Week 35; Happy Mother’s Day

Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QuW5JQQJL6emqhb68 Dear Sisters and Mothers, Happy Mothers Day!! I just want to start off by saying I have the best mother so you can't beat out Betsy Batman so I wouldn't try to. From the streets of Philadelphia in a white shirt and name tag, I see your influence every single day. "Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World), and that role isn’t cultural, it’s eternal. President Russell M. Nelson declared, "A mother’s influence extends to eternity." You partner with Heavenly Father in "His work and His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39) each time you teach a child to pray, read the Book of Mormon before bed, or bear quiet testimony in your home. We rejoice in Eve because her courage made motherhood possible, and we honor Mary because she answered God's calling, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord" (Luke 1:38). Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called motherhood "the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind," and the Lord Himself compares His love to yours: "Can a woman forget her sucking child…? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee" (Isaiah 49:15). President Ballard taught that "there is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood." Behind every missionary, every covenant keeper, every person who has ever existed or will exist, there is a mother who drew on priesthood power through her covenants and refused to give up. So on this Mother’s Day, thank you. Thank you for seminary rides and whispered blessings, for lullabies and for letting your children see you repent and try again. Elder Neal A. Maxwell asked, "When the real history of mankind is fully disclosed, will it feature the echoes of gunfire or the shaping sound of lullabies?" Your lullabies are shaping Zion. "Her children arise up, and call her blessed"(Proverbs 31:28), and as a missionary I rise up today to call you blessed. The baptisms we witness, the testimonies we strengthen, the families we help unite, they all carry your fingerprints. You are doing God’s work. You are seen, you are needed, and you are loved by your Heavenly Father and by those you nurture for Him. I love you mom. We had an exchange with the Zone leaders on Tuesday and I was with Elder Ridgwell. We had an interesting day full lots of Miracles. We had service at the food bank for 2 hours the beginning of the day and so that split up our day a lot. We then had a lesson with one of their friends austin. He only really believes in a higher power so we had a great conversation with him and teaching him more about Jesus Christ and how he can help us in our lives and our relationship with God. Afterward we had to give one of the members in the YSA Ward a blessing of comfort because she's going through a hard time in her life right now. We had a great chat with her as well teaching her more about focusing on the primary questions instead of the secondary questions that don't matter and remembering the experiences we've had inside this church and how happy that it's made us. But then we had some delicious Chipotle with them after and one downtown for the rest of the night and talked to some interesting people. Overall it was a great day and Elder Ridgwell is an amazing Elder. We had an exchange with Southside again on Thursday and I was with elder williams. Our day was good, we didn't have any lessons so it was just a full day of finding. We were knocking the street and ran into this lady named veya who expressed anger towards the missionaries in the past. We saw her walking and we talked with her and she apologized and really wants to come to church and learn more about the gospel. While we were talking with her these two other older ladies came up to us and it was an incredible conversation. One of the ladies had been on date for baptism in the past and had been held back by the law of Chastity, the other lady was freaked out by my name and ran inside to grab a Batman cape that she had and gave it to me. And in that span of time she almost missed her uber and had to run after it. I just love my last name so much and the stories that come out of it. We have been trying to work with our recent convert Isabella's family. We were able to have a lesson with two of her grandmas and her aunts as well, they're all wanting to come to church and learn more. Isabella is the seed we are planting in her family to be able to create an eternal family. She is such a blessing in our lives. Slowly but surely we are working with her family. This week we found so much success in finding. Usually average about 10 finds a week and this week we got double that at 20. Northside has been so good to us. With the transfer coming to an end we're trying our best to work diligently as a companionship to get the most work we can get done together. With Love, Elder Batman 875.jpg849.jpg848.jpg883.jpg920.jpg

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