Future Missionaries

Aloha! (My companion is part Hawaiian so that's my little tribute to her...Haha.)

All is good in the Midhood.

Midwood rocks.

We're having so much fun out here and things just keep gettin' better and better everyday!

A story of two "brothers"....

Kevin was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church! A wonderful young boy, 10 years old, the Elders have been working with for the past couple months. Such a sweet kid.

Something that I love about Kevin is that he has impacted his family for eternity. Because of his example and his desire to come to church and be taught by the missionaries, his mom has come back to church after years of inactivity. She's now working toward getting a temple recommend to go to the temple for the first time. I'm so excited for this family.

Jeremiah is a recent convert and he's also 10 years old. One of the smartest kids I've ever met. Sister Jorgensen and I go and visit him and his grandma, Rosie (Also a recent convert) every week.  Jeremiah struggles. Rosie and her husband Eddie have to work A LOT. So Jeremiah spends a lot of time alone, out roaming around and his grandma really worries that he's going to end up in trouble one day.

We planned a lesson for Rosie and Jeremiah based off of the visiting teaching message in the Ensign...but when I saw how much Jeremiah was struggling...I felt very impressed we needed to focus our lesson on him. I opened the Ensign I was holding straight to the story that President Monson shared in his Conference address in April. I shared the story about the matches and accidentally starting a fire and he listened the whole time. We then talked to Jeremiah about how the rules and boundaries that have been set by his grandma are there to keep him safe. He began to cry and gave Rosie a big hug. He said, "Thank you for worrying about me. I know you worry because you want me to do my best. I want to be better."

We all had tears actually. One of the happiest moments I've experienced on my mission!

I also found out about Jeremiah's love for drawing...so I brought him a sketchbook the next day. Every artist needs a sketchbook. :)

Jeremiah came to the baptism for Kevin on Saturday (the next day) with a "Future Missionary" tag on his shirt. So awesome.

The greatest thing about these two boys is that they are missionaries! And they have invited their families to come unto Christ. "Let no man despise thy youth"! It doesn't matter how old you are. You CAN make a difference. Jeremiah and Kevin have impacted my mission and changed my life. I can see them one day serving as full time missionaries and changing the lives of so many people. We're all connected that way. Heavenly Father is in the details of it all!

Hope your week is full of miracles! Write down 10 things you're grateful for everyday this week. It sure helps me!

Love you all!

Hermana Tara Franklin

Also, my district leader, Elder Erickson has gotten me addicted to crossword puzzles... Never thought I'd see the day. Haha.

This is a picture of Jeremiah and Kevin!

This is a picture of Kevin and my whole district. The camera kind of distorted us... I promise I haven't gained that much weight. I've actually lost like 10 pounds since I left the MTC. But there you go. Haha.