Sister Fletcher in the Florida, Tallahassee Mission: Fed a goat, then ate that goat...Happy Thanksgiving from the South!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. We went to three different members' homes. People are so kind here in the Funky Shack. We went to the Everetts' first and fed their baby goats and it was SO fun. Then later for lunch, we ate one of their goats for Thanksgiving. It was so sad...they smothered it in BBQ sauce and it didn't taste too bad. It's just sad that we literally ate the goat right after we were just feeding it. hahaha.

On Wednesday we had zone training in Niceville and Sister Dominique and I trained on obedience through love. I love this concept. Being obedient on a mission is really important, as well as being obedient off a mission. We focused on the WHY to obedience. Why do we do these things? Is it just because our mission president tells us to? The perfect example of obedience through love is Jesus Christ. In Matthew 26:39, Christ is suffering through the Atonement for us. He says to Heavenly Father: "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Jesus Christ suffered and bled and died for US because he loves US and he loves His Father. He was obedient to God not just because that was what he had to do, but because he loves us so much. So, I have learned how much I need to give up my own desires and my own will for Heavenly Father's will. THAT is exact obedience. We follow Him because we love Him. So, what drives y’all to be obedient? Why do you follow Heavenly Father every day? I invite you to think about that more deeply this week :)

On Friday we had our whole day set and planned out with people to see. On our way out the door, we received the saddest phone call from a man in the ward, Brother Anderson, who had just been in a car accident with his wife in West Virginia while they were visiting family. His voice was shaking and he asked us for the Elders’ phone number who are serving there so they could go to the hospital to give his wife a blessing. He wasn't hurt too bad but his wife was not doing well at all. We rushed over to a member’s home who lives close by to help us track down the phone number. The member called them and left a message and we went on our way, hoping and praying the elders would hear the message soon so they could give Sister Anderson a priesthood blessing. We then went to a few investigator's homes to teach and no one was home! Even our backups weren't available. Right as we were about to go door-to-door tracting, we thought we should call the West Virginia elders just in case they hadn’t gotten the message. We found out the phone number actually belonged to the Elders in UTAH. Frustrated and panicked, we called Brother Anderson explaining what had happened and that we were trying to get the right phone number. Instead of waiting, he decided he wanted to do something called a proxy priesthood blessing. We met our elders at the church and I was able to stand in for his sweet wife as they gave me the blessing in proxy for her. We had Brother and Sister Anderson on the phone and you could hear them crying throughout the whole blessing. It was SO sad but it is amazing how much faith they have. I know everything will be OK, according to God's plan. It was just great how everything worked out so we could be there at the church to perform this proxy blessing for them. God's timing is perfect and he works in incredible, mysterious ways.

Saturday was one of the best days on my mission. Our investigator Teresa is SO excited about baptism. She is getting baptized on Dec.10^th. The way her eyes lit up from excitement about the covenant she is making with God, wow! It was amazing and indescribable. I can’t wait for her and her two little boys, who now, because of this decision, will be able to grow up in this gospel! Sister Dominique and I left the lesson, grinning from ear to ear. I have never been so happy for someone!

Well, life is good in the Defuniak Hood :) haha. I love you all and am grateful for your prayers and sweet spirits. Missions are pretty hard but SO worth it. There is truly nowhere else I would rather be.

love,

sister fletcher