Oct. 12 Hugs From The Homeless....

I think I hit my head and went to heaven. Once I was told that serving in a Tucson ysa ward is like summer vacation. I didn't understand that until this week. This can't be real life!! Everything is too perfect. Warning...I've possibly found my future roommates at U of A. There is a group of girls here that I've gotten pretty close to. Amorah is my main gal. She's actually from Layton but she's going to school here and studying exactly what I want to study. She's preparing for a mission and has spent a ton of time with us this week. Amorah is probably exactly what I want to be when I grow up. I love her so much. 2 of her best friends are recently returned missionaries. They both have kept missionary work as a huge focus since coming home. They have been answers to my prayers. The greatest miracle was Jicell! One of our investigators met Jicell in a chemistry class. They found out they both are investigating the church and Leah asked if she could hook Jicell up with missionaries. We met Jicell on Thursday. I feel like I've know this girl for way longer than 4 days! Her boyfriend introduced her to the church last winter. She's been going to church for months, has somehow been taking institute without anyone noticing, has read 1 Nephi, watched conference, studies out of the ensign, and knows the church is true. We taught her the restoration and plan of salvation this weekend. During the lessons we ask her questions to try to figure out how much she really knows. When we ask questions like- "What do you know about the priesthood?" She answers in jaw dropping ways like, "well there's Melchizedek and Aaronic.....I don't know what that means though." She talks like a Mormon she just has no clue what any of it means! She's soaking everything up like a sponge. That doesn't happen!! Nobody knows how she's gone this long without ever having met a missionary. After our first lesson to got out her phone she showed us how her screensaver is the picture that elder Uchtdorf talked about in his talk at the women's conference. It reminds her "to be more like Jesus Christ everyday." Funny story: The vehicle coordinator in our mission is strict. She demanded that we get our car checked so we drove to southern Tucson (ghetto) and handed over our keys. The dealerships waiting room had a tv so we decided to go to a nearby park to do our weekly planning. As soon as we got there we realized this park is home to many many people. Every 10 minutes or so, a new homeless person would ask us who we were, if we could help them be saved, give us an unexpected "respectful friendship side-hug", then walk away to take a nap leaving us stunned. After an hour or so a man delivered a huge box of bread to the table we were sitting at. I guess the table we were at was the "park's kitchen table". oops. I wish you all could have seen the priceless look on our faces every time a new toothless stranger gave us a side hug. Missionary bubbles are SO real. We left shortly after that laughing all the way home. This week wasn't perfect enough so Heavenly Father had to put a cherry on top. We had achieved/exceeded our weekly goals except for finding one more investigator. We walked into relief society and noticed our new freshman friend flagging us down as casually as possible. We sat next to her to find she had brought a friend from her dorm. Her friend was pretty confused about what everyone was talking about but she said she loved coming today and would be back next week. As soon as relief society was over we explained what we do as missionaries and set up an appointment to teach her about the restored gospel!! We could hardly believe it. That made 7 investigators at church!!! I'm sad to announce I'll be taking over the area after today. Sister Adams will be going to Sahuarita and I'll be here to man the fort. 2 weeks in this area to learn from Sister Adams wasn't enough. I honestly feel like Heavenly Father trusts me way more than I trust in myself. I love taking over areas but I'm sad to see her go. I'm grateful for all that Sister Adams has taught me. I don't think I've stopped laughing since I got here. She truly shines. Between running from appointment to appointment and getting lost almost everywhere we go, I'm so happy and loving my Tucson life. I feel so blessed to be a part of this great work! This area is unlike every other that I've served in. U of A students make great missionaries. This area is proof that when members are involved the sky is the limit. We all have a part to play. Thank you for all you guys do for me! Your prayers are very much felt! I love you :) sorry this email is all over the place. Ponderizing this week: D&C 59:8-9 Feel free to pray for: Luke, Jicell, Charlie, Leah, Lea, Matthew, and Mary. :) -Sister Barton Amorah :) I love her even if she makes us take selfies.