Finally!

Hey all of Lauren's friends! So sorry this blog has not been updated since March. I thought, that is right thinking can get me in trouble, that because there were no comments on the last blog that no one was reading. Wrong! When I went in today to post, after being firmly asked to update, there was a comment I needed to moderate. Moderate? I did not realize I would need to. So, sorry Jessica! I will do better.



Lauren is back in Jacksonville. Here is the August update. And, a challenge!

I want ALL of you to do this with me. Get a copy of a missionary style Book of Mormon (the cheap soft back kind you can get at the distribution center) and a red pencil. Start at the beginning and as you read mark only those things that teach and testify of the atonement and the Savior. (If there isn't marking on almost every page you’re missing something.) It really shouldn't be called the Book of Mormon; it should be the Book of The Atonement. Or the Book of Christ. You have 6 months.

We had a waaaay awesome miracle. The zone leaders thought it necessary to go on a power trade with us. As one was tracting down the north side of west 7th street with dear sister B., the other and I were tracting on the south side of west 7th street (in plain view of the others, in case you were concerned). Elder Zone Leader and I were talking about the frustrations with the work I was having and how things just weren't working the way I thought they should when the smart little dude proceeds to tell me that he used to have that problem but then one day he realized he just can't do it all and that when that happened he said "alright God, I’ll do what I can and you do the rest" and then marvelous things started happening for him and he was less crazy. As he was telling me this we were walking up to a little yellow house. I knocked on the door and said to him "you're totes right, it's just a lot easier said than done" and right then a little Indian lady answered the door and started laughing. I figured she was laughing at us. Then she said "Who sent you here?" and I said "the lord...?" and she just started laughing again and then told us that she was a member. She had been baptized about 2 years before down in Palm Coast (close to Daytona Beach, about an hour and a half close to here) and that she had moved here 9 months ago and was looking for the church but didn’t know where or how to go about finding it. She said that she had just been telling her kids that morning that she wished she could find the church because she misses it so much. We were then able to meet one of her boys, 11yr old E., who is SO sweet. He remembers reading the Book or Mormon and going to church when he would visit his mom. But since he was not living with her he wasn't baptized. He is so ready and willing to learn more of Christ and of the restored Gospel. She also has another son that wasn't baptized. She wants them to come to learn and come to church and experience that happiness that she knows. So cool. Miracles happen.

L. Got. Baptized. Word.

L. speaks no English. I speak no French. Luckily the spirit speaks both. When you can’t even communicate with someone but they somehow get converted you know it's got to be something bigger than yourself. It was wonderful. We resorted to drawing pictures and using a French/English dictionary to label them in French AND English so he could learn the words in English. And I could learn them in French.

Let me tell you, my companion is AWESOME! I love her to pieces. She helps me learn and grow so much every single day. We have so much fun together, always laughing and looking at the bright side of things. She is such a spiritual giant as well, she makes me want to study harder and learn more and be better. I just love her. The other day we were tracting when we walked up to a house with a lady sitting on the porch. The lady started in about the Mountains Meadow Massacre and a movie called September Dawn and how horrible we were and how we were being lied to and all sorts of junk. When people start swinging at me I usually pick up a bigger bat and swing back harder, which never does any good. Instead of saying anything I let Sister H. talk. She calmly talked to the lady and turned the situation from what it was into a lesson about the gospel and the restoration. I just sat their biting my lip trying not to let the lady have it. I need to work on my attitude I suppose. The lady told us that as a younger generation we needed to stand up and throw the Book of Mormon in the trash and tell them (our leaders I guess) that we were going back to the Bible, but not the King James version because that is a terrible version. She then asked if we would stand by the Book of Mormon to the end. I love being able to say ABSOLUTELY! When people ask me that question. What a warm, peaceful feeling comes over you when you know and can proclaim that it is true and that you would stand by it. I love that book, it is true

On Saturday night the ward had an activity called a Low Country Boil. Only they say Low Country Bowl because they are southern. Anyway, a Low Country Boil consists of a very big pot (or pots if there are going to be a lot of people) with boiling water and some special seasonings. Then you toss in some potatoes, carrots, onions, corn, sausage, shrimp, and other such things. Then you let it simmer until done. You drain the water and dump it all out straight onto the table. And then everyone goes for it and you eat until you are stuffed. They leave the shells and legs and stuff on the shrimp, only take the heads off. It was funny to see a bunch of missionaries from land locked states trying to figure out how to shell shrimp while watching a 4 year old tear into them with no problem. It was a messy adventure, but pretty good. Sister H. and I are planning one for when we come home. I big Low Country Boil, only we are going to call it a High Country Boil since we will be back in the mountains. You guys can come if you want.