Hello everyone!

Hello everyone!

Well happy birthday to Josh this week also! I hope you had an awesome

day old man😉 haha.

Okay so this week was hard. I'm not going to lie. There was a lot of

stuff that went down that will take too long to tell so I apologize in

advance for the shortness of this weeks email, but I don't really have

the time to right a novel today!

Well we got transfer calls this week and Sister Jolley and I are both

staying! But the weird thing is that this last week two Elders just

randomly showed up to our apartment with a mattress....like what the

heck?? Usually when they do that it means that you're going to be in a

trio. But we have received no such calls from president.

Well we didn't teach many lessons this week. But we had some fun

experiences. First of all we got to spend a little bit of time with

one of my favorite families in our Ward. Their names are the Bernard

family and I just love them to death. They have four of the most well

behaved beautiful little children you've ever seen. And they just

recently had their fourth baby. So we dropped off some cookies for

them to congratulate them on their newest member of the family. And

then later as we were walking down the street they invited us in to

spend a few minutes with them during their family home evening and to

read the scriptures with them. They are just the sweetest family. And

it is so easy to feel the spirit in their home. I just love them

because they are such a wonderful example of living the gospel. And if

anyone really knows me then you know that I just love babies! Even

though I couldn't hold their brand new baby girl at least we got to

see her. And it's amazing the spirit that a brand new baby brings into

a home.

Then later in the week we had another Zone goal of talking to 10

people a day and inviting them all to do something. But here is one

thing that I have come to learn about Medford...a lot of people are

very closed off the the missionaries. People know who we are and they

intentionally avoid us. Or mock us and make fun of us, or just being

flat out mean to us. Suffice it to say I've learned a lot this week

about persecution. Just one example, so we were just walking down main

st in Medford and we were walking past this brand new restaurant that

everyone loves call the Pop Shop. Well as we are walking past I see a

man and his little son sitting on a bench. As we draw closer I smiled

and said hello to the man and asked him how his day was going. He

looked up at me with this look of scorn and said "it was going great

until just now." Oooh I can't even describe to you how I felt at that

moment. Amy, wanted to smear his ice cream all over his face for being

so rude...but Sister Callaway knew better. And I knew what the Savior

would do in that moment so I just took it. I invited him to do

something and he just said "move along, you're wasting my time." I

smile and said "have a great day sir." And walked away. I didn't

understand why he had to be so rude but at least I invited him to

learn about the Restored Gospel and even though he said know at least

I fulfilled my purpose as a missionary. Oh and also a member told us

this the other day when we were having dinner with them that

apparently there is a Medford Township Facebook page and she told us

that recently she had seen someone post something on there that said

"The Mormon Missionaries are coming! Everybody get inside and hide!"

My first thought was "well at least we are known around here!" But

then it just made me sad because the harsh reality is that so many

peoples hearts are so hardened here. But that's okay because we are

still finding people! Holding appointments is another thing but

finding people we are doing that!

We also got bible bashed again this week. And yet again this man was

attacking The Book of Mormon. When the day after we had district

meeting and it was on receiving revelation through The Book of Mormon.

As we discussed it I realized that through reading the bible know and

understand what the savior did for us but that through also reading

The Book of Mormon we know and understand why he did it for us. And

specifically how it pertains to us individually and how it changes us.

And how we are saved through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

I know can honestly say that I know without a doubt that The Book of

Mormon is true. And that because of it I have come to know my Heavenly

Father and Jesus Christ personally. Which relationship I am so

grateful for and don't know what I would do without. It is my solemn

testimony that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in reality live as

glorified and perfect login beings.

Sorry this one is so short this week but I love you all and will talk

to you next week!

Xoxo

~Sister Amy Callaway~

Hello my beloved family and friends!!

Hello my beloved family and friends!! 

Well first of all I am so happy for Britt and Erik!! Just so you know I totally just went and got a 711 slurpee to cope with my sadness of not being there at your sealing. But all was well :) we had a great day Saturday and your being sealed just made me want to work that much harder. 

And also HAPPY DAY OF BIRTH TO TAYLOR AND COLE YESTERDAY!! I was sitting there during church yesterday thinking about how 10 years ago I remember sitting in the hospital room holding them right after they were born. And how I can't believe you are 10 already!! I love you both and I hope you had a great day! :) and Happy Birthday to Stephanie this week!! I love you sister!! And I will send you something soon, but you can't know what it is because it is a surprise :) 

Well this week was pretty interesting. First of all on Wednesday was when we got our mini-missionary!! She arrived at about 9pm on Wednesday and when I say we got a mini-missionary I mean she was actually mini, like she was smaller than me! Haha like barely though. Anyway her names is Sister Menezes. And she is from Manause, (i think that's how you spell it?) Brazil! Her family moved to philly though when she was a baby. She spent a few days with us to see what missionary life was like, and oh man did we have some interesting experiences while she was with us haha. 

