JUBILEE!!!

Hello everybody! How's it going?! :) This week has been quite the week man. So good though!

To start, I will tell you guys why the title of this email is Jubilee. So they are very rare and apparently only happen in Mobile Bay and Tokyo Bay in Japan but we caught one this morning. I don't even really know how to define what happens, but pretty much, when the moon and winds are just right over the bay, a jubilee occurs, where tonsssss of fish and crabs and shrimp come up to the shore. It is one of the most unique and amazing sights. Some people who have lived here their whole lives have never even seen this before! So Sister Jackson and I ran down to the bay this morning and what do you know, there was a jubilee! There were people coming down to catch fish, and we wanted to too, so we hurried and ran back up to our apartment and grabbed a big bowl (cause we don't have any fishing gear) and came down and caught about 50 shrimp and some crabs to feast on tonight! haha it was so cool! I love the south :)

Anyways, we had an interesting experience on Tuesday...never did I think I would have to wake up our investigator to meet with us, but that's what we tried to do. Kelley lives in a rehab facility so we went into her room and kept nudging her and saying her name, and turned the TV off. We tried everything! but she was OUT COLD!  That was interesting...haha.

We had so many lessons this week, it felt so nice teaching a lot and being super busy! We met this awesome dude, Jerry, at the gas station who lives here in Fairhope. We went to his house on Saturday and had a lesson with him for a while. He has had a crazy life and lives alone because he and his wife divorced and his two sons passed away. Super sad! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he just lit up! I am so hopeful about Jerry. He told us that the Mormon religion is one of his favorites because of Marie Osmond. haha He is in love with her! but hey, whatever it is, at least he likes Mormons haha :) He also asked Sister Jackson and I if we were married and we just started laughing. Never gotten that one before!

Honestly, we meet SUCH interesting people out here. Everyone is so unique and fascinating, I just love listening to their stories! Its so cool to just sit back and take everything in, life is so good :)

We met an older man named Ken last week and talked to him at the pier for a while. We tried calling him the next day to set up an appointment but the number was wrong, and we were really bummed.  This past Wednesday, we were at a Chinese restaurant with two less actives in our ward and all the sudden, we saw Ken eating alone! We went up and talked to him and shared a lesson for a while. Ken believes in GOOD not God. He is a cool guy and wants us to start teaching him. That was such a tender mercy and I know the Lord put him there in our path so we could meet with him again and teach him about the hope God and this gospel brings into our lives :) This time we got his correct number! haha

We also met this way cool guy last night named Eric. Seriously, he was awesome! and so prepared! We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said the most awesome prayer to end our little meeting (14 bug bites later haha). He lives in Mobile though which kinda stinks cause we wont be able to teach him, but that's ok because some other missionaries can out there!

We also applied the Spanish we learned in high school because we went to a man's home who didn't know any English. It was so fun speaking Spanish even just for a little! hahaha. 

The Spanish elders are going to come teach him soon :)

The weather is insane here! It has rained every day this week, and it will just pour so hard then five minutes later, be totally sunny and HOT again. It's so fun though! The clouds and sunsets are unbelievable here!  I am learning how to really trust and rely on God here. Never in my life before the mission have I had to 100% put all I have into trusting God and his timing. Your faith is really tested on a mission, it causes you to ponder and think: is God really there for me? Does He really hear my prayers? Is the Book of Mormon really the word of God? And little by little, I have been able to find FOR MYSELF that the answer to all those questions is a yes :) It is a slow process, but it will happen if you have the faith to know. and I know my faith will only get stronger as I am out here longer. Faith seemed like such a simple principle to me before my mission but it really takes so much work and trust. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the chance I have to represent Jesus Christ everyday and help lift others and bring them to the light and hope in this world. 

I love you all very much and hope you guys have an amazing week :)

xoxo,

Sister Fletcher

Pictures;

1) me in front of a cow field!

2) mobile!

3) went on a duck boat tour with my district and some friends!

4) my comp and me :)

5) check out the sky!!

6) with the 12 year old twin girls we teach, they are so crazy but so funny and entertaining

7) rain!

8) cool guy Eric from last night!

9) Jubilee!!

10) me with our crab friend

11) the dock we run to every morning :)

Me in front of a cow field!

Mobile

Went on a duck boat tour with
my district and some friends

My comp and me!

Check out the sky!

The 12-yr old twins we teach

Rain!

Cool guy Eric from last night

Jubilee!!

