Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Week 12

"Nothing Matters but your will to Succeed."- Admiral Craven

Good Morning!
So this was a special week because I was able to graduate from
training! I am now a full fledged missionary and it's awesome. We had
so many adventures this week and met wonderful people.

This Week, I gave my first training in our District meeting! A
training is when you teach everyone something based off of something
in preach my gospel or something President Craig has talked about or
that we want to study. I talked about Vision and how important it is
in our everyday life as well as Goals and Plans as a missionary.

So this week I went to a Winn-Dixie for the first time! It is a nice
store but it isn't as cool as the movie.


Also, Sister Gibb and I purchased 50 chicken nuggets from Wendy's! We were hungry and we rather enjoyed it.

There were so many nuggets!!! 

Also, this week our Relief Society president took us out contacting less actives, and she took us to a boat landing! That day was so much fun and we love our RS president. She is super diligent and works hard for the sisters. 



Look at the geese. I love it. 

Spring is abundant out here and I am loving the warmth and sunshine. Florida suits me so far! Everyone says summer is boiling hot and it's getting pretty warm. We were driving right after we went to the boat landing and it started POURING rain and there was lightning right near our car!!! Of course we were fine because cars are safe from lightning but it was crazy. 

Also with Spring, all of the ducks have babies! Look at how cute they are!!!

I am just loving being a missionary. This week I had to play the piano in primary, and during sharing time the teacher asked: "Why is the Holy Ghost a witness?" And a little girl on the front row said "Because he's a member of the Godhead, so he works with Jesus Christ and God every day and he knows they are real!" How awesome is that? Kids are smarter than we give them credit for. 

I saw more miracles than I can count this week, but I'm so glad that I have this opportunity to serve the lord and be who he wants me to be. 
Have a great week!
Love, 
Sister Caton
🐊🐊🐊

Friday, April 22, 2016

Week 11

Hello Friends!
So this week I will hit 3 months out of the MTC, and I finish my
training this week! How crazy is that??? I feel like it's been so much
less than that, time really flies.

This week was interesting because we had a lot of random things come
up. Sister Gibb got an ear infection, but held up like a real champ.
We had to go to the doctor though so that was exciting. We met a lot
of people this week!

Our investigator E has been doing amazing, and she is living the Word
of Wisdom, so she is getting baptized in May!!! We are so proud of
her. She met missionaries in 2008 and they gave her a Book of Mormon,
but she never read it until we showed up! We love her so much :)

This week it was a little overcast, and I tried to take a picture of
the river but sister Gibb was driving too fast.





I thought it ended up looking pretty cool. 

Also, there's stuff in the trees here called Spanish Moss and it makes the trees look all weird and southern and haunty so that's cool. I took a pic with one :)



I'm pretty sure it kills the trees though.

Also, E has the cutest dog in the world named Pepper, and her and Sister Gibb had a moment this week :)
I love her! Pepper is so funny, she is really obedient, and she really likes us. I love dogs!

Also, this week we went on a trade off with our sister training leaders! I got to be companions with Sister Rigby, she is awesome and we had a great time! 
She is so tiny! We got to teach a girl I taught on my last trade-off though which was awesome, and now she is getting baptized! It's pretty awesome to see the work rolling forward. 

I had a wonderful week, and I am hoping that we find more people to invite to baptism. Baptism is the most incredible thing anyone can do for themselves and I know that John 3:5 is the way to go. :) 
I hope y'all have a wonderful week full of miracles! Mine certainly was!!!
Love,
Sister Caton
🐊🐊🐊

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Week 10

"Life's a choice: you can live in black and white, or you can live in
color." - Karen Marie Moning

Hey everyone!
This week was a lot of fun and it was also really exciting, and as
always, filled with Miracles!
This past p day, we went bowling again and this time I did a lot
better! I think we forgot how to bowl last time :)



 
We had a great time. :)

Earlier this week, our Sister Training Leaders called us and asked if we would go on a trade off with a sister from another area who is in a trio! It was so fun, we got to be in a trio for one day and it brought a lot of miracles! Her name is Sister Barton but we didn't get any pictures which was sad.

This week we had a crazy crazy day on Thursday where our good friend in the ward turned 16 and the other friend was moving away, so we went on splits with them! It was interesting because it was my first time being on my own without another missionary, but our friend and I found an amazing new investigator who came to church and brought her whole family! She has already accepted a baptism date and we are so pumped because we're certain that she is going to make it! But the other reason the day was crazy was because we got super lost on our way to volunteer at a Teacher Supply Depot. We drove all over creation trying to find it, and got there almost an hour late so that was insane.

