Week 17 - Exact obedience and Defend your beliefs

#TeamSmile

McKenna sent us this video. She really loves the rain in LaPorte :)

We had the most incredible week this week. :) I really wish I had time to tell about all of the amazing things that we were able to see happen this week. We celebrate little victories every day. Awesome things are happening in our area. I love it. :) But because of time I think I will just share two experiences we were able to have this week.

This week we had to take our car into the shop to get some repairs done. So all day Wednesday and most of the day Thursday we didn't have a car. :) For most of where we needed to go we were ok to walk and if we couldn't walk we were super blessed with members who were willing to help us out. But Wednesday after mutual we didn't have a ride home.

After the run home

We figured out that we lived about 3 miles away from the chapel, and by the time we were able to get out of the church it was about 8:30p.m. Mission rules are that if you aren't teaching a lesson you need to be in your apartment by 9:00. :) We knew that we needed to go decently fast so we could get home on time. So we started running. :) We would run until we couldn't run anymore and the even then we would walk as fast as we could. We were carrying our bags and books that we needed to take home to our apartment and When we got about half way it started raining. Neither Sister Raccuia and I were wearing shoes that were made for running in the rain, so when we got home we both had sores and blisters. The whole time we were running home we sang as loud as we could. :) We found a lot of strength and motivation in some of our very favorite hymns. We sang "I Believe in Christ", "I know my Redeemer lives", "Count your blessings" and "I stand all amazed." It was one of my very favorite moments so far on my mission. :) running down the street bearing my testimony through some of my most favorite songs. We were totally determined to be exactly obedient, and I believe that it was an absolute miracle but we walked in the door to our apartment at EXACTLY 9:00!! Sister Raccuia and I were so unbelievably happy. :) We jumped up and down, soaking wet, sore, beyond excited, and so grateful. It is literally a miracle that we got home at exactly 9:00. We did everything that we could do and tried our absolute hardest to be exactly obedient and I know that Heavenly Father absolutely helped us.

I had another really interesting experience this week that I have thought about a lot. We were teaching a less active member in our ward who is going through a lot of really hard things right now. We felt that for our lesson we should talk about the Book of Mormon and how much we loved it. I bore my testimony about how I have come to know the Book of Mormon is true and how much I absolutely cherish the book.

Sister Raccuia and I both felt the spirit so strong in that lesson and we felt like it was going really well. But as soon as we finished talking she immediately starting bashing the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, the church as a whole, and then my own personal testimony. She told me many reasons why my testimony was false and why all the things that I love with all my heart are fake. I have never felt so attacked, little and heartbroken in my whole life. But immediately the words from Elder Holland came into my mind "Be strong. Defend your beliefs with courtesy and with compassion, but defend them." So with the biggest smile. I could muster I told her that I respected what she had said and that I loved her, but that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a true prophet, and that I had a testimony of my own. We ended the lesson and she left. I was heartbroken for her, but I found comfort in the fact that we had done everything that we possibly could have done.

I feel like the lesson that I have learned this week is that I absolutely beyond any shadow of a doubt KNOW that I have a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and that I WANT to be serving as a missionary. I WANT to run home in the rain, I WANT to go tracting, and I WANT to be a missionary because I love the gospel with all of my heart. I know that these things are true not because I have been told them all my life, but because I have had powerful and real experiences that have solidified my testimony and have helped me come to know these things for myself. I love the gospel and I love my mission. :) I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to serve and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Carried Christ one whole day

I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support. :) I appreciate it SO much. I LOVE YOU.

Love, Sister Watts. :)

p.s. fireflies are real

The District

Week 16 - Cruise Night and Priesthood blessings

Ariyanna's Baptism 

We had the most incredible week this week. :) We worked super hard, we had a blast and a half, and we saw some incredible miracles happen this week. 

