Another Great Day in Georgia

                                                  Just breaking in the new apartment (:

Happy April 13th! It's probably a special day somewhere, right? But really, happy 1st anniversary to Brig and Lisa yesterday! Also, Happy birthday to Canyon on Friday!! I can't believe my little boy is old enough to get baptized! Mom, I did get your package, thank you so much! I loved the new clothes, and all the pictures and Easter candy, and be sure and tell the YW thank you for their cards. Thanks Betsy and Andrew for your letters!

I think we had a pretty good week.  At least with our investigators that actually talk to us.  We had an awesome lesson with Montavious in Shira's home last Monday. I don't even think we touched on what we planned to teach him, but somehow it turned into 'enduring to the end' things, and he seemed really interested in the temple and baptisms for the dead! So that was great.  I got to teach my first chastity lesson.  Twice actually! Once to Montavious real quick on the doorstep and once to Keegen, who doesn't even know what sex is. Haha the joys of teaching a 9 year old... We just told him to have clean thoughts about girls and I think he'll be good—that was enough for now.

We went to have a lesson with Misty, and it was so sad! She left a note on her door and told us she's not interested anymore.  I'm really hoping she didn't get anti-ed. She was so legit! She'll come around eventually, and we'll keep praying for her.  And Brock and Shannon.  and Geisha.  and West. ahh and everyone haha.

Good news though! Sister Campbell came to church! Whoo!!! This is probably her 4th time since I've been here.  She's progressing quite nicely (: She said she still wants to work toward the temple, but she's afraid because she knows she has a lot to change.  We're so willing to help her though.  She's just the best.

Sister Maddox called us randomly the other day.  She is so good at missionary work, but can't come to church too much because of her health.  But get this.  She's been good friends with Carlos for like 3 years, and she talked to him the other day, and just testified to him and encouraged him to come to our church, the ONE true church! Sis Call and I have been debating whether to drop him because he hasn't talked to us in probably a week or two.  But I think that was our answer that we need to keep trying.  I know he's going to get baptized one day, it's just gotta happen!

                            Last pic with this disctrict! Elders Reber, Herrera, Eldridge, Stewart, 

                                                  the Benichs, and me and Sis Call

I realized this week that I've been endowed for just over a year.  That's pretty cool (:

I had another confirming witness of my visa problem/answer, although I'm not exactly sure what it means.  I was reading in the Bible somewhere, and it randomly led me to D&C 6:23 which says something along the lines of, 'did I not speak peace to your mind? what better answer than from God?" Or His prophet, I guess.  I think Heavenly Father knew that my mind was still a little bit troubled. I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to feel peace about - whether I'm staying here and it's His will, or I'll get to Taiwan eventually - but I think I'll just try to feel peace about the future, and trust that whatever happens is His will. Because it truly is. I'm thankful for the opportunity to receive personal revelation from the scriptures.  It's amazing how they work.  I love the scriptures, and I have really come to love the Bible more as I've been reading through it. Haha I still hate reading, but oddly enough, I look forward to personal study for an hour where it's just me and God's words. I still don't understand everything, and I think I just barely worked out the 4 Nephi's and their crazy family line, but it's coming to me.  I'm sure that as I keep reading and familiarizing myself with them, it will all make more sense. But until then... I'll keep trying (:

Have a wonderful week! I love you all so much, and thank you so much for your love and prayers.

Love, Sister Facer

                                       ​A little 4 year old girl painted our nails the other day.
                                               So I guess bright pink polish is allowed?

Message Received

                       Look what I woke up to on Easter morning!  Sis. Call's specialty is an 

                  egg and spinach omelet, pineapple, and a green smoothie.  Thanks, tongban!

Happy Easter/General Conference weekend! Time is flying so fast! I can't believe we already made it to another General Conference and Easter weekend.  Our week was wonderful.  We kept very busy while trying to get a ton of people to conference, moving, and who knows what. Conference was AMAZING!!! It's seriously my favorite time of year.  Haha I remember as a kid dreading 8 hours of old people talking, but now I understand why it's important and I can't get enough! We saw so many miracles this week as we talked about conference, as well as some people very turned away.  With one potential investigator, we stopped by and told him the prophet would be speaking, and he was just baffled by the thought of a living prophet on the earth.  Ah, it's just so sad! But fortunately, there were more people that were way excited to come and hear the prophet and the apostles speak.  We saw miracle after miracle as we got in touch with people we haven't talked to in forever and set them to come to at least one session. Lesson learned: the Lord will provide in time of need!  Unfortunately, not one person came haha. JUST COME TO CHURCH, PEOPLE!! I don't understand why it's such a hard thing to come! But we keep trying and loving them with persistence. I got a lot out of it, anyway, and we'll just have to share the messages that we heard with everyone. 

General Conference though.  So good! I loved Holland, of course, as well as Gerald Causse and how he talked about not taking the gospel for granted.  I also liked Dale G Renlund's talk about saints and sinners, and how Wilford W Andersen related the gospel to music.  Okay, they were just all good (: But I have to say that President Monson's talk was specifically for me this time.  I have no idea what his real message was or what any of y'all got out of it; But we've been applying Elder Kopischke's advice when he came to the mission, which is to invite people to come to church with a question.  So we did that with everyone we invited to conference, and I did it myself. I've been praying so hard and so long to know why I'm here in Georgia at this time, and I think I got my answer.  Straight from the prophet.  Some day, whether it's tomorrow or in 30 years, I will be able to use this experience to help someone else going through a similar situation.  It doesn't matter how long I'm in Georgia, or if I ever get to Taiwan.  But He's molding me into the person I need to be in order to help other people.  And I think I've finally accepted that fact.  It doesn't matter where I am, as long as I'm serving the Lord.  I would love so much to be in Taiwan and teach those people and actually learn how to speak Chinese, but I'm still doing the same service to Him right here.  And that's all that matters.

Yes mom, I did think of you while they showed the beautiful tulips in front of the Salt Lake temple, and definitely missed those mountains.  I was looking for Kristen in the choir but she wasn't there! What happened?

Oh boy. Haha so I got a haircut last week. Well, make that two haircuts.  The first time, a member cut my hair, and it turned out to be "a haircut on top of a haircut", as the real hair stylist put it.  I forgot to take a picture, she was able to fix it up and make it look good. Thank goodness.

                                 New haircut! A little shorter than I wanted, but it will grow! 

We were going to move on Wednesday, but the landlord wasn't there, so we had to wait until Friday.  We had a ton of help from Sister Parker, the Danklef's, and the office elders, so that was really nice.  We had a few problems getting the fire department to turn on our electricity, and we were going to have to wait until Monday, but then at the last minute, they said they'd turn it on without any fee because we're from the church.  I'm not sure what exactly that means, but that was definitely a tender mercy.  Haha meanwhile, before the electricity turned on, me and Sister Call were hurrying to chug milk and eat the last bit of spinach and honey mustard before they went bad sitting out.

                        All packed up and ready to go!  Who knew we had so much stuff... 

We had an AMAZING lesson with Misty this past week! I'm not sure if I've told y'all about her... But we tracted into her, and she just knew we were sent from God. We taught her the restoration, and she was just coming up with all sorts of doubts that weren't really relevant.  We decided that she just needed a firm testimony of Joseph Smith and the BOM before we moved on, so we planned to watch the restoration movie with her. We had the Benich's with us, and at the beginning of the lesson, she flat out said that she's non denominational, and she won't be baptized into any church because denominations aren't good.  By the end of the movie, the Spirit was just so strong, and we testified to her, invited her to baptism, and she accepted immediately.  AHH it was so cool to see the Spirit soften her heart and testify to her!! Seriously, without the Spirit, we are NOTHING. 

Transfers are this week, and at least two of the elders are leaving from our district and me and Sister Call are staying put.  K seriously,  I'm not just in Georgia for a reason, but I'm in Barnesville for a reason! There's gotta be someone here that I'm supposed to find, teach, and baptize.  

Well, things are just sunflowers and roses over here! Haha I'm excited for a new transfer and kind of a fresh start.  We're working hard and loving every minute of the work.  Because He Lives, we can and will all live again, and we can all find peace and joy in this life and in the life to come.

Love, Sister Facer

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Gotta Love Springtime

                                        Word on the skreet is that local honey works great for
                                     those springtime allergies.  The word is true, my friends!

                                                                    Secret Selfie...

 Dear everyone,

We truly did the Lord's work this week.  It was amazing! I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father was watching us up in heaven and was like, "Y'all are too cute.  Let's do MY work now." And so He humbled us and we did! Haha it's about as simple as that. We went on exchanges this week, which may have had something to do with it.  I got to go up to Peach Tree City and serve with Sister Echols again! That was a blast.  But the members up there are so amazing! They have at least 2 team ups every day, dinner with members every night, and every investigator has a few fellowshippers at church. I think that helped me really catch the vision of how important it is to work with, around, and through the members! So we went to town, humbled ourselves, and really worked hard to get the members out with us.  Literally every one of our key indicators moved forward.  Numbers totally don't mean anything, but it was just cool to see that we were definitely not doing the work alone. 

