Brothers, Elders, Sisters, Family and Friends, I have gathered you around your computer screens today for the sharing of a miracle! And yay, though I walk through the flat lands of Indiana, for there be no valleys, I shall fear no dirty waters, for the Lord is with me.

Ok, enough with the fancy talk. I have had a fabulous week!!! So much has happened, and it's great stuff! So, I will go back to last Saturday, and remind you all of Stormee getting permission to be baptized, and I was jumping and hollering in the streets, and shouting for joy. Exciting, I know. Well, Tuesday, she had to have one final interview, which of course she PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS, and then we got to sit down with her and plan out her baptism. She was kinda thinking it was a little fast to do anything this week. I was like, you've waited for months, and now you want to wait? What's the point? She didn't have a response to that. So we started talking about what she wanted for her baptism, and who to do what, and such. Well, she had it all planned out, because she had planned it out when she had helped Damon do his. So then, we get through all of that, and then we asked again, when do you want to be baptized? Note that we are at the home of a member who has become really good friends with the Friends. :D She tells her, with no pressure added, that they would be out of town the next weekend, so if they wanted her to have them there, it should be this weekend. So, it was settled on Friday, the 23rd of May. So we left, and started making phone calls and telling everyone about the baptism.

Wednesday night, we get a call, asking if we had planned on exchanges in Muncie on Friday. We said no. They told us that they had sent us a txt earlier in the month, so we should have known. We did not. So anyway, we had to go to Muncie on Friday. They gave us enough time to come back and get things set up and grab dinner. Well, we come back and go to the church. Guess what we found when we walked into the font? Think Naaman, 2 Kings 5. The water was BROWN. Not slightly discolored or murky. Rust Brown. It was awful!!! You couldn't even see to the bottom of the font. And it was completely full. I have no idea how much water a font holds, but it's a lot.

We called the elders immediately, and told them to get their butts over to the church (they were only eating) as fast as possible. Then, we grabbed some 5 gallon buckets, and a 5 gallon stock pot from the kitchen, and started emptying the water into the toilets. We were doing pretty good, for just the two of us. I ran out to find something, and the elders came around the corner to where I was. They told me that they hadn't understood half of what I said on the call, and they didn't understand the emergency. I was like, "Follow me boys!" and ran into the boy's bathroom and into the font. They were a little shocked to see the water. Then they asked if we had gotten Bro. Hamilton's message about the water being brown? No, we had not. Our phone is being ridiculous, so it doesn't surprise me. Anyway, we put the elders to work, and in 30 minutes flat, we had the whole font drained. And then we started filling it back up. We turned on the hot water in the font, and then we used cold water from every other tap in the building. And I mean all of them. We had this cute old sister filling bowls in the boy's bathroom, just so we could fill it on time. We only started 15 minutes late too. It was a MIRACLE!!!! Needless to say, Heavenly Father was on our side that night.

When she got in, the water was so cold. It was kind of funny. But the Spirit was so strong in the room. It was so amazing to see all that she went through to become a member. Stormee is one of my heroes. I love her to death, and I know that God loves her so much more. I am so blessed to be a part of her life, and to be able to be part of her conversion. I know that God loves His children.

The water was up to where the pan is sitting. We emptied it that far without the elders. Pretty good, huh?

Well, I love you all, and I hope and pray you have a great week!!!
 Love, Sister Worthen

Pictures - May 19, 2014

The Book of Mormon must be true. The world is telling everyone about it, if they only would listen. This is a railroad track telling us to read Omni. It's got some good stuff in there.

I also got to help with a cleanup day for Alexandria. I painted fire hydrants, and got a little on myself. Hahahaha!

"Light and Dark" - Letter, May 19, 2014

This week has been a trial and a blessing. I have learned so much, and I can't really explain what I have learned fully. But I have learned the principle of light and dark. My new signature tells it all. We may dwell in a place of darkness, but we cannot also dwell in a place of light. The two cannot exist, for if the light comes near the dark, it dissipates and becomes non-existent. I have spent a lot of time in the dark this week, trying to find myself, and to find the way to the light. But when I found it, it was glorious. I have had to re-assess everything-the way I think, the way I am working with my branch, the investigators, and even who I am and why I am here. But I have learned some really important things about my mission. I can be who Heavenly Father wants me to be. And it's not up to anyone else to tell me who that is. God knows me, and He is directing me. I just need to listen.

1. Stormee: SHE CAN BE BAPTIZED!!!!!! She had to work through some things and now she can be baptized, and even cooler, her husband Damon, a recent convert, can baptize her. It's the miracle I have been praying for all week. Granted I wasn't expecting something this grand, but I'll take it. Haha. Anyway, we are so excited for her. She is so amazing and I am so blessed to know her. She takes the Gospel seriously. She understands that it's not just about the name of the church, but that God has commandments, and as we live them, we are blessed greatly!!!

2. Steve and Rainy: Rainy is doing ok. We are working with her until she has the faith to pay tithing, and when that happens, it will be awesome!!! She will have a great testimony of the Gospel. But Steve has gotten impatient because he didn't get his answers on his time, and so now we haven't seen him for a while. But I have faith that he will be able to find his faith. Please pray for them. They need it.

I know this is short, but it's been a great week, whether I enjoyed it or not. I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and despite my best efforts to show Him otherwise, He knows what's best for me. The same holds true for you as well.

