Dear Family,

Yesterday, was a day full of miracles. In Sacrament meeting, Sam  said the opening prayer and then it was fast and testimony meeting and he bore his testimony. It was beautiful. Then two members of the ward, received the Melchidek priesthood not too long ago, blessed the Sacrament. I was so proud of them and I know their wives were as well, these families have been through a lot, but the Atonement and the gospel have made it possible for them to work towards becoming eternal families. Donna  was confirmed and the spirit that was felt throughout our lessons together and her baptism, was in abudance yesterday. She's not alone and she felt that yesterday. Her baptism was absolutely incredible. President, I can't describe how special it was and I will never forget it. She had family members there that are not members and they definitely felt something. It was an amazing spiritual experience for everyone that was there. She was baptized at the YMCA swimming pool and it was after hours so no one was there. As soon as we walked in I felt the spirit there with us. Donna's health is not doing well, and she isn't going to fight her cancer. My little heart weeps when she tells us that, but I know she was holding on so that she could be baptized and be an example to her family. Her family will follow, I know that. We sang 'Families can be together forever' at her baptism and it was powerful. Her family will be eternal.

I think about the people that I have met here and my recent converts that mean so much to me, and I know that I promised Heavenly Father that I would bring His children back to Him. I felt that confirmation very strongly a few days ago. I'm supposed to be here now, at this age, in Indiana. I read in the previous general conference issue and there was a talk about missions and how where we serve can be holy ground, I believe that. I just thanked my Heavenly Father last night for this experience, for all the experiences I have had on my mission, I have no regrets. Sister Bankhead told me the other day that she noticed I was doubling my efforts, I want to do all that I can as time is getting shorter. I want to use the experiences and lessons to continue to be on the Lords errand.

I feel like I can help other people know they can receive answers to their prayers and feel God's love through prayer. I am able to receive revelation for others, but I had been going to Heavenly Father with some personal questions and felt like if He knows me then why are certain things happening when He knew how I would react. I don't like it when I question Heavenly Father and ask WHY, why now, but I found myself having a hard time trusting Him and the plan that He has for me. I felt like Enos, and I just prayed and prayed waiting for something. He answered. I have already received an answer and I wasn't willing to accept or act on the answer. I had to change my prayer and let Him know that I was willing now. The peace came. The focus came back. I know that God is there and now I know more than ever that He is there for me.   In our district meeting we were talking about prayer and that came to my mind. I am grateful that we can follow Christ's example, not only in baptism, but in all things and kneel as He did in the Garden. I was reading about that in the Bible Dictionary and the spirit filled my heart and prayer is more important to me than ever. I need it.

Sister Bankhead and I had some exciting events happen to us this week!  We were studying in the morning and we heard our Carbon Monoxide alarm go off, I know right, crazy, so we called our landlord and our district and then we had to call the mission office.  They told us to go and stay with the sisters in Martinsville that night and someone would come check it out in the morning.  Sister Bankhead and I come back in the morning and they sure got someone to come check it out all right, the fire department comes with their sirens blaring!!!!  Sister Bankhead and I just wanted to curl up and just go away!  They go in and check it out and it was fine but my goodenss it got made into a huge deal, we laugh about it now, but man oh man.  Then tornado sirens were going off like crazy this week.  We were having a lesson with Donna outside of the church and the sirens started going off and I have never seen Donna move so fast with her walker!!!!!  Last night the sisters from Martinsville came up and we blitzed IU campus and had some fun with sidewalk chalk, then they slept over and who knows what we are going to do today:) 

Dear Family,

Sister Bankhead and I are determined to keep the momentum up in the Bloomington area. We had the opportunity to speak in sacrament yesterday, and I felt guided by the spirit to express my gratitude to the ward and all their efforts. They really have helped us in many ways!  We had a training this past week and I will never get enough of hearing President speak to us.  He talked about following the spirit and how the spirit is protective of the doctrine.  It was awesome, as usual.  Sister Bankhead and I are doing a lot of finding and we have actually found some promising potentials.  The Lord is taking care of us.   

Donna is doing fantastic and Sister Parker, from the mission office, came to a lesson with us on Friday. It was so good to have her and hear her testimony, I know Donna appreciated it as well. She had her baptismal interview and is very excited for Saturday, as are we! She means a lot to me and I cry in every lesson without fail, the spirit is working in her and I love being around her. We talked to her about the Holy Ghost and how it will be her constant companion and she got very excited about that.  I know we have to do a lot of finding right now, but I'm not afraid to put in that work and that it will take time. I know as Sister Bankhead and I continue to be obedient that we feel peace, which I know is the Lord letting us know that He is pleased.

Michaela and Sam are just going right along and doing well. We are going to be watching general conference on Sunday with Sam and I know that will be a great experience to watch that with them. We had a lesson with him yesterday and taught him of ways that he can share his testimony as he travels so much. He will influence a lot of people, he already has, but I know he can continue to do more.

