Letters from Sister Alston: Happy March!

Has it been a week already? haha....I have no idea where the week went!

Monday: Great P-day full of relaxation and fun! Sister Rogers and I went and got pedicures which was amazing, did a little shopping, hung out with Rachael which is always needed, then drove to Burlington for exchanges! They live with a member family in the ward, and told us that they were in Hawaii for the week and wouldn't be home. I go to bed, and at about 12:30 amawoken by someone coming in (not so quietly) the front door. I about had a heart attack!!! Thinking that someone was breaking in because they weren't home, I was terrified and thought I might just die! ...then the kitchen light got turned on and I saw that it was their daughter; who had apparently not gone to Hawaii with the parents (but I missed that part)...anyways...that was exciting!

Tuesday: Spent the day with the Burlington Sisters, it was frigid and we were mostly outside finding so that was fun! Really though, we had a lot of fun and saw many miracles!!! We were able to see one of the ladies the sisters have been working with for a couple months now and it was so neat to hear her story. Having been through a lot in her life, 21 years old, has 2 kids...has completely turned her life around and knows that God is the only thing that matters. She talked about how the gospel has given her hope and joy and she is excited to be baptized and is grateful the church is a safe place full of good people; somewhere she is comfortable and knows her kids will learn good things as well! She had such a strong spirit about her as she was talking, and I am grateful I got to meet Ally! Actually, I found out her fiancé's family is from Willcox, AZ...where Elder Alston was serving for the past 6 months so that was a tender mercy to make that little connection with him! :) While on exchanges, we were able to set up quite a few return appointments for the sisters to see, and help them be more motivated for the work. I love exchanges! (besides the sleeping on a short couch and thinking a robber is coming in to kill you in the middle of the night!) haha.

Wednesday: BACK IN KEOKUK. Having tried to find a less active woman for a couple weeks we decided we wouldn't leave the trailer park until we found her. We knew she had a red truck (which many people have around here)...so we parked at the end, said a prayer, and went to the one with the small red truck which had stood out to us as we drove by. Knock on the door, and sure enough...WE FOUND NELLIE!!!! YAY!!! :) haha. In fact, not only did we find Nellie, but her husband is still interested in the church - just hasn't had much contact with the missionaries for quite sometime (cuz we couldn't find them!)... AND... her daughter had just arrived from Colorado the night before and is also a member. We had a great talk with them and are hopefully going to start coming back to church! ...we will also start teaching Donny, Nellie's husband this week and help him enter the waters of baptism. Another cool story about Wednesday: we were driving by Pam's and saw Jewels walking down the street. We call out to her and runs on over and we were able to talk with her for a bit. She is awesome. She has been frustrated with herself and with those she has tried to share the gospel with. We reminded her that no effort is wasted, that she is being a wonderful missionary and shouldn't lose hope. We invited her to give out a pamphlet, and about 15 minutes after she left we got a phone call telling us how excited she was that she gave away the pamphlet and invited someone to church. She also said she needs more pamphlets to hand out. haha. We saw her Thursday as well...and once again...15 minutes after seeing her she had given away the pamphlet and invited someone else to church! Now that is a member missionary!!! :) Recent converts are the best!!!

Friday: We had zone conference in Nauvoo. It was awesome! I love hearing from President and Sister Jensen, and the assistants. They always have such amazing things to train on and say. Sister Rogers and I had the wonderful privilege of singing "Because I Have Been Given Much" for the meeting, and the Nauvoo Zone sang "The Temple of God at Nauvoo"...and I just about cried as they sung it. I am so grateful Heavenly Father has allowed me to use my talents in more ways than I could ever imagine.

Sunday: Church was cancelled, yet again...haha...but Rachael ended up taking us over to church in Nauvoo and it was awesome. It was kind of weird being in a ward again and not a tiny branch...but it was such a great testimony meeting, and relief society was all on missionary work. Sister Kester taught, and had so many amazing stories. It was exactly what I needed to hear yesterday. After church the Warners invited us over to break the fast with them and 6 other temple missionaries. The Warners are like my grandparents here...I love them!!! Last night we were finally able to hold the branch council Work of Salvation Fireside, and got a branch baptismal goal for 2014! Yep, it's March...but hey! ...we have a goal to work towards now...YAY!!! :) The fireside went so well, and even though there weren't very many people there the spirit was so strong and we know that this branch is catching the vision of what it can become. We are excited to see what happens now that we have begun making this plan. I LOVE KEOKUK!!!! ...I'm praying really hard that Heavenly Father will let me stay here for another transfer. Yeah, I know...then it would be a total of 9 months here...but that's fine by me! haha.

I want you all to know that I am grateful for each one of you. I know that as we all labor together to further the Lord's work, we will be blessed. We are promised that as we bring forth the kingdom of God, all our needs will be taken care of. I know that each of us promised people before we came to earth that we would help them come back to Father. I know that we are all blessed with the gospel in our lives so we can share it with all those around us. I know this church is true. I know Heavenly Father's plan is perfect. I know families can be together forever. I know that my redeemer lives, and loves us more than we can comprehend.

Love Always,

Sister Natalia Alston