January 12th Weekly Update

Hello! It's been an exciting week to report on! 

First off, we got transfer calls on Saturday! Sister Peel is leaving and I am staying, as expected, but we will both be training in not this transfer but the next! We are pretty excited! I will be in Beech Grove for 4.5 more months then, and Sister Peel will be in her next area for the same amount, wherever it is! 

Todd Castner, the former we tried by whose sister or aunt was a senior missionary and wanted a blessing we have been calling and calling for a few weeks without answer! The elders got a referral the other day and when they went to go contact them it turned out to be Todd! The elders gave him a blessing and will be going back to teach him, Friday! So cool!!

Yesterday was a crazy day, we saw more progress from our investigators in one day than we have in like 3 months! We stopped by the Riveras and showed them "The Hope of God's Light" and part way through when it was talking about addictions Will said it was so weird because the day before he'd been thinking about stopping drinking! They also prayed as a family the night before!! This man wasn't even sure he believed in God the first time Sister Peel contacted him!! They loved the video and agreed to read Alma 32 for real before we take them on a church tour next Thursday! At the end he asked if he could pray for Sister Peel before she left. OH MY it was amazing!! The Jones hadn't been taught the restoration yet but have been to church, and love us coming over but hardly give us time to even talk about the gospel! They read the restoration pamphlet and we showed them the restoration video yesterday, and let us talk about it! We asked how they felt and Laura said she felt nothing, it was just logical. We kept talking further and she finally said she kinda felt content! We explained that that was the spirit and tried to get them on a church tour but they are moving this week and will be crazy until after. 

Yesterday we also saw Brizeida, the elder's recent convert. She was super sad that Elder Mortenson was leaving and talking about the difference missionaries had in her life and how hard transfers were for her. It was a sweet reminder that as missionaries we leave our families for a year and a half or two so that others can be with their families for forever! Another sweet experience we had with members was when we got a ride home from church with the Crumbos. It started ice raining and Sister Crumbo got really worried so she said we need to say a prayer! Then her son said oh, prayers always help! And the daughter started praying. After she asked for us to get home safely and the rain to stop, it did for a few minutes! Then they felt silly for praying for safety when the missionaries were with them and they would've been safe, anyway:) afterward she thanked us for the spirit we brought even in the car on the way home from church. She is so sweet! I am glad I get to be with the members of the Beech Grove for 6 months! 

Funnies!

"And what's your name, lady?" Theron (former investigator)

"I learned this during WWII, if you eat that salad and think really hard about rolls, your salad will taste exactly like salad!...I mean a roll!" Elder Lorsch

"It wasn't oatmeal lotion! It was lavender stress relieving lotion!" Elder Diaz

"Where do generals hide their armies?...up their sleevies!" Elder Lorsch

Thanks for reading, have a great week!!