Please, will you pray for her too?

TERESA - Hi Family!

This week has been really busy and next week should be as well, which is excellent as a missionary!

First off it was Halloween this last Monday and it was so great! We obviously couldn't go chapping or anything and we were told that if we didn't have an appointment then we needed to be in our flats by 8:00p.m. Well, I made sure that it was be a really fun Halloween so we went to Maria's house. She is a member of the YSA and she's from Idaho. She's here for an internship. But anyway, we all get on SO great! So we (the Elders, Kelvin Troy, and us) went over and had dinner and decorated cookies and carved pumpkins! It was sooo fun! It was a really nice way to spend my last Halloween on my mission!

Tuesday was my last District Meeting and it was really good! We have such a great District Leader, Elder Wilkins. He always comes up with the most creative ideas, which is nice because it really adds variety. This time we did the old school telephone with two cans and a string!  We related it back to prayer with our Heavenly Father and feeling the Spirit. It was sooo good. Then they unexpectedly asked me to bear my testimony! I did but it was pretty teary eyed I might add. I'm really going to miss this. But I've loved my district here in Dublin and the work here has been nothing but fulfilling. :)

Tuesday was really busy too with all these appointments! We saw Aoife and talked to her about Eternal Marriage/Temples/Family History. She really liked the idea of temples. And she is really getting it too because she realizes the severe importance of priesthood authority. She was going on holiday for the week (touring around with a friend's band) and she said she was taking her Book of Mormon without us even asking about it! We also warned her that Satan is going to throw a whole lot of opposition at her especially before her baptism, so we told her to be aware of that. We taught Vito as well and this lesson was completely directed by the spirit! Because we went in there with Gospel of Jesus Christ planned but we didn't really feel good about it. We ended up just reading with him from the Book of Mormon when Christ comes and visits the people of the Americas. It was perfect. Then we read about how we need more than just a Bible in 2 Nephi. It was just what we needed to focus on with him at this time. But to be honest, I don't think he is really interested in joining the church ever and he doesn't meet with us too often so I think we're not going to focus on him too much. Our new investigator, Mario, from Lithuania came to the YSA activity on Tuesday! It was so great! And as the Missionary YSA reps for the stake, we can go if we have an investigator there for the first time, so we got to join in! It was a lot of fun and Mario had a good time as well :)

Bad news on Wednesday though. We were planned to meet with Mario that day and we got a phone call from him in Prison! Apparently he has a bad history of shoplifting and he was caught doing it again and was put in jail. Oh my goodness. He wanted us to come and post bail for him and make an appearance in court for him. What?! We told him that the church could be no way involved in this and that we couldn't do anything about it. So yeah, pretty crazy but actually not too shocking for a mission… stuff like this, believe it or not, happens ALL the time!

Thursday was good as always with Weekly Planning. I couldn't believe that this was my second to last Weekly Planning Session! But I'm trying not to think about it!! Haha But that night we met with a member from Brazil, Patricia, who's struggling at the moment. Elder Geilmann (senior missionary couple) and Podge Brophy (our Ward Mission Leader) gave her a blessing and I wrote it down for her. She said that made her feel better. Then we had dinner at Babs’! We haven't been able to see her for about a month! And she usually feeds the missionaries every Friday. But she told us her serious family problems at the moment and we just hope and pray that everything will sort itself out.

Friday morning we saw Claire White who is a less active only because of health problems. But I love this woman so much! She is really easy to get on with and a good laugh. She just had knee surgery that has still been causing her trouble so we took her little dog Bo out for a walk. As we went along we talked to this one guy and his dogs. He wasn't interested but we thought this was a creative way of finding!! Haha.

That afternoon we had lunch with Sharon and Stacie Mahony and it was delicious as always! Sharon and Stacie told us such a touching experience while they were at the temple this past week. They said that Stacie admired and loved us so much. She wanted to serve a mission and had been thinking about it for a while!! Can you believe that?! We were sooo touched to know that we had influenced her even in the smallest way to serve a mission. It was such a lovely experience! Then we went to the Troy's house for dinner. Now I absolutely adore the Troy's!! They are so wonderful! Kelvin Troy, the RM, gave me some good advice to adjusting when I go home. He said that it's going to be really hard at first but you just have to jump in it with both feet and change your attitude. That was sooo important for me to hear!! I will definitely be trying to do that!

