Probably the Longest Week Thus Far

Hey y'all! 

Wow what a week it has been, probably the longest week thus far. Tuesday we had our district meeting and that went really well.  We had great trainings and we are becoming a lot closer as a district. After district meeting we all went out to Golden Coral for lunch because that is the Elder's favorite place to go haha. We also got to see a couple people and teach some less active recent convert families. Wednesday we had Book of Mormon class at the church. During the class we got a call from our mission president so we stepped out and took the call. He had all three of us on the phone and explained that due to a couple situations that a Sister in our zone is with out a companion so he would need Sister Andruski to go down to Dublin the next day and be companions with the Sister there. That was kinda a shock and short notice in the middle of a transfer. but we told him yes and then we got to work seeing every one in the area to say goodbye and to help her pack so Thursday was a full day! So now its just me and Sister Maher here in Warner Robins, we are a little stressed out because this is kinda a white wash for us.  We don't really know too many people here. So we are starting fresh! We do have one investigator named Valorie that we are working with and she is awesome! We had dinner with her last night and had a great lesson about the restoration! I hope and pray things start looking up here and the work will go forward! I love y'all, thanks for your support! Here is a pic of the friend that I found above my bed this week! hahah love y'all

Sister Shelby Randall

Zone Conference, Repentance

Hey y'all!

 Well this week was good! We had our zone conference this week a lot of great messages and good to see all the missionaries from the different areas and zones. President shared a great lesson on what repentance really is. Something that I thought was interesting that he mentioned is “Are we truly repenting or just stopping the action that we are doing?” Repenting is a full change of heart and character and just stopping is not a full change of heart just a change of action. I thought that was a great thought for the week. We had a good week got to meet more people and work more with some of those that we have met the last couple of weeks. It’s weird that I have been here for three weeks already! I feel like I just got here yesterday! Today we went to Andersonville the prisoner of war camp for the confederate armies in the civil war or as I learned today from a very opinionated southern man “That the correct term for the war was " the war of northern aggression" so yea hahah. But it was cool to see and it was really fun. But apparently every thing that "they teach you western kids in those text books is wrong about the war" according to that man haha. We also went to Lanes Peach Packaging and had peach ice cream! So that was really yummy. Things here are good!  Thank you for all your love and support!  I miss you and love y'all!

Sister Shelby Randall

Michelle, She is So Awesome!

Hey y'all! Well it was a great week here in Warner Robins!  We got to see a lot of people! More people than I am used to coming from our small teaching pool in the Valdosta area.  So that has been fun getting used to seeing so many people a day. The one person that I would like to share with y'all is Michelle, she is so awesome! She reminds me so much of Connor! She has a great desire to change her life.  Its amazing to see that desire in her. She has had such a hard life and is struggling with addiction to many substances, but regardless of all that she has such a hope that she can change. I don’t know what it is but I tend to have at least one investigator in each area that has a serious addiction. hahah. But it has been such a blessing to be able to watch people over come that in their life and come out a new person.  We also had zone training meeting this week and that was awesome! I got to see some of my friends from previous areas. Elder Beckman was there from Pine Mountain! It was great to see every one! Well I hope y'all have a great week and I hope to hear from you soon! Love y'all!

Sister Randall

I’m Now in Warner Robins Georgia

Wow what a week! Well I got transferred so I I’m now in Warner Robins Georgia! It’s close to Macon about 20 minutes away! So I am also in a trio, my companions are Sisters Andruski and Mayher! They are awesome! I thought I was going to hate being with two other girls but it has been awesome so far! We get along great and there is a lot of work to do here! So I am excited to get started and the ward is so supportive of the missionaries so it’s exciting! I was able to talk to my family yesterday and that was great! It was good seeing my family and talking with them. It’s crazy that I’m now at 9 months so halfway finished! I have finally gotten to the point that this feels like my home; it’s hard to imagine Arizona as my home ha-ha! When people ask me where I am from I almost say Pine Mountain Georgia! This is finally becoming my life.  This just feels normal now! I am so blessed to be a missionary.  It is an amazing experience and I would not trade it for the world!  I love y'all.  Thanks for the support and the love!  I hope to hear from you soon!

Love,

Sister Shelby Randall

It Has Been the Best Week of My Life!

Wow what a week! It has been the best week of my life! This week was the week leading up to Connor’s baptism, so every day we saw him and taught him!  He also got his own place so he isn’t living with his mom any more!  So we helped clean it up and make it nice! Saturday was a miracle day! There where 4 convert baptisms! The 2 sets of Elders had a baptism and so did we!  So we had back-to-back baptisms all day with Connor’s being the last! He was so excited for his baptism!  I have never seen that kid so happy! It was so beautiful to watch and be apart of! I talked at his baptism and during the talk I asked him “How he was feeling? And he said, "I feel at peace and I also feel relieved." I found it amazing that he used those two words the Gospel of Jesus Christ really does give us peace and relief. Leading up to the baptism Connor had to be smoke free for a week and as I thought about it, this is the first week in his life since he was 9 that he has gone with out using a drug.  He is so amazing! After the baptism we called him that night and he said " Wow. I never thought that I would be a Mormon." Hahaha! It was so funny! That night we had transfer calls and so we called in and listened to the names be called and mine was one of them. So as of tomorrow I will no longer be in Valdosta. It has been bitter sweet. My first couple of transfers here I never thought I would make a difference in any ones lives. It was hard to see that what I was doing was affecting any one. But when we went to church on Sunday where there used to be 4 seats filled in our small meeting room (including the missionaries) there where 35 people in attendance in the YSA branch! It was a powerful fast Sunday and I could not stop the tears from coming! Seeing Connor confirmed was amazing and then the Stake President stood up and thanked me for all of the work that I had done there. It was emotional standing up and sharing my last testimony in the YSA branch. We left right after sacrament meeting and traveled to Macon for the mission leadership council to hear Elder Tony Parker speak to us. It was amazing and powerful experience to hear him relay the message that Jeffery R Holland had for the Georgia Macon Mission! I will never forget that meeting! After we returned to Valdosta we went to the Swanks house to say goodbye and talk and I got a phone call from the branch councilor. He told me that he just wanted to thank me for the impact that I had on him and the branch and that I would be missed. Again because I am a baby I was so emotional. I never thought that I would make an impact on Valdosta but seeing Connor get baptized and reflecting back on all the people I have met I can see that the Lord blessed me with the ability to help his children here even if it was small. But the impact Valdosta has had on me has been nothing short of great!  What a blessing it has been to be here and be trusted by my Heavenly Father to minister in this great part of Georgia! I love y'all cant wait to hear from you!