Tonnie got baptized yesterday!!!!! - April 18, 2016

Family!!!!!!

Guess what!? Tonnie got baptized yesterday!!!!! Happy day!! Also, thank you for all the emails this week! I knew if I said that last week y'all would feel bad and write! I loved every email and all the cute videos of Ivy!

So last Monday for p-day we played some soccer for a little bit. It is starting to get too hot for that though. Soccer might not have been the best idea. My ankle was not to happy with me by the end of the game.  But I did block a few shots so my skills are improving! After soccer we decided to play some indoor hockey! It was a ton of fun! I'm pretty sure that is the first time I have ever played but I loved it! I'm just becoming so sporty out here! That is basically all the exciting things that happened on Monday.

Tuesday we had district meeting! It was really good! I am going to miss this district if I have to get transferred in a few weeks. We had a lesson with George on Tuesday night but I figure I will just tell all of my George stories at once. These stories are coming straight from my journal... So on Tuesday George asked us our names and then wanted to look up the meaning of them.

4/12/16: What Georgie thinks about my name...

Comes from Olive. Symbols peace

Source of oil and anointing

4/14/16: today Georgie prayed about my name. He read the Book of Mormon in his prayer. And then asked us if we would please call him John. Alright, Jonny boy it is. Five minutes later he called himself Curious George and started asking the ducks questions and telling them to quack for us... Who is this man?

4/15/16: today had a lesson with Georgie.... Got in a heated argument about how Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and Beethoven are not prophets called of God and the things they write are not other testaments of Christ or holy scripture. I basically told him that we "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" believe that the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Holy Bible (King James version) are the only true scripture here upon the earth! And he can only be baptized if he knows these are the only true scripture on earth and fully understands the role of prophets and who they are. Georgie got very very flustered and angry. He raised his hands in the air at me and told me that was a very bold thing to be saying.  Georgie said "I am very knowledgeable and great things have been revealed to me for the benefit of others. Prophets and scripture are a huge mystery and we don't know who is and isn't a prophet also, you should not be saying so quickly that those are the only books.."  He then got even more flustered and moved all other books besides Book of Mormon and Bible off the table. Sister Webb 1 Georgie 0! Next lesson prophets.. What are they?

4/16/16: had lesson about prophets with Georgie today... Spent first 15 minutes listening to George talk about Isaac Newton, and Muhammad being prophets. False!! They are not! Finally he realized that the sun was going down and he needed to soak in it one last time to bask in the light of Christ once more before nightfall. This gave me my chance to talk on prophets.. Sadly, I forgot my iPad with all of my info...Oops... That didn't stop me. Georgie went off about what exactly is authority, meaning priesthood authority. He gets off on a tangent about Oprah Winfrey and how she has great authority and he believes she could have priesthood authority. Again I calmly explain priesthood authority and how women do not hold it. Georgie gets flustered with me once again and tells me that I need to have an open mind. Oh boy, I tried not to yell so I decided to bear testimony instead.. Georgie gots nothin on my testimony! He had nothing to say after I bore it.  Sister Webb 2! Georgie 0... At the end of the lesson Georgie tells me I need to beware of my pride... Next lesson.. Possible drop Georgie..Or pass off to the elders! no one tells Sister Webb she is prideful but herself!

Yes, those journal entries are true and all of that happened. George is having a hard time understanding what a prophet is and why only men hold the priesthood but he is making progress. We are working on convincing him to stop researching all other religions. We are seeing George again tonight. His lessons cause me lots of stress because I am pretty sure he just boils my blood until I just want to yell but I've been working on patience and keeping calm with him. Tonight we are going to be watching a YSA devotional called The Blueprints of Christ's Church. It's going to be good!

On Wednesday we had a lesson with our investigator Taquoia again! She is amazing!! We read with her 3 Nephi 11 and she loved it! She then basically invited herself to baptism!! So we set a date with her for May 14! It was great! She pulled out a piece of paper and started taking notes on what she needs to do to prepare for baptism! After that lesson we went to our gator Amanda's house! It was good! She has been praying about getting married or moving out so she can be baptized! She loves  our lessons and reads all the chapters we give her and usually will text us during the week to get more! She tells everyone she can that she is getting baptized into the Mormon church and then starts to tell them all about the Book of Mormon and how great it is! She is just amazing! We also had a ward party on Wednesday night! That was a lot of fun!! Our investigator Ron was able to come! The ward did dinner and a magic show! The food was amazing we had smoked pork, beans, and salads. And don't even get me started on the magic show! I loved it! I am still in awe at how all the tricks were done!