First of all we had district meeting the day after she got here and District Meeting was amazing! We talked about receiving personal revelation through prayer and it was nothing short of amazing! I learned so much and definitely have a testimony of the power of prayer. I honestly do not know how I would survive without prayer. Nor would I ever want to. I am just so grateful for the sacred form of communication that we each can have personally and individually with our Heavenly Father each and every day. I was reading In the Missionary Handbook and it was talking about prayer and I realized that our prayers often show and demonstrate how close we are with our Heavenly Father. I know that the power of prayer is real because I have seen many many answered prayers on my mission :) I just love prayer :)

After District Meeting we had the opportunity to have lunch with the Stake President, President Sikahema and his wife, cousin and aunt. As we ate lunch with them President Sikahema talked about how he and his aunt served in the same mission. Many years apart but he talked about how he remembered that when he came to his mission everywhere he went he heard about his aunt and the good that she did for the people that she served. People loved her and revered her  for the missionary that she was. He started to tear up as he admonished each of us to live and serve our missions and throughout our lives and to leave a legacy behind, and more importantly to leave a legacy that others would like to follow. When he finished he asked his aunt to talk about what her mission meant to her. She started to cry just thinking about it and the first thing she said about her mission was this, "the greatest thing that I remember when I think about my mission is my love for the people that I served." She then went on to talk about how there was a time on her mission when she was in a trio and how both her companions were "hard to deal with" she said. She spoke of writing to her mother about it and when her mother wrote back she simply told her this, "don't complain about your companions problems. Instead try to serve them in whatever way you can. Love them as the Savior would Himself if He were there." She said that that hit her pretty hard and got her thinking. And then she told us something else that her mother wrote to her in her native language of Tongan, she said

"The amount of service you render to others, is in direct proportion to how much Christlike love you feel." 

I love that. So much so that I wrote it down and stuck it on my wall of quotes and pictures right by my desk. And I thought long and hard about that. We are always constantly learning, studying and applying the Christlike Attributes. One of which is Charity. And I love Charity. That's why my favorite Scripture in Moroni 7:47-48 talks about Charity...

"47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

I love how this scripture talks about charity. 

What is Charity?-It "is the pure love of Christ," 

How can we attain it?-By "pray[ing] unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love," 

What is the result of having Charity?- "that when he shall appear we shall be like him...that we may be purified even as he is pure." 

Because Charity is the pure love of Christ it motivates us to serve others as the Savior Himself would. Now I'm relating it back to the quote by President Sikahema's Aunt, I realized that in how much we serve others the pure love of Christ truly is manifest. Jesus Christ is the perfect example of Charity because he loved others all His life and He served them. And sometimes it is hard for us mortals to do that. But the more we try to attain those Christlike Attributes, like Charity for example, the more we are becoming like the Savior. So let me rephrase that quote to how I understood it...

"The amount of service you render to others, in direct proportion to how much [you are like the Savior]." 

As missionaries and as members of the church we are truly representatives of Jesus Christ. And as true followers of Him we must keep all of His commandments and try our hardest to be like Him if we are to truly represent Him. 

This also reminds me of an experience we had after District Meeting on Thursday. We went to go and try to visit a less active who we had not been able to get a hold of for a while. And when we finished talking to her we started walking back to our car. And this random creepy guy in a a mini van starts slowly following us down the road as we are walking to our car. (Mind you we also have our mini-missionary with us at this point and it is only her first day) this man parks on the other side of the street and rolls down his window and inquires as to who we are. Standing as far away from him as we could we yelled across the way that we were missionaries for our Church. He asked what church and we replied loudly "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." He asked if that was Mormon and we said yes. 

He then started to tell us about how he was so worried about us sweet, young, innocent and sincere girls, because we are being deceived. Right then I knew what this guys intention was and I immediately thought to myself "oh brother" he then went on to tell us everything false he had ever heard about The Book of Mormon, and said a lot of other negative things about the Church. 

I had no intention of engaging in any kind of conversation with this guy but when someone has the nerve to come up to me and try to tell me that everything I believe is wrong, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut...which isn't a good thing sometimes haha anyway this guy just would not stop. I knew that there was no use and no point in trying to "prove" anything to him because his heart was already hardened against the truth. And he was already bagging on everything that is true so obviously the spirit wasn't going to be there. And he was just reciting off the safe verses from the bible and saying the same things that I recognized from every other bible basher I've come across. 

Anyway, as he was doing this I wanted to do something just to stop him from talking and so I pulled out a pass along card and walked right up to him and invited him to church! (Side note: this week our goal for our Zone was to invite 10 people to church everyday) and so not only did he help us to fulfill our goal for the day but it also completely threw him off haha. I said to him "sir, I don't know where you are getting your information from but whatever it is, you're looking to the wrong source. And the best place to actually learn about the fullness of the Everlasting true gospel is at church. It starts at 10 AM on Sunday and we would love to see you there." He told me that he was a preacher from another church, and he continued to bash on everything that I hold dear and sacred. Specifically he tried to tell us that we were wrong for trying to "earn [our] way to heaven by doing good works." And that was the biggest thing he couldn't get over. He asked me if I knew if I was going to Heaven, and I said "I know that as long as I keep the commandments and I keep my covenants that I have made with God then yes I will be going to Heaven." He went on and on about so many other things but before it could get out of hand I again did the only thing you can do in that situation....

