NORTH CAROLINA!!! (Week 3)

I honestly think that not getting my visa is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me (aside from being a member of the church of course). I absolutely LOVE it here!! When I found out I was being sent here instead of directly to France, I admit that I was devastated, but the Lord definitely knows what I need and I have had unbelievable experiences here so far!! I can hardly wait to write it all down right now!

Sister Wene, Sister Everett, Sister Tanner in Greensboro, NC

First of all, I have the best companions on the face of the earth!!!!!! I'm in a trio with Sister Wene and Sister Tanner - both are training me. Sister Wene is from the Congo and is fluent in French! She came to America about 7 years ago and then joined the church. She is the most amazing sister. Truly inspiring. Sister Tanner is AMAZING as well!!! She has so much faith in Jesus Christ and when she bears testimony to our investigators she does it with so much power. I honestly could not be more blessed to have both of them in my life right now. We have soooo much fun together!! We laugh constantly (don't worry, we study hard too).
 

So my area that I'm in right now, I am using French CONSTANTLY! Shocking, huh? So since I have a companion who speaks French, we get to have an hour of language study every day. We also have a lot of fluent French speakers in our ward! I think it was on Thursday that Sister Wene and I taught an entire lesson in French! It was amazing and the spirit helped us so much! There was also a baptism for a young man named Ange - most of the service was spoken in French, and I said the closing prayer IN FRENCH (it was terrifying to say a prayer in front of a bunch of fluent French speakers!!!!) I never imagined how much I would be able to use my French, but the Lord knew just what I needed!

So on Friday both of my companions had to go to a leadership training meeting in Charlotte. That left me and one other new sister in the area next to us ALL ALONE. So the entire day it was just us two. I am definitely the more talkative of the both of us, and since I was the one who knew the investigators personally, I was the one to do most of the talking during our lessons. But wow, did the Spirit guide me! There is absolutely no possible way I could've taught how I did without the help of the Holy Ghost. The next day when we came back to teach one of the investigators, he told me I was the best missionary that ever taught him (sorry Sister Tanner and Sister Wene haha).

Sorry this email is going to be all over the place, but I just don't have a lot of time to email and I have so much to say!!!

So when I was with the other new sister on Friday she told me about this talk given by Elder Bednar. His idea was to take a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon (one of those flimsy, cheaper ones) and write a question on the first page (mine is "How can I help others come unto Christ?") and you read the entire Book of Mormon and find answers to that particular question! I think this is the best thing I've ever done! It's amazing how EVERYTHING in the Book of Mormon can apply to any question you have! And how you can relate stories in ways you never have before!! I challenge all of you to try this!!

Also...not a big deal or anything, but we have FOUR BAPTISMS IN THE NEXT THREE WEEKS!! Whoohoooo! I didn't have much to do with one of the sisters being baptized, but I feel like I contributed to the other three! Especially a 17 year-old named Devon! He is incredible. He has such a strong testimony and he KNOWS the church is true with all his heart. He is struggling with committing to baptism because he knows how important it is to be baptized and he doesn't want to mess up after he finally gets baptized! Last night, we went over to his house and he was super quiet. After awhile of talking with him he finally told us that earlier in the day he was going to call us and tell us that he never wanted to meet with us again. Our meeting with him last night was extremely emotional. Literally all of us were crying, but the Spirit was SO STRONG. The Holy Ghost led us to know exactly what he needed to hear, and before we left, he said the most sincere prayer I have ever heard and committed to continue working toward his baptism date on the 27th! If you all could pray for him to give him strength, he really needs it!
 

I really love it here, part of me never wants to leave! I just feel so blessed to have this wonderful companionship and amazing investigators who are so appreciative of everything we do as missionaries! I have never been happier in my whole entire life. I love this gospel with my whole heart and I know without a doubt that it is true. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most powerful and beautiful blessing and I have seen it work in my life and in the lives of our investigators. I can't express enough how much I love this gospel and I am so glad I have this wonderful opportunity to share it with others!! I feel like I've been on my mission for months! It's crazy that I've only been here for 6 days!!
 

I love you all, keep me in your prayers!
 

Beaucoup d'amour,

Sister Everett