Week 5 - Lilburn

A few "fun facts" about Georgia:

1) Drivers are terrible here haha.

2) Krogers (grocery store) has THE best ice-cream - seriously though...sooo good!

3) Never ever sit on the grass, walk in the tall grass, or go in the forests there are all sorts of critters that can harm you such as poisonous snakes and ticks

4) Lilburn is a mix of Oregon, a little bit of California, and I don't know what else but there are all sorts of trees and it's pretty awesome.

5) A lot of people call coke soda so sometimes it gets a little confusing haha.

anddd.....I can't think of any other "fun facts" at the moment but get ready for some more next week! :)

Ok so I thought I might share some (or one) of the miracles my companion and I have experienced while on the mission. You already know that E is one of our investigators but I don't know if I've told you the whole story. When I got out here on my mission my companion and I were at a "plateau", or in other words we weren't teaching anyone and couldn't find any new investigators. It was hard, especially for my companion. About the second or fourth day I had been out here in Georgia we had gone tracting, or knocking on doors, for a majority of the day and the other part was spent trying to find someone to teach because all of our plans had fallen through and nothing was working. It was about 8 o'clock in the evening and we decided instead of giving up we would try tracting one more time so we said a quick prayer and off we went. 

The first door we knocked on, E opens the door and we just start talking and by the end of our conversation she says that she wants to meet with us again. We found out later that different missionaries from other churches came around her neighborhood a lot. When they would stop by her home she would be friendly but she never invited them in or wanted to meet with them again to discuss more, but when she meet us she said there was something different about us. She could tell that we were sincere and really meant what we were saying. Ever since then, we've met with her and she has just gobbled up everything we've had to teach her. She is incredible. 

Skip past a few weeks...She loves coming to church and has made a lot of friends. She is progressing so well and I would like to ask ya'll to please keep her in your prayers everyday. 

Well my time is about up so I'll just say this....I love ya'll soooooooooooooooooooo incredibly much-oooo!!!!!!! Thank you for your support and love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of love (from your favorite Sister Missionary),

Sister (Megan) Rice

One month down :D - Lilburn

This week we did a lot of really neat things. Last Thursday we were able to go to the Temple to watch one of our recent converts do baptisms. Her name is Q and she is incredible! She's been a member for about a year now and this was her second time going to the Temple. E and two of our other investigators came to Church with us this past week and they all loved it! What was even better was that S (mother - Investigator) and L (daughter,  - Investigator) brought a friend with them who is now interested in learning more about the Church! We were so excited!! 

Today all of the Sisters in my zone were able to hike Stone Mountain, which just so happens to be the largest body of exposed Granite....IN THE WORLD!! In the past week it's been raining a lot and we had this CRAZY storm so of course Stone Mountain was pretty slippery when we hiked it, but it was definitely a lot of fun!! Overall it's been a great week! Thank you for the comments from... that book! That's definitely one of the first things you learn on a mission, that plain and simple is the way to go. When someone asks a question and we answer with this deep doctrinal answer it's like pushing someone who has never swam before into the deep end of a pool and saying "Why aren't you swimming, it's so easy!" It just doesn't work that way haha :)

                                                         

Sister B,  Sister Q,  and Sister Rice at the Atlanta, Georgia Temple

Week 3 in Georgia - Lilburn

The training I gave at the District Meeting went well, I'm thankful for the opportunity I was given to teach. Our investigator E is doing wonderful! Her mom is really excited about what we're teaching as well and honestly they are soooo ready for the Gospel! They've had so many neat experiences and I can't for them to progress even further. Please continue to keep them in your prayers. Right now, it seems like we're constantly being led to all of these wonderful people who are just ready to receive the Gospel. It's so exciting! 

Our Father in Heaven loves us so much. As a missionary I feel like my eyes have been opened to recognize His hand in all things and also to see and feel of His great love for all of His children everywhere. It's amazing. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints we are so blessed to have the knowledge and understanding that we have. It brings peace to the soul and fills all holes that we may feel in this life. It brings joy and understanding. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wouldn't be who I am today without it. I love my Savior and Father in Heaven and am grateful for the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. 

I love ya'll soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much-o!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ya'll are always in my prayers. Hope you have a wonderful week!

Lots of love from your favorite missionary ;) ,

Sister Rice

Week 2 -Lilburn

So a lot has happened this week. On Sunday August 10th we found a young woman (Elena [ee-lane-uh] 16) while tracting who was super interested in what we had to share and after chatting she said she would love to learn more and that we could come back next Saturday(the 16th) so we came back on Saturday and taught her the first lesson (the Restoration). It was incredible. Elena was so interested and excited she wanted to learn more and even wanted to come to church. She is sooo ready for the Gospel and I know that her family and boyfriend will be too. We also taught two more new investigators who are also ready for the Gospel. It's a great blessing to witness those who's hearts have been prepared. Now that I know Dad has been praying specifically for these type of experiences to happen it all makes sense, because for a while we were hitting a "plateau" period where no one was interested in our message and then BAM three new investigators and four people who are interested in learning more. It really is incredible being apart of the Lord's work. 

Now for the not-so-great experience. On Friday August 15 we were just getting ready to leave this neighborhood when this little girl waved to us and said "hi" from her porch so we decided we would go to one more house. So we start walking up from their driveway to the porch and notice that the majority of the family goes into their house and that some of them are just cracking up! I thought that they were probably just laughing because we had come up to their house after their little daughter had said hi and they really didn't want us to come over so we continued to walk over to them. Then out of nowhere a bee stings my finger and next thing I know we are just covered in bees. They were seriously everywhere. In our hair, on our clothes, on our legs, and feet. It was crazy!!! So we freak out and run out of their driveway and try to get the bees off. It was a nightmare!!!! Eventually we got them off, and realized that the family was laughing because they knew we were going to get stung. Fortunately I only got two bee stings (thanks to my bug repellent which totally saved me) and my companion got five, but all is well, I'm doing great, and unfortunately I've gotta go. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of love from your sista,

Sister (Megan) Rice