Week 48 Ugly Puzzles and good people!

July 23, 2020

FRIENDS AND FAMILY, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, CHILDREN OF GOD,

I AM BLESSED.

STRESSED.

BUT BLESSED.

It has been a CRAZY week!! We taught a TON of lessons to a TON of our amazing friends, plus we had SO many meetings it was nuts.

We were asked by our mission president to meet with some of our ward leaders and teach them how to use some of the resources online. Which was INSPIRED. We had 2 meetings one for Vallejo and one for Benicia and both of them went SO well. We felt so much support and it was so great to coordinate our efforts with these amazing leaders during this odd time. We are SO excited to continue to build relationships and help Gods children come closer to Him!

We had a few different online referrals come in this week one of which was Chelsea. SHE IS SO ADORABLE. Chelsea is THE CUTEST 15 YEAR OLD GIRL, WHO JUST LOVES GOD. She watched a video last week and something that was said hit her really hard and made her want to strengthen her relationship with God. So she started to read the bible, but she was confused so SHE FOUND US. We met with her via video chat and I already love her oh so much and am so excited to help her strengthen her relationship with God.

We also had a few GREAT lessons with our good friends James and Justin. One of the old missionaries in this area referred us to reaching out to this member named Bro Corbaley for fellowshipping, which has been AWESOME. He has joined us in 2 lessons with our friend James and it has been SUCH a blessing. MEMBERS ARE THE BEST. James is doing so well and is reading in the Book of Mormon every single day. SO WE LOVE THAT. This week Justin told us that he wanted to slow down on his reading so he understands it better and told us he was just going to start reading a chapter a day. We told him we were definitely okay with that. He also downloaded the Gospel library app, has made it to 2 Nephi 6, and has such good questions. I love him so much and I am so grateful that God has let me be apart of it all.

I AM STRESSED as to how this week is going to go down. We got 4 new Elders in our zone last week and we will be getting 20 more missionaries in the mission this week. Sadly, we may lose the Vallejo 2nd area, it is likely, which is sad and makes me stressed. I am just glad Gods plan is perfect bc if not they would have to drag me away kicking and screaming, haha. I trust that whatever happens will be for a reason. Plus President basically just told us that everything is temporary and that until June 2nd to not get comfortable...so we love that.

Speaking of President, WE GOT TO HAVE DINNER WITH HIM ON FRIDAY. It was oh so needed. I missed him and other missionaries so much. There really is something so different about being face to face. It was so good to see these missionaries that I love so much. God is good.

I was reading in D&C 11 this week and 2 verses stuck out to me:

"12 And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good—yea, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.

13 Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall enlighten your mind, which shall fill your soul with joy;"

How have you been at following the spirit lately? More than ANYTHING else the main thing that has helped us and led us through these last few amazing weeks is the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I have been trying really hard to follow the promptings I receive and it has made all the difference. None of it is us, it is all God. All good things come from God/the spirit. SO Follow the spirit, he knows what he is doing.

Mucho Love,

Sister Tams

Other/Funny Stuff:

-Hermana Tullis said she would bring me banana bread like 2 transfers ago but bc of COVID we haven't seen each other, BUT like the amazing person that she is SHE REMEMBERED and brought me some banana bread, it was the cutest and made me so happy.

-We taught 6 lessons back to back yesterday and we thought we were gonna die, silverlining behind COVID...no travel time. We can fit SO many lessons in such a short amount of time...blessed.

-President makes my heart happy and it has been SO exciting to get all of the reassigned missionaries. We are up to 78 total coming with 22 of them being sisters. Things are gonna be CRAZY. President said that by June 10th 90% of the mission will be trios...

-Our old Zone Leader is now our AP and sometimes he will call us to check in and see how its going and he just doesn't realize how much he gives us a hard attack. He called us last night and I almost peed my pants. (APs are the ones that deliver emergency transfer news and they typically tell us changes over the phone and only call us with news)

-We are gonna prank the Elders today...its gonna be good, I will fill you in on more of that next week.

-I finished the ugliest puzzle in the world this week. Pic feat below, my comps stepmom sent it to her and I needed something to do during dinners/lunches/after 9pm.