Plan of 🙂ness

Today I am full of many different emotions. From gratitude...to sorrow. From hopeful...to mournful. Grateful for my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. Hopeful that we are able to see our loved ones again after we pass from this life. Thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who knows and loves us. Blessed to have our Savior Jesus Christ who has felt every ounce of pain and sorrow we'll ever face and is willing to lift our burdens. My dear uncle lost his battle to cancer yesterday and it's been very difficult for me to not be with my family at this time. I want to be there to comfort my cousins and my aunt. I want to mourn with them and help them get through this but I'm so far away. As i thought about the situation yesterday, I couldn't help but feel so much joy for my testimony of the Plan of Happiness. This Plan answers the questions of our soul, especially the ones about where we go after this life. I know that my uncle Joe is happy and he is finally at peace. He had a long fight with a difficult disease, but he is now reunited with his Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ. He will be able to live with his family again, and that fills my heart with comfort. It also comforts me to know that my cousins and my aunt have this same knowledge and testimony...they are able to rely on those truths to get through this challenging time. I would like to ask everyone receiving this email to take a moment today to pray for this precious Giacalone (jack-uh-lone-ee) family. Prayer is so powerful and I KNOW that every single one of them are heard and answered.
 

This week has been very full of a million different things and i don't have a million years to write about all of it soooo i'll just pick out a few top-notch events.

We had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders in Yarmouth, Maine! I was with Sister Vargha and we had lots of fun. We had a miracle happen while we were tracting...actually, we had a few miracles. When we knocked on the first door, someone answered and told us to leave because apparently it was a "high holiday" for the Jews and they were Jewish. Next door, same thing. Next door, same thing. The next man we met in his driveway was also Jewish and celebrating the holiday, but he was a lot more willing to talk. We ended up talking about the church and the Book of Mormon. He even allowed me to share one of my favorite scriptures with him! I proceeded to offer him the book but he respectfully declined my offer. It was just a miracle that he was willing to listen to us! Although he didn't take a book of mormon, we were still happy that he listened. 

He then advised us to not knock on his neighbors houses since they were mostly all Jewish buuuuut we did anyway😂 it's a good thing we did too because we were able to meet Tom! Tom reminded me so much of Joseph Smith. He literally said, "there are so many religions and churches and ideas out there...how am i supposed to know which one is true?" GOLDEN! We told him about praying to know. We said that we could talk to him until he's blue in the face about how true our church is, how correct the book of mormon is, etc but he wouldn't know for himself until he prayed and asked God. We set up a return appointment so i can't wait to hear how it goes with them!

We had interviews with President Blair! It was so wonderful and he's so inspired... Back story: the day before interviews were exchanges and when you start exchanges, you sing a hymn and read a scripture and say a prayer together with the two companionships. Sister Rogerson asked me to choose a random scripture to read and testify of so the first one that came to my mind was D&C 10:5 which is my all-time favorite. It says, "Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." 

Sister Vargha liked it so much that we ended up reading it with a few different investigators/less active members throughout the day! D&C 10:5 is also on my missionary plaque❤️ but while i was in my interview with President Blair, i brought up some concerns and struggles i was having and he paused for a second, opened up his scriptures, and said that he wanted to share a scripture with me about prayer in the Doctrine and Covenants. Before he turned to it, I said "President...is it 10:5?" And it was! He said he felt inspired to share it with me and i knew it was the Lord telling me that I needed to study that verse further. I'm always amazed at the fact that the spirit works through other people to get to me...I know that prayer is so powerful and through it, we are protected from the adversary. We are protected from fears, doubts, temptations, afflictions, etc through the simple power of prayer. We are so blessed!

Okay i'm done blabbing. All i know is that i love this gospel. I love the Plan that brings us so much happiness. I love being a missionary and serving these humble people of the earth. I love finding those that are prepared to receive the gospel. I love the power of prayer and all the blessings promised through sincere communication with our Father. 

Love, Sister Watson

Exchanges!

We've decided to put our mattresses on the ground because our box springs were WAY too noisy....and we just needed a change...😂

We had to fill out OUR OWN medical papers! No mommies to do it for us...ouch.

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🍁Fall is HERE🍁

FALL IS OFFICIALLY HERE EVERYBODY. The weather is cooling down, the leaves are changed, pumpkinfests are occurring in downtown Damariscotta, and candy corn lines the aisles in the grocery stores. This is my all-time favorite time of year, especially in the most beautiful part of the country!

This past week dragged on forever and ever and ever. I think back to last Sunday and it's as if it were a century ago...but it was a great week nonetheless! On Wednesday we were invited to attend the Young Men/Young Women activity at the Smalls house and we got to make apple cider! We went out into their small apple orchard and picked a bunch of apples, washed them, cut them up, and smashed them in their hand crank presser thing. It was SO cool and SO delicious! I felt like a true New Englander that night! they are so into their apples and making lots of different things out of them. Loooove.