The weather is gorgeous here!!! The magnolias and red buds are out and so lovely!!!!  Sister Bankhead and I have been walking outside a lot more, it's so nice, I can't get over it:)

Love,

Sister Lamb 

Dear Family,

 

Our district is amazing! It is incredibly strong and the testimonies that we all shared last week, have been on my mind a lot. I know we are going to be a strength to one another and help each others areas. It's powerful and the missionaries that are in my district are just that, and I'm very humbled to be around them and to learn from them.

 

Donna is continuing to progress each day and I just get very emotional in her lessons everytime she tells us about how she feels when she reads the Book of Mormon. How can it not be true! She has a very hard time seeing but everyday she puts forth any effort that she can to read. We are waiting for a large print Book of Mormon to come for her. Her diligence is inspiring and she is getting excited for her baptism on March 24. We talked to her daughter and she wants us to teach more of her family now. We are blessed in this area. Sam is doing well and it felt so right as he received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday. Harold is another investigator who we are excited about and has been reading from the Book of Mormon and really wants to come to church. He was sick yesterday and couldn't come, but when he came last time, he enjoyed it.

 

We had an awesome lesson with a lady that we met at the Shaloam center, where we do service each week.  We met with her before and she just doesn't believe their is life after death and that we are here to make the most of life and that's it.  We taught her about her relationship with God and that he does have a plan and we lived with Him before.  It definitely made her think and we gave her a Book of Mormon and she had started reading it and was frustrated because she said that a chapter could be summed up in one verse:)  It was kind of funny.  We asked her if she would continue and she said she wanted to and that she wants to come to church.  We didn't think she would want to.  Sister Bankhead and I were in awe, and excited that she wants to come!  It was a tender mercy that day.

 

We are working with the ward council to help a lot of the part member families in the ward.  We are starting to see miracles happen and I'm grateful for the support that we have from the ward.  They are so good to us and I hope I stay in this area.  Miracles are everywhere as we both take the time to see them everyday.  I know it's still in a couple of weeks but I'm getting excited for general conference!!!! 

 

Daylight savings is a rough!  We had ward council at 7:00 a.m. and about 8:00, a member walks in and starts joking if the meeting started at 6:00 and we were all like it's 8:00 and he stops and was a little stunned and we told him it was daylight savings!  His reaction was priceless and then left again to go call his wife:)  We are going fishing today with Sam and Dixie, yeah that will be an adventure!!!!!

 

Love,

Sister Lamb 

 

 

Dear Family,

Sam Davis' baptism was remarkable. I have just been telling Heavenly Father how grateful I am that I was able to be a part of his life. He truly has made an impact on my life. There was a lot of support from the ward and they just have always embraced him and so I know he will continue to progress. He is a great example of the Lord's timing.   Elder Lance Wickman, of the 70, was there and he came to church and as I met him and interacted with him throughout the day, I felt such a connection. I felt he knew my spirit and I felt so much goodness from him. I have been having those days where Satan puts those doubts in my mind and I believe them, and I have felt a little off. I know I have been giving my all regardless, but I felt off. Sister Bankhead and I were teaching gospel principles and we were teaching about Heavenly Father and how he gave us each talents and ablilities to bless one another and to become like Him. It was an amazing experience. I felt the spirit testifying to me the entire time we were teaching that it was true. I wondered how I could see my potential and Elder Wickman made a comment about each of us seeing ourselves the way God sees us. I then asked him how can we see our potential. I felt like I was pleading to him to help me understand and see it in myself. He simply said keep his commandments. I felt the burden lifted as he said that. I have a deep love for Elder Wickman and the spirit that he has. I'm grateful that Heavenly Father is aware of me and I was able to have another person in my life that has made an impact. The burdens that I was feeling were continuing to be lifted as a sister taught a wonderful lesson in Relief Society. Have hope, and have hope in the Atonement. I know that yesterday I experienced the power of the Atonement as I could take another step, as I gave my all, as I listened to the spirit. It was a wonderful day.

Donna is doing well and just makes my heart smile. We taught her the plan of salvation and as we taught it I knew that it was a plan from God. She felt that too, it gave her hope to know that her granddaughter that passed away is learning, just as she is now. She does have a hard time hearing and so she had a difficult time in church, but she kept telling us that the Lord knows she is there and the intent of her heart. One of my favorite things on the mission is when the people we teach say the prayer and they use Heavenly Father. Oh my goodness, I just feel overwhelmed with the spirit. I feel so lovely as they are praying because it is so personal and sincere. It's as if they are starting to believe that they have a Heavenly Father who is listening to them. I know He is listening to those prayers.

