Prepared Heats and General Conference 4/7/2014

holy smokes! what a crazy week! I don't even know if i'll be able to relay everything that has happened but i will try my best. We have had some tears, scares, and lots of laughs this week. Sister Huppi is so great, i'm convinced we are best friends. But all the craziness started on wednesday. We had ZLT that day in O'Fallon, which is like an hour away from where we are, and then we were going to go on exchanges (so we would trade companions for a day) and so I was coming back to Salem with Sister Webster and Sister Huppi went somewhere else. On Wednesday it was raining like crazy. I still cannot get over the fact of how much water falls from the sky here, its nuts. The thunder storms they have here are unreal. I hope everyone gets to experience a midwest thunderstorm atleast once in their lifetime, its so pretty but so scary at the same time. haha. Thursday morning at like 6:20, we hadn't woken up yet but the Bishop called us and told us that a tornado was heading right down highway 50, which is where we live. So we had to jump out of bed and get to a members house with a basement. Everyone who has told us about tornadoes has said that they sky gets super eerie right before it happens, and let me tell you, the sky was eerie that morning. normally it is super cold in the morning, especially rainy mornings, but it was warm and the sky had a greenish tint to it. i wish i would've take a picture of it, but at the time i was too scared. hahah. We ended up being fine and the tornado stopped about 10 miles away from our house! but it was still crazy, all the other missionaries tease me because i'm always the one who is so shocked about the weather, but it's not my fault i'm used to arizona weather! 

This week we set up an appointment with one of the ward members brothers named TJ. TJ is married to Chelsea and they have 3 kids who are all so cute and fun! Recently TJ has felt like he needs to have stability in his life for his kids and Chelsea has felt the need to go to church. They were meeting with the elders but then stopped because they didn't think they church was for them, but then through certain events they decided that they did still want to learn about the church but from the sisters (us)! Holy cow, this family has been so prepared its crazy. They are all at a point in their life where they need certain aspects of the gospel. It has been hard being out and feeling like the people you teach just arent progressing or just aren't super interested, but TJ and Chelsea are there. We had a lesson with them and the spirit was so strong, we invited them to be baptized and they said yes. I love this family soo much, but the Lord loves them even more. I will keep you all updated on them!

Sooo General Conference was this weekend! Who felt the spirit?!?! THIS GIRL!!! holy cow, it was so amazing! Probably my favorite session so far & I might just be saying that because I stayed awake during the entire thing. its hard for me to say what my favorite talk was but i did love President Monsons talk on love and Elder Zwick's talk on communication! And i loved when they mentioned the Gilbert temple! I will just tell you some things that stood out to me during conference!

"defend yourself with courage and courtesy"

"Christ is love personified"

"We are the Lord's hands"

"daily family scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening protect the family"

"The Savior is my safety in this whirlwind"

"the smile of God's approval..."

"teaching, serving, and loving like Christ"

"selective obedience comes from not fully understanding the reason for the commandment"

"no corrupt communication"

"we can minister grace through compassionate language"

"set aside the bottle of bitterness and pick up the goblet of gratitude"

"gratitude is the catalyst of Christ-like attributes"

"the gospel is not weight, it is wings"

"press forward with Heavenly help"

"the Savior understands it all, we must let him be our Savior"

"Love is the essence of the Gospel and Christ was the exemplar"

"you'll never regret being too kind"

"blame keeps wounds open, forgiveness heals"

"of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest shall be "it might have been""

"be ready to receive the gentle tug of the spirit"

"truth will always be opposed"

"God is justice and God is love"

"how close he is willing to come and how far he is willing to go"

well i love you all! remember to always be kind to each other! it is never worth it to say a discouraging word! read your scriptures every day, there is guidance and truth in them! Thank you for everything that you do!

I love you and so does Jesus!

sister oberfield

Coming together is a beginning;
Keeping together is progress.

Working together is success.