Shine the Light!! :)

Hey Hey y'all! :)

Well this week has definitely been an interesting but great one!! :) We have had things happen all over the spectrum!! :) ha Investigators moving, progressing, dropping us, being found etc!! :) crAzInEss!! but still awesomeness! :) i just LOvE missions!! :) they are the best!! Pretty sure EVERYONE should experience it! it's the best!! :) You learn and experience SOO much and you are blessed with the AMAZING Spirit with you always (as long as you strive to be obedient) which makes you happy and filled/lifted up constantly!! It's incredible! :) I'm very grateful to have this amazing opportunity & privilege to represent the Savior and help others come to know of the FULNESS of His restored gospel!! It's incredible!! Serving a mission makes me think about my testimony and beliefs so much more deeply and helps strengthen it! :) Especially when it is questioned by others! ha

So this week .. we had our last lesson with Tiffany (who we've been teaching since January!!) :( I was vErY sad!! because i love her and she has such incredible potential!! :) i'm sOO grateful we were blessed to teach her and get to know her so much more! She's awesome and is going to be missed greatly by Sister Draper and I! We were able to teach her a LoT though so that is good and we want to send missionaries to her where she is moving to so that will be good! :)

We had an INCREDIBLE lesson with the part-member family we've been teaching! We were definitely planning on teaching the Plan of Salvation but at the last minute (getting out of the car) we felt prompted to switch the lesson to the Restoration! :) So we did. And that is eXAcTlY what needed to happen!! :) It was AMAZING!!!! :D We taught it using the "Restoration cups" (which I love) and bore testimony of it and it really touched our investigator! :) She was crying and I feel right then that she recieved her answer that THIS is Christ's TRUE Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! :) She even said that!! She said "who knew that CUPS would help me know that this is the true Church?!" :) hah She's AMAZING!!! and sOO ready! We invited her to be baptized and she said she would have to pray about it to know for sure :) So we said, Okay pray about that specifically and talked more about all she had discovered from the lesson and how she can recognize her answer etc. :) it was soOOO awesome!!! My goodness I am SOOO grateful for the Spirit!! Epsecially for prompting us to CHANGE the lesson to that!! It was sOO great!! We even got to tell her we weren't even planning on teaching that!! But that we felt to as we said a prayer before we came into her house and switched it at the last minute!! She was like "whoA! creepy!" haha i think what she really meant was 'inspired!" :P hah It was awesome!! We just love her!! and her husband is so funny and great too! :)

We were also able to help Nancy (our investigator) move to her new house this week!! She WAS going to move to Florida!!! but is just moving one street up instead now! YAY!! BLESSING!!! :D That was a really fun day! We got to help with a bunch of other people move her for about 4 hours! She is awesome and we are so grateful we could go and serve her! (she was SUPER grateful too!) love it!! Service is the BEST!!! :D We get to do a Zone Service project tonight!! So that will be fun! :)

Well a crAzY thing that happened this week with one of our investigators 'dropping us' (not wanting to meet with us anymore :( ) is she has really been progressing throughout these past months and has set a baptismal date a couple of times but then backs out. So this week (we could feel it coming) she told us she doesn't want to be "Mormon" but we told her that we aren't here to "convert people to be 'Mormon' " we are here to help others "Come unto Christ by helping them recieve the RESTORED gospel of Jesus Christ!" And when you are baptized into "our Church" you are NOT taking the name "Mormon" upon you (that's just a nickname people give our Church) You are taking CHRIST'S name upon you!! This is HIS true Church upon the earth and He wants EVERYONE to be a part of it and know the TRUTH in it's FULNESS!! And the AMAziNG blessings that come from this knowlege of the fullness and from LIVING it!! :) I looked at her and asked her if she has "PRAYED about it.. to know that THIS is the TRUE Church of Jesus Christ?" And she said "No.." and then said, "I KNOW it's NOT true!" And i looked at her and said, "I don't know how you can say that because I HAVE prayed about it and I KNOW that it IS true!" and continued to bear testimony to her and tell her that the reason we keep meeting with her (and anyone) is so they can PRAY about it SINCERELY and with REAL INTENT to KNOW this TRUTH for themselves!! It's BECAUSE we LOVE her! There's NO WAY we would be out here on mission doing what we do if we didn't KNOW it was TRUE!! And knew HOW much it can and will BLESS people's lives if they will accept it and live it! :) And we told her we didn't want her to miss out and pass it (the truth) by (especially becasue she KNOWS the Book of Mormon is true but doesn't want to make the changes necessary in order to be "Mormon") without giving her FULL effort to KNOW specifically that THIS is Christ's Church on the earth today!! Because WE KNOW that it IS!! :D ... It was an intense lesson! ha I could definitely feel the Spirit burn within me to say all that i did! ha It was a powerful and very testimony-building experience that I'm sad had to happen (for her) but am grateful for because it helped ME know that I kNOW this Church is true and it IS Christ's ONE and TRUE Church on the earth today!! :) Each of us can KNOW this for ourselves through study, living it, and prayer (Moroni 10:4) ! In 'Preach My Gospel' it says, "No one can know of spiritual truth without prayer." That is sO true! I'm sOO grateful for prayer and the incredible knowledge and blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! it is SOOOO TRUE!!! :D Never doubt it!!!! :) Just as we can learn from the experience Peter had when he walked on water with Christ - When we have FAITH we WALK! When we DOUBT we FALL! :) I knOW this is TRUE!! And I know you do too! :)

