#Golden

Hi y'all! This week was great in Gulf Breeze. I saw so many incredible miracles and saw the Lord's hand in so many people's lives.

We found a woman named Cynthia on Thursday and she is AMAZING. We spoke with her a little at her door, then she invited us right in and we shared the message of the restoration with her. The spirit was so strong and she knew it was true. She has a Christian background.  She has an 11 month old son and had another baby boy who passed when he was less than a year old.  She lives with her boyfriend Jeremy who is a pagan lol, but he is open to learning more. On Saturday we went back to their home and brought two awesome members with us to teach. We invited Cynthia to be baptized and she was a little hesitant, but then she came to church yesterday with her cute son, Nicki, and after the second hour class, she asked us what she needs to do to become a member. We told her she would need to get baptized. She said, "Well, when can I get baptized?!!!" We set a date for September 30th and are going to do everything we can with the Lord's help to prepare her for that date. I am so excited!!

We had the most incredible lesson with a new investigator, Aliza, this week as well. She is the friend of a member in the ward and the member had us over for lunch with Aliza and her family on Saturday. We got to know her for a while and she really opened up to us and got very emotional about all the deaths of loved ones in her life and how she feels that she is crazy because she can literally feel them near her at times, pushing her to do something to help them. We felt prompted to share the plan of salvation and by the end of the lesson, there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Aliza just kept saying that this message has lifted a weight off her shoulders. that this is what she has always felt but just thought she was crazy. She is literally so much happier now. This is what she has been missing. On Sunday, Aliza came to church and was brought to tears many times. She loves the people and loves the messages that were shared. She is #GOLDEN. Tonight we are going back over to the member's home and sharing a family home evening with Aliza and her children as well. I am just in awe of how prepared both her and Cynthia are. What an amazing week it has been! I feel so humbled and blessed. 

I love you all! Hope you guys have a great week <333

-sister fletcher

my address:

3113 Woods Way #2

Gulf Breeze, FL 32563

I miss Sam and Devinee already!

Last pic with Sista J

Bye Sister Crosby :(

Gulf Breeze Baby

Hey y'all!

I am getting transferred this week!! I'm going to Gulf Breeze, Florida, and will be serving as a sister training leader! I am pretty excited. I heard the area is kind of like an island and is super touristy and cute! It'll be a good way to end my mission :) but I'm going to miss all of the amazing families I've met here in Crestview - but the work must go on!

We were all over the place this week. I don't think I've ever been so busy! It's the best being super busy as a missionary.

Can I just say how much I LOVE service. It's seriously my favorite thing in the world. On Saturday we were asked along with five other men in the ward,to help someone move into a new apartment who was coming from Georgia. As we were moving boxes up and down the three flights of stairs, I couldn't help but smile (and almost cry...I'm such a baby) because of the amount of good, Christlike people I am blessed to serve with, people who will literally drop everything to come and help someone in need. I just felt so much joy helping someone move who couldn't have done it alone. It is simple acts of service like this that I know Heavenly Father is just smiling down on us for, because He sees us helping one of His children. Over and over again in my life I hear the words, "unless we lose ourselves in service, there is little purpose to our own lives" and "when we lift others, we will be lifted too." I can say that these sayings are SO true. As we helped lift the load off of someone else, I felt a load lifted off my own shoulders. The things I was struggling with didn't seem so hard anymore. That's what service does, that's what following Christ does. I've seen that time and time again on my mission, and in life. 

Devinee gave a talk in church yesterday on her conversion and it made my last Sunday in Crestview the BEST. She is amazing. I seriously am in awe of Samantha and Devinee and their faith and testimonies. They inspire me to want to be as good as them someday. I feel so so so blessed to have met them and taught them and been able to witness and be here for their baptisms. The things those girls will do in their lives... :) they are two of my BEST friends!

I have been studying the Doctrine & Covenants a lot lately and been learning a lot. I was in Section 58 the other day and just wanted to share with you guys a verse that really hit me. In chapter 58:3-4 it says: "Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter; and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings."

