From Utah to Texas and Back

Why hello, all my lovely friends and family!

I hope you are all doing well. This week has been super great. Kind of a crazy beginning... Let me tell you why!

Last Monday started out pretty normal. We went to get our hair cut, we went shopping, and emailed. A pretty normal P-day. But after we get home from working, it all changed. We see that we have a missed call from the Assistants. We called back, but they didn't answer, but three seconds later, they were calling us again. Hermana Cannon answered the phone, and they asked for me. They told me that they were making a few changes in the mission, and that I would be transferred to Lockhart, and that I would be companions with Hermana McBride.They said we could meet up with them at the Kyle Zone Training Meeting, on Wednesday. (Which is more notice than I have had before. The other two times, it was the night before I needed to leave.) Cool! I was excited. A little sad, yes. But excited. So, the rest of Monday evening was spent packing all my clothes. Which is the easy part when it comes to packing. Jaja. All the other stuff--books, study papers, etc. are the difficult parts. But, by Tuesday night, everything was packed and ready.

This was the third time in my mission I have been emergency transferred (transferred before the end of the 6 weeks). Which is crazy, but I'm glad I am able to serve the Lord--no matter what area I am assigned to... Or re-assigned to.

And, now I'm here in Lockhart! We cover a whole bunch of little towns, like Luling, Gonzales, Dale, and a whole bunch more... I haven't even been to all of them yet. Also, our church building is in a strip mall... which is super cool. But the work here is so wonderful!

We have an investigator, David, who is preparing to be baptized on the 31st of October. He is doing so great. This last week, we saw him two times, and were able to help him understand the Word of Wisdom, and the Law of Chastity. We only have a couple more things that we need to teach him before the 31st. He is so great! He came to church this last week, and had also gone the week before when it was Stake Conference (I was still in Lake Austin for that). I'm so excited for him. He has most definitely been prepared for this.

We also have an investigator, Rhonda. She is the sweetest lady ever. One day, when she was nine, she decided she wanted to go to church, so she got dressed up, and walked until she found one. It just happened to be one of our churches. She walked inside, and asked someone where she needed to go, and they asked where her parents were. She said, "At home sleeping." jaja. and so, they took her to primary, and she loved it, and went to church for a couple years, but didn't ever end up getting baptized. She then went to a whole bunch of other churches, but none of them ever felt right to her. And now, at 50 years old, decided to come back to the LDS church. Her parents are now members, but they haven't come for a while. She came to church for the first time with us yesterday, and felt the Spirit so strongly, and made so many new friends. One of the members of the branch leaves for his mission soon, so he gave a talk, and also sang "Oh Lord, My Redeemer". Rhonda was touched so much by the Spirit, and started crying. She was a little embarrassed by it, but we told her it is completely fine, and to not worry; that that is how some people feel the Holy Ghost testifying to them. She loved the rest of church, and asked if she could come again next week. :) She is just so amazing.

This week, I have been studying President Uchtdorf's talk, "It Works Wonderfully". I just love it. The Gospel really doesn't have to be complicated. Toward the end of his talk, he says: "God will help you become something greater than you ever thought possible, and you will discover that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is indeed working in your life." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect! It can and will work in our lives if we allow it to. Sometimes we complicate things, but if we follow the counsel from President Uchtdorf, and step back, he promises we will see the beautiful simplicity of the Gospel, and we will see it working in our lives.

I love you all! I hope you are all doing well.

Hermana Dean

megan.dean@myldsmail.net

http://www.mormon.org/me/C0MJ

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