It was so funny as we were filling up the font for Sam's baptism, the font must have a leak or something, because we had it on for 2 hours and it wasn't very full at all.  Two members of the bishopric came and one of them brought a hose and we hooked it up and filled up the font:)  It was hillarious, we had a hose and we were filling up big pots full of water as well.  Oh we just had to laugh and it all worked out!  I got a happy phone call from on my recent converts, Chris, he was in Bloomington and he called us up and took us to ice cream.  It made my day to see him!!!  He got into dental school and will be heading to California later this summer.  I'm so proud of him and he is doing well and taking the temple prep class.  It's been weird to think that he was baptized almost a year ago.  Where is the time going???? 

It snowed last night and I'm not happy!  Luckily it's been pretty nice today but it's still a bit frigid.  Sister Bankhead and I are staying together for another tranfer!  That wasn't really a suprise since I'm training we are together for 2 transfers, but we are so happy anyway!!!  Love her to pieces.  We get the giggles and she truly is one of my best friends.  It's crazy though because my district leader and one of my zone leaders are going home today, and then we found out that their companions are being transferred so our we are a getting a new district and his companion and 2 new zone leaders.  Our little district is completely different!!!  We will find out on Wednesday who they are, so Sister Bankhead and I are pretty excited though. 

Love,

Sister Lamb

Dear Family,

We had zone conference this past week and as usual it was incredible.  President Collins talked to us about prayer and opening up that communication with him and being able to receive revelation.  It was kind of sad because they have the missionaries who are leaving this transfer bear their testimonies, and it was hard to see some of the missionaries that have made great relationships with leave, Sister Vanderhooft, Elder Nash, Elder Van Zant, Elder Worden, and Elder Edwards.  It was a great day though and Sister Bankhead and I learned so much.  Our area is doing so well, and we are seeing the blessings of obedience.  We had stake conference yesterday, and our stake president reminds me so much of President Mower.  Love is an overwhelming attribute of stake presidents. 

Donna is amazing and absolutely wonderful. We had a lesson with her at the church and she told us that satan was working on her and she almost didn't come, but she was glad she did. We gave her a church tour and she was just loving every minute of it. We ended in the chapel and  the spirit was of course there and she felt it. She told us she had been reading the Book of Mormon and has a feeling when she reads it that she loves and she felt it again in our lesson. She kept telling us over and over that she didn't think we could 'move' her, but we did, well the spirit moved her and she was happy. She had hope when we met with her and we committed her to baptism and she said that thought kept coming through her mind all day. She knows that is the step she needs to take. It was an incredible lesson and the spirit taught her. She came to church yesterday and enjoyed herself and she is doing great.

We also had another investigator at church yesterday, Harold, and we were so happy to see him come. We thought he wasn't going to show because his phone was shut off on Sunday morning and we waited and waited, and then 10 minutes before church started he walked in:) He told us he almost didn't come because he was having car trouble but he kept trying and was able to get to the church safely. He was really excited for our next lesson this week, so that was a good sign.

I caught a horrible cold that put me down for a bit, oh bother it was miserable, I'm about 20% better, so it's getting there.  It was awful at our district meeting earlier this week, everyone was sick and we were quite the site, hoards of tissues and hand santitizer.  It was pretty funny actually, but we were all down.  The weather is beautiful here and I hope it stays like this all week and forever! 

Love,

Sister Lamb

Dear Family,

 

SAM IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gaaaaaa!!!!!!!  Oh my gosh I cannot contain myself, it was the best lesson ever and the best valentines day.  We went up to their home and we had lunch and a lesson.  Sam told us that he feels he is ready to be baptized.  I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I had the salad bowl in one hand and the tongs in another and when he said that he feels he is ready, I just sat there holding the salad bowl and tongs and was speechless and stunned.  Dixie started laughing and I still didn't know what to do and then I wanted to give him a hug so bad, but we can't, so I cried, Hahahaha:)  He has been meeting with missionaries for years and he is ready now.  He is getting baptized on March 4 and the ward and all his friends couldn't be happier.  They asked me to play a musical number at the baptism so I put together a medley of Childrens songs.  I'm so happy, I just cried when he told us.  His heart was open to the spirit and testified to him that this is what he needs to do, I'm thrilled that he came to know for himself.  AAAHHHHH I just love him so much and it's going to be a really special day for him. 

 

I went on exchanges with Sister Gillman and I was able to go to her area in North Vernon. We didn't have any teaching appointments, but we did some service for a member and went tracting. We were able to see some miracles as we tracted. Sister Gillman is an amazing daughter of God. She knows why she is here and I love the spirit that is with her continually. It was great to get to know her more and relate to her about our calling as missionaries. She is just wonderful and I loved being with her for the day. She is like me at times, where we worry and stress over things but we are grateful that we can take a step back and feel that calm and peace from our Heavenly Father. I love her a lot and respect her.