We started the week off with an absolutely incredible Zone Conference. :) I love Zone Conferences. They are always so powerful and are the best recharges in the world. The whole conference was on being obedient to the promptings that come from the spirit. A big portion of the meeting was just missionaries sharing experiences where they followed what the spirit prompted them to do and then the miracles and blessings that came because they were obedient. :) It was so powerful and just an absolutely incredible meeting. I learned so much and Sister Raccuia and I have been trying super hard to apply what we learned and the things that we felt we can improve on into our area and it has helped us so much this week. :)  

Cute Sign

We had the funnest experience this week. :) We were driving down main street in LaPorte and there were people outside? LaPorte is honestly so tiny that there usually is not a whole lot of people outside doing things. So we were super excited to see people outside so we jumped on the opportunity to talk to people and parked our car and went out and started talking to people. :) I guess once a month LaPorte has this thing called "Cruise Night" where they close down main street and a bunch of really old cars basically put on a super cool parade. TONS of people come out and set up blankets and chairs and just hang out with their families, they play really old music and just drive these rad cars down the street for a few hours. We left before the actual thing started, but we were able to talk to a bunch of people. :) We met tons of people who have never seen missionaries before and who were way excited about the message that we have to share. We met the cutest pair of twins who have literally done everything together since day 1. They are about 50 years old and are just joined at the hip. :) They said that one of their favorite things to do is to read Christian books together so we gave them our favorite Christian book (The Book of Mormon) and told them why we loved it so much and testified of how it is the best written testimony that we have of Jesus Christ. :) We invited them to read it and they said they would. They really seemed so excited to read it. We met the coolest guy while we were out walking down the street. :) His name was J*****. He is about 60 years old and was just so excited when we started talking to him. He is the definition of a family man and you could just tell that he loves his family with all of his heart! He got really emotional when we was telling us how special his family is to him. Sister Raccuia bore the most tender testimony about how families can be together forever. He was so excited about that. We are going to go over this week hopefully and get to talk to him again. :) He is one of the sweetest old men ever. We found a lot more people and were able to talk to some really amazing people, it was so much fun. :) 

Phillips Family

So. :) We went on a fun little adventure Saturday morning. Most Saturday Mornings we go to a Farmers Market in Chesterton, which is where the Sisters in our District are serving, and we go and talk to people and try to find people who are ready to hear the Gospel. So we got down there this week and when we got there we called the sisters to find out where they were so we could meet up, but we found out that they were sick. :/ We couldn't be out of our area without them, so we had to leave. Sister Raccuia was wanting a blessing so we decided that we would go and meet up with the Zone leaders so they could give her a blessing. :) We had really good intentions in telling the Zone leaders that we would be about 5 minutes away, but somehow we got SO lost. Oh man, we were seriously all over the place. We drove forever trying to find the Elders. It was super stressful at the moment but something that is so funny now. :) We probably drove for about an hour. When we finally got there we were able to have one of the most incredible experiences ever. We were decently stressed out because of our little adventure, but as soon as those Elders started the blessing the spirit INSTANTLY flooded the room and there was an unmistakable calm that came so powerfully. It was amazing. The peace that was immediately felt was so profound. :) We met with M**** earlier this week and had a pretty similar experience. She was struggling a lot and gave us a pretty long list why she was stressed and not happy, so we offered her a blessing. :) A few hours later we were able to go over there with a member and he was able to give her a blessing. Almost the exact same thing happened. Right when he started the blessing the spirit was incredibly strong. I love the priesthood so much and I am so grateful for it. I feel so blessed to have been able to grow up in a home where the Priesthood was always there and we always knew that we could find comfort in the Priesthood. I have been so grateful since I left and especially this last week with Fathers day for my incredible dad who was always such an amazing example to us of a man who respects and honors his Priesthood responsibilities. I just wanted to say Happy Fathers day to all of the men who mean so much to me and who have been such incredible examples to me. :) 

Thank you so much for everything you guys are doing. I love you so much and I am so grateful for your prayers and your support. They mean more to me than I could ever say. :) I LOVE YOU.

