My ongoing bad luck with cars...

Hey everyone! This week was pretty good some unfortunate things happened but oh well! Good memories right? Today we're going to a Labor Day parade to be in a Christian float and pass out restoration pamphlets and stuff. I will have to tell you all how it goes next week. We're headed out right now.

Well on Tuesday we were walking out to our car for district meeting and we walked up and we saw glass all over the seat and it turns out someone broke into our car!!! Ugh. They stole our GPS and all our CD, honestly I'm mostly mad about our CDs haha I hope they enjoy those Jeffery R. holland talks because right now they really need Jesus. Thankfully by some miracle I had our mission credit card in my bag so they weren't able to get ahold of that, honestly we have the worst car to break into haha all we have is book of Mormons and apples to apples in our car! But oh well that just adds my total of six tickets, two tows, and one robbery. And that's only from the mission people, let's not even bring up pre-mission bad luck with cars. We all know I have TERRIBLE luck with cars haha.  I hate this demon city car. We also got a parking ticket the next day, honestly I think these cops personally attack the church vehicles..... I'm about to beg president Reynolds to take this car off our hands hahaha

Our Investigator Jessica is fabulous! She's now preparing for baptism on October 8th so her grandma from the Dominican Republic can be here to watch it :) but she's a champion. Even if my day is awful she is my saving grace and brightens my day. We reviewed the restoration with her just to make sure she really understood and she did and also remembered her primary days when her grandparents would take her to church and color pictures of President Hinkley. It just goes to show how much kids remember, so teach your children! Have family home evening, family scripture study and prayer, etc! It's so important. We also taught her tithing yesterday and she was hesitant at first to pay it but one of our members helped her and by the end she saw it as a huge blessing and privilege to pay tithing. Another lesson I've learned here on my mission is that members truly are the key to missionary work, we can't do it without them and they can't do it without us. We were made to work hand in hand.

Crazy New York story of the week! We were going to go teach with one of our members and there was a bomb threat on the train! First time that's ever happened, it was so weird how everyone was so calm about it. I don't know about you but I would have been a little more panicked if a train conductor came in and asked if we've seen a bag with wires coming out of it ha it was just a false alarm and couldn't even find a bag. But super crazy right?!

That's about it for the week, nothing super exciting happened but all in all I still love New York, the people, and being a missionary. Me and sister Deuel also had our one year companion anniversary haha on September 1st we became companions for the first time. So tender. So now I need to get spiritual (because I swear I'm never spiritual in my weeklys) and share something with you from my studies...

🔹Alma 36🔹

Alma the younger was sharing his conversion story with his son Helaman and he went from THIS,

14"..that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror"

To THIS,

28"And I know that he will raise me up at the last day, to dwell with him in glory; yea, and I will praise him forever"

How in the world brought this change? From fearing the very thought of seeing God and pains of a dammed soul to a firm knowledge he would live with God in glory. It's simple, the atonement of Jesus Christ. Alma had truly experienced the atonement and once he had this experience he "was filled with joy as exceeding my pains" and "could remember his sins no more". How amazing it truly is to have the atonement and knowledge that Christ loves us so much he was willing to experience everything so that we can have everlasting joy, which in return when Christ sees our happiness it gives him everlasting happiness.

This is our purpose as missionaries, to help people access the atonement and learn how to apply it. For I want to be like Alma in saying "I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste...." We know this gospel and we know the blessings
and joy it gives us everyday so why not share it? Yes I know we're all not full time missionaries but we're all member missionaries at any age. Try and seek opportunities to share the gospel and pray for opportunities! I know it's true and this gospel is true. I love and miss you all :) I'll talk to you all next week!

Love, Sister Seay