We were able to find a lot of potentials that last few days, and we went to a stake activity that was a memorial for a member who recently passed away.  It was so much fun!!!!  Ed was from Hawaii and was also Samoan, so they had Hawaiian food and dancers, and did dances from some of the different islands.  I loved it!  I wanted to get up there and dance with them, but we had a great time!   The stake invited everyone from his work, and so it was a great finding activity, we did find a potential and have a lesson with him this week.

 

We received a referral from a member this past week, it was her mom who just lost her granddaughter. Her name is Donna Weaver, and when her granddaughter died, she took it really hard. She was living with them and she died on their couch the day after Christmas. The funeral was held at the stake center and there were a lot of non-members and a member of her family, lives in Utah and was touched by the funeral and the spirit that was there, that they started meeting with missionaries in Utah and are getting baptized in a few weeks. Donna was also touched by the spirit and the timing was perfect. We had a great lesson with her, she needed time to let us know how she was feeling and how this has been such a hard time for her. I was just praying to Heavenly Father to help Sister Bankhead and I know what to say, but the only thing I knew to do was to hold her hand for that moment. We were able to testify of the Book of Mormon and how this is going to help her know of God's plan and that she will see her granddaughter again. I love the Book of Mormon!   

 

We got some snow last week but it's all gone, it's a little chilly but a few days ago, we just needed a jacket, so a mild winter is an understatement here.  Sister Bankhead are doing just dandy and staying busy.  We have zone conference this week and I'm way excited, I'm going to be doing a musical number there, so we'll see how that goes. 

 

Love,

Sister Lamb

Dear Family,
I was so happy to hear that Sister Summers stopped by!!!!! Things are going really well here. We had a two day leadership training and it was absolutely amazing. It threw Sister Bankhead and I a little off to not be in our area for 2 days, but we got back into the swing of things in no time! It was so fun to be around so many missionaries and I got to see Sister Little and so that made me so happy. She is doing well and she is serving up in Lafeyette, we haven't seen each other in a few months so it was great little reunion. Sister Lambson was there and Sister Collins about flipped out when she saw us both. "MY LITTLE LAMBY'S!!!!!" President just laughs and shakes his head. I love trainings from President Collins and he empasized at the beginning of the training that a member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, will be with us. It just puts a whole new perspective on things!

We stayed in Anderson and I loved being back there. It was amazing, we stopped by a recent converts house to see how she is, and I taught her the first time she got introduced to the church and then I got transferred the following week, but when we showed up on her door step she recognized me! It made my heart so happy! Then Sister Carter was on the phone with an investigator that I also worked with when I was here, and she told him and his wife, Devonna and Charlie, that I was here, and they wanted to talk to me, it was so good to hear their voices. Then right before we left the next morning, Charlie pulled up because he wanted to say hello! I was so grateful, I only served there for one transfer but I loved those people and that area so much!

Sister Bankhead and I are doing really well and having a lot of fun. She has been doing great and is speaking up a lot more in our lessons! I'm so proud of her. She has a desire to help these people and I love that about her. I was telling Sister Collins at the training how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to train again, it's been a really special experience, as were the other times, but I'm glad I get to be with Sister Bankhead. I see her improving, even though she may not see it, but I do and I love it. I had a lot of the same fears that she does when I first came out, and so I'm happy I can help her overcome them.

Michaela is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!!! The ward has been so supportive and we are all so excited for her. Michaela is so happy and her boyfriend, who is a less active, is also so happy and making awesome changes in his life as well. It was so funny, we were having her try on jumpsuits and she is so stinkin skinny that she was just lost inside of all of them, but one of the members of the bishopric, his wife, brought her temple dress and it was perfect. We are also way excited because Michaela is going to be doing a musical number at the baptism, so that will be really special. We met a family the other night, and the wife is a less active and her husband is not a member. They are the cutest little family, they have three kids and were really receptive to us. We taught them about having family prayer, and the one little girl that is 4, said that she thinks family prayer would bring them closer together. Oh the feeling that came over me when she said those words, was lovely! This precious little child understood why they need to prayer and it invited the Spirit into their home! I love this area!!!

It was so funny, we had a lesson with a guy, John, and we were teaching him about the Word of Wisdom. He is a stubborn guy and he has been smoking since he was 6 and so he didn't think it would be possible for him to stop. He was able to quit drinking cold turkey, but doesn't have the desire to stop smoking because he said that he is mean when he doesn't smoke. We told him that we could help him with a plan to stop and so the whole time the spirit is telling me to take 7 cigarrettes, I don't know why but finally I asked for them and he put up a little fight but then gave them to me, well threw them on the floor, but nonetheless, he gave them to me:) It was pretty awesome. We will see how he does these next few days.

Love, Sister Lamb