Week 38 - Chicago!

Wow. This week has been amazing. I am absolutely in love with everything that is happening here right now. I am just having a blast.:) 

Sister McChesney

I just  adore my companion sister McChesney, she is 22 and from Georgia. She is the oldest of 7 kids and was studying at BYU to be an English teacher. We have a ton in common. We are having a ball. :) 

The city is a miracle. Holy cow, it is like a dream come true. There is so much character here. The art is everywhere you look and absolutely unreal. I am just thrilled to be here. :) We do a lot of finding in this area. Because we are on Buses, trains, or walking everywhere we are constantly surrounded by people. It is so fun. :) We are always talking with people and everywhere we go we are handing out cards, copies of the Book of Mormon, and getting people's information so we can have missionaries go over and visit them. Most of the people that we meet don't live in our area. They are coming into the city for work or school and then they go back to the suburbs where they live. In our mission they actually call us the "temple square sisters" because so much of what we do is send referrals to other missionaries. It is really cool. :) 

In the City!

We see a lot of miracles while we are out talking with people but there as one experience that I had this week that was just really neat. :) This woman got on the bus and was just so stinking cute. I started talking with her and she had the most beautiful accent (which is a really fun Chicago thing. So many people have the most stunning accents) I asked her where she was from and she said "Lithuania" I was so excited. I said "I'm serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and I have a really good friend who is serving as a missionary in Lithuania." She was so excited to get to talk about her home town and opened up to me so much about her and her family. I was really happy to be able to connect withering a really simple way that meant so much to her. I gave her a picture of the Salt Lake Temple, she was amazed at how beautiful it was. :) She turned the card over and there are a lot of questions on the back like "what is the meaning of life" "where did I come from" and "can families be together forever"? The spirit told me to just be quiet. So I didn't say anything. She got really emotional. I waited until it was right an then and all I asked was "would you like missionaries to come over to your home and talk to you about the answers to those questions?" She said absolutely and gave me all of her information. :) It was so powerful. I'm so grateful that the spirit was so strong in that moment on the Bus. It as so cool. :) I love it. I sure hope the missionaries we sent her to will be able to find her and teach her, it was an amazing moment.

We have some really special investigators that we are working with. :) Two that I am really excited about are names L***** and S*****. They are both originally from China and are here in Chicago going to med school. They are absolutely brilliant and are very intelligent. I guess they went to temple square to visit, and talked with the Sister Missionaries at the visitors center and just loved being there. It was actually a huge miracle that we were able to meet with them this week.

They have been in contact with the sisters for a really long time, but haven't been able to work out a time where we could come over. Well last week they e-mailed the sisters and set up an appointment with US. Totally cool. :) Because they were raised in China they have almost no concept of God, Jesus Christ, or even Religion in at all. So they have a lot of questions that will be really fun to help them with.  They are so humble, and genuine and super intrigued in what we are teaching them. The whole time we were teaching them they were sitting on the edge of their seats and were hanging onto every word we were saying.

They told us something that was just so kind of them that I loved. They told us that we "light up" when we talk about the church. They said "we want that. We want to light up about God." :) I just loved that. I thought that was so kind of them and super powerful and profound. I'm so grateful for the Gospel because it really is a light. That is something that is very real. :) I'm very excited to be working with L***** and S*****, they are so special. We have another appointment with them this week! They are amazing!

Street contacting (proud of tattoo)

This week has been amazing, but It has totally confirmed one thing that I have absolutely learned on my mission is that "no growth happens in the comfort zone, and there is no comfort in the growth zone." Everything that I am experiencing right now in the city is totally foreign, different, and sometimes uncomfortable. I told Sister McChesney that I feel like I have almost moved to a different mission. Everything is so different. But I am so grateful for this experience that I have to serve here in the city. I am learning to be more courageous and brave.  I'm learning to testify more powerfully. I am learning more completely to rely on Jesus Christ and to trust in the enabling power of His Atonement. I am so grateful for all of the incredible things I am learning. It really is humbling. There is so much potential here in this area and i can't wait to work really hard and become more of who my Heavenly Father needs me to be. :) I love all of you so much. Thank you for all of your kind words and prayers.

I LOVE YOU.

Love, Sister Watts

Week 37 - GOING TO THE CITY!!

Family comes first!

Hello my sweet Family & Friends. :)

I don't ever know what to say about this week, or even how to put it into words. It has been a crazy, emotional roller coaster this whole week.

