...Really?!

Salutations! This week was cuh-RAZY! So much happened and I don't actually want to type it all out so you're going to have to deal with the slimmed down version. Sorry not sorry.

So, this week we went back to teach a man for the first time that we had met on the street. We had shown him a video about Jesus Christ and had stopped by once before to give him a Book of Mormon. This time, we brought a member with us so we could have an actual lesson with him! We pull up and it's like the sketchiest house on the street. Straight out of a horror movie. It's foggy and rainy and he walks out from behind the house and says we can have the lesson right there in front of the house. So, we went along as normal: singing a song, saying a prayer, and sharing the points of the Restoration. He was super nervous and fidgety, looking around like someone was coming for him. And the spirit was not there. We couldn't even remember Joseph Smith's First Vision. It was that bad. We tried to teach it quickly so that we could just go because it did not feel good. We got to the end of the lesson and Sister Counts committed him to be baptized which he said yes to. And Sister Counts says: "...really?!" Because she was so shocked. He was like "yeah" and we were like, "...oh that'll bless your life". Then we got in the car and the member who is with us, Sister Murphy, said: "That was terrifying." We came back to our apartment for dinner and were feeling nauseous and slightly freaked out but we didn't really know why...  then we get a call from Sister Murphy. She did some research and informed us that the guy we just taught had recently been in jail for stalking and harassing to cause fear. What? This guy now has our phone number and the address to the church. We called our district leader and told him everything that had happened and he told us to not go back there. We were like, "OK no problem!" But then we realized he had a baptismal date?!  Long story short, if he shows up to church, the Elders will teach him.

Other highlights:

Chris was at church this Sunday!

Sister Sakers bore her testimony for the first time ever in Fast and Testimony Meeting! She said she knew the Lord was watching over her because he sent the missionaries at the perfect time. I love her!

We had an awesome Zone Training AND interviews with President Randall. We have the best Mission President ever! We talked a lot about faith and relying on the Holy Ghost. We've seen it work miracles this week in finding people to teach!

The other sisters moved out of our apartment so now it's just the two of us and it's clean!!

And that pretty much sums up the week! It's been great! I love being a missionary!

I hope you all have a wonderful week! The church is true, the book is blue!

Love, Sister B

It feels like FALL!

Matchy matchy

We tracted these houses that looked
 like they were straight out of Divergent.

And we have tracted this terrifying
apartment building multiple times.
It gets creepier each visit. 

Two White Preacher Girls

Bonjour friends and family! How are all of you? Wasn't conference amazing?? I loved it! How can you not love it though...

This week was a little rough in terms of missionary work. We had nine lessons fall through! And we had members with us. So, that was a major bummer. It's always sad when people use their agency to keep themselves from progressing. Despite the let downs we had one amazing miracle that happened yesterday!

We went to teach our new investigator Stephanie that we had contacted in a parking lot last week. When we went over we invited her mom and her sister to sit in on the lesson with us. It was a quick lesson on the Restoration but it was one of the most spiritually powerful lessons I've ever taught. When we introduced the Book of Mormon, Sister Counts promised them that questions they've had their entire lives could be answered in it. Stephanie was so excited and just looked hungry for more. At the end of the lesson we testified that through the restored gospel we could be with our families after this life and they all looked around at each other. They told us that the mom's brother had just passed away. They are so excited to learn more!

We watched General Conference with Lois and Francess. They absolutely loved it! It was so incredible to see, not only my questions, but their questions answered too! We are so blessed to have a prophet and apostles on the earth today that tell us the words that the Lord wants us to hear.

I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful week! :) God bless.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Gelatis!
 Best fall treat ever! 

I love being a missionary!

Conference with Lois and Francess!

Sketch stairwell

Service on a rainy fall day?
Time to break out the sweaters!

Cheesin'

Faith Over Fear

Hello everyone! I don't have a lot of time to write this week, so I'll just send some highlights!

-We had dinner with Sister Sakers and her son came! He has been inactive since he was 11. He was a little hesitant to come sit with us but eventually did and we were able to get to know him and lighten the mood. We shared a video message with Sister Sakers and testified of Jesus Christ. He watched the whole video and told Sister Sakers that he had asked about the church was really touched by the testimonies. Whoo!

-Lois had an awesome job interview and we got to fast for her! We will find out this week if she got the job! We are trusting in a miracle.

-This week we really applied "faith over fear" and talked to everyone who the Lord put in our path and saw so many miracles. We had one of the most powerful Restoration lessons with a woman who just invited us in for a bible study when we started talking to her. We found 4 solid investigators and are excited to find more!

-We went to a wedding reception for one of the members in our ward. She sat us at a table with her and her husband, her parents, and the area 70 Elder Kunz and his wife! The theme was "A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock'N'Roll." It was super interesting and pretty fun.

-The General Women's Broadcast! FOURTH FLOOR, LAST DOOR!! That meeting was so good! If you didn't watch it, go do it right now!

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister B

That one day we looked super cute....

and took a thousand pictures!

Fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

That time we ran over a plastic
bag and it got stuck in our car...

When you're at the Delaware river!

Widener East!

Widener East! Brunsdale & Counts!

We have too much fun!

Grabbing a moment to play the piano. :)

Count your blessings! :)

I have the best companion!

Like A Fire Is Burning

Hello folks! Well, Friday was my HUMP DAY! I've been out for 9 months! Can you believe it? I can.

I got my new companion! Sister Counts! She is the sweetest and silliest person I've ever met. She is pretty much a Disney princess. I love her. The two of us have seen so many miracles this week! We found 4 new investigators from being in the right place at the right time! 2 of them are incredibly solid.

One's name is Jeffrey. He is a college students who met the missionaries when he was living in London. The spirit was incredibly strong as we taught him about the Restoration. He said that it was a powerful message and that he really wanted to know if the Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. We are so excited to watch his testimony grow as he reads and prays.

On Friday we watched the Cultural Celebration for the temple! It was awesome! Philadelphia is so rich in history and I t was such a neat experience for our recent convert Francess to participate in. She just glows. :)

Sunday was the Dedication! President Henry B Eyring came and gave the dedication prayer. We had the great opportunity to go to all three sessions. The last one was my favorite. President Eyring bore such an incredibly strong testimony of eternal families. It was definitely one of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had.

Well, I love you all! I hope you have a great week! God bless. :)

Sister B

Cool chalk art!!

Bye Sister Fuelling!
Have fun in Maryland!

Sister Counts!

Celebrating my hump day at Zwalens!!

End of an Era

Wow. I blinked and the Philadelphia Temple Open House is over! I feel so blessed to have served here at the temple in the city where our nation was founded. I have had the opportunity to bear testimony to over a thousand people and answer many many questions.

I can quote the entire 10 minute video about what temples are (including the background music). I can tell you what kind of crystals the chandeliers are made of as well as how much they weigh. I can tell you how long it took to build the temple and how much it cost. I can tell you why there's 12 oxen and where the church stands on gay rights. I can tell you why we wear white and where "the bathrooms are in this place". But the thing that I can tell you with absolute assurance is that no matter what happens in our lives, if we are living righteously and growing closer to our Savior, EVERYTHING will work out and we WILL be happy. I've had a few chances to testify of that and every time I have, the spirit has burned in my chest. I know that it's true.

Anyway, it's back to proselyting. We had a zone training focused on the commitment pattern to remind us how to be missionaries, because we forgot and were all freaking out.

We got to see Chris this last week. He was struggling a bit and we had to reschedule his baptism. He is now working toward October 9th and feels really good about it. I seriously just love watching his faith grow! It's my favorite thing!

In other news, there is a week until transfers, but Sister Fuelling is getting transferred early along with quite a few other sisters. I am gonna miss the day lights out of her, but I know that he Lord needs her somewhere else. She'll always be my Philly temple companion.

I love you all and I hope you are doing well.

Sister B

Messin' around...

We are so tired... 

Sherreese! This trooper goes
 teaching with us all the days! 

That Widener Ward tho!

Kisses!

Sister Sakers! She is going
to the temple dedication!

Met these two cuties while
working on the rooftop.
They want to be missionaries!

Workin' those video rooms!
 "This 10 minute video explains
what temples are
and why they are special!"

In between tours
we would take naps in the sun.

Morning Shift Sisters!

My Crew!

The Hancock's have the cutest kids! 

Dying in the heat!

I connect with this cat
on a very personal level.

Touring Philly with my peeps. <3

Going through a donation bag! 

One members trash is 

another sister missionaries wardrobe. 

Don't forget

I LOVE PHILLY!

I'll update you all on my week on Monday. We finish Temple tours tomorrow and today we spent our P-Day in Center City with Sister Maiden and Sister Burrell! We toured Independence Hall, saw the Liberty Bell, got a private tour for the Jewish History Museum, ate at Reading Terminal Market (yes, I obviously got Amish donuts) and went to the T-shirt shop!

We pretty much have the coolest mission ever!

God bless!!

Sister B

Riding SEPTA down to Center City!

Independence Hall

Where they signed the
Declaration of Independence!
 :D

Outside Independence Hall

Playing around at the
Jewish History Museum!

No Time To Say Hello, Goodbye!

Hi everyone. I don't have much time to write today. The temple has been amazing! Thousands upon thousands of people are coming through every day and it is wonderful! Since I'm running short on time, I thought I'd share a short spiritual thought. This morning I was studying 2 Nephi 32 and verse 9 really stood out to me.

"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul."

I have a strong testimony of prayer. I know that our Heavenly Father wants to be in the details of our lives. Prayer is how we allow Him to do that. If we counsel with the Lord in all our doings he will direct us for good. (Alma 37:37) He will consecrate our efforts so that we cannot fail.

I love you all!

Sister B

Stopped at a Halaal truck
and got Gyro's after the temple! 

Finally got to go running! At night!
It felt soooo good!

Our recent convert Liam
is actually Harry Potter!
I died when I saw this.
Thanks, Facebook!