Miracle on 34th Street, Barnesville Georgia

Hi y'all!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone. First though, I forgot to wish Scott and Alicia a happy anniversary on the 16th! So.. Happy anniversary! Also, thank you to the Eliason's, Lesser's, President Hughes, and the Levie's for your letters.  They are always greatly appreciated (:

So, down to business. The skype call! We're going to go over to a family’s home at 3 (my time).  I'm not sure if they have one or two computers, so plan on 3, or possibly 4ish if I'm going second. Sorry for the uncertainty but I'll do my best!

We had a solid talk with our sweet brother who missed his baptism last week.  A million things were going on, and he just got mad, and then didn't want to talk to us because he knew he would flip his lid. He knows the next thing he needs to do is move out of the hotel so he can have some sanity again, but that's a struggle. So we're not meeting with him as much, maybe once a week until he's ready for the commitment again.  It seriously breaks my heart to see him like this, but I just have to keep reminding myself that he has agency.  That's about the only thing that's getting me through that one.

                                                    For those cold nights, you know?

On the other hand, our other investigator came to church yesterday! Ahh what a stud! Haha the whole time, he had that big smile across his face, and I'm just so glad he came.  We're definitely going to commit him to a date to be baptized this week since we weren't able to see him last week.  I'm way excited for him though!

We also had an awesome lesson with the sweetest black momma with three little girls, whom we just tracted out. Her husband is  a truck driver so we still haven't met him yet. But we taught her the restoration and she read through the pamphlet beforehand and everything.  She's excited to start reading the Book of Mormon, so we're definitely just moving right along with her!
As far as our other truck driver family, we met with the mom and daughter this week.  The father should be coming home soon so we can finally teach him the restoration. They definitely want this to be a family thing, so we've been waiting to decide on a date for baptism until we can talk to him again as well.  I just love their family though! They'll be a solid addition to the ward. 

MIRACLE TIME!! We were tracting this older looking street (okay, what street in Barnesville doesn't look old?) and not one person answered their door.  In the back of my mind, I was thinking, "it's like those stories you hear where the house at the end of the street is the golden investigator!" but NO haha, except that we turned the corner to loop around back to where we started, and at that exact moment, we saw a guy walking on the other side of the street. For a split second, we made that awkward eye contact where you're not sure what to do.  I wondered if I should go talk to him, and the next thing I knew, I was practically running across the street.  I guess the answer was YES, I should definitely go talk to him! Thank you, Holy Ghost, for making that decision for me. His name is Jared, and it turns out that he was literally walking home from jail. He said he was there for just a few weeks, but we'll be careful haha. What are the odds that we would see him just after he’s been a little humbled? But my comp and I both just knew with a certainty that it was meant to be.  Our return appointment isn't until tomorrow, but I just have a good feeling about this, and I can't wait to start teaching him! And don't worry, we'll have a member with us always just in case he's a psycho lunatic.  Man, Heavenly Father's perfect timing is so cool! Earlier that day, one of our appointments fell through, which led us to go tracting on that street, and ah it was all just so beautifully orchestrated! Plus, It's way cool to be the instrument for the Spirit to work through.  I love being so in tune with the spirit! It's an amazing gift.

                                                                    Temple trip!

                                                            What a cute tongbantuan

We had mission conference this week, which meant we were able to go to the temple! We are so lucky we get to go every transfer. It was wonderful as always, and I actually learned a lot of things as Sister Achziger and I had a solid discussion afterward.  We did have to drive up in our car though, which was the scariest thing ever! Atlanta traffic/the drivers are insane!! But we made it out alive, and I can now say that I've driven in Atlanta.  We also got a ding in our car - someone hit and ran us in the parking lot - so we got a new temporary car.  It's weird getting used to, and it totally doesn't help that I'm still terrified to turn out of our street after seeing the big accident a week or so ago.  But I'm getting better. Oh, and I met Elder Hogan! Sister Hughes' nephew I believe? Haha that was cool to run into him though after you had just asked about him.

                         Our lego Christmas lesson! Probably the coolest lesson I've ever had.  

                                   Okay, probably because I got to play with legos. But still.

We had a cool lego lesson with Keegen, Jenny's son.  He's probably 9, but wasn't raised with any religion, so we're slowly working with him.  We taught the story of Christmas, and next lesson will be the restoration, lego style of course. 

Well, things are going great.  I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas! As for everyone else, have a Merry Christmas!

Love, Sister Facer