In my interview last week with President Woodbury, he told me that because there are so many sisters going home in the next few transfers he is needing to close down some areas. He told me that he was seriously thinking about closing my area. As soon as we started talking about it my heart just sank. He asked how I felt things were going, how the people we are working with are doing, and if I felt like this was an area that could use a break for a little bit. I was honest with him in my responses and we talked about the work that was happening in our area. President was very kind about the work that I have done in this area. He told me that for some reason the whole time he has been here this area has just really struggled. He told me he puts his "strongest" missionaries here, and for some reason there isn't a whole lot happening. Despite his kind words I walked out of the interview feeling very sad. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but I walked out of the interview feeling that the area would close.

I was so worried. The only thing that could really describe what I was feeling is that I felt "heavy" I

Chicago version of the "Quatro Quatro"

felt a lot of weight on my shoulders. I knew that I was called to serve here in this area for a reason and I worried that I didn't find or fulfill that reason. I was racking my brain for things that we could have done differently, areas we could have been more diligent, or just things I could have done more. This is the Lords work and he is very generous in letting us help him, I felt like I had let Him, the Ward, and the people we are teaching down. When I got transferred here things were slow, and I had such high hopes and big goals for this area to progress and to find the people that needed the gospel and I felt like I had failed and hadn't measured up to everything that I had hoped for. I was discouraged.

I asked Elder Griffin for a blessing Monday night because I didn't want to feel what I was feeling anymore. I KNEW that those thoughts and feeling we're not coming from my Heavenly Father and I wanted them to leave. I was distracted by myself and I needed to forget myself and go to work. The blessing was so tender and exactly what I needed to hear. It was a powerful reminder to me that Heavenly Father was aware of me, he was proud of me and he was with me. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and the blessing helped me find faith in that plan again. I am so grateful for the blessing that I received. Thankfully Sister Golba-Ingles took notes during the blessing so I referred to it often throughout the week. It brought so much comfort and peace into my heart.

The rest of the week was really crazy. :) It was still very much like a roller coaster. Full of worries, fears and doubts but all along the way Heavenly Father was answering both of our prayers. We saw incredible miracles and had some special tender mercies. One of the most powerful miracles happened a few nights later. We went to the last appointment of the day, and they weren't home. It was around 7:45, it was late, totally dark, and now we didn't have anywhere to go. I had no idea where we needed to be. We said a prayer and then we picked a less active member of our Ward that neither of us knew, and we decided to go find her. :) we knocked on her door and the cutest little Korean lady opened the door and was very excited to see us. We sat down and talked with her for a little bit and had a really incredible discussion with her. Her name is H*****. She was born and raised in Korea and she joined the church when she was about 15 years old. She is the only member in her family. She is a returned missionary, she served in Korea. And she is just darling. We talked a lot about her conversion, her mission, and some other spiritually powerful moments she has had. We looked through her Korean scriptures, hymn books, and old lesson manuals. It was awesome. :) We had a great lesson with her and it was such a powerful tender mercy. I think my favorite part of the whole experience though was when she told us that her husband doesn't really love the church and he has a really hard time with people just coming and stopping by. I guess he is really shy, so when missionaries come and knock on their door it makes him feel really uncomfortable. Well, the night we went and stopped by he was on a one night business trip leaving H***** home and able to talk to us. It was incredible. In the blessing I received Elder Griffin told me not to be worried about where we needed to go, and that Heavenly Father would take care of it. That promise in my blessing was absolutely real. We didn't need to worry about where we needed to be, Heavenly Father knows. He knows us, He knows the people we are working with, and he knows where we need to be. We just need to trust his plan and follow it. :) That was a powerful experience for me that brought a lot of peace and comfort to me.

We had some really amazing experiences like that all week long, but still the worry of transfer calls was in the back of my mind. So much was weighing on this one call. I have never been more nervous for a transfer call my whole mission. I was so nervous because this call was so much bigger than I was and would have a huge effect on a lot of people. Well. Finally. :) Our phone started ringing. Ahhh. I thought my heart was going to pound out of my chest. Elder Foster congratulated Sister Golba-Ingles on her mission call and was super excited for her. :) Then the conversation shifted to me, I still can't even wrap my head around what he said next. He said "Sister Watts, you are being transferred to the Lake Shore 1st Ward, and you will,be finishing the training of sister Mkchesney." OH MY GOSH. :) I thought I was going to fall over. Let me tell you a little bit about why this is so stinking crazy. :) My area is right smack dab in the middle of the city, I will be living right in the heart of Chicago. The Lake shore Ward is as downtown as you possibly can go. I cover the loop and will be completely reliant on public transit. I still can't even believe it. :) It will be completely and totally opposite of everything I have experienced so far on my mission. Even in writing this right now I feel totally and completely shocked. There is a lot about this crazy call that feels intimidating to me, but I don't think I could be more excited. :) IM GOING TO THE CITY!! It is going to be such a blast, the area is beyond fun and my companion is incredible. I have met her once and I Was really really impressed with her. She is a visa waiter, she has been called somewhere in Poland I think? So she could possibly get her visa at any time and then she would leave? So who knows. Everything about this next transfer is going to be an adventure. :) It feels so crazy, but I am so excited. :) I can hardly wait. As for here in Gurnee they aren't closing the area, but they are white washing it with a companionship of Elders. It will be exciting and I am grateful that they will be here. :) I was so worried about it all week, but when Elder foster told me what was happening I felt total peace. I know that everything is working out exactly how it is supposed to and I have complete trust that the Elders are supposed to take over this area.

The last two days have been kind of crazy setting everything up for them so they can take over as smoothly as possible. It has been hard to say some goodbyes and to explain to people what is happening, but it will all work out ok. :)

The biggest tender mercy in the whole world happened last night. We have been so blessed to be working with a less active member who is just amazing. Some of my most powerful lessons have been with Kathryn and I just love her more than I even have words. She was the one person that I was concerned most about when we were told that the area might be closing. We have such a strong relationship with her and she has come so far. I didn't know how she would handle us leaving. Sister Golba-Ingles and I have prayed and prayed about it because it was something we were very concerned about. :) I want to tell you guys a little bit about the lesson and conversation we had last night with her. First a little bit of a back story, K****** was baptized about 20 years ago when she was in high school and was really active for about 7 years, she had some hard things happen and hasn't been active since. She has not allowed visiting teachers, home teachers, missionaries or anyone into her home for 13 years. Her heart has absolutely been softening over those years until sister boys and sister Lewis knocked on her door about 3 1/2 months ago. She let them in. :) It was right before sister Lewis was about to go home so K****** told sister Boyd "when you get your new companion,

K******, I love her!

I want you to bring her over here" I knew that K****** had told sister Boyd this but I didn't understand the magnitude of what that meant until last night. K****** told us about how for the past little bit she has been struggling and things have been hard, when the sisters knocked on her door again it was huge that she let them in. She told me that she knew that she needed to tell sister Boyd to bring me back over there because she knew that the next missionary was going to be special. She looked me right in the eyes last night and said "I knew that YOU were coming. I knew that YOU were going to help me. YOU were going to be the one that could bring me back. YOU were going to be the one that I needed. "I am the reason that YOU have been called to serve in this area. I am eternally grateful for what you have done for me over the past 3 months." I was absolutely speechless. She went on to say how she has been reading the Book of Mormon every day, praying every day, and is now ready to become actively engaged in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is going to be perfectly fine without us here anymore. :) It was powerful. Every single feeling of inadequacy, doubt, fear, worry, guilt, left me in that instant. The heavy weight that I was feeling left. It was gone. All of my worries about her, the area, and my role in that were completely wiped away. It was a miracle. I felt complete and total comfort and peace and rest.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Heavenly Father cares. He loves us. He knows exactly where his missionaries need to be. He knows exactly what we need to hear. He knows exactly who we need to know and the people we need to come in contact with. He knows. He cares about each of us enough to place us on paths that we don't understand but that we need to be on. He knew that K******'s heart was ready, he knew that we were supposed to be here to help her, he knew that everything needed to work out exactly how it did. He loves us. :) This week has been hard, but it has been the biggest blessing and miracle in the whole world. I trust my Father in Heaven with everything that I am. I love him and I am grateful he is letting me serve him. :) I can't wait for this new adventure.

I love you all so much!!!

Love, Sister Watts 

Finally bought a coat! :)

An "Elder Wand"

Goodbye to Sister Hansen

Yogurt from a kind member

It gets dark early!

MTC Reuinion

Nancy Morris

Week 36 - Missions Rock!

Hey Family. :) I really love you guys. A lot. I hope you had a super fun week. :) 

This week here feels like it was a crazy roller coaster. We had some really fun and incredible experiences, and some definite roller coaster ones as well. 

Sister Golba-Ingles opening her call!

So first off, with the biggest and most exciting news of the week, SISTER GOLBA-INGLES got approved for full time missionary service!! Ahh. I am so happy. :) 6 weeks ago when President Woodbury called and told me that I was going to be training, he told me that Sister GI was serving here in Chicago as a two transfer missionary. Basically it was a test mission to see if she could adapt to the stresses and demands of missionary life and work.

