially we hadn't made contact with Ronnie, so Sister Pace and I decided to just stop by. He wasn't home so we tried again on Sunday and we explained who we were and he was so excited. He let us right inside his home and we talked with him. Right away he said that he wants to grow his relationship with God and that he needs a change, something to help him take steps to be prepared to return to Jesus Christ. The Spirit was so strong as we testified that the answer he is looking for is contained within the Book of Mormon. He asked told us he wants to do studies with us many times a week! 

Quote of the week from Sister Pace: 

"He doesn't care when you come to the party he just cares you're here" 

- Kinda funny but it's true. God wants us to come to him no matter what. His arms are ALWAYS open for us! Go to Him no matter what stage you are at or where you feel your testimony may be!

Pics:

- goodbyes 

- Sister Pace and I

- 4 generations of being trained:) 

An End to Summer Grove 01/24/2022

My time in Summer Grove has come to an end. On Saturday night the Zone Leaders and STLs let us know if we are leaving or not, for this weeks transfer schedule. I was on the list of those that were leaving. In my mission we don't find out where or who is scheduled to be transferring until the meeting this week on Wednesday. I got to say bye to all my favorite people though so I am good! I am ready for a change, I haven't stayed in an area longer than 3 transfers so I am at that point again. 

This week we had a lesson with Anna! She is sick again which is so sad. We haven't been having too many lessons (over the phone) due to her being ill but we just keep praying she gets over this sickness soon! We also had a good phone call with Alisha! Alisha is just so awesome. She has been taught by missionaries for a long time now and she has told us MANY times she wants to be a member. So in one of our lessons this past week we were really bold with her. We even made a plan with her to help her reach that goal she has. She is trying to follow the Word of Wisdom more and as she is giving up something, so are we too to help her, so we are all fasting sugar in support. Hahah Sister Johnson was like huh when I told her the idea. and that I have done it in the past with Carla and it want really well and it helped her. The point is that as she is trying to stop consuming something addictive, we are fasting for her with one thing we love...sugar! 

Last Thursday to Friday we had exchanges! One of the STLS came here to Summer Grove with me SISTER FURHIMAN! Then Sister Johnson went to their area with the other STL. I love Sister Furhiman! She is also from Idaho too and I know her cousins really well so it was a blast spending time with her! We went and visited some people that were taught in the past...3 out of the 9 houses we went to there was no house. Lol like we pulled up and looked to the right and left and it was an empty lot, we were dying. Over all, it was really fun!  

I hope that you all have a fantastic week and I will email y'all from my new area and about my new companion too next week! :)

- Hermana Worley 

Pics: 

-Hermana Medorio and Daisy

-Brother and Sister Vaughan 

- Hermano Sanchez 

- Sister Furhiman and I

- The other Sisters! 

Snow in Georgia? 01/17/22

Hey Everyone! I hope y'all had a good week and stayed safe! This week we had interviews with President Needs and his wife! They went really well. President and I talked a lot about how the area I am currently in called Summer Grove has been doing well especially with growing the Spanish group. President Needs told me how I have been in Summer Grove for too long and that I will be leaving at the next transfer date. We don't officially receive transfer news until this Saturday but that made my heart break a little to hear because I have loved working here! 

This week we found a few new Spanish people to teach and went and visited them with Hermana Medorio! Sister Johnson and I have also found success with calling people who were taught in the past that want to learn more about Christ Gospel. We also found 2 different Jose's to teach (haha what a coincidence) 

Last week we shared a little miracle with the guy, Bill who was home and said he has been studying the Book of Mormon. Well we went back over this week yet Bill wasn't home but we scheduled a time to come over this week to teach him and his wife! 

Riley and Graham are officially on date for teach of their baptisms! After church on Sunday we had another lesson with them both and talked about their coming baptism events to come and they are so excited.

SNOW! I didn't think it showed in Georgia! Well it definitely did on Sunday! Ever since Friday it has been SO cold here.

I love you all and so does Heavenly Father! I hope you have a great week!!

Pics:

- Sister Johnson and my boujee take out dinner from our members in a Taco Bell parking lot 

-Newnan art wall

- Downtown with the roommates 

- The snow that hit on Sunday!

