Katherine! Brittany! The Breaker!

I'd like to explain:

It snowed so much yesterday that President told us not to use the cars. Well, we weren't within walking distance of any grocery stores, the library was closed, and we couldn't get to the church. Sooooooo we spent all day cleaning and lounging about for our prep day.

So I dropped the ball last week on sending you a scripture a week to study. But no worried, I have week 2's scripture:

John 14:23-27

(For those of you who are joining late, the activity is to study the scripture every day for a week and write down any impressions or reflections you have. It's to help you see your relationship with the Savior.)

This week was awesome! Despite the snow and the wet feet, we had some pretty great moments. We had a lesson with Brittany, who's met with missionaries in the past. She stopped looking into the church for a while, but keeps getting drawn back by the Book of Mormon, which she reads frequently. After playing appointment tag with her (she had to reschedule, we had to reschedule, the snow made us reschedule...), we finally got to talk to her. She's awesome! And she loves cats. But she brought up how she know she needs to be baptized. Sister Wiehl asked if she still wanted to, in which she responded yes. So I invited her to be baptized, and she accepted!

So a little bit of a background story: Katherine investigated the church a while back. Her daughter-in-law turned out to actually be a less active member, and Katherine's son wanted to sit in a listen to what was being taught in his home. Well, Katherine's son ended up being baptized and her daughter-in-law became active, but Katherine decided to stop investigating the church. Well, about a year later, here we are meeting with Katherine, and she's excited to be baptized! We challenged her to stop smoking completely this week so that she can be ready for her baptism, and she did! Now, she used to smoke four packs a day when the sisters first met with her, and now she's smoke-free! What a miracle!

So Katherine's son and her daughter-in-law were getting sealed in the temple on Saturday, and we told her that we would try to find her a ride. We tried throughout the week, but everyone seemed to be staying overnight, which Katherine can't do. As we were in a lesson with her on Friday, she excitedly turned to us and asked us if she was going to the temple the next day. My heart broke when we told her we couldn't find a ride. When we left, we were all so sad because she wanted to go so bad! We were determined to find Katherine a ride, so we said a prayer and called pretty much EVERYONE. We finally talked to a member who referred us to someone in the Lehighton Branch. Well, lo and behold, the member of the Lehighton Branch was going to the temple Saturday morning and could pick her up! We were so excited-- it was definitely a miracle! We even got out of the car and did heel clicks and ran around.

On Sunday there was an investigator-- a tough, stubborn person who, even though he doesn't understand the gospel, he is drawn back to church because he feels better here. He also feels accepted at church. But he got up and bore his testimony, and it was amazing because I could feel the spirit so strong. The part I remember the most was when he said, "I haven't read enough of the Book of Mormon to really say it's true, but as I've experienced... I say, how can it not be true?" How amazing!

Now a little more on the funny side: there's something about the gravity in Pennsylvania that hates me. When I was in Whitehall, I spilled something on myself every day. When I was in Jersey, no-- I was perfectly fine. But my first day back in PA I spilled salad on the floor. Then I accidentally splashed soup on an older woman. And it's only getting worse. I went to heat something up in the microwave and it just... stopped. This morning I went to make toast and discovered that the outlet doesn't work anymore. So naturally, my companions have told others that I've been breaking everything, haha. And now our Relief Society president calls me "The Breaker."

Love,

Sister Singleton

P.S. I just wanted to add a note about Katherine and the temple. We talked to her about the experience on Sunday, and she was beaming! She said she felt so much peace and that she was excited to go in someday. And she made a comment in class that was so cute. She said, "I felt peace! I can't go in because I don't have a recommend, but I am excited to get one and go back." 

I love the temple!