She has been beyond amazing and every single step of this processes I have just been in awe at her faithful, powerful, and incredible example. She has been so positive and optimistic despite some very real and difficult challenges. After a lot of interviews, questions, and reports we found out earlier this week t

Celebration ceral after opening "the call"

hat she has been approved to serve as a full time missionary. :) After we got off the phone with President Woodbury we just sat on the floor and cried for joy. We were so happy!! He told us that she should be expecting to have her mission call come in the mail in the next few days. Well. :) On Tuesday we checked the mail and there was a very special, important and life changing white envelope waiting for her in the mail box!! We were so excited and were absolutely filled with pure joy. :) We were on our way to an appointment, so sister Golba-Ingles just hugged that envelope and smiled so big through the whole drive. So fun. :)

She decided that she wanted to save it and open it at District Meeting in front of our district. :) This has all been top secret and hardly anyone knew that she was serving here under special circumstances so all of the missionaries were thrilled beyond words for her. She opened her call and has been called to serve in the Pocatello Idaho mission. :) Ahh. She is going to be so perfect for that mission, and I can't even wait for her to serve there. She is an unreal amazing missionary and I know that she is going to touch so many peoples lives. I like to think that the only way Heavenly Father could have made it work so that we could have been companions, was if he did it this way. I am so grateful that he did, because I adore her and I have loved getting to serve with her. :) I am grateful that Heavenly Father places very special people in our lives for very specific reasons. I love her, and I have loved being her friend and companion!! 

This whole adventure with her has been very amazing, so I have to say that those moments surrounding her call were some of my favorite of the week. :) We did teach one lesson that I really wanted to talk about. We have been working with one of our investigators named R***** for a while. I love her with all of my heart and I know that there is a ton of really amazing things in store for her and her family. We went over to see her on Wednesday and she was totally and completely distraught. Just so sad. She has been having a really hard time because there has been a lot of hard things happening lately with her and the father of her daughter. We went over and she was so happy to see us. :) It was amazing because we were there RIGHT at the exact time that she needed us to be. She asked us if we could go on a walk with her so she could vent to us. :) It was one of the most interesting, thought provoking, and inspiring conversations I have ever had. I learned two things that I am so grateful for. :) 1-Heavenly Father gives us commandments for a REASON. He tells us to live chaste, moral, and virtuous lives because if we do it saves us from SO much heartache and allows us to feel so much happiness and peace. It's amazing. And then a second lesson. :) R*****, the whole time was taking about how sad she was that L****'s dad wasn't being everything she had hoped. We were able to talk to her about how no matter what L***** will ALWAYS have a perfect Father in Heaven. Who loves her perfectly, will bless her perfectly, and will do everything for her perfectly. I can't even describe the peace, light and hope that came into R*****'s eyes when we were talking with her about that powerful truth. I know it's a truth. We have taught L***** "I am a Child of God" And she sings it every time we are with her. :) I was just so grateful for that truth and the hope that it brings, because it does bring hope. 

We had some really great lessons this week, that we were really excited about. :) but  wanted to talk a little bit about an experience that we had this week. So I don't know if you remember Tyrone? He was the man that we had a few really special lessons with. He ended up coming to church and bearing his testimony a few weeks ago?? Anyway. :) We have been meeting with him and it has been going pretty well, but for some reason this week he flipped a complete 180. We were talking to him on the phone and he all of a sudden got very angry, condescending, demeaning, and just really mean to us individually and to the church as a whole.  I don't think I have ever been so hammered For who I am and what I believed. The whole time we were on the phone I was just praying for Charity and for patience. It was one of the most intense and emotional moments of my whole life. It was very hard. I won't go in to detail about what was said. But I was thinking about that experience a lot this week and just about how sad we are about what has happened. We had interviews with President this week and we had an amazing interview. :) At the end of us talking I asked him "President, what do you think I could be doing different or better?" He was quite for almost a minute, and you could tell that he was listening very intently on what the spirit wanted him to say. In the most tender voice he said "You need to have greater faith that the Savior is walking every step with you." That line really caught me off guard, but it was so powerful. It brought me instant peace and comfort. I know that is true. We are not alone in the lords service, in missionary work, ever. We are so loved. Since that interview there have been a lot of things that have happened like what happened with Tyrone and I am so grateful that I have been able to say to myself in moments of need I have been able to say "have greater faith Sister Watts. Jesus Christ is walking with you." That has brought me a lot of comfort. I'm grateful for my Savior. Life is hard, sometimes we don't understand Gods plan or our part in that plan, but I know he never leaves us to handle it alone. Never. 

I love you guys so much. Thank you for all of the support, love, and prayers. I feel it and I am grateful for it. I love you with everything that I am. 

