Sister Rachel Philpot: I'M IN LOVE.

Hello everyone!!

I am in love with Texas!! Wow this week was amazing. I am SO glad that I chose to serve a mission. I hear that it was rainy all week in Utah. It rained here too! You know the movie rain where it is just POURING and it looks fake because there is no way that much water can fall from the sky? I had no idea that could be real!! We have a gym in our apartment complex where we workout in the mornings. We just have to walk a few feet outside to get there... and we were COMPLETELY soaked after being outside for less than 10 seconds. It was like standing under the shower. Haha I love it so much!!! Everything's bigger in Texas, including the thunder storms. I have never experienced rain like this. <3

Speaking of getting soaked, Alexis was baptized on Saturday! It was AMAZING. She is the cutest! She was so ready and she just absolutely glows with the spirit. The whole day was perfect. The spirit at her baptism just really builds my faith and testimony that Jesus Christ really is the Savior of the world and that baptism is the first step to follow Him. It's something I can't even explain... It's such a beautiful covenant with God that we will always remember Jesus Christ and strive to be like him. Alexis is such a great example to me of a true follower of Christ. She understands the promise she made at baptism and is determined to love and serve Him her whole life. She had everyone crying. It was such a great spirit that day.

I've said it before, but I can honestly see how this is the Lord's work. I know it's nothing that I do! I am just so blessed to be in the right place at the right time and having the privilege of working with people who are prepared and have a soft heart. We had a lesson with a man named Gilbert. He was so calm and open and sincere. I had no idea that people really wanted to listen to us! Haha it might sound dumb, but I always just pictured trying to convince people of the truth. But really, people who are prepared and long to know the truth are put into our path and I'm so glad we get to talk to people like that. When we were talking about Joseph Smith and how he wanted to know which church to join, Gilbert says, "That sounds a lot like me." What?! That was probably the best lesson I have ever been in. He was so interested to read the Book of Mormon. That was a great experience and I'll keep y'all updated with what happens with him.

Something else crazy that happened this week... We went to teach Shelly, but she wasn't there. So we were walking around the apartments to visit some other people. I've talked a lot before about how well Sister Jones and I get along and how much fun we have. We laugh SO much, it's the best. Anyway, we were walking along on the road just having a good old time and I take a sip of my water... And she made me laugh. And I spit my water out everywhere! But I choked on it.. and I was trying to cough and get it out. I remembered all those times when my mom and dad would say, "put your arms above your head!" Haha you know? So I'm trying to stop choking and... the next thing I remember is waking up dizzy and disoriented on the ground! I really choked and passed out!! I really scared Sister Jones, I feel bad. Can you imagine? She thought she killed me by making me laugh. Hahaha. I woke up to this voice, "Ma'am can you drink some water? You're dehydrated. I'm a medic." I could not remember what was going on at all... Then I finally remembered choking... haha. Oh my. So there we were sitting on the cement in the parking lot of an apartment complex. This lady named Tori, who is an army medic, happened to pull up right as I passed out and came over to help. What a blessing. Well, we ended up teaching her the restoration and giving her a Book of Mormon! She was very open and kind and talked about how she has Christian beliefs but it's hard for her to go to church because she moves around a lot for the army. We showed her the hallelujah video (y'all have probably seen it, but if not go watch it!) and talked about how Joseph Smith restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked about the Book of Mormon and she said she would love to have a copy! We also talked about how our church is worldwide and she could find the same church wherever she moves to. It ended up being such a great lesson! If that's what I have to go through to find the people we need to talk to, I guess I will. God works in mysterious ways. The timing of all of it was just crazy. What a blessing that she was there to help me when I needed it and that we were able to share our message with her. Afterwards, we decided to check back at Shelly's and she was home! So we ended up having two great lessons right in a row! What a weird miracle.

That's all for this week. Send me an email and let me know how you're doing. Love you all! Thanks for all the love and support.

xoxo

Sister Rachel Philpot