Everything is Perfect

2-25-15

I WILL BE SERVING MY NEXT TRANSFER WITH SISTER REED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sister Reed, my MTC companion!  I am happy out of my mind. I can't even express it!!!! THIS is why I was staying another transfer. Sister Reed was there with me when I started my mission and we'll end it together! She was there for so much!!!! THIS IS IT!!!!! It's ridiculous! Everything is PERFECT. God gave me every single thing I wanted AND MORE!!!!! I literally don't think I've ever been this happy!!!!!!!!!!

Because Sister Reed has served here already, we will be able to just hit the ground running and we will be able to skip all the weird introductions and... AAAAAAAhhhhhhh!!!!! I can hardly sit still or think or anything! I'm so excited!!!! Heavenly Father heard my prayers!!!!! And Sister Reed is SUCH a hard worker! We're gonna tear it up! It has been our dream to serve together since the MTC! This doesn't happen! It's like every missionary’s dream to "die" with their MTC companion and I get to!!!!

I have  a SWEET miracle story from last week.  So Sunday night we walk over to shovel out this lady named Sister B----- (she's so awesome by the way, every time she sees a penny she picks it up and says, "In God we trust," and knows that God is thinking about her. Pennies are her butterflies :) ) But anyway, she had to work the next morning and needed help shoveling out, (it was awful, we got a crazy ice storm and shoveling ice is HARD!) so we went to help her. On our way walking back in the dark, we start to pass two guys, probably about mid-twenties, shoveling a driveway in the darkness. Sister L kinda speeds up a little cause it honestly seemed a little creepy, and you know, two dudes in the dark... kinda creepy. But I get this weird urge to talk to them. I think, "no way, it's dark, and they're creepy," but the urge only gets stronger so we're pretty much past them and I finally kind of turn and I say, "Could y'all use some help?" 

The one with the shovel turns to me.  J----- always says that the eyes of a person will tell you everything about them. Well, the eyes I looked into were kind. Kind and good, and every feeling of doubt about my decision to talk to them was gone. The man was like, "Yeah! actually that would be great!" And he puts out his hand to me and says, "My name's T------." I shake his hand and introduce myself as Sister Lytle and start to explain that we're missionaries and he stops me and says, "From what church??" And I say, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." His eyes light up even more and he's like, "I'm a Mormon!!" After some "no ways!" and "where are you froms?" and what not, we find out that he joined when he was 12, but  since he was 16 he's been pretty less active, but you can feel he still has a fire burning. So anyway, turns out he was shoveling the drive of that home because he and his friend had just bought it and needed a place for the moving truck to pull in (his friend is married and Muslim) and we are going to help them move in, and then he invited us to dinner with him and his roommate and wife and his other friend who is Jewish! He said they all love to talk about the Bible!

I feel like my whole mission has been leading up to me being here in Bluefield and especially this next transfer. I can just feel it! I can feel God's hand in it. I feel like I'll just be set free and be ready to work and miracles will happen!  THIS IS IT!!!!!

We Walked for Miles. . .Uphill. . .in the Snow. . .

2-18-15 

We finally get to email! We walked through the snow yesterday to get to the library and it was CLOSED! We have about 14 inches of snow right now.... but it seems a lot worse than that because people in the East don't deal well with snow! Church was cancelled on Sunday which literally made me cry because I look forward to church and seeing everyone so much. We're supposed to get more today, and it's currently starting to snow, so we'll see.

Sunday night all our plans had fallen through and it was kind of bad weather, so we're like, “Well, what now?” I then had one of the strongest impressions I've EVER had to go see someone. Like, it was pretty much words. So we go to see this investigator that we haven't been able to get in contact with in FOREVER. She hasn't answered texts and all our appointments with her have fallen through so we had no idea what was up with her. So anyway, we go over and she just yells to us to come on in. (People do that all the time here. It gets sketchy when you're just tracting and you have no idea who is inviting you in!) 

