28 March 2016 - Tender mercies left n' right

Vanessa is progressing well!  She came to church, she talks to us, she reads and prays, but her family is not very supportive.  At all.  She's just 14 years old, but has gone through so much and still wants to get baptized.  

There's a woman named Maren that helps us out by giving us rides to lessons and bringing us food all the time.  Maren also has cows.  I love cows.  We helped her feed her cows, clean out her barn, and do some other good down n' dirty work.  It was nice to wear some jeans, move some hay around a bit, and smell like manure.  Ironically refreshing

So, the zone leaders gave us a referral for a "very prepared" woman named Yenise.  We had our first lesson with her this morning, actually.  She. Is. Amazing.  She is in her late 20s, has had 7 miscarriages, 8 open-heart surgeries, and while she was pregnant with her now-2 yr old, her husband was shot 4 times and killed.  She has a Catholic background, and asked to meet with us.  She says she wants a better life for her and her daughter.  She wants to teach her daughter things about Christ while she's young.  She said she wants to stop partying, and start going to church, and be "more involved in church and not just feel it once a week on Sunday" like she does with the Catholic church.  She literally said she wants to feel the spirit "all the time".  She wants to get married again someday, but wants to meet a man who wants to do more than just go to church on Sunday, but wants to LIVE it all the time.  She doesn't want to be involved with drinking and drugs anymore.  She wants to go to general conference next weekend.  What the heck.  It was an INCREDIBLE lesson.  She was crying, we were crying, everyone was SO happy to be there.  Meeting Yenise and introducing her to the gospel has been one of the most tender mercies I've witnessed since being here.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04?cid=HP_SA_3-26-2016_dPFD_fGC_xLIDyL1-B_&lang=eng

Another tender mercy was being able to watch the General Women's session, preparatory to General Conference.  We got to go to the church with all the other women in the stake and watch it with them.  Also refreshing.  

There was a lot about charity, a lot about loving and serving others as Christ would.  I don't have a whole lot of time left, but I recommend you all to watch some of it!  It's amazing.

I love this work.  I love the gospel.  I love my Savior.

Sister McIntosh

Teaching a lesson to some cows.

 Allison, the sister of an investigator.  They all drew pictures of Lehi's dream (1 Ne 8) while we taught it. she is precious.

I still love  cows.

Cow selife

 Our investigator (Tate) and his mom (Falina) invited us over for a lesson and for some egg-dying!  I had been DYING to color some eggs.  

Cow selfie plus Sister Stein and Maren