Transferred...again!!!

Hey guys :)

Yep!  You read that right.  I am getting transferred again !! haha  The fifth time on my mission and I have only been out a year (I hit my hear mark on Thursday!!!!)

OK, so here's the low down of what has been happening this past week.  I have gone through it all this transfer. I don't even know if I can adequately explain what has been happening.

We were basically living in sketch-ville and little by little we were figuring out that two young white girls probably wasn't very safe here in Bay Minette.  We moved in with some members in Stockton (about ten miles from Bay Minette) last Tuesday night and have been staying here all week.  They are awesome and so sweet to take us in.  The mission was trying to find better apartments for us to stay in still in Bay Minette.  Sister Corbett and I have both been praying about what to do here.  We wanted to stay and work this area but really felt like it might not be best and that safe for us.  We got a call this morning that we are both leaving Bay Minette and the elders are coming in, which I think will be much better, and they will be in a better location.  I'm pretty bummed to be leaving again.  I've had to move so many times, it just seems like nothing feels like home.  Hopefully my new area won't be so temporary :)

I am going to Crestview, Florida!  I'm actually going to whitewash the area (when two new missionaries from different areas come into an area)  It was actually an elders area this past transfer.  I've been able to whitewash my past few areas so it should be fun to do again:)  I'm excited for another adventure that awaits and grateful for Heavenly Father trusting me and always loving me.  I am learning SO much out here, more than I would like sometimes ;)

I love you all and will post my new address next week.  Thanks for all your prayers.  It has helped immensely. Oh and thanks for still reading my emails, or at least scrolling down to look at my pictures ;)  It's OK, I used to do the same thing hahaha :)

love,

sister fletcher

Fletcher Street!!

How we catch a bug!

When you pack up your life, throw it in the car,
and live in it for a few hours lol

<333

The Spencer's cookout

When you get to sleep on a queen-size bed
for probs the only time on your mission!

"Be a donor, give your heart to Jesus"

Hi :) How was everyone's week?!  Hopefully y'all are staying cool.  It's starting to get so hot and humid here! This week was crazy.  So much good...so much not so good haha.

First off, I got my subject for the email from a marquee on a Baptist church we always drive by lol.  I thought it was pretty funny :)  There are apparently 92 churches in Bay Minette and Atmore and only one of them is an LDS one, crazy!

Wednesday was truly a day of miracles.  It was one of the best days on my mission this far.  I wish I could write all about everything that happened but as always, time permits me to do so.  I just wanna talk about the incredible lesson we had with one of our investigators, Asia.  I think I mentioned meeting her last week and compared her to Joseph Smith.  Well, we were able to visit with her and teach the restoration of the gospel.  The spirit was really strong throughout the whole lesson, even with her cute little kids there making noise.  At first, she told us this is kind of strange for her, having people over and talking about Jesus Christ and religion because she never has before.  Once I recited the first vision to her and asked how she felt, she said she just felt so good.  At the end of the lesson when Sister Corbett and I testified about the Book of Mormon and how true it is and how much it will improve the quality of her life, and how we know that God is so aware of her because he sent us to her, she started to cry.  She opened up to us, telling us she had actually had a dream a few days prior that this would happen - that two young girls would come to her house and share a message about Jesus Christ with her.  She said she couldn't see the girls faces in the dream but she now knows we are those two girls and that God sent us to her.  The spirit grew stronger and stronger and we all had tears in our eyes.  I couldn't even believe what she was saying.  There have probably been like 5 times in my life when I have felt that much joy.  Joy that I can't even explain.  His gospel will change her and her family's life.  I am so excited for them.  I am so so so so grateful to be a missionary.

On Saturday morning we saw a few police cars outside of our apartment complex.  There has been a lot of sketchy things going down in our complex and our mission president is trying to get us out of there.  This will be my fourth move...in the past five weeks...(haha)  It's been really hard moving around so much and not being able to stay in our area for very long.  All I want to do is be a missionary!! haha  I want to be able to work the area I have been given.  We should be moving into a new place this coming week.  We have had to stay in Atmore (a little over 20 miles away) the past few nights and will see what we are going to do until they get us a new place. On the bright side, you never live a boring life as a missionary!!  This will be quite the story when I get home!! :')

 

Thank you so so so much for all your love and prayers. I truly am grateful :) even though times can be tough, the mission is so worth it.  I would do it ten times over again just to learn what I have been able to this far and to meet who I have met.

lots of love,

sister fletcher

ps, here's my address for the time being (the mission home address)

1535 Killearn Center Blvd Ste C-3
Tallahassee FL 32309

Pretty Bay Minette

Ed Sheeran album...that I have never heard...
in my hands...so close yet so far away

Cute dog I'm obsessed with

Get to sleep on the Atmore floor again!!!
SO FUN!!! ha ha ha

Our ward mission leader lolo

Theresa's 57th birthday party!!!