Make a great week. :)

Love, Sister Watts 

Sister Paulson's temple recommend

Playing in the rain

Brother Magglio's Work

No really...come inside

Week 15 - The Holy Ghost teaches & planning a parade

Hello Everyone. :) 

Beautiful Indiana sunset

We had a really fun and amazing week. I am loving what I am doing and I feel so grateful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary. I love it so much. :) Like usual we got to see so many miracles and blessings this week and we have incredible experiences all the time. :) 

We had some really amazing lessons this week! We got to meet with M**** and it was so neat. I was so impressed! M**** has not had a car for the past two weeks, so when we meet with him we have to meet somewhere close to his house so that he can walk to or ride his bike. So on Friday we had a lesson with him in a members home and in order for him to get to there he had to run for about 35 minutes! He was running a little bit behind all day so in order for him to be on time for the lesson he had to run as fast as he could to get to the Johnstons home. He was pretty wiped out when he got to the Johnstons but we were so amazed at his dilligence. :) We were able to feel the spirit so strong while we read the Book of Mormon with him and had a really neat discussion. He is starting to love the Book and he is just throwing himself into it. Its so much fun. :) The thing that I am the most amazed with about M**** is his willingness to learn and his excitement about the gospel. Instead of just saying that our lesson was too far away, or canceling on us because he was a little bit late he hightailed it out of his apartment and ran as fast as he could all the way to the appointment. :) It is so fun to see someone who is so anxious about learning and so excited about feeling the spirit of the Book of Mormon!

We got news this week that a recent convert named Kayla has recently moved into our ward. She tracked down our phone number and was so excited to call us and have us come over and meet with her. :) So we scheduled an appointment where we could meet her at the library. We went over there and she pretty much ran up to us and said "Hi. Im Kayla. I have a friend here who wants to meet with you." So we walked into the library and went in to this conference room where she introduced us to C****. She had only met C**** a few days before that and had mentioned to him that she would be meeting with the missionaries in a few days and she asked him if he would ever be interested in meeting us! :) C**** had a lot of questions about the church, so we answered them the best that we could and were able to teach him about the restoration of the Gospel. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and we invited him to read it and he said that he would!! He came to church on Sunday and he ended up staying for the whole three hours, which was amazing. :) We were so excited about it! He has been reading a lot and he said that he really likes the Book of Mormon. C**** doesn't live in our Ward boundary, so we will have to move have other missionaries take it over from here, but he is so amazing! Its really incredible how so many people are so prepared and ready to hear the gospel. We just have to invite and then miracles happen. :) 

My favorite thing that happened this week was probably our lesson with K****. :) We got a text from her one night that said "I am so sad, but I just don't think that this whole LDS thing is for me." Ahh man. I was so heartbroken! We were so bummed to get that text! As soon as we could we said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to help us know what we should do so that we could help her the best that we could. We decided that we would go and see her the next day and just ask her what her concerns were and to talk to her about what questions she had. We prayed so hard that she would be able to remember the special experiences she has had and that we would know what we should say. We went in and were talking to her and everything was so good. :) We love her so much and it was just fun to get to be with her. :) We started talking about the questions that she had and the things that were worrying her. We ended up talking to her about the moments where she had felt the spirit and where she had known that the path that she was on was the path that Heavenly Father wanted her to be on. We talked about the time when she came to church and felt so good that after the meeting she said "I don't want to leave" because she was feeling the spirit so strong. :) When we started talking to her about these special moments she has had with the spirit she was able to find the courage to continue on this path. It really is amazing to me how incredible the Holy Ghost is. I could not have convinced her to continue wanting to learn but the Holy Ghost can and does all the time. He is the real teacher and the one who touches the hearts of these sweet people that we get to interact with and love. :) I love more than anything getting to be an instrument in Gods hands in this amazing process. I love it.

