Week 73 18 months is not all the Lord asks from us!

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


I sincerely hoped this day would never come. It is my last official P-day as a full-time missionary! I arrive home next Tuesday, which is CRAZY!! This will be my last weekly as everything will be packed away and I will be spending the day with my Mission President and his wife next Monday. 

It has been an amazing week and I know it will continue to be a great final week. Our leaders pushed hard on prayerfully, setting and acheiving goals at combined district council and it was incredible as we applied their council we were able to find more people to teach this last week than we got to all of last month!! We also got to have quite a few of our friends at online church which was a HUGE blessing!!

One tender mercy we saw was our new friend Ben! Some other missionaries referred him our way as they are teaching his younger brother! We were playing phone tag with him for most of the week but luckily last night he gave us a call back and said he would be available to meet right then!! We quickly got the church ready and he came from work and we gave him a church tour and talked about the Book of Mormon. There was a very sweet spirit there, I forget the strong spirit that is felt in the chapels of our church buildings. 9 months is a long time not to attend in person, I miss it but am very grateful to know that it is still there and the spirit has not diminished...not even a little. 

My dad wrote a talk many years ago that I printed and have read many times throughout my mission. In this talk he talks about how life is like a battlefield. He asks a question that I have pondered many times "Who is on the Lords side, who?" In this world where there are many conflicting opinions and sides to take, I love to think about that. Because really the only place God should be in is first place, He should be #1 in our lives. There are lots of casualties and heartaches all around us, but at the end of the day can we really say that we fought the good fight for our Father in Heaven? 

Through the last 18 months, I have learned a lot. I have fought a lot, but the promise rings true that in the end of it all He has been with us the whole time. He has never left my side, and He promises that Victory will be ours. I know that to be true. Life is not easy, my friends. BUT WE ARE NOT ALONE IN THE FIGHT. I know that our Savior, Jesus Christ, went through all that He did so that we did not have fight aimlessly. We have a purpose in this place, even though I do not want to return home I know that the battle is not over yet. The Lord asks for much more than just 18 months and I am excited to fight for the rest of my life for this noble cause. I love you each and hope to see you very very soon. 

Mucho Love,
Sister Tams

Other/Funny Stuff: 
-We had an older member call us and ask if Sister Hancock needed money for clothes because she was always wearing pants...I died. 
-We found a homeless woman named Janna who we couldn't hear super well because her teeth weren't in. Nice gal. 
-My last exchanges were better than imagined. Hermana Hill came here and we talked so much and so loud that I lost my voice for a couple hours. It was quite entertaining and I love her soooooo much. 
-We have been messaging people on Facebook by just looking up a name and then putting the location to our area. Well apparently Matthews love me because we found 2 new friends named Matthew and we found an inactive member that wants to come back to church! God leads us because we do not have his records and there is no way we would have found him otherwise...his house is impossible to get to haha. 
-We went to the beach last week, I will miss the NorCal beaches 
-We taught Ray the Plan of Salvation and the next day he found out his step mom died, Gods timing is perfect. 
-I love you all sooooo much 









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