The Mobile Zone

Sister Killcreas
(She fed us cheesecake shipped straight from NY!)

Your newest campus missionaries

Hi!  This week has been 258547x better than the past few and I am SO GRATEFUL. Seriously though, I have truly found that a teaching missionary is a happy missionary :) Things are starting to pick up here in Bay Minette.  We have done a ton of finding this week including knocking on lots of doors and street contacting a lot of people.  I love just talking to everyone.  Sister Corbett and I have tried to make a goal of talking with everyone about the gospel.  We have had quite a few miracles happen this week.

We had a lesson scheduled with one of our investigators, Angela, but unfortunately she wasn't home so we decided to tract in her trailer park.  After quite a few doors being slammed in our faces and a lot of "no thank you's", we made our way to the last trailer on the street.  An 18 year-old boy, Jaylen, opened the door and actually told us that he is Angela's nephew.  He is graduating this coming week and is looking for a church to attend. Well, look no further ;)  It's so cool how we were about to give up and be done but we decided to go to that one last trailer that was out of the way. It reminds me of President Uchtdorf's talk, "4th Floor Last Door". I have found this to be true so many times on my mission.  It always is at the very end, after we work our hardest, right when we feel like giving up, that Heavenly Father blesses us with success. SO AMAZING.

This weekend we went with about twenty other missionaries to an event in Mobile called, "Feed the Gulf".  People donate tons of canned goods to this organization and they give the food to people in need.  We were all able to serve there for a while and it was so much fun!

On Tuesday we went to the local college campus here in Bay Minette and were FINALLY (after stopping in three times already) able to meet with the public relations director.  She told us that she is totally fine with us proselyting on campus! Ahh!  We were stoked.  Once summer semester starts up next Wednesday, we are going to spend a lot of our mornings there talking with students!  I am SOOO excited about this.  I have discovered on my mission just how much I love teaching people my own age.  It's such a crucial time in their lives, when they are trying to make the many important decisions that will affect the rest of their lives!

On Saturday we had one miracle after another happen.  We decided (actually the spirit told us) to drop by a potential investigator's house.  Unfortunately he wasn't home but I noticed a few  guys across the street.  We went over to talk with them and found out they were visiting from Georgia but their mother who was sitting inside the house lives there.  We had a great discussion about the Book of Mormon and gave a book to each of them and we are going to meet with their mother this coming week. yay!

We decided to go contact another potential investigator a few blocks over and the same thing happened.  They weren't home but we had noticed a young mom and two of the cutest little kids I've ever seen as we had driven down the street. We walked over to them and introduced ourselves.  After a good conversation, we found out she isn't religious.  WHAT? This is SO rare out here and so awesome because she told us she does believe in God but just doesn't know which church is true.  I think someone else had that same question...Joseph Smith? ;) haha  We were able to teach her more and are going to meet with her again this week!  ahh blessings!!

Life is so good :) I am so grateful to be a missionary...like wow.

I was able to talk to my family yesterday and it was amazing!! I love them so much :)  Happy Mothers Day again to my wonderful mom and to all you moms out there.  I love my mom so much <3

Thanks for the love and prayers!

<3

sister fletcher

Sister Kirkman

The Districttt

Literally my favorite human - Sister Hanson

Kinda hard to get to this door! 