Me with our crab friend!

The dock we run to every morning

Sweet Home Alabama!

Hey y'all! How has everyone's week been? Thank you to all who have written me letters this week, I am so grateful for so many good friends and such a great family!

Alabama is slowly starting to feel like home. I am still getting adjusted to missionary life, but I know soon enough, I will feel totally normal here. The one thing I try to remind myself is: "I had enough FAITH to be here." It is so easy to get down on yourself or to get frustrated with the work and with investigators not progressing the way you would like but I know that everything will come in time, in the Lord's time. I am just learning how to have more patience with God and with what He needs me to be doing at this time, which is fully trusting in Him and the plan He has for His children here in Fairhope, Alabama. 

Reading the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 4:34 has really helped me!! It says: "O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever.  I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh.  Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm."  During hard times, we should let God lift off the heavy weight from our shoulders.

We were watching addiction recovery videos (the 12 step program videos on addictionrecovery.lds.org) with some investigators and it was amazing what I learned! I invite you guys to watch those videos, addiction or not, because it will change your perspective. It helps with repentance too.  It makes you realize how important it is to align your will with God's! During one of the short recovery videos, a man pleaded with God in prayer and the answer he received really resonated with me. He said that God whispered through the spirit, to Him: "Will you LET me take this?"  That is exactly what we need to do. We need to realize that God can completely help us and transform us into who he knows we can become because He sees our potential. Once we let God into our lives, miracles will happen. I have such a testimony of that!

Sorry to rant and go all "missionary" on you guys. I am just really grateful for what I have learned so far out here!

One woman we are teaching, Kelly, made a comment I loved about the Book of Mormon. We read with her in 2 Nephi 31.  The spirit was so strong through all the questions she asked. When we were finished, she said: "The words in here are exactly what I have been feeling and thinking, and it is so nice to finally have it written down and make sense." I loved that! It was like she thought about and yearned for something that she never even knew she wanted in her life and now it is right in front of her, there to help her.  Unfortunately she hasn't come to church yet which kinda broke my heart a little on Sunday but I have faith she will soon. We also met a woman who is 103!!  She wanted us to teach her even though she is really into her Baptist faith.  She is so inspiring to me and has so much love! She recognizes the special spirit during the lessons.

We have had quite the share of bible bashing appointments this week which has kinda been rough but it grows my testimony a lot and all we can do is simply testify of what we know to be true!  I am seeing so many tender mercies every day where I know the Lord is so aware of me and of the people we teach. Yesterday at church, a lady from my grandparents' small town (and my dad's hometown) of Bartlesville, Oklahoma, was in Relief Society in my ward. She mentioned she was from Oklahoma and I asked her from where.  She said she lives in the same town as my grandma and said how much she loves my grandparents very much! I could not believe it because no one seems to know where Bartlesville is! I just loved talking to her and being able to feel at home for a while. I am so grateful for little miracles everyday.

I wanted to end with how much I love the work, whether it be hard or not. I know there is nothing else I would rather be doing and I am really starting to love these people. I can not even imagine a life without knowing them now, I don't even want to imagine that.

I love you all very much! thank you for all those who have been such an example to me growing up.

Have a great week!!!

Love,

sister fletcher

pictures:

1)pretty field we found :)

2) a lady we visit, Debbie Winters!

3) missionary selfie

4) the bay at night!

5) the lady from Oklahoma I met at church!

6) sis J and I showing off our cooking skills

Pretty field we found

A lady we visit, Debbie Winters

Missionary selfie

The bay at night!

The lady from Oklahoma I met at church

Sis J and I showing off
our cooking skills

Loving the 107 Degree Weather and 107% Humidity

Ok so the subject of this email may be a slight exaggeration...buuuut it is so hot here! and the humidity just makes it even more fun :) hahaha but i am really starting to get used to it, so thats good! 

this week has been the best one yet. our investigators have been progressing a lot and it is such an amazing thing to see. i wanna take a second and tell you guys about a few of the people we teach.

Kelly- She is 32 and lives in a rehab facility. She had her leg amputated a few years ago and struggles with a lot of health issues, it breaks my heart. We taught her the restoration of the gospel and the spirit was so strong. Everything that was said during that lesson was simply said because of the spirit that was present. She said she will come to church this coming sunday, so i am so excited for her! i have so much love for her. its crazy, teaching people out here, you go into their homes not expecting to leave having such a deep love for them. i love this work so much. it is truly the Lord's work, it is truly celestial work!