Another great 'inspired' experience we had was when we were on our way to an appointment! :) We were driving there and it was just around the corner when Sister Draper stopped the car and said, "do you want to go knock on a door?" and of course i said, "Sure!" ha so we went and knocked on ONE door (that Sister Draper had previously felt inspired to knock on but we hadn't so we did this time! :) ) And they opened the door and let us in!! :) They were a cute older couple and super sweet!! :) We were able to get to know them a little bit and teach them about families and God's plan for us (the Plan of Salvation!) and were able to leave them with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet! :) It was awesome! We are teaching them again this Thursday!! I just lOvE the Spirit!! And i love it even more when we FOLLOW it!! :) ha

Well i think that's about all I wanted to tell y'all about! I hope these experiences and stories I share help strengthen your testimony and want to do missionary work more! :) Because the work of the Lord is iNCREDIBLE!! His hand is TRULY in ALL things!! :) We just have to seek it out and recognize it!! And live worthy of His Spirit to guide and direct us always!! ANYTHING we have to do in our lives in order for us to feel and have the Spirit with us is WORTH IT!! :) I testify of this!! And all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen! :) I hope you all have an AMAZING week!! :) You are AMAZING!!! and i love and miss you all sooo much!!! I loved talking to you AMAZING family yesterday!!! THANK YOU!!! :D i lOVE and MISS YOU!!!!! :D have a spectacular day and week!! :) The Church is TRUE! and i LoVe YoU!!! :D

Love, Sister Carlini

ps. QofW: "Indeed, this life is a test. It is a test of many things—of our convictions and priorities, our faith and our faithfulness, our patience and our resilience, and in the end, our ultimate desires.

-Vision is determined by faith. The firmer our faith in Jesus Christ the clearer our vision of ourselves and what we can ultimately achieve and become." -Sheri Dew :) ("This Life is a Test -and only a Test")

 

 

*Picture Descriptions!* :)

1. awesome pic and quote about the Sacrament! :) this is why we need to go to Church each week! :) i love it! :) So powerfuL! :)

2. Us with Tiffany and her super cute daugher Alina! :) Tiffany moved.. :( We lOVED visiting and teaching her! :) She is AWESOME!! She will definitely be missed!

3.Our district at Thia Cafe! :) yum! .. Sister Draper, Sister Smith, Sister Brown, Sister Bowles, Sister & Elder Ator (senior couple), Elder Loosle, Elder Burr, Elder Atkinson, Elder Hanson (You can't see him ha he's an A.P.) Elder Kimber, and Elder Cook (the other A.P. AND he reminds me a ton of Elder Simmons! He's awesome! They both have sO much in common! They should probably be best friends when they both get home (which is BOTH in fall!) ha i told Elder Cook that! :) hah he'll thank me later :) ha)

4. Yep, an ARMADILLO! a dead one sadly.. ha i guess those are pretty common around here :) ha

5. Sister Draper and I were craving to watch the newest Joseph Smith movie on the RestoratioN!! :) So we had a Joseph Smith Restoration movie night!! :) hah i lOvE that movie!! :) it's so good! and strengthens my testimony!! I'm sOOO grateful for Joseph SMith and his great role in restoring the TRUE Church of Jesus Christ back onto the earth! What a GREAT blessing!! :) I'm so grateful!! :)