MINISTERING ANGELS – WEEK 8

Apparently the snow and ice storms we had over the last week was the worst weather Nashville had for the last 5 years or more! All the locals we talked to said it'd go down in the history books as "Nashville winter storm 2021" haha. But the weather is all good now and today was 70⁰ instead of 12⁰ like it was just a few days ago. Everything is melted and there's no trace of winter anywhere. Pocock and I didn't leave our apartment (besides taking out the trash and getting the mail) for more than a week because President Weaver instructed all the missionaries to stay inside just to be safe. We were getting worried because we were running out of food and our can opener didn't work but we had faith that the Lord would provide and we said many prayers!! 

Shortly after, we were blessed beyond measure. People from our church and friends and family back home had tons of meals from restaurants delivered to us throughout the week! We had Panera, Italian food, pizzas, Cheesecake Factory, and a bunch of other things randomly delivered to our apartment. We even had 2 pizzas that showed up within 15 minutes of each other one day. A nice member of our ward who lives in our same complex brought us groceries, and so did Elder Griffin, one of the senior missionaries. Then randomly one night when we were teaching someone over zoom, we heard some noises outside. We looked through the peephole and saw two people stealthily placing bags all around our front door. After they left, we opened it to find 7 huge bags of groceries from Whole Foods sitting there for us!! They even brought us 4 containers of my FAVORITE Ben and Jerry's ice cream- half baked. Long story short, we're not gonna have to go shopping for weeks and our fridge can barely hold everything. I'm so thankful for all the ministering angels the Lord sent us to provide for us. So thankful for all those selfless people who wanted to help us out during that hard time (anonymously and without even being asked!!) 

Last Saturday was the first day we got to go outside again and of course we celebrated by getting Taco Bell. I also got to finally see how beautiful Nashville is!! I can't wait to spend more time outside. On Sunday, we finally got to go to church and I met so many awesome people! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone from the YSA ward better! 

On Monday, we had FHE (family home evening) at the church, which basically consists of the ward getting together, playing games, and having fun! We played musical chairs and chair soccer, both of which got SUPER intense and I have a plethora of bruises. The other 2 sets of elders in our ward that I mentioned before (Wilstead, Hart, Johnston, and Thomason) fought to the death because they all wanted to win. They're super fun haha. Sister Pocock and I have been doing some team teaching with each of the sets of elders! We'll all meet up at the church and teach lessons to our investigators (the people who want to learn more about the church and want to be baptized) and basically have a super fun group discussion about the principles of the gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints!

On Tuesday, we finally got to have district council in person! We get together and talk about how we can better fulfill our missionary purpose (invite others to come unto Christ) and discuss how we can help the people we're teaching! Our districts in the mission are just like the one I had in the MTC. It consists of Sister Pocock and I, the two sets of elders in our ward, and one other set of sister missionaries in the Spanish ward- Hermana Higley and Hermana Harris!! They're all so wonderful. We all got Shake Shack together afterward. 

I've seen so many blessings as we've reached out to people on social media this week! As we were messaging people to set up teaching appointments, I came across a certain girl who I felt strongly prompted to talk to. I sent her a message and explained that I'm a missionary in the area and I'm trying to get to know some people. Her response was, "Oh do I seem like I need Jesus or something?" I said something along the lines of- well we all need Jesus!! Just trying to spread some light! She didn't respond, but a few days later, I woke up to a message from her that had been sent at 3am. She said, "I'm actually really glad you messaged me. Do you have time to chat sometime? Obviously not right now, sorry it's so late I just can't sleep. But I've really been struggling lately and would love to talk." There was another girl I contacted who said she's been struggling with her faith lately and had just finished praying for guidance when she got a message from me. So thankful I followed spiritual promptings and messaged them so I could be an answer to their prayers! Now we're teaching both of them.

Missionary work is certainly hard work!! We contact hundreds of people every day and teach tons and tons of lessons about the gospel of Jesus Christ! Getting to know the people we teach and developing relationships and so much love for them is one of my favorite things about being a missionary. Every second is so wonderful and rewarding even if I'm always so exhausted by the end of the day. Every day of the week, we wake up at 6:30, plan out our day, exercise, study the scriptures for an hour, then study together as a companionship all before 10am. It's such a great schedule because we get to start each day on a good note. 

A few more highlights from the week: Sister Pocock plays the guitar so we've had lots of fun singing our favorite hymns and Christian songs together! We've also been practicing our mission languages! I speak in Spanish and she speaks in Portuguese. We can understand 80% of what the other person is saying and we can have a whole conversation! 

This work is my joy! It's not easy but I testify that we can do all things in the strength of the Lord! I love the scripture Alma 26:27 that says, "When our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." We may feel inadequate or unworthy in life. We may feel as though our weaknesses will overpower our ability to do great things. But Jesus Christ promises us that He will bear our burdens and turn our weaknesses to strengths if we humble ourselves and ask Him for help! He loves each and every one of us. He knows us and wants us to call upon His name for help when our hearts are depressed and our strength is fading! 

Since like 10 of you asked for my new address last week, I figured I'd include it in my email this week haha. 3510 Hillsboro Pike #38 Nashville TN 37215. 

Love yall so much! 

Hermana Cox 

- me & mi compañera at church!

- the groceries that randomly appeared on our doorstep 

- one of the 2 pizzas sent to us 

- panera 







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