Vincent- Vincent is such a cool guy. He works at a different rehab facility and has a wife who is a practicing baptist and a 14 year old daughter. He recognizes that he needs to make some changes in his life and wants to rely on God to help him. We taught him the restoration one day, then the plan of salvation the next and he looked at us and said: i know this is true. the book of mormon is true. tears came to his eyes as well as mine. the spirit was strong. i am so hopeful for him! 

We taught 4 other investigators this week and has similar experiences. i love these people so much, i really cant explain it. 

We have been doing tons of service this week, tons of yard work. Its so fun but so hot! We worked outside an investigator's house from 2 to 8 pm on Saturday in 100 degree weather...THIS is what dreams are made of, my friends.

I have so many mosquito bites, it could look like i have chicken pox! every time Sister Jackson or I get a new one we just laugh hahaha.

And the amount of huge bugs we have killed this week is unreal! Bugs dont scare me at all anymore, which is a good thing :)

We have shown the mormon message: "Mountains To Climb" a few times this week. Go watch it if you haven't! its amazing. One thing President Eyring says is: "If the power of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble." Faith is everything. we need to have faith to ever have any result. God takes that faith and allows us to change, to become better, to grow in the gospel more than we ever imagined!

I am so so grateful for this opportunity i have to serve a mission! i wouldn't trade this experience for the world! Make sure to check out my blog my mom is keeping up with, when yall get a chance: marissafletcher.blogspot.com :)

I love you all and hope you guys have a blessed week!

Love, 

Sister Fletcher

pictures:

1) taking selfies on member's phones, whenever we get a chance 

2) the crew on 4th of July

3) place we ate at that looks like Italy!

4) checkout that cockroach!!!

5) my cute comp and me at a 4th of July service activity

Taking selfies on members'phones whenever we get a chance

The crew on 4th of July

Place we ate at that looks like Italy!

Check out that cockroach!!!

My cute comp and me at a 4th of July
service activity

Happy 4th of July!

Hey everybody! happy 4th of july! what are everyone's plans??! tonight my district is going to a members house where a bunch of the ward will be for some bbq and games!

this week has been great! i am so grateful to be our here on a mission, there is seriously nothing else i would rather be doing than spreading the truthfulness of this gospel :)

the weather is so crazy, it is so hot and humid but also there are tons of rainstorms which i love! sister Jackson and i rode our bikes over to an investigator's home on Wednesday and it was perfectly sunny outside. after being there for 45 minutes, we look out & it is completely down pouring! but we needed to get to another apt so we headed out and rode in the rain for like an hour. it was nuts! everyone who drove by looked at us like we were crazy. but it was honestly so much fun. but i was going down the hill a little too fast and then had to make a turn and totally fell off my bike...yeah it was bad...but kinda funny and i didnt get hurt too bad at all :) my comp and i couldn't stop cracking up haha

This past Tuesday, we drove down to Mobile. it is such a cool town! everything about it screams Mardi Gras which i love! and there are churches on every corner, and they're all so beautiful! 

We have been focusing a ton on finding this week, and now have about 8 new investigators to teach for this upcoming week which i am so excited about! i love the people here so much! the south is slowly starting to feel more like home.

on Saturday, we had a zone conference! we got to meet our new mission president and his wife, The Smiths :) they are so kind and genuine! Pres Smith talked about the OWL principle out here on a mission (Obey, Work and Love) you gotta have all 3, then youre set!

Saturday evening, we had a bonfire with a recently converted couple and also 2 investigators. it was still 96 degrees at 8 pm and we were dying of heat with that fire! it was hilarious. 

I feel so blessed to be out here and meet new people everyday. so many people out here genuinely love God and it is so amazing! i have been able to learn so much through the people we teach :)

well, i miss and love you all so much! thank you all for the kind emails and letters this week! have a great rest of your 4th of july!!

Love, 

Sister Fletcher

Super cool churches in Mobile!



Biking in the pouring rain (yes I'm the blob}

My ruined planner from riding in the rain

We are great chefs as you can tell

Check out the pier!

President and Sister Smith

The Sisters in the Mobile Zone

Linda, a recent convert, during our bonfire
She is the kindest lady ever and so strong
in the church

114 degrees with 114% humidity
(ok that's an exaggeration but
it sure feels like it}

Check out these huge leaves!