Nothing really happened on Thursday besides our lesson with George.  But I already talked about that earlier. We then just saw a bunch of less actives and investigators. 

Friday was weekly planning. That was a long rough day. We decided to create our vision board this week. I took some pictures I will send you of our transfer vision here in Ocala. Just don't judge me when you read my weekly goals. I'm hoping they will be to small for y'all to read. Later that night we had another lesson with George and then Tonnie had his baptismal interview. So here is the stress that I have been dealing with all week. So we were told that Tonnie needed to be baptized into the other ward because that is were he lives. No big deal he was ok with that.  We had planned for his baptism to be on Sunday. While the other bishop was not happy about that and told us if Tonnie was to be baptized into his ward he would have to wait 3 weeks and to be retaught the lessons.  This made me mad and our ward mission leader is out of town so I call brother Tompkins to complain. Brother Tompkins was also angry about this so he contacts the stake president as well as both bishops and settles off of this. Finally it was decided late Friday night that Tonnie would be getting baptized on Sunday into our ward! I was so happy!! We wasted no time and threw together a baptism in 2 days! We had a very good turn out from the ward to show support! Tonnie and JQ were so so happy! Brother Tompkins baptized Tonnie and then Sister Olsen and I gave the talks. Here are some highlights of the baptism.. So our ward does not have any large baptism suits. So Sunday at 5 o'clock we were still trying to scrounge to find something for Tonnie to wear. We finally found a white pair of scrubs that fit him and a very large women's button up shirt that had a stain on it... Awkward!  It's ok, he was just so happy to be getting baptized that he didn't care. Next, when he walked down in the font he slipped on the top step and basically fully immersed himself. Everyone just burst out laughing! To top it off he had to be baptized 5 times!! Poor guy! But, he is officially baptized and will be getting confirmed next Sunday!!!  Yay!!!!

That basically sums up my entire week. I guess I can just share something spiritual with y'all. So this week I read a really good chapter in the Book of Mormon. Mom, I was so happy when you sent me an email saying you read 1 Nephi 17 because I read it that exact same day as well! Anyways, the next day I was reading 1 Nephi 18 and just loved it. So when Nephi is building the ship he is instructed to build it after the manner which the Lord had showed him. If we put ourselves in the spot of Nephi the ship can be compared to our lives. We must continually be building and centering our lives after the Lord's manner not the manner of men! If we do this we will be able to face and sail the troubled sea's when the storms arise in our lives. We must build our homes upon Christ! We need to do everything we can to keep Satan and his crafty ways out of our homes. We must build a ship that will lead us back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. Just as Nephi built his to lead him the the promised land. Our promised land is the celestial kingdom and we should continually be striving and doing all we can to achieve that! I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity it be here in Florida as a missionary representing my Savior Jesus Christ!  I know with out a doubt in my mind that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is Jesus Christ's true church here upon the earth. All of the proper keys and authority have been restored back to the earth through Joseph Smith. I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to be the prophet and to restore the church. I know that we have a living prophet here upon the earth today and that Thomas S. Monson does in fact receive the revelation we need for the church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I love this book with all of my heart! The Book of Mormon can truly change your life if you are willing and let it! I know that the scriptures are one of the best ways Heavenly Father can speak to us and that as we have daily scripture study we can find the answers we are seeking in the Book of Mormon. I know that Jesus Christ is the only begotten son of our Heavenly Father and that he willingly came to this earth to atone for each and every one of us! I know that because of him all things are possible that we can be forgiven and that we will all receive the greatest gift of being resurrected and reunited with the ones we love.  I'm grateful for the time that I have each and everyday to kneel in prayer and draw closer to my Heavenly Father and to study and learn more about my Savior Jesus Christ! It makes everything that much easier knowing that I am never alone. He is right there along every step I am taking and I am grateful for that! It is my hope that y'all can continue to strengthen your faith and relationships with our Heavenly Father and with Jesus Christ! I can promise you as disciple and representative of Jesus Christ that if you will do these things you will find greater peace and happiness in your lives! I leave these things with you, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer, Amen.

I hope y'all have a wonderful week! I know I will! It's my last week of 23!! 7 more days!! Not that I have been counting or anything! Haha Love you all and miss you all so so much! Only a few more weeks till I get to see y'all!

Love,

Sister Webb