Sister Rachel Zimmerman: Week 53

Hello Again!

Well, this week has been quite busy to say the least! It's been really good! On Monday evening, we were able to go out with the Hobbs to a lesson that fell through, but then miracles happened! We ended up visiting two less-active families that we haven't been able to visit yet, and it went super well! I'm convinced that members are our secret weapon. :) Anyway, then Tuesday was super busy! We saw Ann Marie, and she is doing well, so that was good. We are hoping to get her on the track to the temple soon since she has passed her year mark! Then we saw the Ham's and had lunch with them. I will include a picture of the shrimp that we ate, it was fresh from Mexico, and it was HUGE!!! I count that as me getting to experience a little of what Haley's mission is like. :) Anyway, then we were able to see Sister Knowles, which was a huge blessing! She is now working from 7am to 9pm, but she happened to be home because she was sick. We are hoping to help them, but we may have to just be patient until she is free more often. But, we were able to share a message with her before leaving. Then we saw Demitri and he is doing so well! We have been going over the Priesthood with him, and he's understanding it all more and more, so that's been fun! Then that evening we had soup and pie night with the Relief Society, it was so yummy and so fun! We have some amazing cooks in this ward, I feel very blessed. :) Then Wednesday was SO good! We had a mission tour conference with the missionaries in the valley with Elder Lawrence from the second quorum of the seventy. His wife spoke to us first, and for two hours she taught us deep doctrine on the gathering of Israel. I have never been so captivated by a talk in a long time. It was so good and so interesting. Later that day, we received a challenge to: read through the Book of Mormon by Dec. 31st. We are to highlight all references of Jesus Christ, then write our testimony in the book, then give it to one of our investigators. In doing this challenge thus far, it's been so neat to now have the insight on the gathering of Israel. I don't know if it would be as cool to those who read this, but if you get a chance, try to learn all you can about the gathering of Israel. Then when we got back we had a lesson with Carl, but it fell through and all of our other appointments fell through as well, but we have an appointment for tomorrow night! We also saw Jason and shared a quick message with him, but he dropped us the next day. But he was very nice about it, so that was good I guess! Then Thursday we tried to see Carlyn, but she wasn't there so we will keep trying. Then Friday I wasn't feeling too well with a cold, but we got a couple of referrals, so that was good! Then Saturday we saw Brenda, who is a former investigator. And she told us that she told a missionary that she wants to be baptized when she turns 18 and that she then wants to go on a mission!! She is such a sweet girl, and she comes to church when she can, but her parents won't let her go as much as she wants. But, we did get her mom to agree to come to Young Women's next week to teach the young women how to make homemade tortillas, so maybe that will be a good start to softening her heart! Then we saw Jennifer and were able to teach her a short lesson. Then we saw Barbara, and she is doing well! I am so excited to see her progress to go to the temple, it would be so great for her, and she is finally in a good place in her life, I really do believe that she could do it in the near future! Then Sunday was great with the Phoenix Temple dedication. I have been so blessed in my life to have been to so many temple dedications in the past few years. I really am so grateful, they are neat experiences! Then we saw Katie, which was so great because we weren't able to keep an appointment all week long. Then we saw a few other people that we have been trying to see, and we ended up meeting our goal of 15 less-active and recent convert lessons for the week, it was really amazing! It's been a good week, sorry this update is so long. Things are going so well in the area, I'm so happy to be able to be a part of these people's lives! I love you all, hope you have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Zimmerman