Love, Sister Watts

Walking dogs for sick friend

Sister Clark

Walmart Contacting 1

Walmart Contacting 2

Walmart Contacting 3

Walmart Contacting 4

YM Torch Pumpkin

Week 35 - Serve like it was our day job

Hi my cute family. :)

At the bonfire

We had a really awesome week and some super incredible things happened, we have just had a really busy day. We ended up going to the doctor this morning because last night while we were at the bonfire I stepped on a nail and it went about an inch into my foot.

Kind of crazy. :) I'm totally ok, the mission nurse just needed me to go to the doctor to make sure there wasn't any infections. I'm ok. :) 

Leaf Raking

We had an awesome bonfire with Rachel again and it went PERFECT. :) We served like it was our day job this week. We made two full batches of a

More Leaf Raking

chicken noodle soup because everyone
in the whole world is sick it seems like. We raked leaves like crazy this week. And there was a family in our Ward at moved so we helped pack, clean, and move them.

This was an awesome week. We worked really hard and just had a ball. :) I LOVE YOU.

-Sister Watts

House Cleaning

Daniel's new puppy :)

Sister Golba-Ingles

Timeout corner at church

Sister Golba-Ingles

Week 34 - 8 Months

Hey family. :) We had a really special, busy, crazy, fun week. :) Just like all of them are. 

We got to spend a lot of time with missionaries this week, which was awesome. We had Zone

Singing! :)

Training Meeting this week which was really incredible. We have an awesome Zone so it was fun to get to meet with them and learn from their examples. Always fun to see President and Sister Woodbury too. We had two zones at this Zone training so for the first part we met together, then we split up, then we came back together at the end. The Zone Leaders had asked Sister Golba-Ingles and I to sing a special musical number, when we split into two zones, with a companionship of Spanish Elders. It was really cool. :) We sang "Savior Reedemer of my Soul" and it went well I think, everyone was very kind. As soon as we started singing Sister Woodbury came into the room (she was with the other Zone) so that she could listen to us sing. :) When we met back with both Zones she had told President that everyone needed to hear our song, so we sang it again for everyone. I was totally nervous, but it was one of the most powerful experiences I have had at a zone training meeting. The spirit was just very powerful and you could just feel it so strong. I love music and I am grateful for the power that it has. The whole Zone Training was about Prayer. It was so powerful, simple and incredible. Just like everything in the gospel is. :) We learned a lot and just had a really awesome experience. I loved it. :)

Decorating cookies with the Sisters

One thing that made this week interesting was that the Sisters who are closest to us got into a car accident this week and totaled their car. President Woodbury called us that night and asked us if we could go and rescue the sisters. So we drove out and found them. :) Thank Heavens they are both totally ok, they just don't have a car now. So we have been able to give them our bikes, and we give them rides to meetings and things like that. They are fun sisters so It has been fun to be with them so much this week. :)

This week Sister Golba-Ingles and I have been trying really hard to go through our Area book and find less actives and former investigators that we can start teaching again. It was been powerful to watch Heavenly Father put us in places that we need to be right when we needed to be there. We stopped by the cutest family in the whole world. :) He was raised in Park City and after they were married they moved to Utah. They lived right down the street from the Salt Lake Temple for about 5 years. All of their best friends are members and they have been really open to the church. :) When we knocked on their door she was so excited to see us, it was awesome. She invited us in and we were able to talk with her for about an hour and we just had a great talk. She has just had a baby a few weeks ago, so she hasn't been feeling up to going to church. We wrote a list of our favorite conference talks and invited her to listen to those. She was so excited about it. :) She invited us over for dinner a few days later so we could meet her husband. They couldn't be more adorable. :) They are such a fun family. We had a ball talking with them and I am so excited to be teaching them again. :) We have an appointment set up to teach them on Wednesday, and I can't even wait. :)  

We had exchanges this week which was fun. Sister Johnson came to Gurnee with me and we just had a ball! Oh we had way too much fun. :) I totally love her. She is from Highland and graduated from LonePeak which was fun because she knows Caden and Aubrey. :)

I think one of the most powerful moments from this week was last night. Sister Golba-Ingles had been having a hard day and just really wanted a blessing. So we called the Elders and asked if they could come and give her a blessing they said "of course, we will be right there" 1-that's probably my favorite thing. :) it was very cool to see them be so anxious about serving and jumping on the opportunity to come and give her a blessing. She didn't feel totally comfortable with telling them what she was feeling, so with very little direction we said a prayer together and then they gave her a blessing. EVERY single thing that Elder Johnson said addressed EVERY single one of Sister Golba-Ingles concerns. It was so powerful and really incredible. There is absolutely no way that he could have said what he said had it not been for the priesthood power of God. That blessing worked miracles and was just such a tender mercy to be a part of. :) 

