How Great

Hello hello! 

This week... the kind of week that reminds you why you are on a mission in Ohio, laboring in the nasty humidity.

The pay off? So much joy. How great shall be your joy? Let's see if I can do it justice...

 Monday: We had a service P-day! Those are starting to become a usual for us. I love serving, so it's no big deal. I however detest 100 degree humid weather. Never thought I'd miss Utah...  We packed up a single member's garage after her movers ripped her off. We essentially played life size Tetris., and it consumed nearly the whole day. 

Tuesday: We had lunch at Indochine with a member family, which is a Vietnamese/Laotian Cafe. The food was to die for, but the best part was the owner of the restaurant. He was this cool little Asian dude who started out by asking us how many wives he could have if he converted to our church, and ended at agreeing to give the Book of Mormon a read and meeting with missionaries. He's Buddhist but had recently been studying the bible. He even brought it to our table to show us. 

Wednesday: The Big Walnut Creek Sisters brought their investigator to Zone Meeting and he sang Amazing Grace to us. Keith is the most soulful, sweet black man I've ever met. He'll be baptized in no time. Later that night the girl's had their "interrogations" (interviews) with our District Leader. It was completely hectic. YW's and Activity Days were going at the same time, so we spent the rest of the night corralling the girl's into the classroom and trying to finish the tithing lesson. Oh boy. One of our girls is 8, so she got to be interviewed by Bishop and there was a pretty decent sized line, so we waited as patiently as we could. In Erin's words, they all "bombed it!" We celebrated and set up the program for the Baptism.

Thursday: We spent a good chunk of unproductive hours finishing things up for the Baptism. We visited this wonderful family. We tried to go over and offer service and instead we walked away with two jars of delicious pickled goods. How does that always seem to happen?! Our members are much too good to us here. #soblessed. That evening we had a lesson with Dale again. We taught the Restoration. Oh, he's a funny man. He is so accepting. If only we could get him to church!!

Friday: It's 10:30 in the morning, and we are going over to the church so that we can get a bigger suit for Elly. We begin to unlock the door and this lady appears in the hallway. She has the expression that would make you think we are thugs with guns storming into the church to kill puppies. She even extended her arm out in a "stop" sign. I mean, really? I have a Missionary Tag on! It's not that foreign of a thing for me to be entering the church.. Once we get in, she asks us if there is a missionary conference going on today and we explain that we are just there to pick something up. She tells us that that is good because she has the ENTIRE building reserved for the next two days. *Chaos ensue* We inform her that we have a baptism at 3:00 pm the next day, and she says that won't work..... Long story short, no one reserved the building as they should have, and this stake music lady was not very willing to work with us. Luckily, I have learned to bite my tongue on my mission. Facial expressions... I'm still working on that. We ended up having to fill the font Friday night (illegal) and then setting up for the baptism right at 3:00, and having it start at something more like 3:30.... 

Saturday: Baptism Day! It was chaotic, stressful, and perfect. We managed to start the baptism around 3:30. Kim gave a talk on Baptism to her girls and it was just so sweet. Brother Hodgins gave a splendid talk on the Holy Ghost. The elders sang When I am Baptized, and it  was excellent. It was hard to keep all my joy and excitement in check. Then came the big dunk! I feel for the girls.. the water had to be pretty cold after sitting there all night. They bore testimony afterward, and Elly shared that she knew the church had been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith, something both her and her mother had struggled with. The spirit was tangible. The whole room felt light and glowy. 

Sunday: Confirmation and Fast Sunday.... couldn't have asked for anything better. Not only did Amy share her testimony on Jesus Christ, but KIM (who we previously had to bribe to come to church on Fast Sundays) bore her testimony on the Holy Ghost, right after her daughters had received it. You couldn't write better Poetry! 

It has just been such a blessing to witness miracles here in Gahanna. Sometimes we get so discouraged and we lose faith in the idea of miracles. I even fall into the trap of recognizing that miracles happen, and are available, but forget that they can happen to me. 

Please don't let this thinking block your faith. Miracles can happen to you. They do. Every single day. Sometimes it is just hard for us to realize the little miracles God is working that lead to life changing moments. Have the humility to ask for our Father's help, have the sensitivity to look for miracles, the faith to accept them, and the charity to be someone else's and....

Great shall be your joy.  

This is my joy,

Love Sister Mitchell