Eyes filled with tears

Just some P-DAY fun!!!

This was a great week! We changed Christy Cato's baptismal date to July 17th, which is A-OKAY by me, because it will be the last week of my mission! That will be really neat! Her husband Harry Cato is a long time member and is SOOO excited for his wife! Their daughter Emily will be turning 8 in August and will be baptized less than a month after her mom. Brother Cato is so excited to go to the temple with his wife. What a great blessing this has been for their family. I can SEE the peace that has come into their household since we've been meeting with them. Bishop Cato (Christy's uncle) is very very pleased! it's always good to make your bishop happy!!! haha!!!

So I'm to the last month of my mission and Heavenly Father is blessing us with so much success! We committed Sadee Cochran to pray about the church and she received an answer that it is true!!! Sadee is the 15 year old daughter of Mic Cochran, who was a miracle himself! He had been inactive for years and years, and came into the VC probably 3 months ago and has been active ever since. Sadee was raised mostly by her mom, because she had full-custody after their divorce. her mom belongs to the Church of Christ temple lot... which is a break off church from Nauvoo. (Complicated!) But they don't believe in temples the way that Joseph Smith had restored them... so we taught Sadee about temples and she searched out some differences between the churches... and now she wants to be baptized!!! miracles miracles! It's kind of tricky with her mom, so we don't have a date set yet... but I know that the Lord is preparing her to do great things in her life! Even in her youth she is already a great missionary and a great example of faith and perseverance.

This week Elder Sanders from the Independence 3rd Ward returned home! The music director had asked us to sing a special musical number. After we were finished, and we were walking away from the pulpit, Bishop Cato gently grabs my arm and pulls me back to the center, "uh oh." I said... it's not uncommon for Bishop to pull stunts in sacrament meeting. So as he begins to speak, he puts his arm around me and tells me that he had spoken with my mom on the phone this last week. he expressed the love that she had for me, and how proud she was of me. and i started to cry... i love my mom so much! he said, "She is a wonderful person... Now, Sister Wathen goes home in about a month, and her mom is excited, but I'd like for her to bear her testimony for us now." and Bishop pulls me in close and says, "Just speak from your heart and remember that I love you." I love bishop Cato!!! as I bore my testimony the spirit within my heart was so strong and as I looked into the congregation there were very few eyes that weren't filled with tears from the love in that room. so... thanks mom... your love changed more hearts than mine this week...

This week with all of its highs also had some sad times. I received news that Carmen Phillips, one of the recent converts who was baptized when Sister Bradley and I were in Great Bend, Kansas, passed away due to health complications... ~sigh~ Please keep her family in your prayers. Sister Adamson and I were driving in the car this week and the spirit brought to my mind a girl that Sister Moody and I had found while I was serving in Independence 4th ward. The Mengle family. The daughters name was Gloria and she was going through treatments when we were meeting with her. we called 4th ward sisters and told them that they needed to go visit her, and they were in shock! They had found a video the Mengles let them borrow and were going to go visit them this week!!! MIRACLES!!! Gloria's family is more prepared than ever to receive the gospel and the 4th ward Sisters are teaching them now. Gloria is battling Leukemia now... so the Mengles need prayers too. With all of the highs and lows. I know that gods hand is in everything.

This week I was doing calls in the referral center and I called someone in Price Utah who was referred by his friend and he said that he had been waiting for me to call!!! Miracles!!! So, as I was setting up the info in the computer to send the missionaries his way, I was making small talk and found out that he was really good friends with my zone leader, Elder Vogel!!! SOOooo cool!!!

All in all it was a great week. Sister Jenn Day and her cute girls came to visit me at the VC too. I love them and miss them. It's funny because i think that everyone on my mission gets sick of hearing me talk about people from home. And everyone at home will probably get sick of hearing me talk about people from my mission. I love them all very very much! I love all of you very very much!!! Continue in love and faith!
dream big. wish hard. love always-
look up my new favorite song that Connie Oberg introduced me to... it's called love by Chris Tomlin.... "when our hope is hard to find and our faith is in decline. we need a cause to stand behind. love... there is love. there is forgiveness. there is love in times of need. when life is cold there is a promise. YOU WILL NEVER GO WITHOUT...There is love...

love love love.
jessica rose