Oh how blessed I really am...

Wow, Thanksgiving time again! Ah, and life is just so good. I seriously can not understand how the Lord can possibly bless me as much as he is doing right now, I am happier than I have ever been. I just keep asking myself, Does it really get better than this? I never think so and yet it always does!! There is so so much to tell you all! I will get started.

First off, no, no one here celebrates Thanksgiving. Most people haven't even heard of it. So we are going to a restaurant owned by a Swedish man who is having a Thanksgiving special (we'll see how that works out) But it's all good because yesterday at Zone Conference we had chicken (I don't think they eat turkey here...) gravy, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin and apple pie. It was amazing!! :) And the conference was incredible! Elder Pratt of the Seventy came and gave us great counsel on the importance of praying on our knees and asking investigators to offer a kneeling pray at the end of the lesson. He also recounted some facts from church history and I felt so grateful for all that the early saints did! My favorite part of the day was the drive home when Elder Lilly, Elder Milton, Sister Hulme and I had an amazing discussion of the things we learned. Gospel discussions are always great on the mission, but this one felt especially amazing because it really motivated me to conquer some of the weaknesses I have in my faith and let the Lord strengthen me to preform his will.

And speaking of the Lord using me to preform his will... WOW I am so blessed. It's incredible. OK so Friday... we go to teach Sally. Sally is Em's wife, who we have been teaching for a while. We gave her a baptismal date and when it came she said she wasn't ready. We died, we thought, oh no, we must have rushed her into it. The next Sunday she didn't come to church and we thought she was lost... But on Friday when we taught her, the lesson went really good and we could tell something was on her mind. Sister Hulme asked if she had any questions and she said, how long do I have to wait before I cant get baptized... WHAT?! oh man, we were so happy!! So she might wait until December 13, which is when her 2 daughters will be ready to be baptized, or maybe December 6th with Penapah!! (BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!) PLUS Khana, the little 8 year old girl passed her interview and will be baptized this Sunday. So this will be the first investigator that I have taught the whole way through who will be baptized! A glorious day! Then Penapah, then Sally, then her girls, then Mint (hopefully if her mom will sign the paper) then Waree who is totally ready but says she wants to wait for the new year... SO basically the Lord is just POURING out blessings in the way of baptisms.

And really the lesson I learn from this is the power that comes from both faith and love. Everyone of these people who are getting baptized I can honestly say I love with all my heart. Everyone of them had their own specific set of obstacles they needed to overcome, but in every instance I placed my tremendous faith in them and in the Lord that he would prepare a way and how amazing is it that he has! He really has! Friday night after Sally, Ooy and Eve accepted to be baptized I couldn't sleep because I was just so incredibly happy! I got up at 3 in the morning and studied humility and learned that a humble person accepts that everything they do in life is not of their own strength and power, but of the Lords. There is absolutely no way I could have overcame these things to help these investigators receive baptism by myself, NO way. All of it was the Lord. And it was all dependent on the Faith I put in him. The faith I had to do and say the things he would have me do and say. And after I felt sufficiently humble, I read Alma 26 and just gloried in God. Yes. I am so blessed and love my life.

OK, I know you're not going to believe this, but it actually gets better!! (YES REALLY!) So it's friday night and Penapah calls us to say that we can not go to her house the next day to teach her son and neice and nephew (who also wants to get baptized!! the blessings are seriously getting unreal- in a good way) because she has to go harvest rice on her older sisters farm. Bummer! After Sister Hulme got off the phone I got some inspiration. I said, wait, we have done that before... why don't we call and tell her we will come and help. Basically she was ecstatic. They really needed the help. We arrive the next morning and Penapah is practically jumping out of her skin in excitement that we were there. Her sisters were really nice and kept saying "God sent you to us!" It was cute. :) Well, little did we know, the next day in church Penapha breaks into tears in relief society and tells everyone about how her sisters weren't all that supportive of her Christianity but because we came and served them, they not only accepted the Lord, but now they want to come to church also!!!! OH MAN! The Lord truly does take our faith and makes miracles happen. AMAZING!!!

AND what's more, on Sunday, because we have so many people to teach, we went on splits with two members of the ward who are 19 and 20 Sister Lek and Sister Daa, and I led the lesson for Penapah's kids for the first time ever!!! Luckily the elders sat in and helped some (because they will be the ones teaching the kids all the lessons... they already said they wanted to be baptized... Penapah has so much faith!) But it was a great experience for me to actually teach and not just testify of what Sister Hulme teaches. I still have a lot more to learn, and because I was nervous, my grammar was all messed up... but the lesson went great and I already have so much love for Luugtan and Mak (her niece and nephew... Penapha's son wasn't there)

OK last story because it was just too good to not tell. On Saturday we taught Sister Dim, who is the less active we have been trying to reactivate, and her daughter Mai. It was really an amazing lesson and it really felt like a turning point for me, because I was able to really express the love I have for their family and how I surely know that the Lord, through his missionaries, is reaching out in love to their family. They have a son who died at age 5 who is now sealed to them for time and all eternity who is waiting for them to come back to the straight and narrow. I KNOW it will happen. I have all the faith in the world. AND I see the correlation between having true Christ-like love for someone and being able to speak the language to communicate those feelings. I TRULY had the gift of tongues that night. It was incredible.

SO as you can see... I am so good right now. Those were just the big things that happened this week. That's not to mention all the tiny little miracles that happen every single day here! My challenge to all of you who love me enough to get to this point of my email, is to really look at the miracles the Lord blesses you with every day and thank him for them. Put your faith in him because he WILL provide! I know because I am seeing that in my life now.

I love you all and would LOVE to hear anything about everyone! Write me!! :) I miss you every day, but wouldn't want to be anywhere but right here.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Love Always,
Melissa

PS Happy 16th Robert! Hope it was awesome! :)