MONDAY, July 9, 2012

Hello Everyone,

This week FLEW. That should be the end of this email because for real I cannot remember anything about this week. So in advance, sorry this is very jumbled.

Actually I will just tell you a few things about the week that I remember:

On Wednesday I ate three fruits. I know. THREE. People should be paying me for this because it was a miracle I didn't keel over and die right there at the Wood's home. We were eating dinner and the Wood's might be one of my favorite families because we're all open with them. Elder Brunt decided to tell the Wood's I don't eat fruit, and the Wood's own a few fruit trees in their yard. And thus began the "Sister Sackley eat this kind of fruit!" So I ate: watermelon, fig and then a cactus fruit. Gus went out on a hunt for cactus fruit earlier that day and he had cut off a ton of them. They grow on the top of the cactus and he uses a ladder to get to them. They were spikey and a little daunting but believe it or not, I would eat the fig, cactus fruit AND the watermelon again. I know. miracles. We also went and had a meeting while the fireworks were going off. Also, as we drove home I realized this was the last firework show in America I'd see till 2014-i was very excited about that.

There is a woman in the ward we'll call sister smith. Sister Smith is a VERY active member, she's great and she's kind of like everyone's grandma. WE LOVE HER. Well this week I heard her story all the way out. She has quite a history of drinking and drugs and everything under that palm tree. It was incredible to hear her story and realize that she is such a stronghold in the church now. EVERYONE CAN CHANGE. While talking with her about one of our investigators she said: "if she had Christ she wouldn't be lonely, she would have hope, because when I started believing in Christ, I had hope". She's such a great example that with God, anything is possible.

And then of course, Nicole got baptized this past Saturday! We met with her a few times this past week to go over everything she was confused about and to answer her questions. she's such an incredible woman it is awesome to watch her testimony grow and her understanding become clear. On Sunday they called her up to bear her testimony (she wasn't expecting it) and she's fairly shy so we were really worried about it. She got up and bore a short testimony in which she proclaimed: "I am a living, breathing example of how this gospel is true"

If Nicole Loring is the only reason I came on this mission, then she was worth it.

love you all!

Sister Sackley

p.s. big guy with the glasses is sir Edwin. We love sir Edwin, he is the ward clerk...he does all with the word "clerk" in it for the ward. we come and bother him all the time about paper work. He's great.