The Week of Weird‏

On this week's episode of Sister Cale in Columbus-Sister Cale figured
out a super awesome new s'mores treat (#hollaatthelostsister), the
Sisters dragged their mattresses into their study room at eleven at
night to resolve the beating bass speakers vibrating from their
neighbor's apartment, the Sisters learned a little Tree (the language
they speak in Ghana), saw miracles as they tried to utilize all the
available time that they had, and were given plenty of opportunities
to be grateful for one another.

Hey,

This week (which is really just the tail end of last week because you
already heard about last week because #transferstruggles was pretty
much a weird one. But there were lots of things that were decidedly
fantastic about it that are worth sharing.

On Wednesday night Sister Kurtz had us over for dinner, even though
she'd had minor surgery earlier in the day. This woman is officially
my new standard for "Can I manage to help with this?" She goes above
and beyond in taking care of not only us, but everyone in the ward.
Someday when I grow up I want to be like her. We were able to go over
to her house on Thursday morning and do a little service which was
awesome, especially because we found crowns as we picked up some of
Callie's toys. And you know how I feel about tiaras. Haha.

Another major awesomeness of Wednesday night was having Brother and
Sister Sharples come to our lesson with Willie. It was miraculous to
see the way that Brother Sharples and Willie immediately bonded over
the love they have for their wives and the desire that they have for
their children to be happy. I love when you invite a member to the
lesson that can be friends with your people. It's the best.

My other favorite lesson that we taught this weekend was with Charles
and his siblings. We taught them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ by
making tape lines on the floor. At first there were just two lines-one
representing the start of our life on earth and the other representing
returning to God. We asked each of the kids to take only one step and
get from one line to the other (even when Michelle did the splits she
couldn't reach the "Heaven" line). As we added lines to represent
faith and repentance the kids were able to get closer to the line, but
even then they couldn't reach it. At this point we added two
additional lines above the "Heaven" line to represent the Terrestrial
and Celestial kingdoms. After the baptism line was laid down Michelle
could reach the telestial line, but she couldn't even start to reach
the Celestial or Terrestrial line even. We talked about the Holy Ghost
and Enduring to the End. It was only as we added the Enduring to the
End lines that the kids could finally reach the line that represented
the Celestial Kingdom. It was so awesome to be reminded as we taught
that it is enduring to the end that sanctifies us and prepares us for
exaltation. No single step in the gospel is enough to return us safely
home changed into children who will be happy dwelling with God.

The Church is True, Life is Good, God's in Charge, and Satan Hates you.

Love,

Jessica