"19 And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them."(Alma 4:19) 

So I simply bore my testimony, of the only true and living gospel and of my Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement and of saving ordinances that allow us to return to our Fathers presence. And so did our mini-missionary! And with that we turned around and left. We didn't confound him, we didn't stump him nor did we try to but we did bear witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the best way that three teenaged girls could do in that moment. 

But the next day as I studied I was reading from The Book of Mormon and the Bible and the spirit confirmed to me again that this the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only entirely true church on this earth. And I remembered some of the things that man said about us trying to "earn our way to heaven" by doing good works. To that man he said it doesn't matter what you do as long as you accept Jesus Christ you are saved." And I thought "oh no, this man doesn't understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ." 

And with that a line from one of my favorite talks came to my mind. It is a talk by Brother Brad Wilcox called "His Grace is Sufficient" and in it he spoke of his Christian friends who believe that we Mormons are trying to "earn our way to heaven" by trying to be and do good. To which he said this: 

"No, we are not earning Heaven. We are learning Heaven. We are preparing for it." 

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we are saved that is the absolute truth. But we still have a part to do. This life is not a competition to see who can try and be and do the most good, this life is a conversion process so that we can progress and try to become more like our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. As we keep the commandments that God himself has given us, and through making and keeping sacred covenants and promises we become sanctified or in other words we begin to change and we begin to be more holy like Our Savior. In other words we are preparing to live in Heaven with them. 

We are commanded to be perfect. "48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:48) But we can't be. We are imperfect, we sin, and mess up. And because of our sins we become unclean. And it is our sins that keep us away from Heavenly Father but the whole purpose of this life is to enable us to live with them again...."19 And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end."....but just like the rest of this scripture states as long as we accept and apply his atonement, repent, keep his commandments, and continue in faithfulness or endure to the end then we will live with God in His presence again. 

Brother Wilcox said in his talk, "scriptures make is clear that 'no unclean thing can dwell with God.' But Brothers and Sister, no unchanged thing will even want to." 

If we are to live with them we must live like them. The Lord loves us. He wants us to return to live with Him again. And He wants us to enjoy all of the blessings that He does. That's why He requires so much of us. Because the commandments and covenants we make are to make us better than we now are. My testimony has grown so much of the Atonement and of the saving ordinances of the gospel and I know that they are meant to protect us and help us to become more like our Savior. One more quote from Joseph Smith he said, 

"The Prophet Joseph Smith said he was frequently asked the question:

“Can we not be saved without going through with all those ordinances, etc.?” I would answer, No, not the fullness of salvation. Jesus said, “There are many mansions in my Father’s house, and I will go and prepare a place for you.” House here named should have been translated kingdom; and any person who is exalted to the highest mansion has to abide a celestial law, and the whole law too. (History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 7 vols. [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1949], 6:184.)" 

 The Lord has asked us to do certain things that without we would not otherwise be able to return to live in His presence for eternity. That is why we make covenants and promises because we love the lord enough to do ALL that he asks of us, and I can testify that these things are true of myself, and I KNOW them independent of any other person. Ah I have so much to say and so little time! 

I pray each and everyday that we will all be able to strive to keep the covenants that we have made and honor them in all we do. I love you all so very much! Remember to say daily family prayer and have scripture study :) 

Love you all!!

~Sister Amy Callaway~

:)

Hello my loved ones!!

Okay seriously this week went by so darn fast. People aren't kidding when they say that the days feels like weeks and the weeks feel like days while you're on a mission! I want it to slow down! I've already been out for almost 6 months!! I am seriously just shocked at how fast the time has gone but that is okay! 

Anyway this week was a good one but to be honest I like hardly remember what happened haha but I will do my best to recall the events of this week! So on Tuesday we went on exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders, Hermana Ballard and Sister Johnstone! I love them both to death! They are awesome! So Sister Jolley went with Sister Johnstone to their area and Hermana Ballard came with me here to Medford! It was so much fun! And Hermana Ballard is just the cutest thing, and she's so funny. She forgot to tell me though that she prays in Spanish and so the first time we said a prayer together it totally threw me off haha but I love it because I like trying to see if I can understand what she's saying and I totally could! Not everything of course but most everything. I can understand it a lot more than I can speak it. I'd love to keep learning Spanish though. Who knows, maybe President will call me to be a Spanish sister haha jk that would be pretty cool though. 

But anyway, the day after we exchanged we had Zone Training and it was great. It was all about defying negative mindsets and how we can have a more positive attitude in our areas instead of just getting stuck in a rut. It was awesome and it helped me a lot. Anyway and then after Zone Training we had a lesson with one of our investigators named Lisa! And let me just tell you that Lisa is amazing!! She was a former investigator that Sister Jolley found a few weeks ago who said that she had been thinking a lot about the church and how she feels that she is "ready now." She will be baptized on August 1!! And I am SO excited!!! We taught her this week about The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the things we need to do in order to prepare for baptism, and she is looking forward to that day when she will be baptized!! Which is only a few weeks away!! And I am so excited!! If you can't tell haha  

And so the next day on Thursday we didn't have District Meeting because we had Zone a Training the day before, but we didn't have any lessons on Thursday and so we just did A LOT of finding. Which is something I basically have down to a science by now haha. Anyway that night though they were doing fireworks a huge park nearby and so Sister Jolley thought it would be a good idea to go and try to talk to some people. And I was all excited for it and so we went. And once we walked over there we realized what we had gotten ourselves into. There were so many people there. haha but even though we were kinda just thrown into this place with so many people it was still a perfect opportunity! And so we tried talking to as many people as we could but no one was interested but that's okay! We still gave out a few cards! And then we came back to our apartment and got to see the fireworks right from our window as we were planning! It was awesome! 

