Sister Fletcher in the Florida, Tallahassee Mission: 3 states in 3 days!

Hey y'all! This week has been kind of rough but things will turn around soon. We are staying in the Atmore apartment until our apartment is ready on May 3rd. Sleeping on the floor...sharing one bathroom with four sisters with literally no personal space...yeah. It’s been fun! haha. Our mission president told us that we can go out to our area four times next week so we are excited to drive out to Bay Minette and start working. Sister Corbett and I have felt really strongly about doing nothing but finding new people to teach once we get out to Bay Minette. Our goal is to get a branch started out there because all the people we will be finding and teaching would have to drive all the way to the Atmore branch. We are going to work hard to achieve this. It is so exciting being the first missionaries to ever be in this area. There are so many streets that have never been tracted, so many people who have never been introduced to the gospel of Jesus Christ. This will be a challenge but I am so up for it :)

My new companion is Sister Corbett and I love her already. She is from Orem, Utah, and has three sisters. She is so sweet and such a great, hard-working missionary! Atmore/ Bay Minette, Alabama, is SO southern. I am kind of in culture shock all over again lol. Everyone has such a thick accent and eats tons of fried chicken. I just love it! This town is a lot smaller than my last area and I have realized I am definitely more of a city person. I know once I start to really meet and love the people, I will fall in love with this place.

The branch is awesome. It’s so different serving in a branch. There are about 30 people that come to church which is very different than what I am used to but I love these branch members already. They are so willing to help us do missionary work.

I came from Florida on Tuesday, arrived in Alabama that evening, then went to Pascagoula, Mississippi, later in the week to help at a family history event. It was awesome seeing another state on my mission and meeting lots of cool people out there.

This week my companion and I have been studying a lot about the first and great commandment, “To love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy might and with all thy mind and with all thy strength”. We get to train the Mobile Zone missionaries regarding this topic on Saturday. It has had me thinking about our desires. What is my desire as a missionary? Is it the love I have for Heavenly Father? For His children? To simply do His will and always put it above my own? It is hard to do that sometimes. Sometimes, other things sound so much better than walking around in the hot, humid sun, knocking on doors all day long and facing rejection after rejection. Sometimes I would rather be taking it easy at home than out here, but I have learned that once I give my wants to Heavenly Father, once I truly give him my heart, He will take it and mold it into something I never thought I could become. It’s amazing.

So, why should we love God? I was reading an amazing talk by President Uchtdorf this morning and he summed up why we must and need to love God. He says, "God the Eternal Father did not give that first great commandment because He needs us to love Him. His power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile His name. His influence and dominion extend through time and space independent of our acceptance, approval or admiration. No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God! For what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are and who we will become."

I love this so much. Oh how WE need to love God. We need Him. So give your heart to Him. Talk to him, pray to him, feel of His unfailing, unconditional love. Nothing is stopping you from feeling His love but your own self.

Love you all so much! Thanks for the prayers and love :)) Have a great week!

If you want to send me love, send it to this address:

1535 Killearn Center Blvd Ste C3

Tallahassee, FL 32309

(this is the mission home address and will be forwarded to me no matter where I go. In two weeks I will make sure to send out my new actual address :))

sister fletcher