January 20, 2014

I am so far behind again!!  I know this picture is a little blurry but I couldn't believe the size of the collards!!

Hola Familia! 

Haha I feel like I have to start it off like that!  Wow! What a week for yall!! It sounds like it was pretty good and a little rough! Well Cami I am so sorry you were sick on your birthday but I hope your party made up for it!! It sounds like it was a lot of fun! I can’t believe how fast time flies by either Mom!! I feel like it goes so fast! But I love it I guess that is all you really can do is love every moment! I am so excited for you to have a brand new Temple!! You know how much I love the Temple and I sure am jealous!!  I know it will be there when I get back! I hope the bathrooms go well!!  I promise I will do a better job of cleaning them when I get home-- forgive me for being so lazy! haha  Well anyways, first off I just love you all so much! You really are the best family in the world and I am so grateful to have you! This week has been amazing!! I feel like the weeks get better and better! Sister Cowley is such an amazing example to me and I am so lucky to have her.  I learn so much from her everyday and I swear she is the most positive person ever!! We have been listening to a lot of classical music and I really love it!  I have realized what a change the music I listen to makes especially out here! When we listen to uplifting music it changes our whole day!! Well this week we have been doing a lot of bike riding--which I love!!  I bought a beach cruiser and it has changed my life! haha (a little dramatic but it is really great!) Sister Cowley makes homemade bread every week for us and I drink almond milk now! It is so good! We are really trying to cut back on what we eat because I am pretty sure I am gonna have diabetes pretty soon here! Other than that-- biking makes the work so much more fun! We have been talking to so many more people and it makes you energized for the next day! It is always an adventure of who you are going to talk to each day!! We had a really amazing experience this week.  We were riding down to Summer and Elsee’s house and we had to pass UNCP (the college).  As we were riding there—we saw a group of people and Sister Cowley and I made it a goal to talk with everyone. So I was in front and I started turning towards them and then I got nervous so I tried to think to myself what to do and I personally didn’t feel to bad about not stopping!! So I just kept going and I heard Sister Cowley say... “they probably didn’t need the gospel no big deal”... hahaha We started laughing and we were about to turn around and then we just both decided to keep going and a little farther down this little boy was pointing at us.  I stopped and we started talking to his mom.  We taught her and set up a return appointment. We taught her again last night and let me tell you she is so elect!! She has so many questions and she kept telling us she was really excited to read the Book of Mormon! She committed to be baptized and is doing great! After we met her, Sister Cowley and I were talking and we just knew the Lord was guiding us to keep going so that we could meet her... not that the other people didn’t need the gospel as well but I know that we were put in the right place at the right time so that we could meet Leslie and start teaching her! We are so excited! As for Clemet, the man with no shirt, he is great!! We taught him on Saturday and he had a shirt on! Plus he really enjoys learning about Joseph Smith so that is always a plus around here! As for Brother Goodman’s house-- we have started teaching Angelique who is Stefanie, our former investigators daughter... she is a little rough but mainly because she is our same age and she has lived a really hard life but she is coming along and she always has really funny comments! We like teaching her! We actually went over to the Goodman’s last night to teach her, but when we got down there she didn’t show up.  Brother Goodman had another man there that he found on the side of the road on the way home from church that was having car troubles.  The man was from Haiti and he was living in NYC.  He and his son were moving to Florida and their car broke down so they were staying with Brother Goodman for the next couple of days while he fixed their car... Did I tell you he knows how to do that as well... honestly there are so many secrets about that man it is not even funny! He used to own a yacht! haha  But anyways,  when we got to Brother Goodman’s house we started teaching this man.  I don’t know if anything will come from it but Brother Goodman was his good samaritan for the night and hopefully the missionaries in Florida catch up with him! As for everything else around here, the work is just great!  I love it so much!! I am so excited for Clay to get our here! It is funny because as I have been trying to read the standard works I have been finishing up the Book of Mormon as well and it just so happened that they are both talking about the same thing as I read them!   I love learning from them everyday! I am in Exodus right now and it has been talking about Moses.  I can’t remember where exactly and I don’t have my Bible with me right now-- but it pretty much is just when the Lord is telling Moses what he needs to do and Moses says I stumble over my words and I am not eloquent enough for this job. (in other words the way we all feel when it comes to being on the Lords errand)  Then the Lord just simply says,  "I am not the one who made you, anything that I ask can be done if you have the faith to do it!"  Just like in 1 Nephi 3:7 it says,  “I will go I will do the things the Lord commands I know the Lord provides a way He wants me to obey”.  I know that the Lord does not give us a task that we can’t accomplish! If we have the faith and rely on Him we are able to do anything that we have been asked to do! So as this new Temple comes around I know that it is going to be a huge missionary experience and I know that if each of you have the faith to open your mouth that everything will work out! The Lord will guide you in everything that you do! I know this to be true because I see it everyday! I stumble over my words and I feel like I don’t know what I am going to say a lot of the time but some how when I open my mouth things just start to flow and thoughts come to my mind. I love being a missionary! This is the most exciting work and I am so blessed to be a part of it! I hope you all know how much I love you and have the best week!!

Love always

Cass/ Sister Oliver