I love and miss you all so much! How are you all doing? I hope it was a good week for y'all. This was a pretty good week! A lot happened, so I apologize in advance if I seem more scattered than usual! First off, Halloween was really interesting this year. President Cottle had us all on "lockdown" in our apartments by 6pm, so we didn't do a whole lot. I seriously had the biggest sweet tooth of my life that day! I guess there's no better day to have a sweet tooth, huh? Well good thing, because that's the day I got your package! I don't know if y'all planned this, but I also got a package from Mataji that day and she sent me candy and nuts. Did you do that on purpose? Anyways, I appreciate it. I love y'all. That candy is not going to help the weight situation, but I'll lose it all in Brazil.
Speaking of which, Sister MacDuff really thinks I'm getting my visa this transfer. The thought literally scares me to death. When President Cottle calls me to tell me, I'm probably going to cry I'm so nervous! But I know it's all in the Lord's hands. The members here love that I'm learning Portuguese, especially the ones that served in Brazil themselves. Brother Lochner is genuinely concerned that I'm going to lose it all before I get there. But there are families that have asked me to pray for them in Portuguese, so I do that occasionally. The members really are awesome. I feel so much love for them! We get many offers to come out to lessons with us. They're great.
Our district last transfer!
Can you believe this transfer is half way gone already?! I can't believe it! It has seriously flown by! It's already November! Oh Dad, you asked about the weather. It's about as random as it is in Chico. We had rain, 85 degrees, and 60 degrees all in the last week. It gets really cold here! It was already 45 degrees when we got in at 9:00 last night. Crazy! I'm actually really regretting not packing my pea coat (the dark blue one... hint hint, haha). If you can send it to me, I would be sooo grateful! I don't know why I didn't bring it. I'm really putting those scarves to use, too! I never was much of a scarf person until I got here. I love the scarves you got me when y'all went to France. They keep me nice and warm. Well enough about the weather.
It was a good week! We made some serious progress with the less-actives we've been working with. We were able to be bold and loving with them in inviting them back to church. They seemed promising in their responses, but none of them were able to make it. They truly are changing though and I know we will see their faces in our chapel again soon! I have such a great love for these people. I've found that showing love for them truly brings the Spirit so much stronger and increases their desire to take the steps necessary in coming back to church. We've also decided to re-teach the discussions to some of the less-actives. That will really help them remember why they loved the gospel once and rekindle that flame for them to come back. I'm excited for that! The best one this week was with a woman named H. The sisters here have been trying to reach her for months. We finally caught her at home and set up an appointment to get to know her better. So we met with her and asked her what her expectations were for us coming. Turns out that her husband, E*, is actually interested in learning more and potentially being baptized! We did not see that coming at all. He was super rough the first time we met him, but he really wants to feel more unified with his wife. He loves the fact that they can be together forever. So we're starting to teach him!
You know you're in Georgia when...
Other than that, we just met with E again. He really wants to be able to connect himself to God somehow. He stopped praying when he was really young because he felt that he wasn't getting answers. He lived in really rough circumstances. We told him that maybe the prayers were giving him the strength he needed to endure. He cut Sister MacDuff off in the middle of her sentence and said, "Okay you can stop there. You touched me with that." We can tell he really wants to understand more of his relationship with God and to develop it. He has read the first 10 chapters of 1 Nephi, and he really likes it. It's interesting to him, and he doesn't question that it's true. We invited his family to join us next time so that they can share this learning experience together. He told us they only go to the church they do because it's better than not going to church at all. So we'll see what happens!
S and her family are doing okay. They ended up cancelling our appointment Saturday because they had family in town, and then they have "revival" all this week, so we're not sure if we'll be able to see them this week at all. I hope that they've been able to read the Book of Mormon and that J has kept an open heart to it! That will help them so much. We also had our first lesson with the two 10-yr-olds, M and C. That was an interesting experience. Our car got surrounding by little children all younger than 10 who all wanted us to teach them! They are sweet children, but most of them are younger than 8, and we feel that they just all want to do it together because it sounds fun. We had a talk with M and C's parents about the commitment of being baptized and the importance of them being able to make it to church. Their parents said if the kids ask them, they will take them to church, but they have to show that they want to be there. It's good to know that their parents will support them in that way. The kids weren't at church yesterday, but we have a lesson with them today, so we'll see what happens.
K is doing well! She seems so much happier since she was baptized! She really does have a desire to be at church, she just doesn't have a way to get there because her mom works. Also, her grandma has dementia and it hurts her to leave her home alone. She has so much love for her grandma. She's a sweet girl, and she really is progressing and growing closer to her Father in Heaven.
I'm really happy for the time I've had to be here in Warner Robins and to work with these people. I have learned so much from them. I don't know where this next transfer will take me, but I know that I am doing the Lord's work no matter where I am, and I am grateful for this time in my life. I love you all so much! Thank you for your support. Have a great week! I'm praying for you.
Love always,
Sister Ramsden
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