Our investigator Rachel is doing great! Because of her situation, it has to be approved by the First Presidency for her to be baptized so we are waiting on that process before proceeding with anything but as for right now, she's enjoying every last bit of the gospel. She's already almost done with 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon and she has so many insights and great questions each time she reads. It's so cool to see the spirit confirm truth to her. The light of Christ is exploding within her and it's such a blessing to be a part of her journey! Being a missionary is just...wonderful.

On Saturday we helped new members move in to their house! This was a huge deal to this branch...I guess a few months back they did a "branch fast" and prayed for new members to move in so they can build into a ward someday. So far, THREE families have moved in! It was so amazing to listen to the testimonies of the members on Sunday and hear them testify of prayer. They KNOW it was a result of their fasting and praying that these people are moving in to this area. It confirmed my own testimony that ALL our prayers are heard and answered.

I bore my own testimony yesterday during sacrament meeting on prayer as well. Elder Uceda's talk has been sticking out to me A LOT, especially when he said,

"At the very moment we say, 'Father in Heaven,' He hears our prayers and is sensitive to us and our needs. His eyes and His ears are now connected to you. He reads our minds, and He feels our hearts. You cannot hide anything from Him. Now, the wonderful thing is that He will see you with eyes of love and mercy--love and mercy that we cannot fully understand. But love and mercy are with Him the very moment you say, 'Father in Heaven.'" 

This hit me so hard! As soon as you address Him in prayer, He immediately connects to you. I needed to hear that because there are a lot of times where I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. I feel like I'm praying just to say that I prayed. Sometimes I feel like He's barely listening. But because He is our loving Heavenly Father, He has our full attention as soon as we reach out to Him. He wants so badly to hear what we have to say and how He can bless us. How lucky are we?

I hope you're all enjoying the fall festivities. I love you all!

Love, Sister Watson

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DON'T forget.

Helloooooo everyone! Happy October! After 15 months, i STILL don't know how to appropriately begin these things. So hi.

This past week was......probably a good one? I quite literally can't think back beyond general conference! So, we will start with that. Wasn't it AMAZING? There are only a few things in life i really look forward to, and general conference is definitely one of them. We all had the opportunity to sit and listen to the Lord's chosen servants alive on the earth today, including the President of the church, President Thomas S. Monson. We were able to hear exactly what we needed to hear in the exact time we needed to hear it. This is truly the Lord's church, and what privilege it is to be a part of it!

A talk that really stood out to me (there were tons...so I'll just bring up one) was Elder Ronald A Rasband's talk about remembering our spiritual experiences. It sounds kind of silly and a little like common sense, but how often do we allow little bits of doubt enter our thoughts? How often do we forget those times where the spirit spoke to our souls in a way that added blocks to our testimony's foundation? How many times a week do we put worldly things above spiritual things, forgetting where our priorities should lie? Our memory is crucial. Never forget your spiritual experiences. In fact, I challenge ALL OF YOU to write down your most recent experience with feeling the spirit? When was the last time you heard the spirit speak to your heart? Write it down. Share it with someone. Feel free to share them with me, missionaries love hearing other's testimonies as well :) 

Here's a miracle from this past week! We had district meeting on Wednesday and after that meeting, we were planning on just going back to the church to do our companionship study. On the way to the church, we were debating on whether or not we should really go and study, or stop in Wiscasset to see people on the way and skip companion study altogether. We chose the church route until I had the distinct impression to stop at Sister Doray's house in Wiscasset instead. I am SO glad we stopped. When we pulled into her driveway, she ended up pulling in right behind us. Her mom and her son's girlfriend pull in 5 minutes after Sister Doray and they joined us for the lesson. Her mom wasn't interested, but Lindsey (son's girlfriend) had her eyes glued to the video we were showing. When it ended, I shared 2 Nephi 25:26 and tied it into general conference, prophets, faith/testimonies of Christ, etc. I then put the copy of the Book of Mormon back in my bag. I immediately felt something tell me "take that back out and give it to Lindsey." Oh. I gave it a shot, relying wholly upon the spirit, and SHE TOOK IT! She was more than happy to give it a read. I know that we were placed there exactly when we needed to be. We ended up having a total of SIX lessons that day which never ever happens. This is the Lord's work. It is so humbling to know that Sister MacDonald and I are just instruments in His hand being guided to His children who have been prepared to accept the gospel. If I haven't said it enough times already, I love being a missionary.

I have three short months left of my mission that are rapidly coming to a close. I can not get myself to believe that it's been that long...it breaks my heart to see the end so near. BUT, i still have three months of fully dedicated service to the Lord. This is sacred time that I will never get back and i am determined to work my hardest until the very last second.

⭐️❗️Last note: my companion gets SO...MANY...LETTERS throughout the week and i'm tired of opening the mailbox to a stack of letters for her--and nothing for me. Please send me something...anything!

***If you need her address, message a family member***

LOVE YOU ALL.

Love, Sister Watson

Serving in the library :)

A giant pumpkin in the middle of downtown Damariscotta :)

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