"Livin' the dream...The church is true"

Hii.

First, PA just keeps getting more and more beautiful. Everywhere we
drive looks straight out of a painting.

We started teaching two new awesome investigators this week. Kirsten
and Cory. They were a referral from a member in the ward- Bryce. Let
me just tell you about Bryce. He returned from his mission a year ago
and is still all about missionary work, it's awesome. He's always
giving us referrals and going out with us. His girlfriend comes out
with us too, she's the best. One week on his way to our ward
correlation meeting he got in a car accident so he just punched his
car door out and walked to the meeting. Haha that's dedication. So
Cory is a work friend of Bryce's. Cory and Kirsten just got married on
Saturday and he gave them a Book of Mormon for their wedding present.
So Thursday we taught them their first lesson. The restoration. Never
have I seen someone so prepared. Kirsten's brother recently passed
away and she's been searching for answers where he is. The two of them
have been together for a long time, but out of the blue decided to
seal the deal and get married. Coincidence? Nah. Cory really took to
the priesthood. When I explained that the authority Bryce holds could
be traced directly back to Jesus Christ in an unbroken line he was
blown away, and even more so when we told him that he could hold that
too. Nothing like teaching with a fresh returned missionary👍🏻
Sunday we taught the Plan of Salvation with them again. They're going places.

We also met and began teaching the sweetest lady named Deb this week.
She lives in our apartment complex. She was a referral from her
brother in law. She was divorced, so the Catholic Church told her she
had to stop taking the sacrament. She knew that wasn't right and when
we told her she could take the sacrament at our church, she just
cried. She was so excited to read the Book of Mormon, she just held it
close to her and cried and kept thanking us. She's got a lot going on.
As we were teaching her she told us that "it was like the the Lord was
here with us, like His love just came upon us."

Please keep Faye in your prayers. She is our investigator I told you
about- the makeup artist. She just came out of remission and started
chemo on Friday. She wants to be baptized so bad, but can't come to
church because of her situation. The more prayers the better!

Tuesday- Wednesday we went on exchanges with the Greencastle sisters.
I got to be with Sister Thompson who I came into the mission with, I
hadn't seen her since because she's been on the east side all along,
so we had a lot of fun. We taught our investigator Kayla and her
stepmom together. It turned out to be more focused on her mom Jeanine.
We challenged her to be Kayla's example.
Late Tuesday night sister Thompson and I had a few minutes left after
ward correlation meeting before curfew, so we went to try and visit
someone, couldn't find their house, so just decided to knock on their
neighbor's door. We met Frank. We left him and his wife a Book of
Mormon, which he was so excited about. When we returned the next day
there was an ambulance outside their home. So we went back the
following day. His wife Marianne had fallen, she has pretty bad health
problems. He has to keep up on the house and everything on his own. We
offered to come and help him just do laundry and clean, and they were
both so happy. They said they had been praying just the night before
that help would come and then we had knocked on their door. They are
just convinced we are Angels, haha. They were really interested in
learning about the church anyway, so it will be service and teaching.
Even if nothing comes of it, it feels good to be able to be able to
help.

This area has presented some of the most special service
opportunities. Twice a week we go to do physical therapy with a member
in the ward- Brother Reid. Ever since a car accident five years ago he
is paraplegic. He is so inspiring. He has always remained active in
the church through it all, he is currently actively serving in
primary, and is faithful in his home teaching despite his serious
limitations. He is such a good man.
Once a week we've started spending time with a woman named June so her
husband can go to the store and get errands done. June has dementia to
the point she cannot do anything on her own. It is all up to her
husband to do everything for her. So when we go over we paint her
nails, or brush her hair, feed her. She doesn't talk but she smiles
when we are there. We go over every Tuesday and then he takes us to
dinner every week. He is not active, but his loyalty to his wife is
also so inspiring.
Lastly, once a week we go over and spend time with a man who also just
became paralyzed from the neck down three months ago due to an
autoimmune disease. Unlike Brother Reid, he is expected to fully
recover. At this point he has just regained the ability to lift a
drink or food to his mouth, but that's it. He just returned from the
hospital a few weeks ago, but now we do physical therapy with him as
well, or just spend time with him. He is such a kind person, so sweet.
And always happy despite it all.

I'm growing to love this place, and I am so unbelievably thankful for
the service opportunities we have been able to be a part of here. I
get to meet everyday real life heroes.

Livin the dream. The church is true!
Hermana Sears💜

220 north fifth street apt 38
Mcsherrystown PA 17344