Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration....lives in Queen Creek?

First of all I'm typing this on a smart phone which in and of itself is super weird. I definitely feel a whole lot more connected to the world and I'm not sure I like it.... however if I've learned anything recently with all the training we've received it's that the Lord trusts us and it is an amazing tool to further His work. Not gonna lie I am super pumped for the Gospel Library app (app with all the scriptures and talks and stuff) but being able to use Facebook still kind of weirds me out.

Anyways expect many more selfies and if you see me on Facebook I want you to know I'm not apostate or home.

Anyways where to begin....

Well I got to meet BROTHER MITCHELL THIS WEEK! You may ask who is Brother Mitchell? Well Brother Mitchell is the man who plays Joseph Smith in the Prophet of the Restoration video and Jesus in other videos! It was the best day of my life. I am the BIGGEST FAN of Joseph Smith. Huge Fan. Major Fan. I love him. But I digress. I got to shake his hand and I said "I'm Sister Showalter....ughjhsj" - exactly like that though. Then he taught the most amazing class of my life. His testimony was super powerful and he probably cried three times as he testified about Joseph - not that I could tell as I was crying too.

We also got to help out at a "Messy Fest". We weren't really prepared for it but I was able to be in a food fight (very gross, very fun), be in charge of a color run ( I think more got on me then the children) and run through a mud pit (the funnest). Sister Garner somehow escaped all the carnage and almost didn't let me get back in the car at the end but I promised to sit on as little of the seat as possible and she let me in.

Transfers also happened this week. I have been blessed to stay in the same area for transfer #5. I will officially be in Queen Creek for almost half my mission and couldn't be happier about it! I truly love this area and all our investigators. It will be hard when I finally have to leave.

Jimmy

Sad news of this week includes finding out that Eden and Jesus will be going back to Mexico this week. They have been some of my favorite people that we have had the chance to work with. I have truly seen their faith grow as they went from not wanting to change at all to reading the Book of Mormon (Eden is in Alma!!) and seeing their hearts soften as they felt the Holy Ghost. Jesus has even made a joke about being baptized " Catholic, Christian and then Mormon". We are hoping we can pass off their info to the missionaries in Mexico so they can keep progressing :)

We also picked up a new family to teach and they have been awesome so far. A lot of it is intellectual right now but we are hoping to see that change more as we continue working with them. We had a cool moment with the daughter when she opened the door and we saw she was reading a book... I casually asked what she was reading because I was curious and she told me "The Book of Mormon". I literally almost died. It was amazing.

I have truly seen hearts change as they have read the Book of Mormon. I know there is a power in that book and as we have worked on reading with those we teach, lives have been changed. I am thankful for Joseph Smith and the work he did in restoring this knowledge to the earth and for the ancient prophets that wrote it. They have changed my life.

To the Moon and Back:

Hermana Mallory Showalter​​

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