Hello from Nebraska :)

Hey everyone! Hope your week was wonderful! My week was so great....we had a bunch of service opportunities which always brings a smile to my face! 

Monday we deep cleaned the TC so the Spirit can better dwell here which was super fun! All 26 sisters were here and we had such a blast! We got done a little early so we played a fun game and ate ice cream together. 

Tuesday wasn't too interesting. We saw Paula and she is doing well! We only have a couple lessons to teach her before her baptism and then she's set if she can completely quit smoking. She has no money left, so she asks her neighbors for cigarettes and she's embarrassed to do that so hopefully she can be done in the next 2 week! I guess she's been chewing bubble gum a lot and taking her dogs for walks outside which has been distracting her so we're really excited for her!

Wednesday we had district meeting and Sister Durrant gave her first training! She was so nervous, but did SUCH an excellent job! She is so amazing. 

Thursday we served at the TC in the morning, and in the fall and winter since the TC slows down so much, we have the opportunity to serve at Seven Oaks which is just up the street from the TC and it's a retirement home for old folks. For an hour during our shift we get to walk up there and help them out and do things from mopping their floor, to changing their bedding! It was so wonderful! I love serving old folks because (most of the time) they have such sweet spirits and are so grateful for our service. Then after our TC shift we were able to help out at the clinic again! 2 weeks in a row! It does help that I have connections and I'm best friends with one of the TC leaders ;) And we live really close to them so it's just easier. 

Friday we finally got some good time in our area! Weekly planned in the morning and then went to go see our new investigators from Africa! Since the mother doesn't speak english, we really only taught the 20 year old daughter, Nya. It went pretty well! It's kind of a tough situation...their family is very different. The kids kind of fend for themselves and don't understand very well because of the way they've been brought up. Nya is very accepting of our message, but it's hard to tell if she really understands what we're talking about so we really have to teach her slowly and ask lots of questions to make sure we're on the same page. And she doesn't even have a driver's license so she can't drive to church..and their family is very Lutheran so the mom doesn't really want her coming to our church because it's the same time as their church. Anyways...interesting situation! Then we had a bonfire at a member's home for dinner which was fun! Then got to go to the TC fireside about how Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses.
Saturday was so fantastic! We got to serve and help out with the Pancake Breakfast that the Kiwanis club holds every year! It's like this huge thing in Nebraska so hundreds and hundreds of people come to it! We got to help poor orange juice and milk and things like that...we did that in the morning and then went and saw a less active and had an appointment with our new investigator, Carla who was a referral from Sister Packard! We had a lady named Bonnie Startzer come with us to teach her and we were able to set her for baptism and then Bonnie was able to pick her up for church yesterday since her truck isn't working. Members are so great! Then we got to watch the Women's Broadcast at the TC! So wonderful!

Something I wanted to share really fast before I close...so at church on Sunday this man with a beard and pretty long hair just showed up at church. No one had ever seen him before...but after gospel principles I introduced myself and kind of tried to ask him how he knew to come to the church and where he heard it from and all that stuff. All he said was that he was "brought by the Spirit." I was a little confused...but then he walked off and we went our separate ways. Since he was a single man I told the elders that they needed to go talk to him and get more of his information and stuff. Then we went to the TC and I didn't think much of it after that....until I was sitting in first chair and he walks into the TC! What in the world?! We aren't allowed to take single men on tour, so the senior Elder took him around and showed him some stuff. I felt really funny with butterflies in my stomach when he came in, but just kind of shrugged it off. But then after he was done with the tour I got the butterflies again and started shaking and feeling like I HAD to get up and talk to him. I had no idea why or what I was supposed to even say to him, but I got up and started asking him questions and things. His name is Nathaniel and he's from Nebraska but has traveled around a lot because he says that "the Spirit leads him to places" or something like that. It was really hard to get information from him. He seemed to keep a lot in, but I kept trying...he has a Book of Mormon and has read quite a bit of it and is pretty familiar with it and so we got into some pretty good conversations. He asked me a bunch of questions about the priesthood and baptism and the Holy Ghost and just a bunch of other things, and by the end he told me that he had an authoritarian problem and didn't like people telling him what to do so he wasn't necessarily interested in having missionaries teach him and all. Then he said he needed to leave...it was such a cool experience. I don't even remember all that I said to him, and I have no idea if I even made a difference in his life...but I felt very strongly like I said what the Lord wanted me to say. He was speaking through me and hopefully Nathaniel was touched in some way or another. Sometimes we don't know the outcome of the things Heavenly Father asks of us...but we must ALWAYS follow the promptings we receive. I love being a missionary! I hope all of you strive every day to have missionary experiences as well! I love you all!
Sister Ferrara :)