So we come in and sit down and she just kind of lets it all out to us. I can't go into detail, but it was probably one of the most emotional talks I've ever had with someone. I think I really felt what if feels like to keep my baptismal covenants and "mourn with those that mourn." My heart just broke for her and with her. So we shared a BEAUTIFUL quote that Sister Snyder gave me once about the atonement and healing and after she said, “God always knows when to send you girls to me. Thank you so much for just listening, you have no idea how much I needed that.” And then we planned a time to go back. Miracles are happening. I love it here so much.

Fun Fact: Around here they don't call it "plowing" or "shoveling," they call it "scraping." People don't sit "on" the floor they sit "in" the floor, or you drop something "in" the floor. 

I'd reckon I be talkin’ like a Southern girl whenever I get back to y'all! (They also say "whenever” pretty much in every place that we would say "when.")

"Busin' for Jesus" Courtesy of Elder Powell

Maybe gang signs, or maybe WV

Thought you would appreciate this classic Darcy look

To Feel and See God's Love

Scottown

11-3-14 

So let me tell you about this week. Sometimes the mission is hard. You can go for days with every appointment falling through and end the week with no investigators at church. . . again. You can put your whole heart and soul into a lesson and somehow, it doesn't seem to matter. After a while it's hard not to feel worn down, and wonder how much longer, how much more you're going to have to give, for something to happen. And, sometimes, it's hard not to wonder why you're in the WVCM and not in Mexico, where every time a door is knocked here in West Virginia, ten people are baptized in Mexico. Sometimes it's hard, and not to say that there isn't something fabulous and beautiful and necessary in that hardship, but it's hard all the same. And it makes you wonder what's wrong, why you're not good enough, why these people can't see past the world to see the truth we have. And sometimes. . . God answers all your questions.

Sometimes, miracles happen. The first part of this week we weren't able to get a hold of A-------. We were worried that her less-active friend had anti'ed her and that she wasn't interested anymore or something bad like that had happened. Until Thursday. We texted A------- and invited her to lunch with us and a member in our ward, who goes to Marshall as well, named F------. She finally texts back and says she wants to come! So we're pumped and the next day we pick her and her roommate up and go to this sweet little cafe place called "The Black Sheep" right off of campus. The day was cold and gray. . . and so was A--------. She wasn't her bubbly usual self. It was kind of heartbreaking to go from the day she came to church, and her face, and our connection when she told us that we had to stay in Huntington and couldn't get transferred because "she needed us,"  to this closed off girl I barely even knew.

We got our food and her roommate, N-----,  was happy and conversational while A------- was much more quiet. After a bit, N----- had to leave, but A-------- stayed with us. When N---- left, A------- started asking a few more questions. She asked things about the nature of God and such, and then she asked something that caught us off guard. She looks at us and asks, "Do you all ever have. . . dreams?" We look at each other and we're like, "Well yeah, we have dreams." She proceeds to say, "Like, dream dreams. Or like visions sort of, you know?" We all kind of look at each other and sort of start to say no, but then she continues. She says, "I had this dream. I was talking to a woman who I admire very much and she's very educated and devoted to religion. I was telling her that I wished there was something as pure as Christ and his doctrine on earth today. And when I said that, she just says to me, "There is." And the dream ended.

For a moment, the music in the little restaurant was gone. All the people at the tables around us didn't exist. All I could feel was the spirit like a blanket over us. Chills ran up and down my spine. Yes A------! There is!!! Before we could really say anything, she continued, "I don't know if you all could tell, but I haven't been my usual self lately." She went on to tell us how things have been so hard recently. She's been struggling with depression and just felt so unlike herself. Her eyes got misty as she related her stories to us, and so did mine. My heart has never gone out to someone as mine did to her that day. I'm understanding more and more what Christ meant when he asked us to "mourn with those that mourn".

