"Keep Midwifing" President Mann

 Hello hello! Another amazing week here in the WVM with so many miracles! Let me explain my title before I get into the week. We had zone performance reviews this week and we proposed a brand new idea to President Mann. When he asked for more details, Elder Walker said "This was a brand new baby idea formed yesterday", so President said "Oh so you haven't midwifed it into the world yet?" and we were like no no not yet. His response was "well, keep midwifing". For anyone who doesn't know, President is from England and has the coolest British accent so this was SO funny! Anyways, let's get into the week now!

HIGHLIGHTS:

• EXCHANGES: This week I went on two exchanges! I exchanged with Hermana Harris and with Sister Davies. With Sister Davies, I spent the day in Shelton and we saw SO many miracles! We handed out 3 copies of the Book of Mormon which is quite a few for a single day in Washington! We met a guy who said he used to have missionaries coming every week to his house where he used to live, but then he moved to Shelton and has never met missionaries there! It was so cool to talk to him and I can't wait to see the sisters help him! Then with Hermana Harris, we spent the day together here in Elma and met a super cool guy named Daniel. We talked with him on his porch for like an hour and a half, it was crazy! We asked him if he was in a place to grow closer to Christ and he said he definitely is. He is super busy but he is super willing to meet with us and wants to come to church! It was so cool!
• DONNA: Last Monday, we had a member call us and say "hey I'm with a friend, talk to her". It was super crazy but we started talking to her and she knows missionaries but has never really been taught and we set up an appointment for Wednesday. Well we went over and had an amazing lesson! She has a lot of concerns about life, wants to find some hope, and said she feels spiritually lost. We taught her about baptism and the gift of the holy ghost and the blessings that come from that. She came to church on Sunday and is so open to the gospel, it is amazing! We LOVE Donna!
• WILL: Will is another friend we found through a member! Our member, Mary, said she had someone for us to meet so we scheduled a lunch at her house and met Will! He knows a lot about God and loves God but is looking for ways to grow closer to Him. The lesson was kind of all over the place because we were just answering some questions he had about what we believe but he is also so cool! He didn't make it to church on Sunday but texted us to apologize because he was really excited to come! Hopefully he can make it next week! 
• ASL: Last night I found out I am now going to be an ASL missionary! I could not be more excited! I definitely have lots of work to refresh my ASL but I am excited to get back into it! The mission needed some people who knew ASL and so they asked if anyone knew any. I told them I knew a little but that I could get back into it and it looks like I will be! I am even getting a new tag that says American sign language and I am just so stoked!
• JASON DEERE: Last night on our Sunday night mission devotional, we had Jason Deere speak to us. He is a part of the Nashville Tribute Band and it was so special to have him! He sang some songs for us and the spirit was so strong! Watch the Nashville Tribute Band website for pictures of our mission. 

LOWLIGHTS:

• RAIN + COLD: The rain and the cold are truly back. It rained most of the week this week and I was so sad about it! I am officially to the point where I am sick of the rain so I really hope it starts going away soon haha. 

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

This week I studied a lot about the Holy Ghost and how it blesses our lives. It has been SO COOL. I read a talk called "Take the Holy Spirit as Your Guide" by Larry Y. Wilson and I highly recommend! One part I especially loved is when he said "We need the Holy Spirit as our guide in calm waters so His voice will be unmistakable to us in the fiercest storm". We truly need to be best friends with the Holy Ghost in the calm part of our lives so then when things get crazy, we know which voice to listen to!

Love you all tons! Have the greatest week! 

-Sister Stringham