Wow! What HOPE this passage offers. As I was reading this section and got to these verses, peace immediately came over me and I realized how much we really do have in store for us after this life once we go through these trials and tribulations. (but life can be pretty awesome too!) It just offered me a type of comfort and peace that the world couldn't give. Life can be really hard sometimes. Out here on a mission, you sometimes miss your family, your friends, you may feel pretty lonely, and sometimes have battles in your mind with what you want to do and what you know you should do. It can be pretty tough. (especially because I have probably gotten 20 hours of sleep in the past 2 weeks) but this just gave me hope. It's all going to be okay. After much tribulation comes the blessings. We have NO idea how good it's going to be. :)

I love you all SO much. Thank you for all the prayers, letters, packages, and love.

My new address:

3113 Woods Way, #2

Gulf Breeze, FL 32536

-sister fletcher

Siena, my sister, painted these beautiful
paintings for Sam and Devinee!

Sister Ratcliff (I LOVE HER)
and two of her cute kids

Me and my bud, Avery, quilting

Sis Caudell!

Pretty

Hi!

Kim and John Spring...my favs

Bonfire!

Really going to miss these people SO MUCH!

Chick fil a !!!

The week we chopped down 9 trees

Hey y'all!

I hope you guys have had a great week :) This week was pretty good, we did a TON of service which is always fun. For some reason, everyone needed help with stuff this week and I'm glad they called us!

We were able to paint the ceilings of a house, mow some lawns, do some weeding, serve at a few soup kitchens, and cut down NINE trees. It was so much fun. I did get bit by mosquitoes like crazy but that's pretty much expected now haha. It has rained like everyday this week! I love it so much! There's nothing quite like a FL thunderstorm. It's so nice in the summer because it cools things down a little!

We had so many miracles this week! My favorite was meeting and teaching our new friend, Chloe. Chloe is 16 years old and has been catholic most of her life but has been looking for more. We taught her this past Wednesday and she told us she wants to get baptized and become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! She has already told us she knows through the Holy Ghost that this gospel is true! AHHH! Now she just needs her mom's consent... She came to the young women's activity that evening and had a great time. She is so prepared!! I love her so much already.

It's crazy that so many of my friends are home or getting home from their missions! Where does the time go?! I don't ever wanna grow up.  I think I'll just be a missionary forever!

Guys, I just love being a missionary.  Never in my life have I felt such a weight of responsibility towards helping others receive their salvation , but I love that weight.  It allows me to feel just how important this gospel is, how important this message we have to share is, how important the work I am doing out here is.  It can change lives, it can save lives!

I love you all so incredibly much! Hope you have a wonderful week <333

-sister fletcher

pictures:

I apologize in advance but most of my pictures this week are just of me. We didn't take like any!  hahaha #selfabsorbed

Sista J chopping down those trees

Painting mess

Companion study by the pool
(so tempting...but not really :))

Once you go Blue Bell, you never go back

!!

A note someone left us after telling us
to come over to teach them a lesson

When all your missionary friends send pictures
in front of castles and waterfalls, in Crestview we send
pictures in front of cool m&m hay barrels

Squinty eyes

The beach this morning!

How blessed are we!

Hey y'all!

This week was good :) We picked up a few new investigators and were able to teach some awesome lessons! Samantha and Devinee are going to the temple this Saturday which is SO exciting!! I am so happy for them. man, I wish more than anything we could go with them. Maybe in a year haha.

I have been studying the book of Mosiah in the Book of Mormon. I love Mosiah SO much. I feel like no matter how many times I have read this book, I always learn so many new principles from the teachings. I was in chapter 27 yesterday and I love verse 37 specifically. Prior to this verse, Alma the younger and the sons of Mosiah are doing evil and trying to destroy the church of God, but then they had an amazing experience that completely changed their hearts and turned them to repentance. They no longer wanted to do evil but wanted to do good always, and to share with others the amazing light the gospel brings to all of our lives. In verse 37, it says: "And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good; and they did declare unto the people that the Lord reigneth."

I just love this verse. How blessed am I that I get to declare Jesus Christ's gospel to His children. I feel so grateful and lucky for this opportunity. I meet so many people everyday who have really opened my eyes to what life is all about, to what the gospel is all about. I don't know what I did to deserve wearing this name tag on my heart, to represent my Savior, Jesus Christ every single day for 18 months. ahhh, I just love this gospel, I love being a missionary!

How blessed are we to know the gospel, and because we know the truth, it is up to us to share it with others! People want what we have, even if they don't know it yet.

Love and miss you all!

-sister fletcher

Pretty Fort Walton Beach last week

Pic taken on my low quality camera on a high quality day

Me and sista j