Week 22- Menonites and Month 5!

Well everyone another week for the books. Today is my 5 month mark, and I finally feel like time is picking up haha. The biggest change for this week is I'm back in a trio! We had a Sister in a proselyting area go home so her companion came to the sites with us, and now we are both full site and we get to help teach their friends down there, too, twice a week! I haven't done it yet but it will be a great experience. And my new companion, Sister Rustad, was in the MTC with me! We're both from Highland and we actually met on the same shift at the Temple prior to our missions. We went down to church in the area (Penn Yan) on Sunday to meet the branch. I've never attended a branch before so it was a bit of a shock to see only 30 people, 10 of which are missionaries, but they are so sweet and loving and I'm so excited to get to know them. Penn Yan is definitely small town farm country, so on the way we saw a bunch of Horse and Buggies which was AWESOME.

 Horse and buggy! The best I could creepily get while driving.

The other big thing is that we had a mission conference in Syracuse! This may be the only time this happens (to have the entire mission together), and it was because we had Elder Christofferson come for a big regional mission president's seminar. We got to shake his hand and the 4 members of the 70 he had with him, and then we had some great talks on missionary work and using the Book of Mormon, then we had a Q&A with Elder Christofferson. He is so kind and funny and really just glows! We talked about personal revelation, and I even asked a question about what he feels we need to convey to Members, and it was fun.  On the way back we even got chick-fil-a, because one of the 2 in our entire mission was around the block! I almost cried. 

Chick Fil A!!

THEN this afternoon all the mission presidents and their wives and a bunch of the 70 came to the Smith Farm for tours and we got to take a bunch of them on a tour. Elder Christofferson comes in and shakes my hand and says "Hi, I'm Elder Christofferson" and I didn't know what to say except, "I know, I'm Sister Potts". It was awkward it's fine i'm awkward. I also got to tell him about the Cooper shop! But then after he got in a picture with the 4 sisters (I'll send it next week) And shook my hand again and thanked us and patted me on the arm twice! It was really exciting haha. And all the mission presidents were so sweet and it was fun to talk to them about my friends who are/have served in their missions.

Lunch on the Eerie Canal.

Every time I meet or listen to an apostle or other church leader my testimony grows. I know that they are so good and so genuine and loving that they would never ever lie to anyone. I know that they are servants of the Lord and that they have legitimate testimonies for themselves of this work. I also know that they would never dedicate their lives, and that Joseph would have never given his life, for a lie. It's either true or it's not, there's no in between, and I know that it's true. It fills me with light. I love it!

Have a great week!

Love, Sister Potts

FUN FACTS:

1.  By the time that Moroni appeared to Joseph it had been 3 1/2 years since the first vision, and Joseph was nearly 18 years old. 

2.  I LOVE THE RELATIONSHIP OF JOSEPH AND MORONI. When Moroni appeared he was finally meeting the boy who he had been preparing to meet for 1400 years, had written some of his record to, and was going to bring forth the plates that he had dedicated and given his life to preserve. 

3.  Moroni came 4 times to Joseph that night/next morning and each time had the same message but added something different onto the end.

4.  The walk from Joseph's home to the Hill Cumorah is about 3 miles.

5.  It was a mark of social status to have a separate parlor and master bedroom. The log home doesn't, but in the frame home they built later, it does which shows how they moved up in society just a bit.

(Note from Mom:  After such a wonderful week, it was hard to give Emily the news that her beloved cat, Zuko, is gone.  She took the news pretty hard--he was as close as a sibling or child to her and such a light in her life these past several years, and he had helped to heal her from her phobia of animals.  Her priority in calling every week is to see "my babies" (Zuko & Pickles--although Zuko has always been "her" special cat), and then the rest of her family, in that order.  We couldn't keep it from her any longer.  Please pray for her!  She could use an extra dose of love and prayers this next week as she tries to process the grief and loss.  Thanks!)