Shady Grady 01/10/2022

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had a good week! You might be wondering why is the subject "Shady Grady" so i'll explain. This past week Sister Johnson and I called A LOT of people who have been taught in the past by other missionaries yet they stopped teaching them, but we have had some success. One was an old man named Grady. He is super kind and wants to continue to have phone call meetings to talk about the Gospel. Well we had our second call with Him this past week and at the end he said his nickname is Shady Grady that an old preacher gave him it because when he was younger he would jump around visiting so many different churches. One of the preachers confessed to him after many times of coming to his church, that he thought it was Shady. He nicknamed Grady, Shady Grady. So anyways kinda cool and kinda wack lol. He had a Book of Mormon but requested a bigger print one and on Saturday when we met him downtown on the square for our appointment. 

Some exciting news: Riley and Graham are both getting baptized February 19th! They are the 10 year olds we teach and both of their dads aren't members. I absolutely love them! It breaks my heart because transfers are 2 weeks before there scheduled baptisms and I will be leaving the area (as President Needs has reminded us that I am leaving) I do feel so blessed to be able to work with so many part member families in the mission, including Rebecca from the area of Jackson and Emmalyn too! It has been so much fun being able to testify of the joy that Christs Gospel brings, including my experience with seeing my dad be baptized! We told them I won't be here and they were so sad and asked if I could come back for the baptism and I said I will come back to it! :)

Also, ALWAYS LISTEN TO LITTLE PROMPTINGS! On Saturday Sister Johnson and I visited a less active family until about 4:30 and we needed to be home by 5 (gotta love car shares) I was like let's see if we can try to visit someone who was taught in the past in this area too. (Sister Johnson was hesitant because of time but didn't say no) We looked and I saw there was an older couple who was taught in the past and said we could go by them and ask if they are interested again! So when we got to the door a man answered and said sorry he is talking to his son then said one second and shut the door. We waited, then a few minutes later he swung open the door and we told him who we were and he said his son is in an accident and can't talk right now but wants us to come back. Then not even a second later he popped back inside and grabbed a Book off of a side table and waved it and said "I have been doing my homework and studying a lot recently!!!"(guess what...it was a Book of Mormon!) We said oh wow and told him we will call him and set up a time to come back because he was in a hurry and he said yes please! Once we got into the car we looked at his past history that indicated that he and his wife were taught in 2019 during the beginning of the pandemic and have not had any missionary contact since! 

This past week I was studying a talk called To Be A Follower of Christ by Elder Alfred Kyungu and it contained a quote that I love. "Let us have the courage to do what is right even when it is unpopular—the courage to defend our faith and to act by faith. Let us have the courage to repent daily, the courage to accept God’s will and obey His commandments. Let us have the courage to live righteously and to do what is expected of us in our various responsibilities and positions."

We need to have courage to do what is right even when it is unpopular. Whether that is saying sorry for something, sharing your testimony when others may not be a believer, or simply not following into the trends of the world that don't support Christs Gospel. I know that God loves us and I know that He is ALWAYS aware of the things we are going through. I want to invite you all to not give up on Jesus Christ! Keep doing what is right!

Pictures:

- Sister Johnson and I helping the Vaughns put their Christmas stuff in their attic 

- Comp Date at Redneck Gourmet! (in downtown Newnan, GA) 

- Morning walk! 

-District bowling 

- The sisters when they were in quarantine last week

Almost Quarantined Again... 01/03/22

 Happy New Year! 

This past week the Sisters that I and Sister Johnson live with were in quarantine and they just got out yesterday! They had to stay in their room the whole time so we wouldn't get Covid, and Sister Johnson and I feel great so that is good! Allegedly from the things I have heard, Georgia is pretty legit with Covid right now and I can verify that hahah. All of the missionaries in the Atlanta Zone are in Covid quarantine. Kinda crazy.

This week there was also some BIG thunder and rain storms so that was fun to see and experience! (I love stormy weather)

The past two weeks have been slower with lessons and Sister Johnson and I have spent SO many hours searching for people to share the gospel with especially on Facebook. We have been praying to find more people to teach and that their hearts will be open to hear a message of the Restoration. On Saturday night we had some miracles. We spent pretty much all day searching for people to teach. We called a lot of people that were once taught by past missionaries to see if they were interested again and we had 6 people answer! One of them asked us to call back within 15 minutes! He was legit and had come to church in the past and said that he wants to learn more about the Jesus. 

I typically am not the one to make new years goals but our Prophet Russell M. Nelson posted something on Facebook that I absolutely loved relating to this new year! He said; 

"First resolve to strengthen your spiritual foundation....Second resolve to be kind to others...Resolve to be resolute" I love that we have a prophet that leads and guides us not just in our spiritual growth but our character! I know that God loves us so much that He gave us a guide through life and I know that if you follow the council of Him while making new years goals you will come so much closer to the Savior this year!

-Love, Hermana Worley