"Build a Boat" - August 1, 2022

August 01, 2022

Hey family and friends!

It has been a very wild week here in West Virginia!

We met a very nice lady named Teresa this week!! We now have two friends named Teresa!! She was sitting on her front porch when we pulled up. We've talked with her a few times over the phone so she kinda knew who we were! She has some crazy cool stories to tell! The best part, though, was She believes there are different levels in Heaven! When she told us that, Sister Holt and I got soo excited!! We began teaching her the Plan of Salvation. She loved it! We invited her to pray about the things we taught and invited her to church! And she came!! It was so cool! We are meeting with her tomorrow for another lesson! Pray for Teresa!

Are y'all ready for a crazy story?! Here it goes. Friday started out normal. We got in our car around 8:15 to meet Katie for breakfast at IHOP because it was her birthday! Sister Holt got in the passenger side and asked why I had put some masks on her seat. I told her I hadn't.... we then realized someone had gotten into our car the night before and stolen some money! They took about $10, so not too much! But, we are now being more cautious about locking the car and checking it!! We drove to IHOP and had a lovely meal with Katie! We went outside afterwards to take a picture! I had my phone in my hand and instead of putting it IN the car, I set it on top of the right rear door handle. Even as missionaries we make mistakes. I forgot about it and Sister Holt and I drove away to District Council, an hour drive to Montgomery, WV. When we got there we realized it was gone. We had district council and then drove an hour back to Beckley to search the IHOP parking lot. It was there and none of the workers had heard anything. We walked down the road a little and talked to some of the businesses along the road. No one had heard anything. We eventually talked to a Chick-fil-A worker who was directing traffic (we are sure why he was but it's ok). He said a homeless man had been out earlier, begging, so he my have taken it. Well, that was kinda the end. But, I did feel very peaceful about it, like there was a reason for it happening. By the way, my phone had the Sim card in it. So we no longer had any service unless we went to a place with free wifi! So, we drove to the Tamarack and used their wifi to call the STL's, Tech Leaders and ZL's over messenger on Sister Holts phone. The zone leaders said we should just continue doing our normal missionary activities and before going home for the evening call someone to check in. So, that's what we did. We got some ice cream and ended up talking to a member from the ward who hasn't come in a while! It was a blessing we were at the tamarack!! We did some knocking and met a nice lady named Shannon who we are going to do Bible studies with! We had dinner with the Meador family and had a great conversation with our other friend Teresa! At 8:50 we headed to Bob Evans because they have free wifi. Our connection wasn't good so we drove to McDonald's. We just sat in the car an called the STL's. They asked us where we were and we told them what the zone leaders had told us! They said we should not be staying in our apartment without any service!! But by now it was past 9, our curfew as missionaries. They called President Lindahl and he gave us permission to drive an hour to Charleston. So, we ran home and packed a quick overnight bag. At 9:40 pm we drove away! It was weird driving so late at night! I haven't done that in forever! At 10:45 we arrived in Charleston! It was quite a day.

Saturday was also amazing. At 9:30 we met up with the Tech Elders and they gave me a new phone and a Sim card. We drove back to Beckley and had a great rest of our day!!

Our friends are doing great! Teagan is on date for baptism on August 21st! He is a sweet kid!! Krista and Shawn opened up to us about their lives. It was incredible. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life! It is amazing seeing how it can help change others lives! Please keep them in your prayers.

Also, a sweet lady we were doing a Bible study with said that I looked Japanese after telling her my family lives in Japan, haha!! It was amazing. I love being put here and serving these people. They have so much joy and love! Even though they live in very humble places they know they can trust in the Lord!!

Song of the Week: "Build a Boat" by Colten Dixon. I love this song! We don't always understand why certain things happen. Sometimes we feel we recieve an answer to a prayer but then it doesn't go as planned. That's kinda how this week was. Sister Holt and I were so confused why Friday seemed to just be a mess of a day. At the same time, we saw so many miracles! We wouldn't have seen them if we hadn't lost my phone. We also both felt a calm peaceful feeling that I wouldn't get it back, but that Heavenly Father had a purpose for it all. Sometimes we just have to trust in the Lord. We just have trust His purposes. We have to "build the boat" before we see the rain. I'm loving being out here in West Virginia! Even with all the ups and downs we face. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. Message me to learn more about what I do!!

I hope you all have a blessed week! Talk to y'all next Monday!

- Sister Sariah Francis

Pictures!!!