Barnegat Lighthouse

Well another week here and gone. Time is flying way to fast I realized. The end of the transfer is this week. Don't worry, I'm not moving again. I'm here for another 6 weeks and then we'll see what happens. We're getting 22 sisters in today and I'm sad I won't be doing the fear buster. There goes my streak. I did go 7 for 7 so that was good!  It was a good week. We were able to get 15 lessons in which is great! We went to the Barnegat Lighthouse on Monday and boy do I see why Grandma and Grandpa Stevens like lighthouses. They truly are beautiful and a beacon of light. Just like we can all be lighthouses in our lives. We can be that light in the darkness for those who don't have the truth. It was really fun to have the Toms River sisters down just to hang out for a couple hours. We took some jumping pictures and I'll send them after this letter. We went and had a great picnic with the Clappsy's at the Wells Mills Park. We had some bomb sandwiches and hung out with them.

Let me just say the lessons we had this week were on point. I don't know but my companions did such a great job teaching simply and clearly and I really enjoyed teaching this week.

Tuesday we had an exchange with the Toms River Sisters. Sister Kimball came down to Barnegat for the day. We had zone meeting up in Eatontown so we had to travel all the way up there and back. We didn't get home until about five on Tuesday and then went to a couple of lessons. We went to go try our investigators house but he didn't answer and later that night he said "why didn't you call? I was in the shower?" I just about started smacking my head against the wall, but we were able to meet a couple of potential investigators we've been trying to get a hold of for quite some time so it worked out. Our monthly focus this month is on using our time wisely and I'm so grateful for the inspired focus' we have each month. We decided to go through our area book this week and clean it up and organize it so we know where we can find things. That took some time but it'll help us be able to focus more on the work this month and I'm really excited for that. It was really fun to have Sister Kimball here on the exchange, she's a visa waiter for Brazil and is going to do so good down there. I'm grateful I met her.

Wednesday we exchanged back and went and did some service at a members house. We had to pack up books and we kept running out of boxes but it was good to help. We did a ton of service this week. Helping pack up boxes, yard work and other little knick-knack paddy wack jobs. We went and did some service for another member and worked in the yard, we helped her plant some pretty flowers. We went back to her house on Saturday and cleaned up the backyard for her. She puts a lot of effort into her yard and makes it look very pretty!

Thursday, we packed up some more books and then the rest of the day was working on updating the area book. We had teaching records all spread out on the floor. We made a lot of calls and cleaned up the apartment a little bit. It was a good day to get everything done.

Friday was such a good day! We taught five lessons! And they were all really good teaching opportunities. We met a with a couple of the less active members and met with our newest investigator. She's great. It was absolutely POURING rain on Friday. I love the rain here in Jersey. It's so beautiful. It'll pour for five minutes and then drizzle and then pour again and again. I love it. It was pouring so hard this morning! I just want to go dance in it.

We had to clean our apartment because the end of the transfer is tomorrow. We had a senior couple come to our apartment this morning to have us sign some papers and she didn't want to leave. She said they had cleaned the apartment and it was disgusting from the Elders. :/ She was going crazy to see how clean it was. It was pretty funny.

Saturday was more service. It's the best doing service here. No matter how little it is. It means a lot to people. And that's my favorite thing to do. Even just making smoothies for my companions. Little service but it's the best. That's another thing, we bought smoothie stuff but ran out of juice so I decided to use milk....not the business. They tasted like straight up milk, so I tried to substitute something to make it a little more sweet because we didn't have any sugar so I put a fruit roll up in it....never again will I make smoothies with milk. It didn't taste to bad but I'll stick with the juice haha.

Sunday we gave talks on Keeping the Spirit With Us and my companions did a great job. It was good to talk to the branch and be able to share our experiences with them. I'm so grateful for the spirit I feel in missionary work. I couldn't do missionary work if I didn't have the spirit. I've felt the spirit the strongest in my life on my mission and I can't deny that he is there and he is real. I love feeling the spirit and want that for others. Church is always good. Partaking of the sacrament is so great. I didn't realize the importance of it until I came out here. I've learned so much since I've been out here.

Today, we had to find a new library because the one we go to the computers were down. So we're actually emailing from LBI, Long Beach Island. It's so cool to be able to be here in Jersey, experiencing the beauty here. I can't believe I've been here for this long! Time is flying. God is hastening his work. I'm so grateful for all of you and everything that you do for the family and the support you give to me. The church is true. God lives. Christ is our Savior. These things I KNOW! Love you all. Hope you have a fabulous week. This month is going to be great and is going to go by so fast. All mission conference and Temple trip! God bless.

 

Love,

Sister Taylor :)