Week 69- Miracles and a bit of Luck

        Transfer calls came, and we are all staying in Lancaster!

It has been quite the week!  Last Tuesday we had our first in-person lesson, and it was great but also awkward! Who knows that 5 months without in-person interaction would make us socially awkward right? Haha. Also yesterday we had our first in-person sacrament meeting! It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong as we listened to the hymns even though we couldn't sing them. We also had our new returning member friend I mentioned last week come and she loved it. 

Yesterday we had a really great lesson with our friend Jane! She has been working towards baptism for a while but has had a hang up that she has needed to conquer first. She is pretty stubborn and wouldn't accept any help or anything--she said that one day she'd just 'do it'. Well this week she did and she has been living the Word of Wisdom for a week! She is so excited that she can be baptized now and we are shooting for the 22nd of this month! We are so incredibly happy for her, and we screamed and jumped up and down a lot when we found out. 

Random side note, we found a patch of 4-leaf clovers in our backyard! In 10 minutes we found 80 or so, and 8 5-leaf clovers! I guess we are pretty lucky.

This week in my Book of Mormon reading I have been reading about the conversion of the anti-nephi-lehies. It never ceases to amaze me the level of conversion that they achieved. They were so converted they completely gave up their old lives and despised what they had done. They wanted to follow the Savior so completely and perfectly that they were willing to give up their lives rather that break their covenants. Elder Renlund said, "Being “converted unto the Lord” means leaving one course of action, directed by an old belief system, and adopting a new one based on faith in Heavenly Father’s plan and in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. This change is more than an intellectual acceptance of gospel teachings. It shapes our identity, transforms our understanding of life’s meaning, and leads to unchanging fidelity to God."

This is the kind of conversion that I want to obtain throughout my life!

Love, Sister Potts

FUN FACTS:

1. Have you ever seen the paintings of Mormon and Moroni, or the one of Moroni appearing to Joseph Smith? These were done by artist Tom Lovell. 

2. Tom Lovell is actually not a member of the church, but has done a number of paintings for the church! 

3. Another well known picture is the one of Christ visiting the Americas, found in every single copy of the book of Mormon. This was painted by John Scott.

4. John Scott isn't a member of the Church either, and he painted himself into the portrait several times. 

5. Another popular artist is CCA Christensen. He was studying art in Copenhagen when he joined the church, and he left art school to serve a mission to Norway. That is why his characters have an interesting style while his landscapes are beautiful.