June 1, 2015

Hello family!
Happy June! How are you all doing? I cannot believe that it's already a new month. Where in the heck did May go? It's officially Summer! I am happy to hear that the kids are out of school and are already enjoying their time off! I remember those glorious days, take advantage of every single day! Hopefully it's been warming up for you all over there. If you need some heat or sunshine, just holler at me. I can definitely send you some! It's so blasting hot over here. The humidity is really starting to hit me and I just haven't gotten used to it yet! I feel like I'm in Haiti all over again! I love it! There are bugs, snakes, spiders, squirrels, ants, lizards, and frogs everywhere! It's really testing my patience... and I don't have Cole here to kill them for me.. but I am toughening up and handling it all on my own. Pretty proud of myself. Anyways, I want to express my deepest gratitude and love towards our precious Elder L. Tom Perry. Hearing that he past this week was actually quite hard. I had been studying his last conference talk about families this past week and was just heartbroken when we heard the news. I know that he is in a better place and that his service was definitely accepted by the Lord. I found it interesting that his last two talks were about marriage and family. Very interesting. You should go read them! Marriage and family must be super important! I just also had such a testimony builder that the prophets are truly called by God and definitely know what we need to hear at this time!
This past week in Waxhaw went pretty well. It felt like a really really long week for some reason, but I am happy, healthy, serving my Savior, and that's all that matters. :) We were able to see many many miracles and I just couldn't help myself but think about how blessed we truly are to be members of Christ's true church. This past week we were able to see the Lord's hand in our lives and were able to meet some really neat people. Each and everyday the Lord leads and guides us to where we need to go and who we need to see. It is truly amazing to see how he has prepared people to receive the restored Gospel. However, we did run into many people who slammed their doors in our faces and who really wanted to test us. For some reason, this week we had so many people who just were so rude and so messed up in their beliefs. It was actually quite sad. They would sit down and talk to us and tell Sister Ekstrom and I that we needed to find Jesus and that we were sinners and that we were living in a lie and didn't have a clue what we were talking about and it honestly just made me so upset. During one lesson actually, I stood right up and I just said, "Frank, I want you to know that I KNOW that the the Book of Mormon is true and that I KNOW that the things that we have shared with you are true and it's your choice to accept it or not." And then I said, we need to leave. I have never been more bold in my life but I just couldn't take it anymore. I am usually not like that.. but I was just done. He simply invited us in to just tell us what we were doing was wrong. He didn't invite us in because he wanted to learn about the Restored Gospel. Anyways, this week we watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie (the one they play up on temple square) and I was so touched by the part where Joseph was in jail and all the men around him were making fun of him and mocking him and he stood up and said something like "That's it, I can't take any more of this. Silence or God will smite you.." Something like that, anyways, in the moment when I was bearing my testimony and telling this guy what I knew to be true, I felt like I was Joseph Smith for a second. It was pretty neat actually. We walked out of that lesson with our testimonies 10x stronger than when we went in. When I say I know something, I KNOW something. Anyways, good learning experience!
My challenge for each of you this week is to read an incredible talk given at a CES Devotional for young adults at BYU on January 12, 2014. It is called, "What is the Blueprint of Christ's Church?" It's on the Gospel Library app under the "Young Adult" tab, in 2014 devotionals. It will change your life. I'm not kidding. Read it and turn to every single scripture that is mentioned in that talk. It will just blow your mind! After I read and studied that talk, I just knew with 100% surety that this is Christ's true church. There is no denying that this is the true church after you read that talk. Ah! So good. Sister Ekstrom and I already have some investigators in mind that we are going to have read this talk. It literally just makes everything so clear and is just so unreal. READ IT READ IT READ IT!! I want to share some of the things mentioned in the talk, but I'm just going to trust that you will read it on your own... so if you want to find out, you have to read it. :) I want you to all know how much I love each and every one of you and how grateful I am for all of your support. I truly have never been happier and my mission has completely changed my life!! Tami, thank you so much for your letter this week! You are the best. & ANNA- you go girl!!! I am so proud of you for being a missionary and helping out that girl! Keep up the good work! You are going to be the best missionary! Mom, Dad, family, I love you all so much! Keep doing what's right and stay close to the Savior! I hope you all have a wonderful week! You are in my every single prayer. Let me know if I can do anything for you. The church is true & I LOVE YOU!! Sending all my love, hugs, and kisses to each of you! & to my girl Kam in LP!! xo
Sister Worthington

​ sorry i look so nast,100 degree weather. please forgive me.

PS MOTHER: when and if you get time, I WOULD LOVE A HOMEMADE BATCH OF GRANOLA PRETTY PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks so much. you're the greatest! taking advantage of y'all while i'm here!!! xoxo