Lil' Spud Gone East: August 15, 2016

Family and Friends!

Update: It is still hot and humid here(: We get "it isn't normally like this" every day. Haha, they joys of coming on my mission the 17th year when the bugs come out and now this! I wouldn't trade it for anything.

I studied the scriptures that I was sent last week. They are in 1 Timothy 4 Where Christ invites us to think about and apply the doctrine we study. I have been trying do that more. The more I live the principles of the gospel, the more I realize who I am living them for and why. Which really, has been the theme of my mission lately. I feel that in the past 6 weeks I have grown more than ever and it was because I decided to have more faith in Jesus Christ. Just in everything I have felt a stronger desire to trust my Savior.

Sister Tippetts and I have been working our tails off. When we stay in the area we don’t waste travel time and we just get to WORK. So, funny story. We went to try someone we used to teach in the area of a member we visit often. He wasn’t home, but his mom gave us three referrals on that same street. Later that week we were out with a member. Right before we hopped out of the car I was reminded to ALWAYS ask for referrals. I turned back around and asked the member who she knew that we could go see. She said she actually did have someone in mind. We called the next morning, got the name and address and it was in the same area. We went and started teaching her! We called to follow up and right at the end of the phone call I got the impression to ask her who else she had in mind. Guess what! SHE HAD ANOTHER PERSON ON HER MIND and they were in the same area. So we went to go contact her. She wasn’t interested, but because we were in the area we stopped to talk to a man and got two more referrals. We have yet to “tract” but we have sure “worked the area”! I find joy in being obedient and a lot of humor in it as well. Sometimes God's blessings come faster than we can process them all!

I have prayed and studied so much lately to become a master teacher of the restoration of the gospel (usually the first message we share). Well, in the past two weeks we found a SOLID family again and then a member brought a friend to us that we got to teach, both of which we found out were out of our area so they are being taught by other missionaries. Haha, I told Sister Tippetts that maybe I should keep in mind how specific I make my prayers! She told me she is going to start praying to be a master teacher of the lessons we teach to new members(;

Despite having to hand those two miracles off, we got a phone call from a man in Washington State getting ready to move here. We instantly shared the first vision and the only thing he could say (as he was crying tears of joy) was WOW! THATS AMAZING. He has been searching for more truth and felt so good when he found it! This gospel is true! He can't wait to be baptized and be given the gift of the holy ghost! He prayed with us for the first time (all of his lessons have been on the phone) and in his prayer he told God that he "was so excited to become a part of his true church". Lately I have been praying with so much faith that we would find people and we have worked so hard! “Have the faith to baptize and remember that without the faith to find, you may never have the opportunity to baptize. Sometimes with that faith, the Lord simply puts them in your path and they find you.” –Just YES. This is what our mission President said to us in his email. I feel like I have seen God’s hand more than ever in this work! This past transfer I have grown leaps and bounds. I decided it was time to give it everything I could and have some faith. I have realized that most of the time I have a problem, it isn’t them, it’s something I could do better. The phrase, "it's not you, it's me" has really come to life! I feel like I am figuring this work out more and more and they key really is FAITH that leads to action. That is it. The most basic principle.

Because we talked to everyone, we found a lonnng lost member and started teaching her son. He didn’t come to church yesterday (we will get there!) but SHE did! And the speaker spoke on exactly what she wanted to learn more about. God knows his children!

The other night we were leaving the apartment complex to this member. We walked where all of the people were. We said hi to this woman, went and talked to a family we are teaching, and when we came back down, she was still outside. We said hi again. It was almost time to go home for the night. Sister Tippetts got back in the car. As I was getting ready to back her, I just couldn't stand that we didn't talk to the lady more. I went up, told her how I was feeling and she proceeded to get out of the car. We went and talked to her and SHE TOTALLY NEEDED IT. Then, we went back the next night and she invited her boyfriend to listen to us too. Turns out, she has three kids and they are really needing a better life. As we taught them about the gospel last night, you could see their love for each other grow! It was cool. I love that they both "had been" to church, but that the gospel we were teaching wasn't anything they had heard. They didn't know much about what actually went into Jesus suffering for them and they REALLY didn't know about how we can have the opportunity to be sealed together as a family! I love watching people’s desire to follow God's commandments grow as we teach them about the blessings!

Well, there is no challenge in the title because I hope that my testimony is enough to invite you to pray with more faith! GOD IS REAL. HE KNOWS YOU!

I love you(:

Sister Campbell

Sister Justina Campbell

West Virginia Charleston Mission