There can be miracles when you believe... And listen to Heavenly Father the First Time

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,

Hello lovely people!

So this marathon transfer of 7 weeks has finally come to a close. After 7 weeks of running around in the freezing cold, singing at the top of our lungs, and laughing so hard we pee our pants a little Sister Chadwick and I have finally seen some of the miracles that come from faithfully pressing forward in Christ. We'll start with my favorite miracle of the week

1. Barbara finally got to go inside the temple and perform baptisms for her mother and grandmother who never got that chance when they were on the earth. The real miracle is that I got to be a part of it. We took her on Saturday and it was definitely the best day of my mission so far. Barbara LOVED the temple and felt the spirit so strongly. It was also a very revelatory experience for me. I LOVE going to the temple because it truly is the house of the Lord. It is a place where we can block out the world and be close to Him. I felt of his love while I watched Barbara get baptized for her ancestors. I

felt peace like a river attend my soul. I was still and I knew God loved Barbara, and he would continue to help me help these people that I love in Ohio ❤️ I can't wait until we come back to the temple in August for more great temple experiences.

2. Sister Reynolds is finally getting transferred... Hopefully... As of 10:30 last night. Who knows, life is exciting when your mission president relies on the Lord up until the last minute you could possibly leave. I am grateful for the time and energy and faith he puts into selecting our areas and companions. I know the Lord is involved in the details of our lives. He sends us where we need to be, when we need to be there!

3. I had the privilege of seeing the fruits of 7 months of hard relationship building work. On Monday we finally were able to schedule a dinner and lesson with a woman who recently started coming back to church, and her kids. One of them is super active and will be a stellar sister missionary some day. The other has chosen to remain outside the church with his father. Recently he has started asking a lot of questions about God. His sister has taught him a lot but his

mom thought he could benefit from an evening with us. We have worked hard to build trust with her, offer up our assistance, help her daughter with anything she needs, and she has now finally trusted us with her son who after our lesson is well on his way towards baptism and getting inside the temple. We had such a fun night with them laughing and the best part was the strong spirit that we were all able to feel during the lesson. I am excited for this family to continue to grow in the gospel, and only wish I could stay a bit longer but I know they are in good hands ❤️

4. I found a really cool grave of some revolutionary war soldiers #historynerdforlife

And sooooo many more!!

The spiritual thought this week explains how all of these miracles came to pass. 7 weeks ago I knelt next to my bed and offered a simple prayer up to Heavenly Father. I told him I was a bit frustrated with the pace of the work. I expressed that I had faith that we could bring more people to him, and I asked what I needed to do in the Scioto area to make that happen. After a long personal study, some pondering, and contemplating life, he let me know I needed to get Barbara to the

temple. I was a bit frustrated because that was easier said then done. I have been trying to get her in there since October and because of her busy schedule and apprehensive nature things were slow going. In later prayers I expressed that I was slowly doing what I could but was there anything else I could do. For a solid week I got the same answer

over and over again, so I resigned myself to my fate and kept slowly trying to point Barbara in the right direction. In the mean time we kept trying different things to spice our work up. They were all good things, but none of them were what Heavenly Father had specifically asked me to do so we saw little success from our own ideas. Finally I "lit a fire under [Barbara's] butt" (in her own words) and testified to her of the importance of the temple. She set a firm date and we

were able to go on Saturday. Not only was it life changing for her, but it breathed life into our work. We wee reminded of the happiness I was trying to help people find in the temple. We were filled with the spirit which more easily guided us to really prepared people later that night. My testimony was more powerful because of the love I felt in the temple. Literally as soon as I had followed Heavenly Father blessings started pouring into our work. The moral of the story is, listen to Heavenly Father the first time he answers you. He knows you better than yourself and he knows what you need to do to put yourself in the best place to succeed. Even if it's hard, JUST DO IT, NOW!

I know Heavenly Father loves us. I know he answers our prayers. I know he created this earth and everything on it to help us behalf. I know the Book of Mormon will lead to more happiness than we can even imagine. I know that the Temple is a place where you can truly be still and know God. I know that there we can be sealed to our families forever and feel our eternal family's love more strongly. I know that we have a savior who died for us and I am grateful for the chance to represent Him. I love Him, I love this Gospel, and I love all of you!

Life is good here in Scioto. I am soaking up my last day in the sun. I hope everything is going well for everyone!

✌🏻️Sister Reynolds✌🏻️