One of the things that we are most excited about is that we are going to be in the 4th of July Parade! Sister Raccuia and I were talking one night about how we could most effectively use the 4th of July as a finding opportunity to find those people who are ready to hear the gospel. So we were brainstorming different things. We started talking about how cool it would be for the stake to get to put together a float and have primary kids and ward members singing primary songs in the float and have the missionaries walk in the parade and hand out pass along cards, mormon.org cards and candy. We were so excited!! But it was 10:31 so we had to turn the lights off and go to bed. :) The next morning we called President Woodbury, The stake President, the city and got everything approved and now, we are going to be in the parade. :) Sister Raccuia and I are so stinking excited. Its going to take a lot of work, but we are hoping that it will be a successful finding opportunity. LaPorte actually becomes the capitol of Indiana on the 4th of July because so many people come to the parade. :) SO we are super stoked. Pray that everything goes well ok?

I love you all so much and I am so so grateful for all of your prayers and thoughts. :) Thank you so much for everything that you are doing.

Love, Sister Watts 

Maglio's huge dog

Sister D's 99th birthday

With Melissa's Mom

Week 14 - BLESSINGS :)

Sister Raccuia and Sister Watts

We had a really fun week this week. :) I am absolutely loving getting to serve with Sister Raccuia. We laugh a ton and just have a ball while we are out doing missionary things. It is so much fun. :) We were able to teach a bunch of lessons this week which was way fun!

We had a really amazing lesson with M**** this week. He is doing so awesome and is starting to really love the Book of Mormon. :) He is reading it a lot on his own and is loving when we get to read it together. It's amazing to me how strong the spirit instantly is as soon as you open the Book of Mormon. We had an awesome talk about how God is the same forever. And We both felt like a lot of things clicked for M**** during our lesson. After the lesson we were driving away and M**** texted us and said "That was a great lesson today sisters, I learned a lot." :) haha it's not very often that your investigators let you know that you are doing a good job, but it was super nice of him and just a great little boost.

We were super super blessed this week and we are starting to teach two people temple prep. :) There isn't anyone in the ward who has been called to teach it so we volunteered and it has been so amazing.

Sister Raccuia and I absolutely love the temple with everything that we are, so to be helping these sweet people as they are preparing to go to the temple is one of the biggest blessings in the world. I am so grateful for the temple in my life and I can't even imagine not having those blessings. Sister Paulson and Sister Ames will both be going through the temple really soon. 

I think one of the biggest miracles I have seen since I have been on my mission is in the Paulson family.When we first started visiting Sister Paulson we were just going over for her and she has just totally caught fire and has been so excited about everything that we have been talking to her about and inviting her to do and she is DOING it. Because of her example her son was baptized a few months ago, her whole family is coming to church, and her husband is talking about going to the temple for himself, they have a goal to be sealed together forever has a family. :) Words don't even describe how happy I am to see their family grow so much in the gospel and come so close together. Sister Paulson's example has had the most profound ripple effect on her family and it has been beyond incredible to see. :) Heavenly Father really blesses us so much when we do what he asks.

Funny story of the week. :) For some reason the drivers side door in our car doesn't want to open anymore. It will open from the outside, but it wont open from the inside at all. So for a while I was just climbing over the middle compartment and was crawling out through Sister Raccuias door. :) It was always super funny and super dorky but way fun. We had the Elders look at it at district meeting and they told us that there was nothing they could do for us.  They laughed super hard when we told them how I have been getting out of the car lately. :) They told me that it would be way easier if I just rolled down the window and opened it from the outside every time. BRILLIANT.