And so fast forward a few days to Saturday and I was SO excited for the 4th of July and President actually gave all of the missionaries permission to stay out until 10:15 but only if we had plans to be with an investigator or member...and we had neither haha. So we had to be in at 9 but that's okay! But anyway during the day on Saturday we spent most of the day in Mt. Holly which is the busiest place in our area but no it was totally dead. There were a few people here and there that we talked to and had a few miracles but for the most part everyone was gone!! It was crazy! But among some of the people that we met was this one woman named Sonia, and oh boy she was hilarious! As we got to talking with her we asked her if she would watch the Because He Lives Video and then if we could come and teach her more and she said yes! She was all for it! And we got her contact information and will be teaching her soon! Also we went to go and try to contact a referral given to us by some members and when we showed up he finally answered the door! His name is Christian and he basically told us that he is ready to get baptized!! He said he has been looking into it for some time now and with the way the world is going he feels that he is ready to make this commitment to follow God...ah!!!! MIRACLE!! We are so excited to be teaching him and will definitely keep you posted on his progress! 

Oh and also yesterday at church we got a new bishop! Which I don't think I've mentioned this before but we kinda haven't had a bishop for the last few weeks since I have been here because the bishop of the ward accepted a job in Palmyra, New York and has already moved up there. And so he has been commuting from here to there every other week to try and keep up with the ward but as missionaries it has been extremely hard not having a bishop around but they finally called a new one yesterday. And the man who was called to be the bishop just moved back I tot he Ward and has only been here for two weeks! But Our stake President was there to announce it and I finally got to meet him which was cool! Oh and dad, Im sure you know who he is, our stake President is President Vai Sikahema. He played in NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles and I think he coached them too at one point. Anyway he's super famous over here and he is an amazing man too. So it was really cool to meet him! 

So although this week wasn't the most eventful we definitely saw some miracles! Also last night we got a call from President and he told Sistsr Jolley and I that we will be getting a mini-missionary this week!!!!!!! I am seriously SO excited! She will get here on Wednesday and be with us until Sunday. And I am so excited because I went on a mini-mission too! Mine was only for three days but I just remember what it was like and the missionaries I was with and the wonderful experiences that we had! And most importantly I remember the spirit that I felt. And I hope we can help her have that same experience! So I am totally going to Sister Nita her hah! It'll be fun though it'll almost be like we are training her! 

Something I have studied a lot this week is the gift of Agency. I am so grateful for that gift. Many times I have found myself getting discouraged on my mission until I just remember that discouragement is a choice. Everything is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Obedience is a choice. Trying to live as the Savior did and trying to become like Him is a choice. I find myself reminding myself and others a lot specifically that your attitude is a choice. Since being on my mission I have definitely come to realize the importance of making decisions and making choices. And I hope we all know that know that no matter how hard some days may be its always our choice. I pray that we will all strive to choose to follow the Savior and choose to live as He as asked us to live. 

Something that Bishop Alston actually shared with me today that Elder Kacher said (and I totally have it up on my wall now!)...

"Choose to be obedient or I suggest you go home." 

I love this gospel more than anything and I am so grateful to be the lords missionary! Strive to find the miracles this week! I love you all more than you will ever know!!!

Until next week! 

Sister Amy Callaway

Tornados in Jersey!!

Hello my beloved family!! 

Did you know I love you all?!?

Well happy Fourth of July this week everyone! Don't have too much fun without me blowing stuff up and all...well this week was pretty great! Kinda nuts actually haha but still pretty great! 