Contacting at Walmart

We had the funnest contacting activity ever this week. :) About a month ago we were able to set up a deal with Walmart where we would be able to Proselyte outside the front doors. We set up two tables at each of the doors, stocked them with supplies, our prayer board and had missionaries singing hymns, handing out cards and talking to people. :) it went perfect. I was really stressed that morning because it was raining a little bit and was getting all of our supplies and things wet, but we prayed and prayed and prayed and guess what? The rain stopped. :) it was perfect. We were able to talk to so many people and we found some really solid new investigators for lots of different companionships. It couldn't have been more perfect. :) We had this "prayer board" where we had people write their names, their families names, and just different things that they would want us to pray for. :) it was really tender to see how many people were so willing to come and write on our posters. We are so blessed to have a God who answers our prayers. :)

I absolutely love my mission. :) I can't believe it, but I realized today that exactly one year ago I opened my mission call. It is hard to comprehend that it was over a year ago that my life completely changed forever but I am so grateful that it did. Serving a mission has definitely been one of the most powerful and life changing experiences I have ever had. I thank Heavenly a father every day for calling me to serve. I know that I am right where I need to be and I couldn't be happier about that. :) Thank you for all the support and love you have shown me over the past year. I couldn't have done it without you. 

I LOVE YOU. 

-Sister Watts

Beautiful lake in Gurnee

Hairdo?

Kiss the Count

Sister Watts with a pigeon

Week 33 - I'm not cold anymore

Bikes for the week!

This week was AWESOME. :) Totally breathtaking. The leaves are changing colors and it couldn't be more beautiful. Every single tree we look at is just stunning. It's awesome. We biked about 60 miles this week and had a lot of fun adventures there. And we had some powerful experiences. Over all it was just totally breathtaking. :) Some fun quick things, we had a blood drive this week that went really well, we helped out at a super cool recycling event with some other sisters and met some awesome people, and we had a fun moment helping out at the food pantry here is town. Cool things happen when we serve. :) It's the best. 

Ok. We had the BIGGEST blessing in the whole entire world this week. Holy crap. :) So Monday night we had a few minutes to fill before one of our appointments, so we decided to try and find some former investigators that Sister Boyd and I had tried to contact, but couldn't find. While we were there we met this guy named T***** B*****. :) He is a 66 year old black man from Tennessee and couldn't be more adorable. We had met him a few weeks earlier and had given him a large print BOM he was pretty interested in what it was and asked us to tell us a little bit more about it. :) We were talking to him outside on the porch because there wasn't another female at home, so we weren't able to go inside. While we were talking with him he was shivering and in his sassy way kept complaining about how cold he was. Sister Golba-Ingles had pulled out her Book of a mormon and read the last two paragraphs in the Introduction to the Book of Mormon. Right after she was done reading it Brother B***** was absolutely silent. He looked up at us and with the most tender, innocent, and genuine voice he said "I'm not cold anymore, I feel very warm." THAT WAS A TOTAL MIRACLE. The spirit filled that man's heart so much and touched him so deeply that he wasn't cold. He had tears in his eyes and was very emotional because of the experience he was having. We asked him if he knew that what we were telling him was true. He said "yes". :) So we asked him if he would want to be baptized. And he said YES. :) We were so excited. We have met with him a few times this week and it has gone really really well. 

We went over on Saturday night to invite him to church and he told us that he was really nervous about going to a different church, and then he promised us that he would come next week. We were a little bit bummed and despite our valiant efforts he told us he would not come this week. Well, Sunday morning rolled around and we got a call from T***** saying "I have my clothes all laid out, Im about to get dressed. I'm coming to church" AHHHH. :) the spirit works miracles in him. Sister Golba-Ingles and I were so excited. :) He came to church and loved it. He actually even bore his testimony about how welcomed he felt at church and how grateful he was for everyone who was so kind to him. He told about how he has been pretty closed off to God for a log time but because of the things that he has felt when he has been taught he is willing and wanting to create a relationship with God. It was the coolest. :) He is such a special man. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has led us to him. He is very prepared and is so receptive to the spirit. He is planning on being Baptized on November 8th. :)I feel so honored that God trusts us enough to be the missionaries that get to teach him. :) We love him and are just so excited for him. 

