July 21, 2014

We just got home from a long, successful week in New Haven, CT! Literally - just lived there for the week. Im quite the master packer..and youd be surprised about how little you can live off of too!

We are just testing the PVC in all kinds of lights - wednesday night we did a combined mutual activity using the Visitors' Center in Trumbull. It was invite a friend night. We made a fun scavenger hunt worksheet where they had to look of answers in videos, look for a specific BOM on the BOM table, etc. The first team completed with the  most correct answers wins. We were a little nervous about it...missionary cool and other people cool are two very different types of cool....but the youth loved it! Or so it looked like! They brought about 5 friends who weren't members sooo yay!

Thursday we kept it set up in the building and did chapel tours. We did an investigator lesson that night that was my favorite - our last stop (Temples) was the most touching. We talked about her deceased grandmother and the blessings that temples provide - the opportunity to be with our family members forever. In addition to that, how temples can allow her to get baptized in place of her grandmother so she can choose to accept those blessings. We watched videos of inside the temple and she started bawling. Not that we measure our success by tear drops...

Thursday night we took down and drove to New Haven to stay with Sister Barney! We did church tours all that next day. We put the Jesus Christ display outside and put Because of Him on repeat. That chapel is in the heart of Yale campus (pretty sweet) and gets tons of foot traffic, plus conveniently at a stop light. When cars were lined up at the stop light everyone's head was turned over watching Because of Him. Sister Barney was a champ knocking on people's windows giving them pass along cards car after car. At one point, one person rolled down their window and asked for one. Yeah, I didn't teach her that. So proud.
We did 9 tours (which ended up being about 30 people total). A third were non members. A third recent converts. It's pretty exhausting. You have to be that stimulated happy face on the hour, every hour...oh and by the way remember to teach people, not lessons. The great news is, Sister Barney and I got to take Susan Duclose (a friend of ours from our time in Ellington) through the tour and teach together - she loved it. We didnt realize till after but that day was Sister Barney and I's one year mark of when we were first day companions! Special special day!

Saturday we went to New Haven Stake family day where we didn't do tours, it was just self play. Had a great experience there - almost thought I was going to make headline news. Apparently the expression "gun wavin' New Haven" isn't a joke. On the way home we got to stop at the Hartford temple site! Oh how i'm in love with that place. It's walls aren't even up yet and it is so beautiful! There was such a spirit there.

Oh how lucky we are that God loves us enough to let us enter His house even when we are still imperfect mortals. We get to feel needed in building up his work by getting to unite our families and other's families forever. We get to experience a peace that literally is offered no where else on the earth. And the best part? Anyone can go! Sure you have to do a little preparation - but you wouldn't want to put muddy shoes on white carpet either would you? What a special place.

Set up. Take down. Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

Love,
Sister Bell

Keepin it a realzy breezy

1. Sister Barney's classy mac n cheese - celebrating with Susan

2. Visiting Hartford Temple Site!