Love, Sister Worthen

"The more chins the better...when you're a rabbit...I guess?" - Letter, May 12, 2014

This week has been rather uneventful. I have been busy, but things have just not been as wild as other weeks. That's ok though. So, I thought I'd send you some pictures of me doing my thing. The first one is of me on my birthday (April 21). I got to go to a Mexican restaurant here in town that's pretty good. They put the hat on my head and sang to me. It was really cute. The couple I am with is Jim and Norma Crowder. I don't know if y'all remember Bro. Partlow from my time in Oxford...he taught the institute class. Anyway, his dad lives in my area, and the Crowders were instrumental in him coming into the church. They are really nice people.

The next is us helping the mother of a member of the branch-presidency pain her house. The Elder on the end is my district leader, Elder Chamberlain, who will be moving up in the world tomorrow to become a zone leader. And then Elder Jackson, Sister Colton, and myself, along with Ava (pronounced as in Ave Maria).

The 3rd is my District. Mom, you should show this one to Sister DeLange. She will like to see her grandson.

The 4th is The Brobst Family. They are the Church of Jesus Christ of Catholic Saints/Mormic people. They are great!

And the last is the Phillips. They are awesome!!! They make sure we always have food, whether it's eating at their house when we see them or sending food home with us. They are hilarious. Jack Phillips is the one who said that Gordon B. Hinckley, the most perfect man ever, died.

Anyway, it was Mother's Day this week, and I got to talk to my parents. It was really nice to just talk to them. I really enjoyed it. Which reminds me: To all you mothers out there,

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

Sorry it's late. I hope it was a good one!!!

I love you all. I know that you are all children of our Heavenly Father. I know this Gospel is true, and sometimes things get confused and messed up in our lives, but Heavenly Father are like the North Star: when the whole world tilts and the view changes, it's always there, and so are they. The Holy Ghost can be your constant companion, and there is nothing more wonderful to me than that promise. I know that the Lord lives and that He is the head of this church and this work. I know that He loves me and you, and he suffered for us. I also know though, that when we are happy, He is also happy with us. I know this, and say it in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love, Sister Worthen

"What's on First" - Letter, May 5, 2014

Ok, so this week, we kicked butt...and had our butts kicked by being sick. Odd combo, I know. We started off the week with a bang!!!!

1.) Sunday night, we were out walking and we found this couple. Their names are Shawn and Susie. We set up a return appointment for them on Monday. We got there, and Susie tells us that her sister in law wants to meet us and she went and called them to come over. Sis. Colton and I were very worried because we don't know these people and we don't want a Bible Bash. But the guy comes in and starts bearing his testimony right off the bat. We taught a really good lesson, but Shawn likes to talk a lot, so we had to wrangle him in. We taught the Plan of Salvation. But anyway, we set up a return appointment with Charles, Scarlett, and their daughter Brittany for the next night. And then we went over there, and Brittany wasn't home, but her boyfriend was there. Honestly, in 3 days, we picked up 7 investigators. Because during that second lesson, Shawn's son, Seth, was there too. It kinda blew our minds. Later, after we told Charles about how his recent, yet wonderful baptism wasn't quite complete, they dropped us...sad, I know. But Shawn and Susie haven't dropped us. :D So that's good. Anyway, we kinda rocked this week because we had 14 member present lessons, which is a record for me. And that's with being sick for a couple of days and having to get some rest. Crazy!!!! My former record was 12. And in my former areas, I was doing good if I got 4. Sister Colton has shown me how to really hit the numbers, but that now means I don't get to fly under the radar anymore. ahahahahaha.

2.) Steve. I don't know if I've told y'all a lot about Steve. When I met him, he was completely agnostic, on the side of atheist. He wanted to believe, but he's a total skeptic. We have tried really hard to help him find his faith, and he wanted to find his faith, but he lost it when he was about 15. He was raised a staunch Catholic, but went looking for a church. He didn't find it, so he decided that he didn't want anything to do with God. Well, I take that back. He's not agnostic. He believes in God, but not Christ. So...deist. Think clock maker in the sky idea. Anyway, he is married and that's how we got them as investigators. His wife was looking for a church, and they started meeting with us. They have a daughter that is 9, one that is 5, and son that is 2. But Steve was starting to get discouraged because he wasn't learning or feeling what we told him he would, or should. But we got them to go to the Saturday night session of stake conference, and there was a guy there that told his conversion story, which a years long process. Steve realized that if he was patient and humble, after reading Alma 32 as well, he realized he would get his answers. I could tell there was a change in him when we spoke to him on Sunday evening. He's starting to get it. Just a little more, and he will be right where I want him. Muahahahaha Hip deep in a baptismal font. Hahahaha He's coming along nicely. And he is also quitting chewing. I've never had to quantify how much someone chews. I thought that was rather strange. But hey, as long as he quits. I really like the this family. They are Steve, Rainey, Wynter, Summer and Hunter. Funnily enough, I am also teaching a Stormee. Just a random side note.

Well, I am going to go. I hope you enjoyed my rant. I love having good weeks to tell you all about. I could tell you all about my bad weeks...but those aren't as uplifting. Haha. Anyway, I love you all, and I pray you are all doing well. Keep up all the wonderful prayers for myself and the work. As missionaries, we really need and appreciate them. I know this Gospel is true, and that the only way back to our Heavenly Father are faith, repentance, baptism by the correct authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end. I know this, in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love, Sister Worthen