July 22

Hello my dear family!

Things have been good here in Grand Forks! well ya good :) We have had a few rough days and a few incredibly days so it all evens out to be good :) It's amazing how the Lord helps you through the hard times by giving you specific blessings. Story time!

So my companion Sister Ransom had an older brother who passed away. and this past friday was the anniversary of his death. It just so happened that we planned an exchange for that day without even thinking. So she was going to be left here in Grand Forks with a brand new missionary who has only been out for two weeks on the anniversary of her brothers death. Basically the entire time I was driving to Fargo (which is where I went for the exchange) I was just thinking about how I just left my companion on the one day she needed me most!!! But of course Heavenly Father is watching over us and he showed that to us in a miraculous way. So I went down to Fargo and was just doing missionary work down there we had a pretty uneventful night and after our nightly planning session Sister Ransom called us and asked us about our day. So we told her what happened and then she started to tell us about their night. And oh my goodness it was AMAZING! They ended up finding 4 new investigators and 2 SUPER solid potential investigators. and all through tracting!!!!! which for anyone who has served a mission you understand that these things NEVER happen. Since being out here on my mission we have found like 3 investigators tracting before and we have spent HOURS doing it. Most of the time people are nice but they don't really want to hear about your message. Majority of the new investigators that we have found have been through the ward. So it was a miracle!!! and it just strengthened my testimony that Heavenly Father is watching over us. He knew that to help Sister Ransom through this incredibly hard day and situation he would need to give her some help. and he did!!!!!!! then Saturday came along and it was horrible! we had our day perfectly planned out and it just turned into caos! on our way home from Fargo (sister ransom had come down to pick me up and exchange back companions) we get a call from the other set of sisters who serve in Fargo. (back track for a second here sister ransom is the Sister training leader for out zone so she is over all of the sisters here. She is basically just a leadership role who helps them with major issues and goes on exchanges with them to help them grow as missionaries etc.... she has been one since we got here oh and there are two sets up sisters in Fargo and us in Grand Forks and that's the sisters in our zone) so this set calls her and tells her that one of the sisters is having this super strong feeling that she shouldn't be on a mission. which is pretty major. so we spent the rest of our day making phone calls trying to help her and talking with Sister Anderson (president andersons wife) and trying to get to all of our appointments. Basically it was a rough day. So we wake up for church on Sunday and we are like ok we can do this! so We got to church and Heavenly Father blesses us again! We had 5 investigators come to church!!!! which again has NEVER happened for us! It was a great Sunday and we have had multiple people in our ward start to invite non member friends to church and they are really starting to catch the missionary spirit!!!!! so moral of the story is that when hard things come and we are asked to face difficult trials the Lord ALWAYS give us specific blessings to help us through those hard times.

So that was basically the highlights of this past week! things are moving along here in Grand Forks! we love the people we love the work and we love being companions!!!!

I just want everyone to know that I love and miss them!!! but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am exactly where the Lord wants me to be doing exactly what the Lord wants me to be doing. I feel the strength of your prayers and they help me more than you know! Having a loving supportive family is the greatest blessing a missionary could ask for!

The other day a member asked us what was something we wished we had done to better prepare for a mission. my answer was pretty simple. I wish that I had shared the gospel with my friends better. I wish that I would have invited more people to learn about the church. I wish that I had learned how to share the gospel with others before I became a missionary. That is probably one of my biggest regrets that there were people placed in my life who I could have shared it with and I got scared and never did. So don't be like me!!!!!! if you have a prompting or if you know someone you can invite to learn more about the gospel DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It doesn't have to be some big scary thing! you don't have to invite them to meet with the missionaries right up front. It can be something simple like inviting them to a family home evening, or to come to church, or to do family history, or to attend a ward activity! or maybe its just sharing your testimony of a gospel truth. however you can don't be scared to share the gospel. There is a quote in preach my gospel about how the more we are converted to the gospel and feel the blessings of the atonement in our lives the stronger desire we have to share the gospel with others. So that is my invitation to all of you wonderful family members and friends! Don't be scared!!! Share the Gospel :)

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! and I know that you are supporting me and like I said that is a great blessing and comfort to me. Keep being strong! this gospel is true I know it with all of my heart and soul

Love always your favorite sister missionary,

Sister Boudreaux