Haha I dont know why I never thought about that but Its a whole lot easier getting out that way. :)

I really love getting to serve. I am finding so much joy in getting to serve my Heavenly Father

Gift to neighbor

with everything that I am and getting to wear the name of my savior every day. I had a special moment this week when we were at dinner with the Scroggins. We invited them to pray and fast about someone that they could invite to learn more about the gospel, after they accepted our invitation and said that they would do it we were able to promise them blessings. :) We promised them that they would be able to feel more joy and happiness, that the spirit would be more present in their home, and that their family would be more unified. The spirit was crazy strong and I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that those blessings that we promised them did not come from us it came from our Heavenly Father. :) with tears in her eyes Sister Scroggin said "that's exactly what we want." :) It's incredible to me how willing our Father in Heaven is to bless us. If we just do what he asks of us he will ALWAYS bless us more than we could ever comprehend.

I love this so much, I'm happy. :)

Love Sister Watts. :)

Brother Yocum

Staining Brother Yocum's porch

Week 13 - New companion and answered prayers

I really love this time of the week when I get to sit down and really think about all the miracles that have happened over this past week. :) it is so much fun. 

So first big news! Sister Hansen is being transferred to Orland park. She is leaving! I have absolutely loved my time that I have gotten to serve with her. She will add so much to her new area. :) my new companion is Sister Raccuia. I haven't actually met her before, but I am SOO excited to get to serve with her. I have only heard incredible things from her and I am so stoked to get to be with her. :) 

So we had a super fun week and had some really incredible things happen. On Monday we had an appointment that fell through so we were stopping by some less actives that we wanted to visit. We tried a few places, but nothing was super solid, so we called Brother Westergren and asked if we could come over,  he told us that we couldn't come over because he was home alone because his wife was in the hospital, but he told us that she would absolutely love a visit from us. So we ran right over to the hospital. :) We found her room and were able to go in and talk to her for a little bit. She was really upset. She had gone to the emergency room because she had gotten so worked up and so sick physically because of some really devastating things that have happened in her family. We just listened as she talked with us about how low and overwhelmed she was feeling. We offered to say a prayer with her. It was one of the most special prayers I have ever heard. All of her worries, concerns, and stresses were dimmed for a moment as the spirit flooded the room as we prayed. We were able to have someone come and give her a priesthood blessing. Sister Westergren is now home and is doing lots better. :) Every morning, every planning session, every time we leave the apartment, and every time we just don't know what to do we pray and ask Heavenly Father to guide us to where he wants us to be. It was amazing to see the Lords hand in our lives as he directed us to Sister Westergren. No one knew that she was in the hospital and that she was struggling, but Heavenly Father did. He knew that she needed us in that very moment and we were able to be instruments in Gods hands and to answer her prayers. It was amazing.

:)

So we got a Media Referal (That basically means they were looking on LDS.org or MORMON.org and said that they would like the missionaries to come over, so then we get a text with their information, and we go over.) a few weeks ago that we have been trying to get in touch with, but we haven't been to successful. We have knocked on his door a few times, left a note with our number on his door, called him, everything we could think of. But no luck. So we decided to try one more time to go over and see if we could meet him. :) we knocked on his door and he answered! We were so surprised and excited to actually get to meet him, but before we could say anything he said super excitedly "Oh! You're from the church, please come in." 

We told him that because of mission rules we weren't able to come inside without another female there. So he literally grabbed his shoes and ran out the door so we could talk to him outside. :) He was so excited to meet us it was awesome! He told us how he just had this feeling that he needed to call off going to work that day, and then that's right when we knocked on his door. He immediately started asking us questions and we were able to teach him about the restoration of the Gospel and we gave him a Book of Mormon and asked him if he would read 3rd Nephi 17 as soon as we asked him to read it he opened it and started reading it right there. :) he was so eager to learn and just couldn't get enough about what we were saying. :) It was so cool. It was awesome because we were about to give up, we had said we will go over "one more time" and when we did miracles happened. :) He has since done some kind if weird things so the Elders are teaching him, but that moment was so cool!

