Rainstorms, Cat's Blood, and Mexico

Hello from smelly New Bloomfield! It's spreading season here in the boonies! Who doesn't love the smell of fresh manure on the fields? 😂 the joys of a farm land mission! This week has been one one crazy week! But definitely one of the best on my mission thus far. There were some crazy things that happened and we witnessed a lot of tender mercies. On Tuesday we went to Newport as we normally do. We are always busy on Tuesdays, because there are so many people to see there. We went and visited an investigator named Dee, and she's the best. She up until this point has been what we call "an eternal investigator" because she's been learning for quite some time, but keeps no commitments😬. Well, Sister Roper decided her lesson was going to be the first lesson I would lead out on since being in the field. I invited her to be baptized without fear, which I was totally terrified of doing before. She didn't say no, but not right now. We made a ton of progress with her and found out how we can help her better and how to get her to the point of baptism. She knows she needs to be baptized, she is just letting a lot of fear hold her back. One of her greatest fears is that her husband Andy will never accept the church and come unto christ. Immediately I promised her that he may not accept it in this life, but he would in the next. Me promising that to her really surprised me. I know that that promise wasn't my words, but the Holy Ghost working through me. We left the lesson overwhelmed with the spirit and I was truly reminded that we are truly not the teachers, but the Holy Ghost is. 💓 On Wednesday we had the last lesson of Preach My Gospel with our girl Trinity. Next month she will hit her one year mark since baptism and we won't be teaching her anymore. It was bittersweet, and she's came a long way even since I have been here. We will continue to meet with her until that point, but we are going to start getting creative with our lessons haha. 😜 Thursday was a very interesting day. We had what was probably our last lesson with our investigator Christy. Onward and upward right?! We went up to Mifflintown to meet with some less actives, and stopped in Mexico on the way 😂 hahaha. Just Mexico, Pennsylvania, don't worry. Anyways, we saw a sign that said hand dipped ice cream and we stopped at it of course. It was a tiny little market that sold Homemade Amish Ice cream! It was $1.50 a cone and it was a TON of ice cream, and it was the best Ice cream I have EVER HAD. Such an awesome find! So that was Sister Roper and I's little Road trip adventure for the week haha. We also had another lesson with Linda Stoke which was awesome as always. She didn't have a full grasp of what the atonement is and we had a powerful lesson with her Friday we went out with Sister Boothe to a drive up diner named Red Rabbit, and YUM. It was so good and it was awesome to spend time with Sister Boothe and help her let her hair down during this hard time. She is doing so much better, and she even came to the Valentines Day Ward Party on Saturday and had a great time. We are so proud of her and the strength she is showing after Dawn's passing. She gets better and better every day. BTW the ward party was so fun and we played a lot of fun games. It was a good time for fellowshipping 😀. Saturday we had our first Pennsylvania rain storm and man did it POUR. It was awesome though. I love the rain and it reminded me of home. It's been really sunny this week, sunny and 70 almost everyday, and we have absolutely loved it. The sunshine was much need. My Girl Emily also opened her own mission call Saturday and she is going to............. OGDEN UTAH! Kind of made me laugh but she'd going to be so awesome. Sunday we went out with our Senior couple the Thompsons, to the Noss home. Sister Noss is such a funny lady. Every time we go over she doesn't have her teeth in, but she's very loud and spunky. Her and her husband do not attend ever, but they have a very strong testimony of the church. The Thompsons connected with them on a level we never have, and I am so grateful for them! Sister Noss' cat has a tumor on its tummy about the size of a grapefruit, and while we were there it opened up and started bleeding everywhere and the cat started crying. Elder Thompson immediately said he would give the cat a priesthood blessing, and so he did. A little crazy haha, but I noticed almost immediately after, the cat stopped bleeding. It was pretty cool! And poor sister Roper, she was in the splash zone and got some blood all over her, and I cleaned up whatever was on the floor. You don't see that everyday do ya? Hahaha😂😂 As always, I am thankful for all of you and the support you have given me, it means everything. I truly love being a missionary more than I can express, and the thought of going home breaks my heart, but luckily I have some time before that. I love you, and look forward to hearing from you all! D&C 6:34-37