Hello Family. :) We have had the most exciting and amazing
two weeks! We have had a blast and have been so incredibly blessed. :) There
were so many things these past few weeks that I just felt so honored to get to
be a part of. So many things that happened were absolutely priceless that I
hope I will NEVER forget.
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| Sister Paulson at the temple |
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| Sister Paulson and Sister Raccuia |
The highlight of the past weeks and honestly my whole
mission so far was the day that we got to go with Sister Paulson so the temple.
:) I don't think I have ever felt happier in my whole life than I did while we
were in the temple with her. It was absolutely indescribable and a moment that
I will cherish forever. Sister Raccuia and I basically woke up with smiles on
our faces, It kind of felt like Christmas morning. When we first saw Sister
Paulson she was literally shining she was smiling so much. :) Her whole family
came to the church to drop her off and they each told her how excited they were
for her and how proud they were of her. She has been the most incredible
example to her family. I can't even describe the change that has taken place in
that sweet family. It honestly is amazing. When we got to the temple Sister
Raccuia and I had about an hour where we got to do as many initiatories as we
could. It was incredible. We both felt like the spirit got stronger and
stronger with everyone that we did. It was such a special experience. I love
the temple so much. :) then we got to go into the session and there were lots
of members from our ward who came to support Sister Paulson. :) I got to sit by
her and while we were sitting in the room waiting for the session to start she
gave me the biggest hug and as we both cried, we were so happy. :) After the
session we probably sat in the Celestial room for about 45 minutes and just
talked about how incredibly blessed we are. She said "I just love in here,
I never want to leave.. You really are going to have to drag me out of
here." We walked into the sealing room and talked about how incredible it
is going to be for her to have her family there with her. The spirit was unreal
while we talked about the blessings that will come to her family when they are
sealed together as a family. As she cried in the sealing room she said
"Thats what I want" It was so powerful and so tender. :) The
blessings of the temple are so amazing. I was just blown away from the
blessings that we are promised in the temple. I felt to grateful to be able to
spend the whole day in the temple, and to be there with Sister Paulson was the
most priceless experience I ever could have asked for. :) We got home
around 8:45 that night. It really was the perfect day. :)
I think the biggest miracle that has come through Sister
Paulsons courageous example is in her family. :) When I first got here Brother
Paulson used to hide from us when we came over, he didn't really want
to come to church, and he just wasn't to excited about the
gospel. But slowly over the past few months we have been so blessed to
watch his testimony just skyrocket. :) He now helps wake everyone up on Sunday
mornings, he has worked out his work schedule so that he can be there, he is
preparing to bless the sacrament, he baptized his son, and is now preparing
to receive his endowments so his family can be sealed forever.
:) He is a completely different man than he was a few months ago. It
is so humbling to watch the spirit absolutely
and completely change people. :) The day the Paulsons are sealed in
the temple is going to be the happiest day ever!
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| Tornado damage |
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| More tornado damage |
Sister Raccuia and I survived a tornado this week which was
really fun. :) We were having a crazy awesome storm that we were just having a
ball watching out our window, when we got a text that told us that a tornado
was coming and we needed to take cover! Sirens were going off and it got pretty
crazy. I have been saying ever since I got here how cool it would be to see a
tornado, so Sister Raccuia and I sat and stared out the window and watched
because it was so cool. :) It turns out that that is super dangerous and we
really should have "taken cover". The tornado touched down about 5 miles
away from our house and caused some major damage. Luckily no one
was hurt, but lots of people had trees in their houses and there was lots
of damage that we helped clean up a little bit.
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| 4th of July parade |
But After the temple trip with Sister Paulson our attention
shifted to the 4th of July. :) We started majorly planning and taking care of
what needed to be done so that we could be in the 4th of July parade! We had so
much fun getting everything ready so that we could be in the parade. :) Sister
Raccuia and I didnt really realize how much work it really took to build a
float, so it all kind of came crashing on us this last week. But luckily we had
members and the other missionaries who were so willing to help us and support
us and it ended up turning out AMAZING. Oh my goodness everything worked so
good and just turned out incredible. The float looked awesome, we had tons
of primary kids and ward members who road on the float with us, and we were
able to see so many miracles and blessings come because we were in the
parade! We were able to hand out over 3,000 pass along cards and so many people
were so excited about us. Every piece of candy we thew out had
"Mormon.Org" written on it and a simple testimony like "I am a
child of god" or "Families are Forever" So that way we could reach
as many people as we could as we walked past. :) It was such a blast. :)
Seriously one of the funnest finding activities ever. Not only did the whole
town of LaPorte able to see us and the church, but the parade
was televised and on the radio. So a ton of people where
able to hear our message and we had so much fun.
On Saturday we went into the farmers market again and we got
to talk to a bunch of people, it was so much fun. :) Us and the other
companionship of sisters (Sister Edwards and Sister Green) only had a handful
of pass along cards that we could give out because we
had used almost all of them in the parade. So after we ran out of things
that we could give away we just stood in the middle of the park and sang hymns
and primary songs to all of the people who were sitting there in the park. It
was so much fun. :) There was this kid named Bobbie who is 16 years old and had
come to the park to play his guitar, so we invited him to come and play with
us! He was super talented and could totally play everything that we asked him
to play. We had a ball and it was so fun because after awhile he
started to sing with us and he was having so much fun. :) He told us that
he liked playing with us so much and really loved the music a lot so he is
planning on meeting us again at the farmers market next week. We are
so excited about it. :)
I read a really cool talk from President Monson this week
where he says that a mission is something that families and friends do
together. And it is so true. I am so grateful for all of the support and love
that so many of you are showing me. Thank you so much for everything that you
are doing for me. :) I love my mission and I am having so much fun serving the
Lord. :)
I LOVE YOU.
Love, Sister Watts
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