All The Way to Raleigh: Miracles beyond description

Oh my goodness this past week was AMAZING!!!! When I first got here, the average number of lessons per week was 4-5. This past week we had 12! And we found 10 new investigators! That was double our goal. The Lord is definitely hastening the work in this area. I honestly don't even know what we did this week to have so much success, but whatever it was clearly worked :)

Well, I guess I kind of know what we did. We were really trying to follow the Spirit more this week. We went on exchanges and Sister Peterson and I both felt like we should try to find apartments/town homes to tract. We made a list of places that looked promising and prayed about where the Lord wanted us to go. We both felt good about a particular street, so that's where we went. We found 2 new investigators and got 7 referrals! Whoever said Wake Forest is a dead area has clearly never come to this street :) The work has grown so much in this area since I have been here and I am so grateful to play a small part in it. Following the Spirit is key in everything we do. We were trying to contact some potential investigators when I realized we were near an investigator we haven't been able to get up with. We decided to stop by to see if she was home. She wasn't, but her neighbors were just getting home. Sister Bobbitt turned and knocked on their door before we left. Hello 4 new investigators!!

Lynda continues to be amazing!!! We had explained that she needs to come to church the two Sundays before her baptism in order to get baptized on the 20th. Yesterday, she was feeling sick in the morning but really wanted to come. When we saw her, she told us that she had prayed that morning for the strength to go to church so that she can get baptized on the 20th. Even though she was dizzy and kind of nauseous, she came. What a trooper! After Sunday School, the elders gave her a blessing. She said she instantly felt better. I am so grateful for the priesthood and that we have access to the blessings that we need. Oh! We also set a baptismal date with Lynda's son Jonathan!!

Sometimes we have days where we find lots of people, and sometimes we have days where no one wants to talk to us. Saturday was the latter. We had an appointment with a less-active member of the ward. We go to her house right on time and knocked. No answer. Rang the doorbell, no answer. Rang again, we heard someone come to the door. *click* Yep, that was the door being locked. So we decide to call her. After leaving a voicemail and knocking again, we decide to just go eat our lunch. We parked on the street near her house and started eating. Not even 5 minutes later, the person we had gone to see pulls out of the driveway and leaves. To me, that was just hilarious. PSA: Missionaries will not egg your house if you tell them you don't want to talk. Promise. Personally, I would much prefer someone to just flat out tell us they aren't interested rather than trying to hide. Although I did think it was hilarious. A similar thing happened with someone else that we stopped by. We knew they were home, but no one answered the door. We left a card, and 5 minutes later it was gone. Sometimes I think I have been blessed to not care. Not in the sense that I don't like people, but things like this don't offend me. I honestly just think it's funny.

Hmmmm, what else happened this week? I can't think of anything specific, so here's a list of some of the ridiculous things that happened

-while talking to someone, a girl in another room kept shouting random things to the girl we were talking to. maybe they were drunk, maybe not?

-someone we talked to referred us to their neighbor who is a member of the ward

-almost got the cops called on us (for something that isn't even illegal)

-a kid answered the door and immediately said "don't come back" when we apologized and started leaving, he said "wait, who are you? I thought you were one of my friends" After we explained that we were missionaries, he told us we would have to come back later :)

-after a lesson fell through, the members who came with us took us to dinner. The dinner that they were originally planning on being a date. Yep, they practically begged us to crash their date

I can't even begin to describe how incredibly grateful I am to be serving the Lord as a missionary. I know that this is His work. For some reason, He trusts me enough to allow me to play a role in it. I am reminded every day that I am not the one who can convert people. I am merely the one who provides an opportunity for people to hear the truth. I know that this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that the priesthood is real and that it is found only in Christ's restored church. I know that my family can be eternal through that priesthood authority. That is the greatest blessing I could ever ask for. Knowing that my family can be mine, forever, makes me happier than anything else in this world. That is why I am here, to help others to experience the joy that I have found.

Love y'all

Sister Pyper