One of the highlights of the week was Saturday. We went down to a farmers market in town near by with most of the missionaries in our district. We set up a table on the corner that had lots of Books of Mormon, DVDs, Magazines and pass along cards. We set up this plan where half of us would stand behind the table and sing hymns and the other half of the missionaries would go out and talk to people. It was a BLAST. :) It was amazing that as soon as we started to sing, the spirit was so strong. People were way interested in what we were doing and would come over to see what was going on, we even had a lady come over and record us for a little bit. :) We found lots of people who were interested in meeting with the missionaries and we gave out a lot of Books of Mormon. It was so much fun. We met some really special people that I just loved talking too. I noticed that there were a lot of people on the other side of the street who would look over to see what was going on, but then would keep walking. So I ran over there with a member who was with us and we started talking to people across the street. We were talking to this lady who wasn't super interested but super friendly. So after we stopped talking to her the most darling girl who was about 15 years old came over to us and said "I heard you talking to that lady, and I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about that book you were talking to her about?" It was AWESOME. :) We were able to talk to her about the Book of Mormon and about how much we loved it. She was so excited and happily took a copy and told us that we could come over and talk to her. She was adorable and just so hungry and anxious to learn. She doesn't live in our area, so we will send other missionaries over there but she was just awesome and I so hope things will go well. :) 

The District before transfers

Another miracle happened while we were out talking to people Saturday morning. It was right at the end of us being out there and we had only about 5 minutes left, so we gathered all the missionaries together and we said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that we were going to go out and talk to everyone we saw and try so hard to find one more person who was ready and excited about hearing the gospel. After we prayed we split up and went and just talked to everyone. :) after those 5 minutes were up we all came back, and none of us had found anyone who was interested. So we packed up and left our little corner. Us sisters were going to go to lunch together, so we walked into TacoBell and we saw two ladies who we had talked to while we were at the Farmers Market. They weren't super interested when they walked past us, but as soon as we walked into the restaurant they were so excited to see us.:) They walked right over to us and started asking us all these questions that they had. We were able to talk to them for quite awhile and they took the Books of Mormons that we offered them and said that they would love to have the missionaries come over. :) It was amazing, and was a total answer to our prayer. Heavenly Father doesn't always answer our prayers in the ways that we might think he will, but he DOES answer them. Because we prayed and then did everything we could do he helped us find these two more ladies who were curious and wanting to learn more.

Miracles happen every day. :) 

Thanks for your prayers and support because they are FELT. :) I LOVE YOU.

-Sister Watts

Random creepy hand

Teaching 6 year old

Week 12 - Christ walking this path with us

Is was a really amazing week. :) Unfortunately because of time I can only talk about two experiences, but it was awesome!!

We had a really incredible experience his week with one of our new investigators named M****. He was taught about 5 months ago by the sisters who were here before us. He seemed to be doing really well, but a week before his baptism he dropped the sisters and said that he didn't want to be baptized anymore. The sisters were of course totally bummed, but told him that if he ever needed anything to just call. So.

:) Last week we were going through our records and were seeing if there were any names that popped out at us, that we could try to contact again. M****  name jumped out at us so we sent him a text and just asked him how he was doing. He basically replied back and said that he was so happy we had texted him, he explained to us that he felt the previous missionaries were a little pushy and that he didn't feel ready to be baptized, but that he really wanted to read the Book of Mormon with us. The Book of Mormon is powerful and it is true so we were so stoked to start reading it with him. :) We asked Melissa if she would come to the lesson with us and she was way excited about it.

Just a few minutes before the lesson Melissa called us and said that she was going to be about 40 minutes late. We aren't allowed to be in a building with just one man so we were in a little bit of a bind. It has been raining pretty much nonstop all week, but luckily during the 40 minutes we were with M**** we were able to sit outside and the weather was beautiful. We weren't too cold and didn't get rained on, it was a miracle. We were able to have a really incredible lesson with M8888. We read the first two chapters of the Book of Mormon and he just loved it. :) The spirit was really strong as we talked about the scriptures and our favorite parts from the verses we were reading.

