AHH I LOVE YOU

Mama, I love you so stinkin' much. It's not even funny how loud I laugh when I read your emails. I think I have a little fraction of yours and dad's sense of humor. The sisters I live with have been laughing at me all week. (I guess I can be a little dramatic or something :) I dunno.) They find it pretty funny though. Tell Val I say congratulations! It feels like yesterday that she and I were up at like midnight talking in our kitchen about her writing Jake and me writing Christiaan. Now she is marrying him! That is so cool! I love that girl like a sister... Go to her reception and give her and Jake a big hug for me! Yes I got the dress you sent, I am wearing it right now actually. Honestly, not that cute but it is perfect for people that have cats in their house so I can throw it right in the wash when I get home. It'll do!

Wow I am looking at my journal and SO MUCH has happened since I last emailed. Sister Butters and I have had more time in our area and it is so fun! The sites are getting a slower and slower. I think everyone's waiting for the leaves to change to start coming again. I have some awesome news! Jina, our investigator we've been teaching, has a baptismal date! Sister Butters and I have been praying so fervently for her and we know she will be ready to be baptized October 28th. We taught her about baptism and I found myself talking at the end of the lesson. Well we planned to invite her to be baptized and for some reason I could not do it! But the Spirit told me it was time to! Literally the Spirit halted me from asking Jina if she would be baptized. So I just stopped. Sister Butters picked right up where I stopped and asked Jina if she would be baptized on October 28th. And Jina said YES! We are so excited for her. She is the sassiest black lady I have ever met and I just love her. Her countenance is brightening each day, it is amazing. Sister Butters and I were so excited we got back in our car and just screamed! As we drove home, Sister Butters told me that she totally thought I would be the one to commit Jina to baptism, but that the Spirit told her that she needed to get ready because she would be the one to do it. Isn't that crazy!? The Holy Ghost is so cool. God knows what He is doing- in every little detail of this work.

So one day we had an area day and we decided to contact all the less-active families up in Sodus. So I wrote down all of the names we felt prompted to go see. Well one of the names I wrote down is the Rinaudo Family. I don't know why I wrote them down, because they are active members of the church. Well, Sister Butters and I just decided to go see them anyway and if they needed service. So we knock on their door and start talking with them. They had just found out their son has a heart condition that almost killed him in his last soccer game. YEAH. He is actually getting surgery today. So we shared some scriptures with them and helped them clean their house. No one in the ward knew this was happening yet. And when they needed help and comfort, the Lord just sent Sister Butters and I to be there. It was a miracle that before they even knew about their son's heart condition the Spirit prompted me to write their names down to go see that day.

We had a mission tour this week! Elder Perkins, of the Quorum of the Seventy, was sent by the Quorum of the Twelve to tour the New York Rochester Mission. We had a conference with him last Tuesday (our normal p-day-hence why it was changed this week). It was awesome. We were instructed by him and his wife and President and Sister Christianson. The conference was from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon. I learned SO MUCH. One thing I will share with you is that Elder Perkins told us to have enthusiasm about the Gospel. In Greek enthusiasm is en/theos meaning "God is in us". The the Gospel is the message God has for all of His childen- ALL OF THEM. We know the truth so we have to be enthusiastic about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the only way His children can get back to Him. I feel so privileged to be a part of this great work. It truly is the greatest work on the planet. So the other thing about the mission tour was that Elder Perkins asked every missionary to prepare a talk and that he would call on them in the moment. Uhhh... SCARY! So he shook all of our hands at the beginning of the meeting took his seat and started writing down names. So President Christianson gets up to announce the missionaries that will be giving their talks. And guess who's name he says last.... mine. President sits down and looks at me, and I look at him and give him "the look". He just winked at me and mouthed, "I didn't choose." I guess I could let it go then. I gave my talk to the Palmyra North and Palmyra South zones in front of a Seventy and my mission president and it was terrifying. But it turned out okay.

I will end this email with a list of yummy things Sister Butters and I have been making for our meals: Squash (from the Smith Farm garden) made just like you used to make it, Mom! Chocolate chip pancakes with Nutella on them. YEAH. Corn on the cob (that we got on the side of the road at a farmers stand- fresh!) BBQ chicken and mashed potatoes. MM! Paninis with turkey, pesto, and fresh tomatoes(also from the Smith Farm garden). Chicken Caesar salad with homemade croutons. Mmmhmmm. And Margaretta pizza with fresh tomatoes and basil from the Smith Farm! That is just a few! We have been getting really fancy. It's cool eating vegetables from the Smith Farm. That's like special dirt they grew out of! Anyway, I thought you would be proud.

Well that is all for this week! I love you so much!
Love, Sister Alexandra Adams