We had the coolest lesson with one of our members this week. :) We had dinner with Sister Evans Thursday night, so during nightly planning on Wednesday we were talking about what we should share with her and we put together a lesson plan and then moved on. The next morning when we were solidifying our plans for the day Sister Golba-Ingles and I just didn't feel the best about what we had decided we were going to teach her, so we scrapped that lesson and went back to the drawing board. We both felt like it would be fun to read with her the story of Samuel the Lamanite. It was kind of random and we didn't understand why, but we went forward anyway. :) After dinner Sister Evans opened up to us about how hard her calling is. She was just called to teach the 12-18 year old Sunday School class. The first lesson she taught she finished the lesson in tears because the kids were so disrespectful. She was terrified to go and teach them again. It was her turn to teach on Sunday and she told us that she was beyond scared. We got out our Book of Mormons and read with her Helaman 13:2-4 about how Samuel was rejected the first time we tried to teach the people, and as he was leaving the city he heard the voice of the Lord telling him to GO BACK. I'm sure he was nervous, scared, and unsure about what was going to happen but he went back anyway. He got up in the wall and testified of truths from his heart. And because he went back miracles happened and people were baptized. :) It was SO powerful. Sister Evans was so touched by the spirit and as soon as we started reading those scriptures a peace and a warmth filled that room and it was incredible. It was the coolest. :) Just so amazing that Heavenly Father KNOWS. he knows what we need, he knows how we are feeling, and he knows how to help because he knows YOU. it was incredible, and just a very special moment to be a part of. :)

After we left Sister Evans house I had absolutely no idea how we were going to get to our next appointment. It was easily an hour and a half bike ride away and it was starting to get cold and dark and I had no idea how we were going to be able to do it. But like we had just learned, God answers prayers. :) He sent the Jensens to help us. The Jensens are a senior couple who are serving on the Navy base that is in our Ward boundaries. They just happened to be in the area, and happened to have a bike rack, and just happened to have a totally free night. They were absolutely sent to help us. :) We loaded our bikes onto the back of their car and were able to make it to our appointment on time. It was a complete and total tender mercy and answer to prayer. Time and time again we saw blessings like that happen with our bikes. 

Blood Drive

After the Blood drive we had an appointment that we had to get to so we headed out on our bikes not totally remembering the advice to not work out after donating blood. After our appointment Sister Golba-Ingles was not feeling well and didn't think that she could make it home on the bikes. We called our Ward mission leader and he was in a perfect position to come and rescue us. It was amazing. And again by Sunday the Elders had their car back and offered us their car. We said absolutely not. :) Haha about an hour later the elders had left the keys to their car on our front porch basically leaving us with no choice but to use their car. It was very humbling to let them serve us in that way, but I was very touched by their courageous and powerful examples. It was very kind of them. We had so many tender mercies shown to us while we were on bikes his week. :) Whether it was members who were willing to help, safety while we rode, or Elders who sacrificed their car, we were so blessed. 

This week was absolutely incredible and proved over and over and over again that God answers prayers. He does. I know it. :) Heavenly Father loves us so much and cares so deeply about each and every one of us. It's incredible. I am so grateful for the experiences we were able to have this week and he priceless moments we were a part of. :) 

I love you guys. Thank you so much for loving me, supporting me, and praying for me. I appreciate it so much. I LOVE YOU. 

-Sister Watts

Found my wallet

Near Lake Michigan!

Sister Golba-Ingles

Week 32 - Get OUT and Serve

Hello Family&Friends. :) 

Sister Boyd, Elders Johnson and Shields

This has been an incredible week. I feel so blessed and very very happy this week. :) I have been so

Cute Sister Watts :)

blessed to have been given an amazing companion. I love Sister Golba-Ingles with everything that I am, she is so special. :) She is a convert to the church and is the only member in her family. Her choice to serve a mission is an incredible act of faith and trust in the Lord. She has a powerful story and a deep conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She just graduated in 2014 and has the perfect greeny fire that I love. I have learned so much from her in the last 5 days and I can't even wait to continue to serve with her. I feel very privileged to be her companion. :)

Michelle

We did a lot of really great things this week, and we had some pretty awesome miracles that I am so excited about. :) We have been trying a lot lately to be more service oriented. There is a whole lot of potential in our area and we know that there are people who live here that need the gospel, but we haven't been able to find them out knocking on doors. So we are trying a different approach. :) We are trying to serve a bunch and are trying to get more involved in the community. We have started helping out at Food Pantries, Paper Pantries, and community events. It has been so much fun, and we feel very blessed to be around so many incredible people. We have met some of the most selfless, Christlike, and giving people these past few weeks. We have also been super blessed to have many many moments where we get to talk about who we are as missionaries, what our purpose is and in he process we get to testify about the Gospel. We have had some very special conversations with some special people. :) Heavenly Father has totally been blessings us in every way as we have been diligently trying to be OUT.  

