TENDER MERCIES & EXCITING NEWS

hello again!! 

life is fine and dandy here in georgia!! i love being here as the leaves are changing. it is beautiful! i am afraid to come back after my mission, this place could easily be called home. it is so quaint and cute! & the people here are true southerners. I LOVE THEM, even though most of them don't have teeth and can't seem to find their belts or their shirts.. :-) gotta love beer bellies! NOT. 

a tender mercy i saw this week was seeing our investigator who is on date to be baptized FINALLY make it to church. she has had a lot of health problems that have kept her from coming. my companion and i fasted and prayed all week that she would make it. we knew that we had done everything in our power to make that happen & it was all in Heavenly Father's hands at that point. OH WHAT JOY WE HAD WHEN WE SAW HER BEAUTIFUL FACE THERE!!! everyone loved her!! ahh. miracles guys, miracles. 

there are no words to describe the people here. as one of the sisters in my apartment would say.. "they walk to the beat of their own drum." SO TRUE. so much personality in some of these people. one of them is in our ward, & get this.. SHE HAS A PER POSSUM. WHAT?!?! WHAT?!?! she does. it is true. & i got to see it and pet it and i just laughed the whole time because who has a pet possum? lets be real here, no one. BUT SHE DOES AND I AM SPEECHLESS. 

onto the exciting news.. ELDER HOLLAND IS COMING TO MY MISSION!! HE IS AND THIS LIFE IS REAL AND I AM WITHOUT WORDS. god is good y'all. we just found out today & all of us sisters did a silent screaming/jumping/crying session in the library. we are fools. BUT YAYAY!!! is it bad to have favorite apostles? he is my favorite. don't tell anyone i have a favorite. 

life is so good!! i have a huge testimony of this gospel. i know that the power of the atonement can transform lives and bring peace to each of us in such a dark world. heavenly father loves you, he is never too far away, even when you may feel like he is. 

i love you all so much! thank you for all of your words of encouragement!! 

have a great week!! 

love, 

sister bell.

SWEET SOUTHERN LOVE

hello all! 

it has been another amazing week here in villa rica. i have seen miracles big and small all around me! the Lord loves us so much. 

our week was pretty crazy! we had zone training which was really neat. a convert came and shared his story with us, and i was truly touched. i promise that if you are an influence for good in someone's life, you will never know how much you changed them. i can testify of that! zone training was all the way in atlanta, which is an hour away NOT including traffic. we woke up so early, but we got to go to the temple which was something that i really needed! 

general conference was AMAZING! we had one of our investigators come to both morning sessions of it and the Spirit was just so strong. i loved Sister Marriott's talk, it was so powerful.

i wish i had the time to talk about our investigator Donna. i witnessed the power of our Savior in her life. there are no words to describe the experiences we have shared together, but i just want everyone to know that Christ knows each and every one of us. He knows our pains and it is only He who can solve them. Donna is a woman in her sixties who has had to endure things i would not wish upon my worst enemies. the truthfulness of this gospel has brought her peace that she has been searching for her entire life. we had a lesson last night and she looked me in the eyes & said "this is what i have been searching for my whole life. it never made sense, but now it does and i can feel my heart getting lighter." Christ can make our hearts light, this gospel brings us the truth that puts us at peace. there is hope for all of us. there is ALWAYS a way back to our Heavenly Father through His son, Jesus Christ. 

some days are harder than others. i have seen some of the terrible things that some have to go through. i love these people, and seeing them hurt kills me. i want to make everything right for them and give them what they deserve! i have left lessons with tears down my face because of what some have to endure. my eyes have been opened to what our Savior must have felt when he suffered all sins and afflictions of the world. my testimony of the atonement is being strengthened as i see it working in these people's lives. 

i love being here. i love being able to serve the people and teach them about our Savior. what sweet joy it brings me! there is nothing better. i will be changed for the rest of my life and the rest of eternity. how lucky i am! 

i love you all! thank you for being you. enjoy your week! 

& holla if its your birthday or you have some major event coming up because i think i have forgotten anything i once knew!! 

lots of love, 

sister bell

HEY Y'ALL!

hello hello to all of my favorite people!! 

I MADE IT TO GEORGIA!!! it is so insanely beautiful here it just makes me smile all the time. when i pictured georgia, this is what i thought of. 

SO.. my first area is Villa Rica! my trainer, sister smith (yes, another sister smith), & i are opening a brand new area!! woohoo! & to make it even better.. THEY JUST FORMED A WARD HERE AND HAVEN'T EVEN MET YET!!! WOOO!! lots of challenges happening with that, but we are so confident that this well be the best place ever! we are stoked. 

we have witnessed so many miracles since being here. are you ready?! so one of our investigators is Donna, she is an elderly lady who lost her husband about a year ago. as we were meeting with her she told us that the week the missionaries came by that she was contemplating taking her own life because she was so lonely. HELLO MIRACLE. she has so much faith and knows how important it is to act on that faith. SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! she told us her whole life story and we just can't wait for her to receive all the blessings of the restored gospel. 

we did have a discouraging moment here this past week. we had a mom, her name is Monica, & her two youngest sons had just gotten baptized and she was on track to do the same. we went to go teach her on saturday to make sure she was progressing & we found out that she was in jail. SO YIKES. i have faith that she will be able to make it through this trial and use the atonement in her life! she is so great and so ready for the gospel! 

we have so many investigators & trying to keep up with them is sometimes stressful!! especially when they don't answer their phones. but since this is a brand new ward we are trying to focus on some less active members & help them feel our love and the love that Christ has for them too! the bishop here is so supportive, he is actually from Mesa, & he is willing to help us out with whatever we need. so great. 

my companion is from Hawaii and will be ending her mission in December! so i get to kill her off.. ;) we love the people here & we are able to put both of our strengths and weaknesses together to form the best duo! we currently sleep on air mattresses because we have to share an apartment with the other sisters who are also opening a new area, but it is awesome and we make the best of it all! 

i am so excited for another week here in GA! i can't wait to hear from the leaders of this gospel this weekend! everyone watch it & go with a question you have & i promise it will get answered! 

i love you all! go feed the missionaries!! they are hungry. ;) 

here are some pictures of the lovely town i am in! 

love Y'ALL,

sister bell.