So first of all this week we had an awesome Mission Tour Conference where Elder Larry S Kacher of the Seventy came and spoke to us! I was way excited to hear him speak to us because he had also spoken to us while I was in the MTC and so I was excited to hear him twice! He basically trained and taught all of the missionaries some very very VERY important things about Mind Sets. And how we can't allow ourselves to get stuck in a negative mind set as a missionary. He really taught us how to thoroughly work with the Ward Council and how to find through the members. And OH MY GOODNESS!!....was that the biggest answer to prayer. Because lately Sister Jolley and I have been doing A LOT of tracting and not much has come of it. And so we knew that something needed to change. We needed to start working with the ward council but didn't really know how to go about doing so but that was all answered when Elder Kacher came! But one of my all time favorite parts was when Elder Kacher was talking to us missionaries specifically about who we are. He really wanted to get all of the missionaries involved in the meeting and for the most part a lot of missionaries participated but Elder Kacher noticed something that most all of the missionaries that were participating were Elders. So Elder Kacher stopped the meeting real quick, and asked all of the Sister Missionaries to stand up. As we stood he asked us why we were holding back the things we had to say. He joked about how Sisters are smarter than Elders, but sincerely he said to us "please don't hold back. If you do you will miss out on great opportunities and so will other. You have so much good to offer, and you are especially powerful. So will you promise me that from now on, you won't hold back?" Each of us Sisters all loudly said yes and with that promise we made we sat back down. But right after he walked up to one particular Sister and asked her "do you think you're good enough to be here?" She looked at him and said "I am trying my best to be good enough to be here." And he sincerely and enthusiastically said "No, don't tell me that. Because you ARE good enough to be here! You are perfect to be here! You are meant to be here! All of you are! Don't ever doubt yourself Sister. Because the Lord loves you. And you are special to him." That was powerful for me. And even just at the Sisters simple remark that she was trying her best, I know that if he would've asked me that question I would've said "Nope. No way, no how." But I took that and it felt as if he were talking to me personally too. I mean how cool is that?!? You just had a general authority, and special witness of Jesus Christ stare you down and tell you that you are good enough to do the lords work! That is special. And so after Elder Kacher taught us everything he could for that short time we stood and sung the mission hymn. And afterwards we got to speak with Elder and Sister Kacher more and come to find out Sister Kacher is from Richfield Utah!! I asked her if she knew any Ogden’s in Richfield and she said yes! I think her maiden name was Miller so maybe grandma knows her! Super cool!

And so after that we made our way back to our area and later that night we went to dinner. And George knows like everyone in this are haha and so he said that his friend Sal who owns a restaurant here wanted to feed us. And so we drove to the restaurant and as we began eating we received a tornado warning on the phone!! I turned around and looked out side and everything was just so dark! It was so dark outside and so windy you could barely see the trees outside in the parking lot! I started freaking out! But then Sister Jolley said to me "Sister Callaway calm down. We are the most prayed for people on earth and that we were safe." I was grateful for her faith and we said a prayer and I immediately felt calm. And then George's friend Italian friend Sal who owned the restaurant came and started singing something in Italian and George know what he was singing and said to us, "okay that's scary because now he's singing the same song they sang on the movie titanic right before the ship sank..." and then...the lights went out! I was so scared but I knew that the lord would protect us. And he's THERE WAS A TORNADO!!! It didn't touch down in our area but pretty close to it and there were 75 mile an hour winds, which uprooted some of the biggest trees!! It was crazy!! Once the storm passed we went back to our apartment and put on our service clothes and ventured out to pick up all the debris from the storm. And that was actually pretty fun! The sky after the storm though was crazy! I wish I had a picture but sadly I don't. On one side you saw a rainbow and this beautiful golden sunset and on the other you saw the darkest clouds I've ever seen AND the sky was green! And I mean like "Wicked" green(of anybody knows that play) it was crazy! I'll send a picture of it!!

Anyway the day after the storm we went to go help a nonmember family because we offered service to them even before the storm. As we went my arm felt like it was hurting and I didn't know why. During the storm the night before I had felt my elbow pop but thats usually pretty normal for me haha. But it still hurt nonetheless and so I just brushed it off and started working to help this family. Well as we were raking up the yard I put a load of leaves into a wheelbarrow and started pushing it toward the dump pile when I felt something in my hair......(yeah and if you're reading this right now and if you know me at all you know that I hate bugs!) so whatever it was I flung it out of my hair and it landed on my arm and stung me! I'm pretty sure it was a wasp because right after it stung it hurt so bad! The mother of the family rushed me into the house and put some medicine on it and it immediately felt better but of course the spot where it stung me started to swell up. But eventually as we went on throughout the day I was fine. 

However, the next day when I woke and I couldn't move my arm!! It was hurting SO bad and my arm was all swollen. I tried to pick stuff up but my muscle just hurt so bad that my arm gave out. I couldn't straighten it or bend it past 90 degrees. And so I thought either I popped it out of place or I was having some kind of an allergic reaction to the wasp sting. But we district meeting that morning of course my first thought was to just ask the Elders for a blessing and then see if it still hurt bad enough to go to the doctors. And so all morning I couldn't use my left arm. I couldn't even let it down to hang by my side so I just held it with my right hand to keep it from hurting. Well by the end of District Meeting I was in tears because it hurt so bad. And once the Elders saw me they asked if I wanted a blessing and I said yes please.

One of my Zone Leaders, Elder Hendricks gave me the blessing after Elder Owen(who is actually from Granite Bay and I knew him before we came out here!) anointed the oil and once he put his hands on my head and spoke my name I just felt like the pain was leaving my body! It was an amazing blessing and he said in the blessing that the Lord wanted me to know how grateful he was for the work I've done thus far on my mission. And that though the decision was hard, that he was grateful for my decision to serve a mission.(which was something that I had been searching for as an answer to prayer) I was promised in the blessing that my arm would be healed and that I would not be stopped in doing the Lords work. I was promised some other pretty amazing things as well! I just LOVE the priesthood! Once he closed I stood up and after not being able to move my arm at all the entire morning I was able to move it around! The pain wasn't entirely gone but the pain was bearable now and I was just excited to get back to work! My biggest fear was that I would have to go to the doctor and take time away from Proselyting which I didn't want to do. 