                                                              Sister Echols and me

During our comp inventory this week, Sister Call told me that she can tell that I really enjoy teaching.  WHAT..?? I remember a month or so before I came out, I had to teach my first lesson ever in Sunday School, and I just freaked out the day before.  I didn't know how in the world how to teach a lesson, let alone talk for an hour, and actually teach something to educated college kids who also might judge me.  It is amazing to see how much I've grown, and I actually enjoy teaching and I get so carried away in the lessons that I may even talk too much! Haha I'm working on that now, but there is just no way that this is not the Lord's work, and I can see now that He's molding me into who he wants me to be.  That's pretty cool (:

                    Exchanges this week!  Sis. Echols, Call Mahoney (from temple square), and me

                                                Sis. Call, Me, Sis. Echols and Mahoney

I finished the New Testament this week! A little after I got here I decided I can't be in the Bible belt, and not have read the Bible all the way through! I'm not sure why I started with the New Testament, but now I've got the Old Testament to look forward to.. yippee. 

Soo.... News time!! My passport came on Tuesday (it even has a great picture. Blessing!), and on Thursday the AP's came down so I could sign that, as well as some visa paperwork.  So I'm assuming it's en route and being processed at this moment! Fingers crossed (: 

Oh, p.s. we're moving this week! Here's our new address for anyone that would like to write:

102 Landing View

Barnesville, Georgia 30204

                                    I do language study while Sis. Call crochets me a glove. 
                                             It's a pretty good companionship we have...

                                           We taught ourselves how to crochet this week!

                           Sis. Call crocheted me an Easter basket!  I think it was an accident,
                                                        but hey, it turned out great!

                      Sis. Call and I have matching scars, mine's just a little farther along than hers...

There's a new initiative that the church just came out with, it's called Because He Lives.  It's similar to the one they did for Christmas, He is the Gift.  But everyone should watch it and share it on facebook or whatever! Besides, it's just a good Easter movie.

We didn't get to see too many of our 11 investigators on date, unfortunately.  We were able to meet with Montavious though, and he's doing awesome! Haha his big thing is sweet tea, but his faith is so strong, and he's going to do awesome this week.  

We stopped in on Jessica, and we had just the most humbling experience, and I truly felt like I was doing everything I could at that moment to be in place of the Savior.  On top of that, we offered to wash her dishes (that's the one thing she hates haha) and she was just chilling in the kitchen and decided to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon, starting from the beginning.  She totally loved it! She had so many questions, and we were able to talk about it and answer all of them.  She loved that Christ actually came to the Americas, and it made so much sense to her! I'm excited to see how her testimony continues to grow!

On the other hand, Carlos is struggling! Every time he goes to read the BOM, he just gets a bad feeling, but he promised us this week that he would read just one chapter.  We're following up with him today, so keep him in your prayers! Well everyone really, but especially him! I just know he's going to be a bishop or something one day.  

We found these two girls on Gordon campus, Jadah and Jasmine.  They seemed pretty legit, and they even brought their friend Demeterious to our lesson! Unfortunately they didn't make it to church or the Women's broadcast, but I definitely want to do a lot more finding on campus.  These people are golden! 

The women's broadcast was just wonderful.  We went to Bishop Allred's (BEAUTIFUL) home, and there was a great turnout.  I got a tear to my eye every time a little Asian family came up! And I just felt at home whenever a black family popped up haha. I thought it was interesting how pretty much all they talked about was families.  Especially because we're hopefully teaching a lesbian couple this week! I'm not sure how that will go down, but we'll just be bold and lay out our Heavenly Father's plan for us.  What else is there to do?

I had the thought that maybe the reason I'm here is for my musical abilities.  I'm just waiting for some new family to walk in that can play the piano, and then my visa will come, and then it will be obvious that that's why I'm here.  But I'm still waiting, so who knows haha.  As me and Sister Call were comparing scars one day, my ACL scar came up of course, and I kind of reflected on that whole experience.  During that time, I was convince that I tore it so I wouldn't get recruited to play college soccer, so it would be easier to put my life on hold and go on a mission.  Whether or not that was the reason, I'm here.  I'm serving a mission, and I feel like it's exactly where I'm supposed to be.  I know that Christ's gospel in it's fulness has been restored on the earth, and I absolutely know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I love this gospel, and I'm so grateful to be serving in Barnesville, Georgia!

Love, Sister Facer

Do You Know Why You're Here?

