Week 4 - Missionary Miracles :)

So we started this week off with Exchanges with Sister Bradley, and I loved every single minute of it. Oh it was amazing. :) Sister Bradley couldn't be more darling and we just had a ball together, she is an amazing missionary. It was totally crazy, but we have SOO much in common. We decided that we are long lost twins because we had so many of the same things in common. It was so much fun to get to know her and to get to learn from her this week. :) 

We seriously saw so many miracles this week. The Lord is hastening his work and we see evidence of that every day. I feel so privileged and grateful for this opportunity that I have to be HIS missionary.

We had so many miracles this week it's hard to get to tell about all of them. But we have been so blessed with one of our new investigators, K****. She is our apartment manager and is just a really sweet lady. We haven't been able to meet with her lately because she has been super busy so we went and stopped by her office earlier this week to see how she was doing. She is amazing. I guess when she sits at her desk she doesn't like to sit in the quiet so she has been listening to conference talks and LDS pod-casts. We were amazed and so excited! She has only been taught one lesson and we haven't been able to meet with her in probably a month but she is so ready and excited to learn about the gospel. It's amazing how much Heavenly Father truly is preparing His children to receive the truth. We invited K**** to come to a Relief Society dinner that night and she came. :) She loved it and the women were so warm and welcoming to her, it was awesome. When she left she said 'I love this. This is exactly what I need.' She ended up coming to Stake conference too and it was so neat. She felt the spirit way strong and she just cried through parts of the meeting. It was really special for me to watch someone feel the spirit for the first time. When the meeting was over she turned to me and said 'I don't want to leave, it just feels so good in here.' :) I love that.

We found a new investigator this week, which was another blessing. We started teaching a less active family who has a 9'year old son who wants to be baptized. It is so much fun getting to teach their family. They are so stinking cute and I just love it. We asked L**** and his family to pray about a date that he could be baptized on. We are so excited for him and for his family. :)

Like I said we had stake conference this weekend and it was amazing! It was honestly everything I needed and hoped it it would be. Not only did I learn so much from what was said, but I absolutely loved getting to meet more of the members from the Valparaiso Stake. The members here are amazing. They are so dedicated to living and sharing the gospel.Getting to meet them and talk to them was so fun. The missionaries got to sing in the choir at the adult session of conference and it was really special. I loved it. :) 

Here is the funny/shocking story of the week. Sister Hansen and I sat on the second row at the adult session and the whole time I just loved it. I took lots of notes, cried a ton, the spirit was just so strong. It was an amazing meeting. And the whole time I was there I just had this burning desire to stand up and bare my testimony. Totally random right?? Anyway, when we stood up to sing the intermediate hymn President Ames (the first counselor in the Stake Presidency) stood up, walked down off the stand, and came right over to me and said "Sister Watts, Elder Stansfield (The member of the 70 who was presiding at the meeting) needs you to bare your testimony." And then he walked back up to his seat. OH MY GOODNESS. I said a quick prayer as I walked up to the pulpit and was luckily blessed with the spirit. I don't have any idea what I said but  People were so kind to me after. I got some of the most genuine and sweet compliments I have ever received after the meeting. It was such a tender mercy for me to be able to stand and bare my testimony. It's amazing to me how truly aware of us Heavenly Father truly is. He knew exactly what I needed and He cared enough about me to make it happen.

As for things with M**** she is still doing amazing. She has completely quit drinking coffee. MIRACLE. And she has gone from smoking 3 packs a day to not smoking at all anymore. MIRACLE. It has been so special watching the power of the atonement work in her life and watching her come closer to Jesus Christ. She sent me a sweet message on FaceBook that said 'I just love you girls! Thank you for doing God's work. You all have brought me closer to Him and I am grateful. Holy Ghost has worked through me and in me today especially. In many ways. I am surrendering myself to God. He can take care of me better than anyone. Including myself. I simply can't go wrong. I love you girls. Thank you.' How amazing is she? There are so many blessings that  Heavenly Father wants to give us, we just have to be willing to turn to him. M**** wasn't able to come to church this week, so her baptismal date has been moved to April 12th. We are super excited to get to work towards that date and make her baptism super special. :)

One of the most tender moments we had this week was when sister Bradley and I went and saw Sister V. I love Sister V. :) She has been in the nursing home since December because she broke her femur. We went over just to see how she was doing, and when we got there she was in tears, she was absolutely devastated. That day in physical therapy they had started working on climbing stairs. She wasn't able to climb the stairs as well as she would have liked, so the date of when she wanted to leave the nursing home had to be pushed back. She was so upset. I couldn't help but just cry with her as she told us how discouraged she felt. We read Mosiah 24:13-15 with her and it was amazing. I asked her if she had felt Heavenly Father helping her and loving her along this journey. She told me she had and then preceded to tell me a miraculous story. She said that some nights she just lays in bed and cries because the pain is to much for her to bear. But in those moments she prays and says 'Heavenly Father I need to you take this pain away from me. It is to much for me to handle on my own. I need to to take it away from me.' And then he does. She said that the pain goes away and she is able to sleep again. WHAT A MIRACLE. I love that because in the scripture it actually promises that 'I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you CANNOT FEEL THEM upon your backs.' I know that promise is real and true. It happens in the Book of Mormon, it happens for Sister V, and I know that it can happen for us if we put our faith in Heavenly Father. He loves us more Than we can comprehend. I am so grateful for that. :)Before we left we sang 'I Need Thee Every Hour' and the spirit was so strong. It was powerful. When we got there Sister V was totally upset, but because of the spirit and through the Love of her a Heavenly Father she was laughing and smiling by the time we left.I KNOW that Heavenly Father loves us. 

Last Monday I had a moment where I felt discouraged. I went into my closet, shut the door and just cried. As I knelt down and prayed I poured my heart out to Him and I told Heavenly Father everything that I was feeling and told Him that I needed His help. I know that He heard that prayer and I know that He has been helping me and has been sending little reminders of how much he loves me every day. I love Mosiah 24:15 where it says "Yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. "  I know that we are NEVER alone. As we turn to Him and include Him in our lives and learn to rely on him he will bless us more than we could ever comprehend. 

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for your prayers and support. :) 

Love, Sister Watts