But that night we called Sister Anderson and she told us to go to the store and to get some Benadryl to take. And after going to a few pharmacies in town only to find that they were closed due to power outage because of the storm still we went to the local grocery store. And so before we went in I wrote out a certain number of pass along cards that I was determined to give away while in the store! While we were there I remembered how there was a woman that we met briefly at the CVS that I really wished that I had talked to but i didn't. But as we were walking through the store there she was! She came and said hello and we talked to her a little bit about what missionaries do and quickly gave her a card as she left. It was a miracle!! Sister Jolley said "I was totally praying that we would see her again so we could talk to her!" And of course the lord is mindful and gave us a second chance! 

Also! While we were still in the store I still had a few pass along cards left to hand out and so we began walking down the isle with all of the waters and Gatorade etc...I saw a worker organizing the merchandise and as we were walking past him without even realizing what I was doing I quickly turned around to him and said "Hi! Can we help you organize the gatorades?! I only have one good arm but she has two!" Haha SO random! After I said it my first thought to myself was "you weirdo you totally just made him feel uncomfortable!" But he just laughed and said "yeah if you really want to." And so we started helping him! He was a young teenaged boy and he said his name was Rizin (rise-in) and I just started talking to him like he was my buddy! Haha. While we were talking I told him we were volunteers for our church and I started talking to him about the gospel he talked about how he goes to church and we just had good conversation. We gave him a card and committed him to watch the Because He Lives video and we told him we would follow up with him on it. I made him promise me that he would go and watch it and he said "Yes I promise." It was a Miracle!! And then by the end I still had one more card left and I practically just chucked the last one at a guy from a distance haha. But we accomplished our goal and we still did missionary work in the store and we got a new potential investigator! I'll keep you posted on Rizin because he is awesome!

And then a few days later and now my arm is completely back to normal! I don't know what it was but the power of the Priesthood is real! I have a firm testimony of that. And now I would just like to mention a few things I learned in church yesterday. Yesterday in church we focused A LOT on the sacred nature of marriage and family, for reasons that obviously everyone knows. And oh my, other than the Atonement of my Savior Jesus Christ, Eternal Marriage and Eternal Families is what I have always been most passionate about. If anyone really knows me then you know just how excited I get when I think of my family, the one I have now and the one that I have yet to come. And it is part of the very foundation of my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I KNOW that families are ordained of God and I KNOW that marriage between a man and a woman most essential and sacred of things ever to be upon this earth for the eternal happiness for the children of God. I could honestly go on and on and on about this subject because I love it so much but I will just share a few things that I have truly learned and that have struck me with such great power. In this most recent General Conference Elder Christofferson said in his talk, 

"A family built on the marriage of a man and woman supplies the best setting for God’s plan to thrive--the setting for the birth of children, who come in purity and innocence from God, and the environment for the learning and preparation they will need for a successful mortal life and eternal life in the world to come. A critical mass of families built on such marriages is vital for societies to survive and flourish. That is why communities and nations generally have encouraged and protected marriage and the family as privileged institutions. It has never been just about the love and happiness of adults." 

I love that. Not only is that just coming from an apostle of God but I feel the spirit each time I read it, and therefore I know it is truth. Particularly the last sentence. Marriage has never just been about two people just being happy together. It essential for society as a whole to flourish. And most importantly for Gods plan to be fulfilled.

Something I have come to realize on my mission is that as I have been set apart as a missionary I feel it. Now let me explain, I've noticed that before I was a missionary I would be totally fine with just staying in my sweats at home and watching a movie or two on any given day... But as a missionary I know what my purpose is, and I do not like to waste time. In fact I'm afraid of it! Haha. I've truly felt that if I am not doing something to fulfill my purpose then I don't feel good. I don't feel fulfilled or satisfied. And so it goes with our purpose and sons and daughters, men and women of God in the sacred roles that we play in that of Gods eternal plan. 

 I also read Elder L. Tom Perry’s talk from conference about Marriage and Family. And if you have t read over it I'd encourage you to do so  because it is a powerful. And it is a mans last testimony of what matter most in time and eternity. He said this in his talk, 

"We also believe that strong traditional families are not only the basic units of a stable society, a stable economy, and a stable culture of values--but that they are also the basic units of eternity and of the kingdom and government of God...

We want our voice to be heard against all of the counterfeit and alternative lifestyles that try to replace the family organization that God Himself established. We also want our voice to be heard in sustaining the joy and fulfillment that traditional families bring. We must continue to project that voice throughout the world in declaring why marriage and family are so important, why marriage and family really do matter, and why they always will.

My brothers and sisters, the restored gospel centers on marriage and family. It is also on marriage and family where we can unite most with other faiths. It is around marriage and family where we will find our greatest commonality with the rest of the world. It is around marriage and family that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the greatest opportunity to be a light on the hill." 

I know it's lengthy but what I learned from that is this...We will not quit. We will not give up. We will defend this most sacred and eternal gift of family that God himself has established for the eternal happiness of his children. And so like many in the world today and along with the Prophet and Apostles themselves, I will willing give my name to the world as one who will stand up in defense of eternal marriage and family as the sacred God-given gifts that they are. 

