Sister Fletcher in the Florida, Tallahassee Mission: Life is Beautiful in AL :)))

Hi y'all :) How is everyone doing? I hope you guys had a great week with summer coming to a close. This week was kinda rough at first, but the last three days have been amazing!

We went to the chiropractor on Friday and also this morning finally! I am still in some pain from the car accident, but I know the chiro will help :) So when we went on Friday, I started talking to the lady at the front desk named Mandy. She asked me all about our church and said that her and her husband moved here a few years ago, are Christian, and have been looking for a good church to go to but none have really clicked yet. I shared with her the basics of the gospel of Jesus Christ and she gave me her phone number and address. I am so excited to meet with her! It's cool to see how God has prepared us to be in different places just to have a run in with one person. Again, I believe the whole car accident happened for a reason.

We have been doing a ton of yard work this week! I would like it a lot better if it wasn't so blazing hot but it's all good. It feels awesome to serve others :) Some people act like its complete madness that we are mowing the lawn, since we are girls. It's pretty funny.

On Saturday, we had a lesson with one of our investigators, Sandra. She has not been progressing a whole lot but we continue to meet with her because there is so much potential and faith in her. We taught her more about the power of prayer and the spirit was so strong. I walked out of that lesson not remembering anything I had said. I realized it's because it was all the Spirit. The only reason we were able to make more progress with her is because GOD made the progress with her. We invited her to come to church the next day and she said she would try her best to get there. So Sunday came and we kept looking back every time the door of the chapel would open. I was so hopeful she would come. Finally, for what seemed like 283484 hours later, (even though really it was just like 10 mins) she walked into the chapel. Sister J and I were ecstatic!!! She stayed for all three meetings and at the end of the final meeting, she looked at us and started to cry. Tears came to my eyes as she said something along the lines of, "Girls, thank you for bringing me here. This is exactly what I need to get my life together again. I feel something special here that I can't wrap my finger around, but i just feel happy. I need that in my life" I am so excited for Sandra and for the Spirit she was able to feel at church. God answers prayers, everybody. Often times, he answers them through reading the Book of Mormon or through experiences we have. Sandra expressed to us that the Book of Mormon has already "changed her life". Having an investigator at church literally feels better than any gift I've ever received. It is pure joy and happiness.

Yesterday we visited Therese Maradik, a lady in our ward who hasn't been to church in a while, as well as her husband who isn't a member. You guys, they are the DEFINITION of Alabama. I love it so much! They live way out in the boonies, in the middle of nowhere. It is so peaceful back there. They have their own garden and hunt all the time. They also built their own house and get mad at us when we say "you guys" instead of "y'all". I love them so much! They fed us fresh deer meat, pear juice from the pears they just pealed, and a pear pie fresh from the oven. Then we all went out to their garden and they gave us like twenty different vegetables they've been growing and some homemade jam. We call them Grandma and Grandpa #2, we just love them so much! We invited them to read the Book of Mormon together and they said they would, and the husband John, who isn't a member was eager to read. SO awesome !!!

There are two songs that are constantly in my head out here on the mission..."Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie and "Life's What You Make It" by Hannah Montana. I have no idea why, but they really motivate me! Cause man, Everything is awesome!!!! I could not be happier with what is happening in my life right now. Life truly is what you make it. I have really been able to gain a greater understanding and knowledge that everything we do in life, the good or not so good, it all is a matter of our perspective. If you choose to be positive about whatever gets thrown at you, I guarantee you will be a happier person :)

I hope you all have an amazing week! and thanks for reading my emails :)

love,

sister fletcher