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!

"Hey what are you people doing out here!"

Hey y'all!

Wow what a week! It was a trying week there at the beginning.  Had some hard challenges in the Valdosta District. Tuesday we all went out as a district to this cool house that Sister Swank saw a couple weeks back that looked like no one had been living there in 50 years! So we got there and the Elders went up and knocked on the door and no one answered.  So we took some pictures and stuff and then all of a sudden we hear some one say "Hey what are you people doing out here!" Then this old man starts coming around the corner and I’m thinking he’s got a gun!  This is the south and this man is mad! He came out and started talking to us & told us he’s always got people up there taking pictures and he doesn’t like it but we told him that we knocked and then he was happy haha! So we talked to him for a while and then headed out!! On Wednesday I went to Tifton to exchange with Sister Deman! We had a great time and we where able to see so many people! We also where able to go to the institute class in Tifton that night and it was very interesting.  I learned a lot. On the way back to the apartment Sister Deman was driving and we hit a big dog! haha  It was crazy! He just ran into our car! And then he got up and ran away! So we got back to the apartment and there was a big crack in the front of the car so yea that is no good lol. The next day I came back to Valdosta with Sister Brain and we went back to work here! Connor is doing so great! This week he only had one cigarette! He’s working hard at the waffle house and he got his own place this week! Sunday he came to church after working all night and it was a great Sunday. After all of the meeting were over Connor had his interview with President Fussell, councilor to the mission president! We waited out side the whole time and then President Fussell came out and called President Cottle so we went in the room with Connor and the Elders and waited and President Fussell came in and told Connor how amazing he is and testified to him that he is going to be something great in the church! It was so cool! After we went home President Fussell texted us and told us that we had done a wonderful job and that he really feels that Connor is going to do big things in the church. And that he had wished he took a picture with him. It was a great to see other people see the good in him as well as us it was a great week! I love y'all and hope to talk to you soon!

Sister Randall

Ups and Downs

Hey y'all!

Well this week was a long one full of ups and downs! Not much to say this week, Connor is doing amazing! He is so excited for his baptism! He can hardly wait! He is jumping up and down! This week I was able to see the love that our Father in Heaven really does have for each one of us. As members of the church we are told growing up that Heavenly Father loves you and you are a Child of God, but rarely did I ever fully understand. Its like when your parents tell you they love you, you know they love you and you love them but you rarely ever fully grasp how deep that love is. This week was a powerful witness to me that our Heavenly Father loves us! He knows us by name, He knows our pains, and our sorrows and He ALWAYS is there for us. There is nothing you can do that will change that love! It is my testimony that he is real!  Our Heavenly Father cares and our brother and Savior Jesus Christ paid the debt in full for us to return to him.

    “Just think of it, you are known and remembered by the most majestic, powerful, and glorious Being in the universe! You are loved by the King of infinite space and everlasting time!”—President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

       I love y'all and I am so blessed to have so many people that love and support me! The gospel is true.  The book is blue...sometimes black;) I love my mission and the experiences I’m having! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love Sister Shelby Randall

Connor wanted to be a missionary! He tried to convert a lady at the gas station!

Zone Training Meetings

Wow what a week! Talk about exhausting! This week we had zone training meeting and because Sister Brain & I are sister training leaders we had to give training's.  I gave training on the importance of integrity so that was fun! We also had skits in between the training by the various districts and the Nashville elders did a skit and they pulled out a box and they had a turtle that they found in the middle of the road. They named it Sunbeam and brought it to the meeting with them! After the meeting Sister Brain and I where playing with it and they told us that we could have it if we wanted to! So we loaded up Sunbeam and took him in the car!  On the way home Sister Swank took us to Olive Garden! She is my favorite person here! We took Sunbeam home and put him in the bathtub!

Friday we tried to see Connor because we had not seen him all week and we where worried about him.  So the Elders & Sister Brain & I  went to waffle house and had pie so that he would have to talk to us! hahah It was cool.  He really liked that we came in and saw where he works and also a less active started working there as well.  So now we know where to find him! We waited for him to get off of work and we talked to him a little.  He said that he was just getting stressed with the baptism coming up and quitting smoking is hard! So Sunday we went over and talked about it and we are moving his baptism back to the 30^th.  So that he has more time and so that all the people he wants to be there can make it! He is really excited and so ready!

We also had interviews this week with President;  where he quizzed us on our 42 scripture references and I think I failed haha! I definitely need to work more on that! But it was so great to visit with President and Sister Cottle!  I love them! I am so glad that I am here in Valdosta and in the Georgia Macon Mission!  It really has become the greatest blessing of my life!

Sister Shelby Randall

This Week Was Full of Meetings

What a week! This week was full of meeting! We had to drive to Macon this week (2 1/2 hours) to go to missionary training meeting. So we got up early to leave by 6 and little did we know that the weather was going to be as crazy!  As it was I could not see out the windows at all. I don’t think I have ever driven down the highway before only going 15 mph until that day. LOL! It was scary! We had a great meeting! A lot of insight on the mission and council from president and his councilors! That night we drove home and we pulled in at 8 and by this time I am done sitting for the day! And i just got to pee so bad so I run in the house and flip on the light in my bathroom and there are 5 goldfish swimming in my toilet! So I freaked out there are fish in my toilet! I forgot it was April Fools Day, and the Elders have a key to our apartment... so we checked everywhere and there where fish in the sink too! So I had to fish them out!  I didn't want to flush them but they all died any ways.. We got them back!  We put Vaseline in all their door handles that night. Happy April Fools HAHA! Conference was really great! I loved it! I don’t think there was one specific talk that I loved more than the other. The whole weekend was inspiring and uplifting! I love conference,  it is a great time to get council and make small changes in our lives so that we can become better! Also the humanitarian efforts the church is making and asking us to participate in truly inspiring! I can’t wait to help in any capacity I can! Thank you for all the love and support I love y'all!

Love, 

Sister Shelby Randall