Right now it's really unfortunate because Mary & Patti Green are fighting with Brenda Blackmoore. It's really sad, especially since Brenda is just new in the church and her friends are not being there for her in this important time. But to be honest, the situation is quite ridiculous and Sister Weight and I are staying out of it but WE feel like the adults here! Goodness me, it's really sad to watch but we hope and pray that their hearts will soften toward each other so this will all sort itself out. But Brenda has been great about it and it hasn't stopped her one bit in coming to church and remaining strong, good for her!

Sunday was a mental day! Ok so it all started happening at church. It was fast and testimony meeting and actually Patti Green bore her testimony and said how much of a role we played in her coming back to church, it was very sweet of her and nice to know we've been helping! The whole meeting was quite good actually. And then after church we met with this one member of the YSA that has been struggling with some things. Sister Weight and I could really relate to her problem and no joke, the spirit put into my mind something that helped me with that. She was sooo happy and loved my idea! She said that she felt inspired to meet with us. And then she said something else that really got me. She said, “even if you haven't been able to help anybody else on your missions, know that your helping me save my life and that you came here for me.” It was so special to hear that! And I know that she will be ok :)

But let me tell you about how the spirit directed us to do something we needed to do! Vito came to church but bailed out early without us knowing. Aoife was there and her baptism was announced for this coming Saturday! We went to class and then left because we then realized that Vito wasn't there and we went to find him (this was before we knew he had left). We went out into the foyer and who comes out of Primary but Aoife. She didn't look like herself and we knew something was wrong when she started crying. We went outside and talked. She said that that morning she woke up feeling completely unmotivated with everything; school, church, family, everything. At Sacrament she was just trying to pray so hard to get rid of that feeling but it kept bogging her down that she couldn't. She said it was horrible. I can't even tell you how sad we were to see her this way, it just wasn't Aoife and it was scary. We bore testimony to her telling her to make no doubt about it that it was Satan trying to attack her before something amazing will happen. He knows how much potential she has and he doesn't want her to achieve it. Honestly though, you all don't really understand how severe this change of heart for Aoife really is. When people found out she was getting baptized their mouths dropped to the floor. People kept saying that it was a full-blown miracle. They said if you had known her before then you'd know that she was completely anti - the devil's advocate. So you can see how Satan doesn't want to let her go. He had her and now that she's coming back to Heavenly Father he is NOT happy. We talked to her for a bit and she reassured us that she still wanted to be baptized but that she felt so completely torn in half. At the Chew & Chat members of the YSA went up and talked to her and I know that helped a little. A lot of ward members could see and were worried about her. When they found out we were seeing her that night they were a bit more reassured that we'd help her through it. Nice of them to think so much of us but gosh, we had a LOT of pressure with this! But that night was amazing. We talked with her a bit and she was feeling a little better. She was just so spiritually, emotionally, and physically drained though. So we felt inspired to watch “Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration” with her. She liked it and we bore heart-felt testimony of prayer and how much we mean to our Heavenly Father. Aoife was slowly returning back to herself again. And as I gave the closing prayer we were all really swept away by the spirit as we prayed for this feeling to leave her and be replaced with peace. Aoife is an AMAZING young lady and I think the world of her. I love her so much and as we walked out of there I felt a reassurance from the Holy Ghost telling me it was going to be all right. Please, will you pray for her too?

But needless to say this experience has been really good. I've learned a lot and I've seen how real the adversary is and his power to attack Heavenly Father's children. I personally believe as well that he focuses more on the most elect ones because he knows what they can accomplish and how great they can become. That makes a lot of sense with Aoife. I know that this gospel is the ONLY way to everlasting happiness. Think about that - a happiness that doesn't fade with the lights, and the music, and the crowds. I know that Heavenly Father loves us with every part of Himself and I'm so grateful to be His daughter. What an honor. I'm grateful I was found worthy to serve a mission for Him and see all these lives change! Thank you for everything. I love you.

Love Always, Sister Teresa Kullick