Frat row = Prime proselytizing!!

Hey hey! It's been a party in the YSA- the weather is gorgeous, like 60 degree gorgeous. The institute is right next to frat row, so we've been hearing the bass bumpin' all day for a week. #notcomplaining. You know you're an old missionary when you don't recognize a single song that gets played...probably obvious since I hit my 15 month mark today. 

Nice weather= people in a better mood= more people to talk to! We met these really nice girls from another church group on campus. We started talking to them about their beliefs and shared with them some of ours. They said they wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon! Of course, right when we start talking about it their pastor walked by and totally gave us the stink-eye...but we set up a time to meet with them the next day! So we met at a cafe by campus and taught them about the restoration of the gospel. They were super receptive! They did say their preacher sent them a "website with some information" on the Church...we talked about going to reliable and accurate sources for truth- most importantly Heavenly Father! They asked a lot of questions about things he had told them about Mormons (none of it was correct, not surprisingly). Once we answered them they were kind of upset he would tell them things that weren't true so they wouldn't meet with us, but we told them that he probably just wanted to protect them- so many people are mis-informed, it most likely wasn't deliberate. Afterwards we went to walk them to their car, but it got towed! She had parked in a customer only parking for another store, so we called up a member and went with them to pick it up. We felt SO BAD. It was super expensive too, so Sister Winters and I pooled together the cash we had on us to try to cover some of it. We literally felt so terrible and figured they would think it was some sort of sign to never meet with us again! But they texted us after and said they should be coming to church tomorrow!

Tomorrow Laura is speaking at the mission president fireside! We are so excited! She's bringing a lot of her friends, and we've got several investigators going. Some of them have hit a few walls that are making it harder for them to progress, but they're keeping the goal of baptism in their sights for the near future! I truly believe that no matter what we're dealing with, the Atonement of Jesus Christ will help us and heal us. Without His grace, we could never overcome our sins and weaknesses, but with it we can do anything! We've been trying to teach repentance more and focus on making changes in their life so they'll notice the effect the gospel is making. All repentance is, is turning our hearts to align more with God's will. It's deciding to not listen to inappropriate music so you can feel the Spirit more. It's apologizing to someone even when it's hard because you know it's what the Savior would have you do. It's reading your scriptures when you want to watch Netflix because you understand the importance of growing your faith through study and personal revelation. All those things constitute as repentance. It's not just owning up to sins, it's changing your life to be more in harmony with Christ and His teachings. We all have things to repent of every day- when we make it a habit to ask for His help to overcome our shortcomings, we feel an increase of the Spirit and even more of His love. 

Anyways, hope you all have a great week! -Sister Brett

Ether 12:37 "​And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made ​​​clean​. And because thou hast seen thy ​​​weakness​ thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."