Tasha in Tampa

Dear Family,

Have I ever mentioned how much I love church and Sundays? Well I do, I LOVE Sundays. I love going to church and having/ finding every talk, every class and every lesson or interaction with someone at church and what they say is just what you needed to hear. God is aware of us and He is consistently blessing us no matter how close we choose to be to Him, His love is unfailing!

On Saturday we attended Emily Virginia Stokes baptism. She is this funny, energetic, cute and quirky 8 year old who the Gulfport B Elders, Elder Ryan and Elder Tanner taught. She cracks me up and made my day a week ago when she and her grandmother (Sister Houser, who's a member and has been through A Lot, her husband died I think 3 years ago and before that Emily's father died and her mother struggles with a lot but was able to be at the baptism and the Elders are working with her, I apologize for the information overload) asked me to speak at her baptism on the Holy Ghost. She also asked Sister Howard to speak on baptism and it was neat because as we we're preparing for our talks, we both felt that we needed to switch and teach what the other was asked to talk on. We of course checked with Sister Houser who was fine with it and immediately after preparing for our talks became much easier, took no time to put together and flowed naturally. Who knows why the Holy Ghost so strongly impressed us to speak on the other's topic but I'm grateful we listened to the prompting and were able to proceed forth the way the Lord wanted us to.

At the baptism our branch President Stretch said, "You only fail one time in life and that's when you fall and don't get back up and try again."

I really like that and it made me think about how if we just choose to forgive ourselves and use Christ's atonement we can never fail. And the only way of the best way to pick ourselves up is by grabbing Christ hand for help. God and Christ's hand are always outstretched to us. It's not just for when we sin, it's for when we're tired and our at our weakest. When we feel inadequate as a person, a friend, a child, a parent, a sibling, when we wish we were better. Christ is here to lift us up in ALL things even if we're happy. In Jacob 6:4 and 2 Nephi 19:21 it talks about the outstretched hand of the Lord. Sister Howard and I taught in Relief Society and there's a huge painting of Christ in the room and Sister Howard noted how His hand is opened/ out stretched. I then noticed the majority of Christ's paintings have his arm or hand outstretched, I love it, Because it's true! :)

Here's a quote from the lesson I really loved and had to share, it's on the Priesthood, "Where in all the world can you find a class of ministers that dare take the position our Elders do? Where is the man or the set of men that can be found that dare to present themselves before the world and say that they have been authorized of God to administer certain ordinances to the people through which they may receive revelation form God? Anyone announcing a doctrine of this kind would soon be found out if he was an impostor- he would place himself in a very dangerous position, and would soon be discovered if he held no such authority.... God has sent his holy angels from heaven and restored the authority to man to administer the ordinances of the gospel."

Last night we taught the rest of lesson one to Sister Sloat's friend Joseph and Kwame (Joseph's son who just graduated highschool). Joseph knows the bible like it's nobodies business and he came to that  knowledge and found God when he was in prison for 15years. He has great questions and the spirit was awesome in the lesson and Sister Sloat's testimony was perfect. I am so grateful to her and she really relates to Joseph. Keep him in your prayers, I invited him to baptism and he said he would when he finds it's true :) yay! Oh also if ya'll can pray for Cadum (Sister Prices nanny or as she calls him, her manny, ha ha) we've just started teaching him and he's been reading a lot and we are hoping to invite him to baptism this week. 

Anywho, the work is just in the stages of adjusting, our mission President is having us go through the ward directory with our bishops/ branch presidents and Change is in the air. I love it! 

So a person I'm grateful for is Sister Gulbransen, she is this steller woman in our branch who is always going on business trips and she has made a goal to give out a book of mormon every week. She has been successful thus far and usually gives out more then one in a week and woot to the woot! Prayer to Heavenly Father and He will always set up situations perfectly. I really want to continue to be a missionary after my mission, so ya'll can hold me accountable when I get home and  make sure I'm keeping up to giving out a book of mormon every week if not every day! 

Oh and before I forget, transfer calls are this Saturday (the 14th), Sister Howard is a wonderful missionary and my eternal Sister, I love her to pieces and I can see her training, not positive how things will go but I hope we can have one more transfer together. If not, ha ha I wouldn't mind being transferred either, I've been in Gulfport a long time, I love it but I wouldn't mind a change. So you if you have any letters to send me please send them soooonnnn because I might possibly be sent to a new area next Tuesday. 

Well, I'm going to hurry and print some things off, I love you all greatly oh and before I forget. Mom and Dad, a women we prayed with at a nursing home facility, her name is Indigo and she's I think in her 30's, told me to thank my parents. She said, "God bless your parents for raising you so well to be so young and yet so faithful at such an age, tell them thank you for me. Thank you for raising your daughter and for what she's done." She was really sweet and I luckily I didn't cry as she told me God was so proud of me. I'm not the best missionary and I have a ton to improve on but I am extremely grateful for her kind words and for God using her to send me His loving words. Sister Howard and I hope to teach her more, she was open to us giving her a Book of Mormon and hopefully eventually lessons. She has such a good attitude and it's stunning, she was attacked from behind from a guy that was a friend and only has one leg, the other (right leg) goes to her knee and her other injuries...needless to say look painful. So thank you mom and dad for all that you have done, it really is incredible. 

I hope we never forget the blessings God has consistently provided for us. I love you all so much and I pray all is going well at home. I received Dad's awesome letter and it was powerful, thank you Dad! Sister Howard thinks your awesome too :D we at times exchange our letters that mean a lot to us and read them together, like I said she is a lifelong and eternal friend! Thank you for your letters, they are beautiful! I hope all is well at home and would be happy to add anything ya'll need to my prayers. 

Love you more then words can express! 

Much much Love,

Sister Bush