Some people who read this could be thinking "Whoa, Sister Callaway that's a little bold." And yeah I very well know it is. But here's something else I've learned as a missionary...Nothing short of boldness is going to get anyone's attention. Especially in the world today. I've often been told that I am a "people pleaser" I don't like to hurt anyone or offend anyone and yes that title might've been true of me 5 months ago but not anymore. And though I still have a LONG ways to go I've learned that I have to be bold as a missionary but not overbearing. Over-bearence is boldness without love, we've often been told that as missionaries. But as bold as you can be if you are filled with charity or the pure love of Christ then nothing can be too hard for anyone to hear. I am not ashamed of the gospel. I know it is the absolute truth. And though hard it may be, my simple desire is to share this gift with others who are prepared to hear it. I hope and pray and with all the energy of my soul I invite everyone to stand up for the gospel boldly. To defend and protect our families for they are most sacred and bring the most eternal joy and happiness. As Elder Jeffery R Holland said 

"Now be strong. Live the Gospel. Even if, others around you don't live it at all...Defend your beliefs with courtesy and compassion but defend them." 

I bear my firm testimony that Jesus Christ is our loving Savior and Redeemer. His arms are always outstretched to us. And I know that the marriage and family is ordained of God I have felt the spirit confirm this to me over and over and over again each time it is discussed. And I love my mom dad sisters and brothers more than I will ever be able to begin to describe. And how grateful I am that my whole family will soon be sealed for time and all eternity in Gods house. And how excited I am for the day when I will have an eternal family of my own. I know the gospel is true, and I pray everyday that we will have the courage and strength to defend it. 

I love you all more than you will ever know!! Until next week! 

~Sister Amy Callaway~

And a few pictures of Sister Jolley and I being weird and a total fail at taking a picture and also a picture of the Tornado!!!

A day in the life of a Mary Mary :)

Hello my loved ones!!

Fist of all I have to wish dad a happy Father's Day yesterday! Even though you got that text from George already haha. And I have to wish my sweet friend Cassidy Carol happy birthday on Wednesday! I love you cass!! Also I can't believe I've been on my mission for 5 months now! That is seriously so crazy. Time has gone by way to darn fast...anyway onto the week!

So this week was pretty great...one of my favorite things from the entire week was that on Wednesday we got to teach the sweetest little activity day girls! They all have been bringing some of their no members friends and so we thought it would be a great way to find some new investigators! We were kind of crunched for time and so we prayed about what we should teach them and finally came up with something. We based the lesson off of the book "You Are Special" the book about the Wimmicks with the dots and the stars that they put on each other. And so we decided to title our lesson " You Are Special." We thought of some activities and games that we could have them do and then we decided to read them the story. They loved it! We reminded them of how they are all precious daughters of God and how much he loves them.  

Then I though of something that we did at Girls Camp once. I remember it vividly, it was a lesson that Sister Zufelt taught and she did this same activity. So we felt it would be a powerful lesson for these little girls, but we had to do it in a way that these girls would understand it. So I if you can visualize this; I took a picture of piece of cardboard and on one side I put a picture of the Savior and on the other I put a picture of Hans from the movie Frozen(because every little girl loves Frozen, so I knew they would know who he was)... 

right after Sister Jolley read them the story I "interrupted" and I showed the picture of Hans to all of the little girls and they clearly knew who he was haha...anyway, I explained to them how Hans was not a very nice man, and that he was very mean to my friend Ana...he lied to her, he tried to hurt her sister Elsa, and he tried to take things from them, so he kind of deserved a little pay back for what he did right? They all agreed as they shouted haha. And so they each came up to the picture and put a push pin in it. Some girls put one in his nose, some girls out one in his eye until they had all placed one in the picture (I know sounds a little ruthless for little girls but there's a point I promise!) when they all sat down I looked at them and said "do you think he deserved that? And they all shouted "yes!" Once they all quieted down I told them I wanted to show them something...

I actually started to cry as I slowly took the picture down off the wall and turned it around to the picture of the Savior only to hear all of the little girls gasp! Some of them said, "oh no! What did we do!" Once they all hushed they asked us why we let them do that. I began to cry as I explained to them that I didn't want to let them do that to a picture of the Savior because I love him and I know that they do to by the way they reacted. We explained to them that because Jesus suffered for ALL of us He knows exactly how we feel every time we get hurt and every time we might hurt someone else. We had one of them read Matt. 25:40 and we asked them why they thought we had them do this without knowing that they Savior was on the other side and they each said something to the effect of "because if we hurt someone else, we hurt Jesus too." The point of the activity was to remind them that we are ALL special to Heavenly Father, He loves ALL of His children. And that because Jesus Christ suffered for each and everyone of us, He knows how to help us when we are hurt or when someone else is hurt too. We are ALL special to Him and Heavenly Father. And once they all understood that simple principle of the Atonement we ended with the Mormon Message called Our True Identity by President Uchtdorf about the ugly duckling who realized it was actually a Swan. It was such a wonderful experience to teach them! I felt like I was teaching my little sisters and I truly was! I felt a portion of how much Heavenly Father loves them and how special they are to Him! And we got a few new investigators from the whole experience! Which was great too! 