Then on Sunday we were able to help one of our recent converts teach her primary class! It was so fun, and I found my new favorite child in the world. His name was Jose and he was absolutely adorable! He was sitting in primary and the teacher said, "What does Jesus help you do?" And Sister Gibb whispers to him "Love" and he looks at her and says, "No!" Haha and then the teacher said, "Do you think he helps you be nice to your friends?" And thinks for a second and says, "Yeah, I think he does." Haha he is so cute!


We definitely had a wonderful week full of miracles. :)

Love Always,
Sister Caton
🐊🐊🐊

Friday, April 8, 2016

Week 9

"I believe in love, you know; Love is a uniquely portable magic." -Stephen King

Hey y'all!
This week was as always, filled with miracles. We now have another
person preparing for baptism on the 23rd of April! We are so excited
for her.
Sister Gibb and I have now been companions for 2 months! It's kind of
crazy. Now we've hit the point where we know almost everything about
each other and Sister Gibb is crazier than ever so that's exciting.
Haha :)

This week I had a moment of triumph because I finally caught a lizard!!!!!






It was a joyful moment.

Then this week we also were at a members house when she suddenly just handed me a cat. I did not know what I was doing so I tried to maneuver it to hold it in some way and Sister Gibb of course captured the moment. 

It was not a joyful moment.

But conference was the definite highlight of the week! I loved every session. As missionaries we are supposed to watch every session and we were able to have one investigator come to both Sunday sessions with us so that was awesome! He really enjoyed it. 
Also the boy who was baptized last week watched conference and loved it! We are so proud of the choices he is making. 

So this week I purchased a new coloring book. Sister Gibb and I have been using therapeutic coloring and she had a coloring one with psalms, and I got one this week called Amazing Grace that has all the words from amazing Grace in it and it's awesome. Sister Gibb likes to hang up my pictures on the fridge haha :D




She is a proud momma. 

I love being a missionary and although much of the time I feel inadequate, I just try to remember that the Lord expects immediate progression not immediate perfection, and that who the Lord calls he qualifies. I am so lucky to be in the FJM! 

I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,
Sister Caton
🐊🐊🐊

Saturday, April 2, 2016

Week 8

"So many people along the way...will tell you it can't be done. But
all it takes is imagination. You dream. You plan. You reach. There
will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence in
yourself and those around you, there are no limits." -Michael Phelps

This week I had the opportunity to witness the greatest miracle of
all. On Saturday, our investigator K was baptized!!! On Sunday, he was
confirmed!!!
K is amazing. I also can't believe that I had the opportunity, (along
with Sister Gibb of course) to teach him all the lessons! We met him
at church. He had been going to the other ward for a few weeks just
because he thought he should be there. He had never met with
missionaries and was unfamiliar with the church, but he loved it. When
we went to teach him lesson 1, it was on a P day and he was wearing
his pajamas when we showed up! When we asked him why he came to church
he said that his goal was to be closer to God. We taught him the
restoration and talked about baptism, and when he found out what it
was he said "When can I do that?" 😀
He had been waiting for that day for a long time! His face was just
lit up. He is really shy, but throughout teaching him he has opened up
so much. He loves church and God, and he's read the Book of Mormon
like a starving man. We love him so much! And now, he's baptized and
on the fast track to eternal life! We couldn't be more happy or more
proud!
Here are the pictures:

 And here's him afterwards with Elder Perez, doesn't he look so happy??

So that was the best thing that happened this week, but we also had some other fun things happen!

This week I caught a lizard, a toad and a tree frog. We only got pictures of the tree frog but we took a selfie with him!

He is so tiny!! Don't worry, we let him go after that.

Also, this week we biked a lot, but now my bike isn't broken! So I've had a blast.
Sister Gibb on the other hand, fell over when she was dismounting and really scraped up her knees. Luckily we were wearing service clothes! She was fine, but she had a lot of band aids for a while! She's a trooper.

This week was filled with miracles of all kinds. I'm so grateful to be on a mission where I get to meet miraculous people! We invited 5 people to baptism this week, and only 1 said no! :) we'll see what happens next with that, but we hope that means a baptism next month too!

"I love tough things! I am the first to do tough things! I do tough things first! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!" -Jacksonville Florida Mission
With Love,
Sister Caton
🐊🐊🐊