Incredible Week

Happy Birthday to my Chy Pie on Sunday. Tell her I love her and give her 21 birthday spanks for me. :) 

This week was incredible.
We got to attend Elder Andrew Page's funeral on Saturday. Literally one of the best things I've ever attended. The Spirit there was incredible. Elder Zwick of the Seventy presided and said some incredible things. He had all the full time missionaries (3 zones) who were in attendance stand and he said, "These are the kind of people Andrew surrounded himself by. These are covenant makers and covenant keepers." He talked about how incredible his mom and his sisters were and how they had their own Missionary Training Center that prepared Andrew for his mission and the mission he is now serving. He referred to him constantly in the present tense and talked about how he wasn't doing anything differently than he was before but that he just got a big transfer and a new companion, Elder Page, his father.
His mother is an incredibly strong person. She lost her husband I think 7 years ago. She greeted each of the missionaries and it was just the best. They had us go to the cemetery and all the missionaries sang Called To Serve. It was an emotional day and an experience that I'll never forget.

This weekend we had a break through with one of our families. Thanks to a very clear prompting given to both me and Sister Jameson, we invited a golden fellowshipper to a lesson with the mom. This member offered to bring the mom and her three kids to church. (Biggest struggle around here is finding people rides to church. I understand why all the churches in Charlotte have church vans. 75% of everyone we teach is without a vehicle) but Sunday that morning at quarter to eleven, in rolled the whole family in to the chapel. I was SO happy. They are the best. And they're all getting baptized. Thank you for your prayers. Keep praying for them:)

Crazy story: Last Monday night we were walking through this apartment complex where a former investigator and two less actives live that we were going to see. (sidenote: after Elder Ballard's talk at conference, I can't walk by a single person anymore. I literally cannot without getting so rebuked by the Spirit. which I have been constantly been working on since I got to Charlotte where the people just stand in the streets--they're everywhere.) anyway. We were at this apartment complex that we've gotten kicked out of before... :) and so we weren't knocking on doors, just walking through the parking lot talking with people who were outside. We were walking back to our car and this old little lady comes running after us frantically. After conversation, we learned that about a year ago she had prayed for God to send her an angel and Elders  knocked on her door. She said last week she began to pray again that angels would be sent to her and she saw us through the window from her apartment and chased us down. She's a little lady from Saipan and told us that God was testing her when she saw us and she had to show Him she wanted it enough to chase us down. We had the best lesson with her and she's preparing to be baptized. Pray for her and her daughter. She said she would have to stop meeting with us if her daughter found out so we're praying the Spirit will soften her daughter's heart.

Mom: I love your message about ministering to the one. This last month we've been focusing a lot on that same topic in relation to our investigators and on exchanges with the other sisters in the mission. In MLC we talked about the difference between ministering and administering. The story in Alma 15. After all Almulek had been through, Alma (in verse 18) took him to his home and strengthened him in the Lord. Perfect example of ministering to the one. I love it.

We had a special/last minute mission conference this morning because Elder Zwick was still in town and wanted to speak with all the missionaries. It was WONDERFUL. Seriously, the best. He and his wife are incredible. I'll have to somehow copy all my notes from my notebook because I don't have time to type them all up...but it was the best. It kills me that I can't share with you everything that I learn here. There aren't enough hours in a preparation day. But when I return, I'll give you a 18 month recap of every incredible experience. I love being a missionary. After the funeral on Saturday, I cried the whole way home thinking about how much I love being here. It is the most difficult thing I've ever gotten to endure but at the same time I love it and it's the hardest thing I've ever loved to do. I love President and Sister Craven. I can't explain to you how much I've learned and how much my spirit and my testimony have been expanded the last nine months. It is the best. This is an extraordinary work. And I love being a part of it. 

The gospel is true. 

I love you. 

Love, Sister Webber