Fairhope

ACAI

Sweet Beverly Giles <3

<3

My mommas here...Sis Morris and Sis Hanson

Beautiful Bay Minette

5/8/17 :))

Hi :)) How are y'all?  I'm doing pretty good!  Things are gunna look up this coming week, I just know it.  We have a very busy week planned so it'll be good :) 

We finally got to move into our brand new apartment in Bay Minette this week!  Happy day :)

Sister Corbett and I had to stay in a couple days this week so that means we were able to do a lot of studying, which is always needed.  I just wanted to share a few things I learned and loved this past week :)

I studied a devotional by Sheri Dew which has really made me think....She talked a lot about living up to our privileges/ God's recommendation for us.  Isn't it incredible that God saw us and knew us in our pre-mortal state, which is the REASON we are here NOW in these final days!  He knew the righteous people we were and knew we could handle these tough days.  We have been literally recommended by Heavenly Father to be here at this time, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.  These last days are not for the "spiritually out of shape".  We have to be reading the scriptures and praying and remain SO close to Heavenly Father.  That is the only way we are going to make it in this crazy world. 

Sheri Dew mentioned that Heavenly Father did not recommend Adam or Eve, or even Moses for these days...He recommended you and me! how amazing :)  So...how can we live up to God's recommendation??  By simply studying the scriptures...which literally answers every life dilemma.  I love the Book of Mormon so much.  It has brought me so much comfort, especially recently.  The word of God offers peace the world simply cannot.  It's so cool how we can really relate every story in the book to our modern-day lives. 

Another way we can live up to His recommendations is by understanding how the Lord communicates with us.  We all want to receive answers to prayers.  We all want to know that Heavenly Father is there, waiting to help us, but first, we must understand how that help comes.  Some feel him through warmth, some can hear him through a still small voice of the Holy Ghost.

I invite all of you to pray to Heavenly Father to find out how He speaks to you.  Once you do, you will come to know :)  So in essence, we need to live up to our privileges!  We need to do what we were BORN to do!

I am so grateful for another week out here on the mission. This is hard work, but I wouldn't trade what I am doing for the world.  I love you all!

-sister fletcher

We moved in yayyyy!!!

Literally buying all of WalMart
because our apartment has nothing lol

Dusty bibles lead to dirty lives

Hey friends!

It's been another crazy week...haha. I'ts funny cause I thought last week was hard but this week was even harder, but things will get better soon.  We are moving into our apartment on Wednesday - couldn't come soon enough!

First off, my new address is:

603 South Dobson Ave. #25

Bay Minette, AL 36507 :))

Four days this week we were able to go out to our area and work. Tuesday we spent a lot of the day tracting and the craziest thing happened.  We were walking on what seemed like a safe street and we were about 15 feet from the front door of a home and then for some reason, I had the strongest impression ever to whip my head around...and literally running towards us, just 8.3 feet away was a huge black pit bull.  I yelled and grabbed onto Sister Corbett.  For some reason, it must have startled the dog and he ran about 15 feet back and just stared at us.  He was so silent as he approached us and was literally about to attack us. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life.  We didn't know where to go because there was literally no where for us to run away from it but for some reason, after it stood and stared at us for a few minutes, it ran down the other side of the street.  It was terrifying.  We literally saw our lives flash right before our eyes.  We were shaken up and as we got back to the car, Sister Corbett said, "Sister Fletcher...do you know what is really interesting?  This morning when you prayed on our way out the door, you asked Heavenly Father for safety three different times...I thought it was a little strange but just went with it.  Now I know why that was needed."  I didn't even realize I did that. so interesting. Heavenly Father really is watching out for us!  I still am amazed that we came out of that situation unharmed. 

The next few days we did some more tracting and I was on edge.  Every noise I heard, I thought was a dog.  I'm super paranoid and scared now but I hope I'll get over it soon lol.

This week we had a zone conference out in Mobile.  I was asked to sing and play guitar and then my companion and I trained on the first great commandment.  it was a wonderful conference and I am so grateful for a loving mission president who always inspires and uplifts me.

Atmore/ Bay Minette is SO different than what I am used to but I know with time, things will be okay and I will love it.  I'm just grateful I get to be a missionary, SO grateful.  I love this gospel,  I love my Savior and I am so grateful for the promptings I receive from the spirit.  If the Holy Ghost hadn't told me to turn around right at that moment, I might not have lived to tell the tale. haha  (sorry I'm a little dramatic ;)

I hope y'all have a great week! 

lots of love,

sister fletcher

Cool dirt roads

Literally half of the homes here 

We went back to Fairhope!!  My home!!

Pretty much NY (lol...Mobile)

Cute Manu!!
I got to see the Langis' again!!

<3