Last week when we were at the Community Yard Sale we met so many people who were genuinely interested and excited about who we were and what we had to say. We met this very sweet man who was Muslim. He sat down next to me and we talked for a solid hour and a half. He was so intrigued by the message that we were sharing and we has just soaking in everything we had to say, it was so cool. :) He agreed with a lot of the truths that we testified of. It was pretty powerful to see the spirit testifying to him of truth. We sent him home with a Conference edition of the Ensign, a Book of Mormon, a picture of the Temple, and a Restoration Pamphlet. (It was kind of convenient to have every thing we owned sitting on a table in front of us) :)  Person after person was just so excited to take these special documents and videos. We have found a lot of this same excitement in almost every activity we have helped with. It has been so much fun. :) If you have any fun and creative ideas or things that we could do out here just let us know. :) 

We have been really trying to get all of our investigators rooted in the Book of Mormon. It has been amazing to see that as we have brought them back to the basic and simple doctrines of the Gospel, they have been progressing so much more than they have in the past. We are working really hard and are seeing blessings all along the way. 

The scarecrow :)

We had a pretty hilarious experience this week. :) We were outside the church sitting on the grass weekly planning when we got a pretty frantic phone call from Elder Johnson (our Zone Leader) They were inside the church and said "Can you sisters come inside please? There is a lady that needs help and I feel like Sister Watts is the perfect one to handle the situation." Haha. :) So we ran inside and sitting on the couch was the cutest, sweetest and most adorable old lady. She was bundled from head to toe in her winter clothing, has no teeth, and looked like she had almost everything she owned in her little walker. Her name was R**** and she basically just needed to be loved. :) She lives about a half a mile away from the church and had walked to the church in hopes of finding someone that could help her. She told us that she really wanted to enter a scarecrow contest but because of he disabilities she wasn't able to do it on

The finished Scarecrow

her own. :) We told her that we would absolutely love to help her with anything she needed. So Saturday morning we went over to her home and made her scarecrow for her and then went and set it up at the contest for her. :) Now keep in mind. Saturday was the coldest day in October in the history of Chicago. The entire time we were helping her we were completely and totally frozen. But it was beyond hilarious. :)

She ended up coming to parts of general conference and she loved it. Speaking of which, we totally loved General Conference. :) We just had a blast of a weekend. All of the missionaries in the area came to the chapel to watch conference. It was perfect and just so much fun. :) I feel like here were some common threads in this conference that were just powerful and so awesome. That absolute truth completely exists. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true always forever and no matter what. Despite every test, challenges, and accusation the truth of the Gospel is real. The coolest thing about that is that you don't have to take my word, or your leaders word, or even the apostles and prophets word for it. You can ask GOD if it is true and he WILL answer you. No matter what. He is our Heavenly Father and he loves us more than we can ever comprehend, so he will absolutely answer your prayers. After you have gained that knowledge we can be a light and an example to everyone around us. We have the divine ability to make a difference. As we stand up boldly for the truth and the testimony that we have already gained we can totally and completely change the lives and hearts of those around us. The gospel is the coolest. I loved every minute of conference. :) 

We have a fun week coming up! I can't wait. :) We are getting a special preview of the new documentary "Meet the Mormons" that is coming out on October 10th. It is basically a documentary of 6 members of the church. It follows their lives and shows a little bit about what it's like to be mormon. I can't even wait for it. It looks SO good and it sounds like it is going to be incredible. We will be watching it before District Meeting on Wednesday. :) We can't see it in the theaters, but I absolutely encourage you all to go and see it. Date night? Family Home Evening? Anything. Go. :) Take your families and friends and love it. :) Then. After we watch the movie, and go to district meeting we will go and drop our car off at the auto body shop because we have to get something's fixed on it. We are dropping it off on Wednesday and we won't get it back until Monday, which means...BIKES. :) We get to go on bikes this week. Holy, I am so excited! My whole mission I have been in a car, so I can't even wait to be on a bike for a week. It's kind of funny. We have been praying like crazy to find people who are ready to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so Heavenly Father answers that prayer by taking away our car so that we can meet people. :) We got the bikes yesterday from some members in the Spanish branch and they are absolutely adorable. This is going to be such a tender mercy and an adventure. Every single time we talk about it we just laugh. We are too excited. :) We have lots of appointments, so we are going to be busy busy busy. It's going to be fun. We have a Blood Drive coming up and some cool service opportunities I am way excited about. :) 

I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary.  I love my life. :) 

AND I LOVE YOU. 

-Sister Watts 

Huge Hat