She told us how just as things got hard, she began getting texts and calls from Mormon missionaries. And she realized this wasn't a coincidence. She told us she felt like God really wanted her right now. Like he was calling to her. She told us she wanted to meet with us more, but she didn't want to impose herself upon us. We almost laughed as we told her that we would give anything to do that, that that was exactly what WE wanted. We bore testimony, we comforted her, we loved her, but really, we didn't do that much. We were just there. God did all the work. I wish you could have been there to feel the spirit that was there--to be a part of this miracle. To listen and see how much God loved this 18-year-old girl from Charleston, West Virginia. How he placed everyone so perfectly in order for her to be able to hear his word. To FEEL and SEE his love.

God loves A-------. And he loves me. And he loves you. And miracles happen. The whole time I felt a little like a missionary in one of those missionary stories. You know, the ones that General Authorities tell. The ones that never happen in YOUR life. I felt like miracles like this were too big to fit into my little life, but it turns out, that there are no miracles too big for ANYONE'S life. We're children of God, remember? Miracles happen. But you have to be at the right place at the right time doing the right thing. And I know that I am. I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. A------- was meant to be part of my life, and I a part of hers.

Calling Down Miracles

My first Boba!

7-7-14  

Our zone is trying this new thing, where we pray and ask for Heavenly Father’s guidance on who he wants us to find. So Sister Long and I try it. We pray and ask for guidance, and then we come together to try to decide who we need to find. We sit there in awkward silence for a while and I just keep thinking that...we need to find a black guy. There are very few black people in West Virginia, so I kind of put that out of my head and keep trying to decide what we need to be looking for.

After a while Sister Long says. . . "I don't think he's going be white." SUPER cool when you have a companion and you can verify what you are each thinking and feeling. So then we get excited and we decide that we won't find him knocking doors...we'll just talk to him somewhere, and that he's going to be really searching and have a lot of questions. Well anyway, we make our little lesson plan for this man we've never met before and we go to work. A day or two passed, and we still hadn't found him, but we continued to pray for him. Then, one night, in the very last hour of the workday, we are walking down the street and see this black guy working on his car. We say hello and he is really friendly and says hello back and we start a conversation about his car. We get talking, and the conversation turns to us being missionaries. We give him our card and he's super interested and we offer him a Book of Mormon and then realize that we had given our last one out. Yeah, it sounds ridiculous right? But it's showing us that we really can call down miracles! And the thing is, we don't ask that we'll find this person, we ask what kind of person Heavenly Father already has for us to find, and try to align our will with his. I sort of thought it was a weird idea at first, until I really understood it. But anyway, we tell him we will bring him a Book of Mormon!

Two days later we bring him one while he's outside with his wife and his neighbor. So we give it to him and he talks about how he's from Kenya and I bring up that my mom lived in Kenya, and for some reason I had this weird urge to tell him about Wairimu, and so I mention her, and he says, "Yes! That is a Kenyan name!" in his sweet accent! He asked us tons of crazy questions that I've never been asked before but he was so cool and so interested! I'm so exited about him! We also found this great family who just moved here from New York, and this young couple who are going to WVU and the guy loves guns and the girl is agnostic. . .so we have gained a super diverse teaching pool here and it’s great!

On our way to meet the new mission president.  Yes, that's Sister Reed, my MTC companion!

Mo-town Bound

Camera card--saved from the sewer!

6-18-14

This kid is headed to Morgantown, West Virginia in the morning! I'm pretty excited to finally serve in the state that was written on my call letter! Morgantown is about as north as our mission goes, and it's home to West Virginia University, which was voted number one party school in the U.S. last year, I believe. Morgantown is referred to as "Babylon" in the mission, so it should be interesting!

