A Hurricane, a Prophetess, and a Baptism

Hello Irma! Don't worry, this was before we were supposed to be indoors for the rest of the day. Now we are in! :)

So, as many of you know, Hurricane Irma is pretty big. That is pretty much all we missionaries have heard about for the past few days. My area is only exeriencing a "tropical storm" (that means lots of rain and some pretty strong wind), but we may or may not have power when we get home today. My mission president is periodically letting us know whether or not we should be outside for a few hours at a time. It's fun stuff here in Athens, but I know it isn't so fun in other places, so Sister Johnson and I are praying hard for everybody experiencing the real storm. 

Now I will tell y'all about the Prophetess we tried to teach this week. And when I say "tried," I mean it. Basically, we went to teach this lady, and she spent over an hour telling us about all the revelations she has received and even acted out a few of them. Yep, it was a unique experience for us missionaries, and it helped remind me how grateful I am to have grown up knowing that I can receive personal revelation directly from God. We probably won't go teach her again, but that is one "lesson" I will never forget!

Really the best news of the week is that our investigator, Will, is getting baptized on Saturday! He is 15 and was the first one to show interest in the church in his family. His mom was baptized last month, right before I got here, and it has been a wonderful opportunity to get to know and teach them both. The gospel has helped them turn their lives around, and it is a privilege to be able to witness the peace the gospel has brought them. Plus, helping Will along his journey has really helped me see what missionary work is all about and given me a renewed sense of energy for what I do all day every day!

That's all of the big stuff for this week, but in other news, we had Stake Conference this weekend, and it was a wonderful thing! The Stake President called on a whole bunch of people to share their testimonies on the spot, and it made me ponder on what I would share if given that kind of opportunity to testify to thousands of people at once. The conclusion I came to is that I would want everybody to know my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As part of Heavenly Father's plan for us, we all have to experience difficult, hard, things, but we do not have to go through those things feeling alone. Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can learn from trials and return to live with God again. Just thought I would put that out there for all the people who are not in my mission right now. :)

I love you all and hope you have a great week! I hope you will all take opportunities to serve those around you, especially given all the crazy disasters happening around the world right now. (Mosiah 2:17)

Love,

Sister Houghton

4315 Lexington Rd.

Apt. 12-F

Athens, GA 30605