Wow, I can't believe another week has flown by! The weeks are getting faster and faster, but sometimes the days seem longer and longer. Nothing too exciting this week happened with all the investigators we have on date, unfortunately.  Haha I swear, we find these legit people, teach them the restoration, commit them to  a date, and then we lose all contact with them! But I won't let them get away that easily (:

                                                 Just killing time, waiting for the train

We got to teach Montavious last Monday in Shira's home, and he brought a surprise investigator! I don't remember if I wrote about this last week, but we met a guy named Ray, and when he first saw us he said, "y'all are the Mormons right?" Boy are we! You don't hear that every day (: Ray used to work with Montavious, and they were talking about how he liked meeting with us.  So it was way cool that Ray came with Montavious to the lesson, and we just answered a ton of his questions, and it was way good! Something President Harding always says is when you need to invite the Spirit in on the spot, to testify of Christ.  Ray didn't know what the spirit felt like, so I explained that the Holy Ghost testifies of Christ.  When I say, Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, the Spirit comes in and testifies to your heart that it's true.  And you could feel the spirit so strong! That was way cool (: He and Montavious will be a good little fellowship team for each other. 

                                    Sis. Mason took us out to dinner after our miracle night!
                                                     Here we are at the "Pig Palace"

One day, Sister Mason, the mission nurse, came out with us for the night.  That was pretty much a miracle night! None of our appointments were there, but we were led to so many miracles because of it. We even got in contact with Jackie again!!! We haven't been able to talk to her for like 3 months.  She was the one who got a Book of Mormon like 10 years ago, read it, and knows it's true! Oh man.  I love Jackie! Also, she had 4 family members pass away within the last month or so.  I swear, everyone we talk to dies, or knows someone that's passed away.  Didn't that happen when dad was the bishop? Maybe it's in our genes... But anyway, we got to teach her the restoration again, and she's still so solid (: 

We had zone conference this week, and we actually got to have an interview with President Harding! He doesn't do them very often, so it's definitely a special experience.  The moment I walked in, he started talking about my visa.  They're still working on it and doing everything they can to help it move quickly.  He promised me that it would come, and I have full faith in that.  He asked if I knew why I'm here, and I told him I have no idea! I'm still trying to figure that out.  Of course the Lord needs me here for some reason, but he also said that it might just be because he (President Harding) needs me here.  I never thought of that.  But I've been praying that I would know without a doubt to find out the reason I'm here. Stay tuned! He also promised that if we worked harder to get more lessons with a member present, and find around members, we would see many baptisms. Challenge accepted.

We had a little fiasco with Carlos the other day.  We called to check up on him the other day, and he was about to drop us! Then he had to go for a second, and we immediately prayed that his heart would be softened and he would want to actually read the Book of Mormon and come to church.  We called everyone we could think of and asked them to pray in faith for Carlos.  We just heard the zone leaders do that,  and they all prayed that a husband's heart would be softened, and their friends in Utah called him and said they have tickets to see general conference for them.  Anyway, we called Carlos back a little later, and we talked for like 40 minutes, trying to just say anything that might help.  He's been feeling scared, and definitely the powers of the adversary whenever he goes to read the Book of Mormon, and he promised us that he would just read one chapter.  It's a long story, but I found myself testifying to him that I was sent to Barnesville, Georgia to find him.  Woah.. That totally threw me off guard! I'm not sure if I just said that to make him feel like I'm not just 'doing my job' or if that was really the Spirit working through me that said it.  Either way, I've got some praying to do to find out if that's why I'm here.  

Whew. Okay, to lighten up the mood now.  We were tracting the other day (with a member, of course) and we get to probably the richest house in Barnesville.  The guy kindly rejects us as he's out on the porch with the door shut behind him, and another guy comes up to the door from the inside, knocks on it, and is like, "hey, can you call the fire department?" I think something is smoking" so nonchalantly.  Haha I don't know why it was so funny.  Probably 10 minutes later, we hear the siren casually driving down the street to their house.  Oh, Barnseville. We also got stopped by the train a few times, and when the train comes through, literally the whole town has to stop! Haha it's so funny.  You can try to drive around, but you might as well just wait for 10-20 minutes.

                                                When the train comes, the whole city stops

I also hit my first road kill on the way to church yesterday! Well,  I guess the proper term would be I made my first road kill.  But I'm grateful it happened because I was tired early in the morning and it was probably Heavenly Father showing me his sense of humor and making sure I was awake. So, thanks! Also, thanks to dad who once told me not to swerve when there's an animal in the road, and to just hit it. 

Okay, just a few more things! Sister Call and I have been reading "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" again because she hasn't read it.  It's so good! I'm so determined to be an awesome member missionary when I'm home.  I encourage all of yall to read it! It's fei chang hao!

Also, I heard a good quote at church yesterday.  Study as if you were going to teach what you read.  Seems legit.  I'm gonna do it. 

I hope y'all are doing wonderful! I know that this is the Lord's work because I've seen too many miracles for it not to be.  I'm so grateful to be a part of Christ's restored church, and I'm so thankful to be His servant! Love yall!!

Sister Facer

                            I should learn how to do graffiti and come up with cool gang names
                                                            like 'okeydoak'