HELPING OTHERS to FIND the RIGHT PATH 

So today is another holiday! Day of the kids and of some saint that I don't remember the name of! haha So I'm at a members house writing you. Sorry for the delay mom. This week was super stressful, full of rain, and prayer. Seriously it rained every single day this week. Without fail. It was literally pouring rain. 

People think we are crazy for still working in it. We got some funny looks.

We have 6 families we are working with that need to get married in order to be baptized. It has been quite the experience dealing with less actives and seeing how they are destroying their eternal families and living for the things of the world. 

Cool things about this week- 

-Played the piano at a baptism. Couldn't help but think about how my family gave our piano away and how I would drive to the church building to practice. haha 

-My skirt ripped on the train tracks! ahhh I freaked out! haha I tried jumping over some mud, but of course my skirt ripped instead.

It was hilarious walking through town with a hair tie as the only thing keeping it together haha. (mom-my comp let me borrow her boots because mine were wet. nothing dries here)

M.- she is a investigator that is married to a less active member. He smokes and drinks a ton, and she wants to get baptized. It's so tough. She is so strong. but I know that the atonement will help cure this.

A.- we are teaching her family. her 'husband' V. smokes and drinks too but wants to stop. We had a lesson with them that was so powerful about the Book of Mormon and it was so neat to see his desire to read in order to gain power to stop these bad habits. 

L.- something happened. She doesn't show up to church or answer our phone calls. We talked to her boyfriend and he said that she is still going to get baptized this month but during sacrament meeting, her boyfriend was released as the young mens president and his dad is the president of the branch. When his dad released him, he started to cry and couldn't speak. It wasn't good. He got up and left crying and his dad continued. The whole family was bawling all through sacrament meeting. Something happened for sure :( but we are keeping our hopes up and praying tons.

E. -they will get their papers for marriage this week! wahhooo! So excited. Yesterday she didn't show up at church, so we went to visit her right after. When we walked in, she started crying and said that she had been praying that we would come. She told us that her daughter was sick and that she needed some comfort. We taught about prayer and I asked her how she received her testimony. she said, "I was looking for the right path, the right church, and never found it. I had attended the church many times and didn't think much but when you, Sister Porter, came and taught us, I felt different. You speak with a certain peace and calmness that gave me feelings of peace in a time when I didn't have it. I can feel that this is the right path because of the feelings of calmness that I feel now." Um ya, I cried my eyes out. She truly is so special. She listens to the hymns and watches Mormon videos all day every day with her kids. She is my heart.

This week I have been learning a lot of things but mainly patience. There are so many nights, especially this week, where I have a hard time sleeping because I'm thinking about all of our investigators, their problems, how we need to help them, and what lessons and words they need to hear. Missionary work isn't easy but I have learned that this work is not mine. This work is the work of the one who knows all. He knows the people. He knows their needs. He knows everything. Patience in His plan and timing is everything. I know that He is real and loves us. He knows us by name and in a personal way. i love him. I am so grateful for all of the things he teaches me. Turn to him. Have faith in his plan and his timing, and everything will work out. 

Com amor,

Sister Porter