Another miracle this week was on Saturday night Sister Jolley and I were just driving down the street in Mt. Holly as I saw people walking all around the city. As we turned the corner I particularly noticed a certain man just sitting on a small brick wall near the stop light. And right then and there I received a simple prompting to go and talk to him. Realizing that Sister Jolley and I had had a pretty long day with no luck of finding anyone, My first thought was but what if he says no like everyone else? But even with that simple fear of rejection on my mind I thought of how I would feel if I didn't act on that prompting and would just be left to wonder about that man. So, with that I asked Sister Jolley to stop the car. She immediately pulled over, and I voiced to her the prompting I had felt and she okay let's go. We said a quick prayer, hopped out of the car, and quickly walked/ran to go and speak with this man hoping that he would still be there. As we turned the corner we found him in the same spot, and I walked right up to him, cheerfully said hello and introduced ourselves and asked if we could sit and talk with him! He introduced himself as Dennis, and he was smiling/laughing just at the fact that two young girls wanted to sit and talk with him as he was waiting for his bus. As we spoke we talked about where we were from, life, church etc. And he inquired as to who we are and what we do. We explained briefly to him, and then invited him to watch the Because He Lives video. Just as the video started his bus came and he quickly apologized and ran to try and catch the bus. But to his dismay the bus left him, he said "well I guess I was meant to talk to you then, because that's the only bus that comes through here only every two hours. So why don't you show me that video." We showed it to him and he loved it! He then started to explain how he is going through a lot of hard times with his family right now. And he told us that just as he was sitting there on that small brick wall he was praying to God because he didn't know what to do anymore and that just at the moment as he was asking God to give him some guidance he turned around and there we were smiling and saying hello to him! We testified of the Restored Gospel and of the Atonement and of the plan that God has for him. He visibly felt the spirit and he was just in total awe that we had come to him right in his moment of need. He was such a happy and vibrant person! We asked him if he would promise us to meet with the missionaries in his area that would teach him more of the plan that God has for him and his family. He smiled and said "I promise, I will." We gave him and card and then he asked if we could pray. We gladly accepted and Sister Jolley offered the sweetest prayer for him, and then he asked if he could pray for us. In his prayer he thanked Heavenly Father countless times for sending us to him, and he spoke of how much it meant to him that we stopped to talk with him and tell him of the plan. And he spoke of how excited he was to meet with the Elders. Afterwards we got a voicemail on the phone from Dennis again thanking us for how grateful he was that he met us and for helping to answer his prayers. It was amazing!!! I will never be able to thank my Father in Heaven enough for allowing me to be one of His missionaries right now. I am grateful for the still small voice of the spirit. I learned from this experience that when we get promptings it may not always be at the most convenient times. But being missionary and living the gospel is not about being convenient or comfortable. Because when we're comfortable, we're not changing we're not growing like Heavenly Father wants us to. I'm grateful for this gospel and for the spirit and for the fact that I get to see miracles like this constantly :)

Tomorrow we are having Mission Tour Conference. It's like a Zone Conference but this time Elder Kacher of the Seventy is coming to speak to us! and I am so excited! I also got to hear him speak in the MTC and he was amazing so I am excited to hear him again. But this last week he asked President Anderson to ask all of us Missionaries that we study "What the Atonement means to me as a Disciple of Jesus Christ." I took this invitation very seriously, and I have been studying the scriptures, talks, hymns, Preach My Gospel, anything and everything in whatever spare time I've had just to study the Atonement more in depth, and to truly figure out what it means to me as a disciple of Jesus Christ. And OH MY GOODNESS!! I cant even begin to tell you everything that I have learned about the Atonement this week. My testimony has grown in ways that I never thought it could. My love, gratitude, and reverence for the Savior has only grown deeper and deeper. Simply put the Atonement means everything to me. Without it I would not be a missionary, no one would. As I studied three words came to my mind: Change, Grace, and Love. What is the Atonement for? Change. It's purpose is to change us from the imperfect mortals that we are to the eternal beings that we have the potential to become. How does the Atonement change us? Through the Saviors Grace. The enabling power of the atonement to help us to overcome and do the things that we cannot otherwise do on our own. Why did the Savior do it? Because He loves us. And he loves Heavenly Father. Infinitely more than we will ever begin to understand in this life. Sometimes I think we forget that even the Savior Himself asked if there was another way...and there wasn't. He was the only one that could accomplish such a task in order to enable all of the rest of us to be able to return to our heavenly home. I don't understand the atonement as much as I wish I did. But I can testify because I KNOW that the power of the Atonement is real. I have felt in my life and I have seen it in the lives of others who I have come to love. 

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me, confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me." 

I invite you all to study and ponder what the Atonement means to you individually as a disciple of Jesus Christ. This gospel is true and I know it with all of my heart. This is the only entirely true church upon the face of the earth. And I know that this is the Saviors gospel. And I will be Eternally grateful to have been His missionary for this time. 

I love you all more than you know!!

Until next week,

Sister Amy Callaway