We spent a lot of time talking about 1st Nephi 1:20 "But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith." It was amazing to get to talk about how much Heavenly Father loves each of us, and how often he takes the time to show us in little ways that he is aware of us. Since our lesson M**** has been texting us tender mercies that he sees in his life. It's amazing how often Heavenly Father does these little things to help us feel his love. When we open our eyes and try to see all that he is doing, we will recognize that his hand is always in our lives. :) M**** came to church yesterday all on his own without any reminder or prodding on our part. He stayed for all three hours and participated and loved it. :) It was so fun to have him there. The ward just loves him and were so happy to have him back. He is an incredible kid. We’re so happy to be working with him again. :)

There were definitely things this week that started out difficult and were even a little bit discouraging. We got dropped by an investigator who we thought was doing really well. We met with less active after less active who told us they "just didn't want it anymore" we had a really powerful lesson with one of them where I felt the spirit so strong, and I promised him profound and incredible blessings IF he would just commit to coming to church, and he said no. We were yelled at. And we had appointments that we were totally stoked for fall through. I found myself asking "why isn't this easier?" "Why don't these people understand?" and "Why don't they want this?" It was heartbreaking for me to watch people who were so close to the truth, so close to these amazing blessings, and so close to feeling so happy.

But they just turn it away. I know how happy the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes me and I so badly wanted these people who I love so much to feel it and love it too. I want so badly for these people to feel the joy and the happiness that is just waiting for them as soon as they embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. But they were choosing to throw it away, not to embrace it, and not to not live it. That night I knelt down by the couch and as I prayed I cried. I felt like Nephi when he says "I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night." As I prayed I felt an overwhelming comfort and assurance that I was not alone. That Christ was walking this path with us, working with us, loving these people with us, feeling the happiness and the heartbreak with us, and that he would not leave us alone. I found so much hope in that fact and that is what I have clung to this week. As I have watched others turn their heads to something so beautiful and amazing it has strengthened my desire and efforts to never go away to always stay dedicated and committed to my Savior. I will never leave him because he will never leave me. I'm excited to love and serve alongside my Savior. I love what I am doing, it is difficult at times but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. :) Thank you for everything. I love you all so much and I am deeply deeply grateful for your prayers, love and support. Stay faithful and LIVE the gospel.

I LOVE YOU. :)

-Sister Watts

Creepy people in some guys' yard

The Maglios Great Dane, he is HUGE and loves to cuddle with me

Me cleaning at Jens. :)

Week 11 - Mothers Day Skype and pictures

You are all the sweetest EVER. I seriously love you all so much. :) How fun was it to get to talk last night? I was on cloud 9. I think we have the most amazing family. Thank you for loving me and supporting me so much YOU are extraordinary. :)  I really loved talking to you guys so much. You are so happy and just totally made me happy. There are many missionaries who have hard situations back home and who come away from talking to their families and say "I wish I wouldnt have called" I FEEL SO OPPOSITE. And I am so grateful that I do. I really just love you guys with all of my heart and I am learning more and more every day how absolutely incredible you all are. I am so blessed.We are so blessed. :) 

Thank you, You are so encouraging and supportive and are trying so hard to help me. I appreciate it so much. It is the biggest blessing in my life to have the family that I have and to have been raised in the gospel. I will forever be grateful for that. :) I'm so grateful that skyping yesterday went so well. :) I was worried with the Storm that it would mess with the wifi. But it went awesome. :) 

I'm being obedient. :)  I am trying with all of my might. :) I need the blessings that come from being obedient. I will never stop. :) 

Love you, Sister Watts

Some fun pictures that were sent today too

I love my MTC Comps

Sister Spackman and Sister Watts

A member's horse

Sister Paulson at the temple

Most of my MTC missionaries

My Zone

Sister Williams

Sister Buckmiller