Mimi in Midlothian! New Area (New address on sidebar)

Hello Family!

My word I don't even know how I'm going to fit all of this in an email. This was the best week ever! I'm in Midlothian! It is in the same stake as the mission home, right outside of Richmond, and I LOVE it here. My comp's name is Sister Armstrong, and she is basically a gigantic answer to a prayer. She has such a strong testimony, loves to work hard, and is GENUINE. It is so nice! She's a really confident girl, and we get along great. She has only been out 12 weeks, so she just got done being trained, and now she is "step-training" me. Her testimony is so strong, and she just basically rocks. We work really hard together, but we also have SO much fun!! We've only been comps for a week, but we are already such great friends. Apparently things have been really slow in Midlo for a long time, but this week has been so awesome! We have 5 new investigators!!

I've been out for 2 months now, can you believe it?! The last transfer was really challenging, but now I feel like I can honestly say, "I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!" with a smile, and mean it. :) So here was my week:

Tuesday - Arrived in Midlo! At transfer meeting, we got to hear the testimonies of some missionaries who were headed home. It was amazing! They were so strong and full of light. I just had this huge realization of "I don't want this to pass me by!" It got me so stoked on the work.

Wednesday - We got up at 5 am and went to Seminary. We taught the youth about missions and bore our testimonies. It was great! The youth here are so amazing! They are so stoked about sharing the gospel, and they have some powerful testimonies. Cool thing about Wednesday, everything we planned for the entire day actually happended! That has never once happened here, and I don't know that it ever will again, but it was really cool. The night before we just sat down and prayed that Heavenly Father would help us plan a super effective day, and He did! It just feels really good to work hard.

Thursday -  We had an appointment who bailed on us (classic), so we decided to walk over to a potential investigator's house who lived on the same street. There are no members that live in the neighborhood. Randomly, this car just pulled over and said, "Hey! Are you missionaries?" And then he gave us a referral for someone on that street! He was a member from DC (2 hrs away) who just happened to be driving by at that exact moment. It was awesome. We were really busy all day long, but we found ourselves with 20 minutes to kill just before dinner. We were almost out of miles, so we prayed that Heavenly Father would place someone in our path that we could help. Ba da bing! We drove past this adorable old lady picking up litter on the side of the road! We helped her pick up a bunch of garbage and then had a wonderful gospel conversation. She invited us over to teach her! We got back in the car and it was 4:25, exactly 5 minutes before we were supposed to be to our next appointment. Heavenly Father answered our prayer.  After dinner, we met the Whites!! They are so awesome. They had met missionaries before, but for some reason no one ever taught them the lessons! So we had an awesome lesson with the Mom, and then the Dad came home from work. He really wants the discussions, and asked if we could come back when the whole family was home to hear it! YAY! We spent some time getting to know them, and MAN. I love their family like I've known them all my life. Sister Armstrong and I just walked out of their house speechless because everything went so well. It's crazy how when the spirit takes over, we are almost completely taken out of the picture. When we are focused on the investigators and what they really need, when all we genuinely want is for them to be happy, the spirit speaks through us. I just feel so lucky that I get to be a part of this work. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father could accomplish all of his purposes without the missionaries. But because he loves us, he is merciful enough to let us take part. I have learned so much out here.

Friday- We taught A. Hill, and she gave me this huge book about cats!! Hahah I love her! Awe man I love Virginia

Saturday - Had my first taste of southern soul food!! BBQ chicken, Hush puppies, and mac and cheese. I felt like I was actually in the south, and I liked it way too much. Luckily, we don't eat that way very often, otherwise I would be 3000 lbs when I got home. It was so pretty outside on Saturday! It was kind of rainy and overcast, but super warm. Virginia is really humid, and the trees are starting to get blossoms! Sister Armstrong and I studied on the deck of our appartment in the morning and spent as much of the day outside as we could. How did you like the women's broadcast?! Oh man, that was so amazing! I loved Pres. Eyring's talk.

Shoot! There is just not enough time to write about everything this week!! I just feel like a whole different person, I've grown so much. I know that miracles don't happen until after the trial of our faith (Ether 12:6-12), but they do happen. In the last 6 weeks my faith has been tried more intensely than ever. But now I truly have recieved a witness. I know that God is aware of every individual. I know that He has a plan for us. I know that families can be forever, and that that principle is central to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. No matter how dark things may feel at times, we are never out of the reach of His divine love. When He was on the cross, He lost communication with his Father and cried out, in agony, "My God, why has Thou forsaken me?" Elder Holland's description of this experience is, "But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The faith He lived by told him that divine compassion is never absent, that God never flees nor fails us!" Because he didn't loose hope, he was resurrected and redeemed all of us. I know that his light is real. I have felt it engulf me in the past week, and now I cannot deny it's truth. I know that Jesus Christ lives.

I love and miss you guys so much!