November 19, 2012

Hello Family!!

This last week went better with appointments that were kept. We were able to have a lesson with several investigators and we also met with Sara who has a baptism date for Dec 1st. On of the sisters who joined the church a year and half ago has a daughter who is 10 also and we've been meeting with their family. The girl's name is McKenzie and she has been warming up as we've continued to meet with them. It is a great blessing to see her knowledge and testimony of the Savior grow which is evident in her responses to questions, the prayers she says, and the light in her eyes now.

On Thursday we had a lesson with Jerry, a less active gentleman, and at the end I said the prayer. After I completed the prayer, the first thing he said was, "Your ending was weak." I couldn't believe what he said. This comment coming from a man who won't even say a prayer when we meet with him for a various reason or other. We shared this experience with the district leader through a text message later that night and he asked if I would be willing to say the prayer at district meeting. At district meeting we shared the story and he made the comment, "Now I don't want to hear any negative comments about Sister Tucker's prayer." :) We all had a good laugh over it.

Later that night we had a lesson with Sara and she said the opening prayer and it was such a sweet experience to have her give thanks to her Father in Heaven for the missionaries to teach her and then she said our names, Sister Tucker and Sister Neville.

On Friday we went over to our Relief Society Presidents home to make and decorate cupcakes for the sisters in the ward who had a birthday in November. We had a great time piping the frosting onto the cupcakes :) One of the sisters wasn't home so we left the cupcakes on her doorstep and sent a message to her. She later called us that evening and expressed thanks that we had thought of her. Her mother had just passed a few weeks ago and she always would make her birthday cake. This women wasn't looking forward to this birthday, but the cupcakes really cheered her up. I was so glad the spirit had prompted us to go to her home that evening.

On Saturday we helped with the Iowa Games in Ames. There were about 11 courts set up in their Rec building and we helped by keeping score. I was in charge of writing down the scores and my companion updated the score board. We arrived there at 7:15 am and stayed till 6. It was a lot of fun, but also a long day. Our Zone and the Des Moines Zone helped out. The Assistants brought around Gatorade, cookies, granola bars and pizza. The last game was super tense because it was the championship game and our bishop was the coach for one of the teams and his son was also playing on that team. We were rooting for them, but unfortunately they lost :( I learned so much about basketball and the different signs that refs use.

Yesterday we had our Mission Tour with Elder Don R. Clarke. It went really well and I learned so much. I took down about four pages of notes. He gave a talk this last general conference. He has a fun sense of humor and he says that he thinks, but he does it in such a way that you know he's not too serious at times. He can also speak with great power and you can feel the spirit in the things that he says. He reminds me a lot of Duane in his speech and way of talking. There are many things that I learned yesterday that I will implement so that I can be a more effective missionary and instrument in the Lord's hands.

As of Sunday morning we didn't have a thanksgiving dinner appointment, but before ward council started we were invited over to a member's home and then the bishop's wife invited us over as well. So we now have a 1:00 appointment and a 3:00 appointment. I may explode at the end of the day, but that will be fine. So yes, we are being taken care of :)

I'm sleeping warm at night. I love those soft socks that you sent out. They feel so good after a long day. Some Christmas gift ideas would be MoTab Christmas music. We can only listen to MoTab and I don't have any Christmas songs. A cute headband that covers my ears. I've seen some at Kohl's in the junior section. That's all I can think of at the moment, I'll have to get back to you on that one.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgivings!! I Love you all so much!!!

Love, Sister Tucker