"The tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen" (1 Nephi 1:20)

We have had so many good experiences this week and I am excited to share them with you!! 

We have found some SOLID potentials this week through various methods. The first promising one is Gregg, who we found through tracting. Sister Woodbury and I haven't been tracting in a while, so we were really nervous to go on Friday because we felt a little rusty. But, we prayed beforehand that we would be strengthened and that we would have a spiritual experience, and then we went out in faith that it would be fulfilled. A couple doors in, we met Gregg. He's super nice and works with a lot of members, and really looks up to their standards and beliefs, but as for him, he doesn't believe in organized religion. We asked him if he had tried it out before, and he replied that he had. Now, usually when a person tells me this concern, I freeze up and just walk away. But this time, a question popped into my head and I asked, "What would it mean to you if the exact church Christ established while He was on the earth was on the earth today?" He thought for a moment and then replied, "Wow. I don't know. I don't think anyone knows." I then got this surge of joy and happiness as I replied, "We DO know! Christ's church that He established while He was on the earth is on the earth in its fullness today!!" I then took a couple minutes and boldly testified of the priesthood authority, baptism, and the restoration of the Gospel. The Spirit was stronger there than I have ever had on any doorstep on my mission. His countenance changed. Suddenly our message was applicable to HIM and he accepted a pamphlet and our card. We are going to follow up with him shortly. The best part about this experience was that I said nothing, I was simply a vessel for the Spirit, and that is what made all the difference. The rest of that tracting time, Sister Woodbury and I were on fire! We were happy, positive and bold. We tied everything back to the Restoration and tried our best to make it personally meaningful to them. It was awesome!! It gave me a whole new perspective on tracting and its power.

Our other main potential is a woman named Tracy, and we came to find her through service. Saturday morning, we got a call from a Relief Society Counselor and she asked us if we could help some other Relief Society ladies clean the home of a non-member lady who was moving into our ward. Of course, we jumped on the opportunity and went over. Some of the elders were helping her move boxes, and we were cleaning, and she was SO appreciative. She was trying to move all by herself when she hurt her shoulder and needed help. Friends kept promising that they would come over, but they didn't. So one of her member friends started calling around and got a hold of our Relief Society President, who then contacted a whole bunch of people. We were texting her yesterday, and she expressed to us how much it meant to her that people that she didn't even know would be willing to take time out of their lives to help her. She said that it was a very Christlike act and it restored her faith in humanity! She just downloaded the Book of Mormon onto her kindle and has been studying what we believe on lds.org and mormon.org. She wants us to come over to explain more what we believe. Her heart has been softened because she saw the example of Church members LIVING the gospel. Now she wants to know WHY. And we are so excited!! She is from South Africa and so cool. She has a young daughter, so the gospel is very applicable to her life. 

Jessica is doing so good! We have had some really cool experiences with her this week. First, on Thursday, we had a district fast for our investigators' parents that their hearts will be softened towards their children joining the Church. It was a really powerful experience. Sister Woodbury and I fasted on Thursday along with our district and it was hard to do not on a Sunday, as we usually do!! But we got to talk with Jessica's mom and we had a nice conversation with her, which was a great start. Her mom is almost there. Jessica got a priesthood blessing on Friday because she was really sick and her mom was able to be there. It was so powerful! Priesthood blessings always bring the spirit so strong, and the blessing softened her heart.  Afterwards, she told Jessica, "I'll talk to your dad about being baptized." And that is HUGE. So fasting works!! The power in it is amazing!! Second, we recently taught her the 10 commandments using hand signals to help her remember. The next day in history, she was able to teach them to her whole class!! She also passed out a Book of Mormon for her class to look at briefly! She is so inspiring and so awesome!! She's a better member missionary than most MEMBERS! She wants to invite her history teacher to her baptism. :) So all you members out there, it's time to bump it up!! Be a missionary!! 

 

 

We also had the cool opportunity to go to a Christian Women Tea Party on Saturday. There wasn't as much of a turn out as we hoped there would be (there were 29), but it was awesome nonetheless. 15 of them were from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!! And it wasn't even at our church! It was awesome to see so many of us go out there. We made a huge impact. And it was funny because they had tea, lemonade and water for drink options and by the end, the lemonade and water were about halfway down, and the tea was 99% full! Boom!! So that was a cool way to also show what we believe. Yay for members bearing their testimonies through example!! It makes a HUGE difference!! 

Sister Woodbury continues to be awesome!! We get along SOOOO well!! We are getting SO pumped for the General Women's Meeting this weekend and General COnference next weekend. It will be my THIRD one as a missionary!! Time flies!!

 

 

The uplifting message of the week is the mormon message that came out on my year mark. Go watch it RIGHT NOW! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3792885561001&cid=HPFR091914425

 

(There's the link so you have NO excuses! Enjoy! It's one of my new all time favorites!!)

 

I love you! Thanks for everything!!

sister leslie. 

 

 

On our 7 Wonders of Casper hunting last week for Pday, we found the Staircase to Nowhere!

Wonder 2: The Eggbeater

Wonder 3: Car in a Box

Wonder 4: Hidden Clock (THAT was a hard one to find)

Wonder 5: The Sundial

Wonder 6: The Echo Lady

Sister Woodbury and I holding up the 1 for my 1 year mark! I was wearing the same shirt I

wore my first day to the MTC! And I didn't even plan it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner with the Flanigans and Jessica. SISTER JENSEN, does anyone look familiar????