I was blessed to have a really incredible last week in Pikeville. The week started off with some CRAZY storms, which put our power out for a whole night. The next day was our walking day. We headed out walking to a place called Mossy Bottom. We thought it was only a couple miles away so we were like, “alright, we can walk that, no big deal!” We decided to take what we thought was a "short-cut" and ended up slightly lost in some holler. We asked two guys working on some power lines how to get to Mossy Bottom, and they got us headed the right direction and also gave us some much needed water. People are so nice out here, it's ridiculous. The way they directed us DID in fact lead to Mossy Bottom, but it also led us over the top of a mountain on a dirt road . . . in the rain. We hiked over that mountain in our ballet flats, in the rain, with big smiles on our faces though, because this mission really is just a grand adventure, and I love every crazy moment of it with all my heart. It also helps that I was hiking in the best of company. It's so fabulous to serve alongside a true friend. I love Sister Morgan with all my heart.

We finally did make it to Mossy Bottom, and by that time, it was about 6:00 in the evening. We taught the woman we had planned on seeing, and then, we get out of the lesson, and we realize, “Dang. We have to walk home now.” It was way too late, and our feet hurt way too bad, so we called our girl M-------, and she came and saved us and gave us a ride home. When she picked us up, the first words out of her mouth were, "You all WALKED here???" We laughed about it the whole drive back, and we figured we had walked somewhere over 10 miles that day.

On Saturday we decided to go check out the street fair that was at the end of a marathon they were having in Williamson.  We thought we could pass out some cards. We decided to get lunch at Taco Bell, where a random lady (she apparently ran the marathon and was a member from Virginia) bought our lunch for us! That NEVER happens in the WVCM, but we hear stories of it happening to other missionaries, and it made our day! Thank you nice Virginia lady wherever you are! While walking around Williamson, we found this really cool alley and we just had to take a few quick pictures in it. So, as I'm pulling out my camera to do so, my camera card falls out, and we watch, as if the world is in slow motion, as my card falls to the ground, and rolls ... into the sewer. By some miracle it landed on its side, and after much prayer and planning, we found two boards and were able to carefully pull it out. 

While we were trying to rescue my card though, we get a text from Sister Pitt telling us that the Pitt's would be at church with us in Pikeville the next day, so we needed to make sure J----- and the W---------s family knew. Through a series of tender mercies too personal to put on the blog, J-----was able to be there. 

The next day at church, the Pitts showed up and it was so good to see them. We brought them inside and they started talking with the branch. Then… J----- walked in. Watching him walk in was a reminder to me of how beautiful people are. Because they are beautiful. We really are children of God. Sister Morgan and I nearly ran over to greet him. It felt so good to have our Pikeville dad at church with us on Fathers Day, as well as our mission dad, President Pitt. It was the best Fathers day gift I could have received. J---- caught us up in the warmest handshake ever, and then, I got to watch as he hugged the Pitts. I'm learning that you can sometimes SEE love, and I definitely saw it as J---- and the Pitts embraced each other. I wish I could describe the happiness of that morning, but I can promise you that words will never do the feelings that were there justice. The love the Pitts have for J----, and that we have for J----, and that J---- has for us, and that we all have for the gospel, it was overwhelming. We got to teach the Gospel Principles class with the Elders, in front of the Pitts, for J---- and the Elder's Biker gang investigator, R-----, which was pretty intimidating, but it was an incredible lesson with the Pitts there to add their insights. Before he left, we got a picture with J----, because he was our stand-in dad for Fathers Day. The picture I have of me and Sister Morgan with him, is one of my most prized possessions now. it represents miracles, and happiness, and I think above all, it represents love. Before J----- left, he gave both Sister Morgan and I a big hug. Because it was Fathers Day.

I'm so grateful for all the father figures I have in my life. Especially you, Dad. You know as well as I do that I wouldn't be here without you, and not in the "oh where would I be without you, you helped me get here" kinda way. You literally are the reason I'm here on a mission. And I can never repay you for that and the blessing it has been, and will be for me. I love you. so much.

#FathersDay

Williamson