"You Raise Me Up" - October 18, 2021

October 17, 2021

Family and Friends, Hello from West Virginia!!!

What a week!!!

Last Monday was District P-Day! We all met at the Mall and got lunch at the food court. Afterward we went bowling and oh man.... I'm terrible at bowling!!! But honestly it was so much fun!!! There are 5 Elders and 3 Sisters in our district so one of the elders joined us. He said he wasn't very good at bowling and proceeded to WIN overall! Like out of all us missionaries he won!! It was funny. I got 120 points combined between the 2 games we played. I guess it's not that bad but also it kinda was.... We had a great lesson with Brandon that evening and had Brother Hunt join us! He and his wife recently moved into the ward. They are both so kind! We felt that he would be a great person to help fellowship Brandon into the ward.

Tuesday was exchanges!!!!! Sister George stayed here in Barboursville and Sister Bowers joined her! Sister Mira and I went with Sister Walker to... Ashland, Kentucky!!! Wahoo!!! I went to Kentucky! It didn't look much different than West Virginia but it was still super cool! We had a really nice lesson with a lady everyone calls Nana. She was so sweet! We did Come Follow Me with her and discussed our thoughts on the assigned Sections. For dinner we went to a really nice families home. They fed us Venicon! It was sooo good! They also had cornbread and we had a whole discussion how in the West cornbread is like cake but in the "South" it's different. It was a great conversation, haha! After dinner we did some tracking and met a really nice old couple. We had a great time talking about how we all need Jesus in our lives. After that we headed to a member family who lives in a bus!! They literally live in a school bus! They've refurbished the inside and painted the outside. It is sooo cute and really impressive!! We had a fun time with them and talked about conference.

The next few days were filled with finding! We went tracking on Wednesday night and met a really sweet lady named Teisha! She told us a little about her life and how she was so happy we had come by. We are trying to set up a return appointment with her for this week so everyone please pray for her! On Friday we did soooo many calls!!! We called people in our area book for at least 2 hours! And the best part was that almost everyone I called answered! We were able to set up some times to call people back and hopefully will be able to find some new people to teach through doing so! It was so cool to see how through our efforts we could be blessed and find those who are ready to hear the beautiful message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

We did a church tour with David! He really loved it and a couple of times during the tour said he "could feel Jesus." My companions and I just smiled at each other because we know it was the Holy Ghost touching his heart. He is still praying about baptism. During the tour we stopped in front of the picture of Joseph Smith's First Vision. For some reason staring at the artists rendering of the faces of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ mesmerized me so much! I know Joseph Smith was a true prophet. I know he saw our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. And through that I know that They live!

President and Sister Newman joined us for district council on Saturday! President Newman was doing interviews with everyone. It was so much fun to see them! They also spoke in Stake Conference on Sunday! I love them so much and am so grateful for all they do! We also had second exchanges on Sunday! This time Sister George went to Kentucky with Sister Walker and Sister Mira and I stayed in Barboursville with Sister Bowers! We had a wonderful lesson with Brandon and a delicious dinner at the Bakers home! I also had a really cool conversation with Sister Bowers. We talked about a lot of things and it made me realize that each of us is going through things that others may not see or understand. We don't know the inside of people. The only one who truly does is Jesus Christ.

Song of the Week: "You Raise Me Up" This song has been a favorite of mine for some time. I remember listening to the Josh Groban version several times during my senior year of high school. It helped me then and it has helped me this past week. Jesus Christ lifts us up. He raises us from the depths of sin and brings new life to us. Through His Atonement we can repent and be forgiven of our sins. Through our trials He is always there. He helps us be better. Even though we may feel no one understands I can promise you that the Savior does! That is the beautiful gift He has given to this world. He can raise us up to "more than [we] can be."

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!! Talk to y'all next Monday!

-Sister Francis