Called to Serve: Happy Memorial Day! I love America!

Happy Memorial Day! I love America so much. We truly are so blessed to live in the land of liberty. We live in a very patriotic community here, so yesterday morning when I woke up and went outside, my heart was overwhelmed at the sight of so many American Flags. They lined the street with a flag in the grass about every 6 feet. I loved it. It made me so grateful for all the lives that have been sacrificed for our freedom and all those who willingly put themselves in danger to protect our country. It truly is amazing. We studied scriptures yesterday about the promised land and I came across 2 Nephi 3:2...I love it. I love how we are promised "security forever" if we will keep the commandments of our God. I just can't even put into words how grateful I am to be living in America.

We had a really good week! We had another lesson with M, and she also came to a baptism with us! I can see a change in her since we've been meeting with her. She has been more willing to meet with us and wants to learn more. We have lessons more often and she is really engaged in our lessons. At our lesson yesterday, we talked a lot about putting our faith in God not in Man because she has some concerns about the social effects of being baptized. She has many friends who are trying to persuade her to avoid the church. But, I can tell that once she gains enough faith and grasps what she knows to be true, she will be able to stick with her decision. We are going to continue to teach her and help her as much as we can. She is awesome. She has a lot of faith, but she is also a very smart girl. She wants to make sure that this is exactly the right decision for her.

We tried to get back with the S family, but they have been hard to reach. We stopped by one day and the cute little boy who wants to be baptized answered the door. He is so excited and enthusiastic about being baptized. But his parents will probably be our biggest struggle. His mom avoids us and his dad is just recently showing a speck of interest in coming back to church. They have been less active for many many years. We are persistent and go by very often to visit and teach them. The boy is also very involved in baseball so that keeps them quite busy. Silly sports haha!

The members in our area continue to be so supportive and loving towards us. The other day, a lady in our ward picked us up from the library and then she goes "alright I'm treating you to lunch. Where do you wanna go?" So she took us to the cheesecake factory! My goodness it was so delicious. We had a great time talking with her and getting to know her better. It's fun to have these members in our ward who treat us as their own daughters.

The mission is going great. I sit here to write and then I can't remember what we did all week....but I know it was a good one. I am learning so much from my studies and gaining a testimony that I never imagined was possible. It's gonna be sad when I have to go back to real life and deal with worldly things again. It's been so wonderful to have all my focus on the gospel and inviting others to come unto Christ. Every day is a new opportunity to do my best and work my hardest to do the Lord's will.

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! And enjoy the summer up ahead.

xoxo

Sister Hoer