Lil' Spud Gone East: July 13, 2016 - BEcome Filled with Charity! HEADED SOUTH for another adventure….Not so far away from family after all!!!!

Alright! So the news is out. I am headed to Teays Valley. It is west of Charleston! My new companion will be Sister Tippets. No one has heard of her so we are thinking she is fairly new. We will see!

I am excited for a new adventure! I am also really sad for this one to come to a close. Morgantown has been my home for the past 6 months. I was telling Sister Lee this morning that I remember at one point how new everything was. I have come to learn that TO LOVE MEANS TO EXPERIENCE. We can’t love something or someone or somewhere until we have experiences to love and know them by.

Well, the past ten days have been some of the best! But I say that every week (:

This week I went on exchanges with Sister Skanchy. I love being able to learn from everyone around me. Missionary, member, or not. She said that one time she thought she remembered President telling her that she should desire unnatural love for people. I thought it was a funny comment and wasn’t entirely sure of its context. The next day we went out with a member named Sister McInelly. She has had many trails in her life. She was telling us about how she would just pray and rely on the love from God that she received for those around her. She taught us that praying for Charity means praying for love beyond what you alone could have for someone—it is like praying to have the Love Christ does for someone. A lightbulb clicked for me! I finally understood the concept of Charity more. These last few days I have been trying to focus on desiring this unnatural love for others! God grants us the righteous desires we have because my heart has grown so much and I have been able to do things this week I have never thought possible. My challenge to you this week is to BEcome filled with Charity!

So a while back Sister Lee and I were walking in an apartment complex and we came across a 9-year-old boy and his mom walking. We stopped to talk to them. The boy was interested in learning and his mom said we could go back. As we started talking to his mom she told us that her relatives lived in Blackfoot. She couldn’t remember names and there was slim chance of us being any sort of related. Meanwhile as we were coming by she told her mom that the missionaries teaching her were from Blackfoot. Well, last Sunday (like the Sunday I was leaving need I remind you) we were sitting on the couch and her mom walked in. She talked to us and asked us where we were from. As soon as we said Blackfoot her face LIT up. She asked right away if I knew a Bobby Jo Jenkins. My thought process, “Ah man! So clo..oh wait, THAT IS MY MOM!!!” She freaked out and said do you know a Vanessa? Me: “THAT IS MY GRANDMA!”. She then proceeded to tell me that my grandma is her dad, Larry’s, sister and that my mom is his niece. Her name is Krissy Dawn Brown (: WHAT? So.. needless to say, God had been preparing this moment for a long time. Apparently her Sister, Patty, had told her that Bobby’s daughter was in Morgantown serving a mission. So she had been on the hunt for me, but didn’t know my name. Out of 5 SETS of missionaries, I happened to be the one in this area and I happened to be sitting in her daughter’s living room.

WE ended up being able to go to dinner with her and JD. I LOVED IT! WE got to talk about families. Apparently, she has been wanting to find her dad’s family history for a while but just hasn’t known how. I told her that my mom and grandma would be happy to help! Sis Lee got her information and they are going to help her from over here too!!!!!! WOW. I wrote my testimony in a book of Mormon for her and we got to teach her about families and what we can do to be together for eternity! I just find it funny that my mom and I have been putting together a plan for Family History and we have been wondering where to start. I think this is God’s way of telling us that we need to start with my mom’s mom!

As we were walking out of Applebees, Sister Lee mentioned that there was a reason I came to Morgantown, that I served here, and that I did so for a THIRD of my mission. I know that God is in every detail of our lives. I know that he knows us by name and that he prepares us to meet and share the gospel with certain individuals. God truly is a one by one God!

I love you fam! I can’t wait to hear from you! Some other fun news! Sister Lee is training! WOOHOO(: She is a STELLAR missionary. We love her! She will be forever a part of our lives. I will miss my sticker loving, story-telling, giggling, book of Mormon loving companion(:

Keep her and Morgantown in your prayers always please!!

Well folks, we are on to another adventure! The SOUTH HERE WE COMMEEEEEE!

A very excited, not so fresh, Sister Campbell (:

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission