Bledsoe in Brazil : Happy Halloween!!

Hey!

This week was epic!

Monday, we made arrowheads at a members house. They live out in Big Water which is in Utah, but they are still in our ward. We chipped the arrowheads out of glass and a few cuts later we were successful! Brother Brewer made them into necklaces for us, but they are really sharp so it is hard to wear.

Also, this week we had zone conference in Tuba City. President Batt and his wife are AWESOME. I love them so much! I am so happy to be in this mission. I will miss it so much when I have to go. The people are just so great. Anyway, I learned a lot about teaching simply and using the pictures in the pamphlets to teach the lessons. The pictures say so much and teach so much more than I had ever thought before. When we first meet with people, we talk about the picture on the front of the restoration pamphlet with Christ holding the sheep. It totally sets up the restoration and brings the Spirit when we talk about it. We usually ask what they see in the picture then how they feel about it. Those answers help us to know their relationship with God and it just perfectly leads into the message of God is our loving heavenly father.

Also at zone conference, I met my Sister Training Leader Sister Ferrell. She is awesome! She came back to Page with us to go on exchanges, so I got to spend a lot of time with her. She also brought her two other companions so we had 6 sisters in our apartment but it was so nice because we went on splits and got so much work done!

That night, we taught tons of lessons and made our way to the chili cook-off for 3rd ward. I don't know if I mentioned this yet but we have 2 wards that we are over so we are always busy. Anyway, right before the cook-off I went to go invite a part-member family (Lavinia and Nate- I talk about them a lot because they make me so happy). They came and the ward totally welcomed them and it was awesome.

One of the members, Brother Tubman also brought two non-members to the cookoff. He basically went tracting by himself the night before because he was handing out fliers for the cookoff and invited these two girls. They came and they want to meet with the missionaries! So member missionary work WORKS! You never know who wants to hear about the gospel until you ask!

Also, one of the amazing experiences was with Lavinia this week. We had asked her to pray aloud at the end of the lesson and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. She said, "This sounds funny but the sisters asked me to ask you if the Book of Mormon is true... Is the Book of Mormon true?" She couldn't even wait for an answer. Right after that, she said, "I know it is true." We were all crying because the Spirit was so strong. She reads the Book of Mormon all of the time, and I know that she has a testimony of it. She said that she doesn't even enjoy watching TV anymore when she is overwhelmed or is sad because she would rather read the scriptures. She has so much faith! She also reads with her 4 kids/babies every morning and night. She is such an example to me. I know that I was supposed to be here so I could meet her. She came to church this Sunday and, after 3 hours, she said that she didn't want to leave. The gospel has changed her life so much and the life of her family. Her boyfriend Nate came to church too; it was epic because he is less active and she is the example for him. I also felt like a proud mom because the ward was awesome and tons of people welcomed them to church and took them to the meetings.

Overall, I love Page. Mostly because I already love the people so much. The members are so good to us and the people that we work with have so much faith. Being a missionary is hard work but it is the most rewarding work in the world! I promise.

Hopefully, some of our investigators will be able to resolve their legal issues so they can get baptized!

Love,

Sister Bledsoe

Sister hansen! (old pic from the MTC)