Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Pumpkin Spice EVERYTHING!

Hey everybody! Fall is coming here in the south and I am too excited about it :))
This week has been so awesome. So I have been reflecting a lot on change and how amazing it really is. When I filled out my mission papers in January, never did I think I would be where I am or who I am today; being here in Bama, learning what I have learned, is nothing I expected it to be. You always hear about how much people change on a mission, but I thought it was a different kind of change. Being here for over four months, I'm still the same, sarcastic, crazy Marissa, but, I'm a more mature, loving, and understanding Sister Fletcher, with bigger hopes, dreams and goals, and a much more eternal perspective than before. It’s truly amazing, change. I have learned that if you give God your weaknesses and all your shortcomings, you are stripped bare for a while and it’s painful but soon, after much prayer and pleading, something incredible starts to happen. God literally begins to mold you into someone you never thought possible you could become. You start to love much deeper, you start to desire for others needs above your own, you begin to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ much more in your life. Your patience with others and yourself grows and you become much more motivated to work as hard as you possibly can to help God's children. You truly come to learn that living this gospel of Jesus Christ brings more happiness than anything else because you've seen the difference in the lives of those you teach. God loves his children, God loves YOU and I. SO, welcome change. Change is beautiful. God wants us to change because he sees our potential and knows our worth. It may seem overwhelming at times, and trust me, learning to change and become more like Christ is a lifetime pursuit but one action and decision at a time, we can become more like Him.

All right, my rant is over. I'm just so grateful for my mission so far, man.  A general authority, Elder Sitati, came to our mission for a conference this past Friday and it was great! I was fortunate to be one of the missionaries to have an interview with him. He is such a faithful, inspiring man and I was able to learn a lot more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ during that conference and to see lots of my mission friends!

My favorite recent convert here, Linda, celebrated her birthday this week. My companion and I and the elders threw her a party and it was lots of fun! Things kept spilling everywhere and it was pretty hilarious, like the blender exploded in the middle of making a smoothie and one of the elders dropped a liter of coke all over the floor....sorry random side note, it was just hilarious.

So our investigator Angela is still set to get baptized but her date is now officially November 19th. Cool story, so Linda comes out with us to a lot of her lessons and she loves Angela a lot because she reminds her of her daughter who passed away at the age of 17. Linda's daughter was born on November 19th so we thought it would be so cool to have Angela's baptism that day, a rebirth for her, on the same day as Linda's daughter's birthday :)  Also, Linda's husband, Doug who is like my second dad, is baptizing Angela, and side note, he is getting the Melchizedek priesthood this week. I have never met someone so excited to receive it.  It truly is so humbling. November 19th will be a beautiful day!

Well that's about it. I love you all! I hope you guys have a great week and I'm so grateful for this gospel in my life! Man I love my life :)

xoxo,
sister fletcher

Me holding an alligator! 
Elder Sitati

Sister Jackson and me

Alligator Alley

Check it out!

Beautiful Alabama!

Mamma Quinnelly 
Sister P and me 
The art walk with Linda and Doug



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