April 30, 2012
Hello Family!!!

Once again it is Monday morning and I wonder where the last week of my
life went?? Ha ha, This week has been a really good one! First of all,
despite the fact that all except 5 of our investigators are leaving
for the summer, we had a really great week! We were able to see most
of them before they left and get their home addresses so that we can
send them into the office as referrals. On Friday we called the office
with at least 5 referrals and we are going to call them on Wednesday
with another 3. Those missionaries are really going to love us!! ;)

We had the mission fireside this week and we were able to attend with
Morgan. It never ceases to amaze me how tailored everything seems to
be just to her needs! At the fireside they talked about faith, how it
is like a seed and when we plant it if it's a good seed it will grow!
Then the stake president, President Devree's shared his testimony of
the Restoration of the Gospel. It was such a spiritual feast!!! It was
so neat!! Morgan is doing so great. She is still reading her Book of
Mormon, praying and came to church with us yesterday. She is excited
to be moving home for the summer and to meet with the elders who will
continue to teach her! I love that girl SO MUCH!!! She actually
reminds me a lot of Di! <3 She is super smart, tall, pretty and takes
her education very seriously. She has goals for what she wants out of
life and isn't afraid to work hard to accomplish those goals. She is
learning more about her Savior and you can see the light in her eyes
as she meets with us. She is gaining a testimony!! She knows that this
is true!!! I love being a missionary and helping people like Morgan-
it's the greatest feeling to see someone you love so much make
progress and come unto Christ! <3

Other random notes about the fireside, this was Sister Burnham's LAST
one!! It was really difficult to say good bye, harder than I ever
thought that it would be. But I am SO excited for her! She is coming
to the pageant this year, so watch for her!!! When she gives you all a
big hug, you can know that it was from me!! <3 She said that she was
still writing Mom?? Ha ha, She said to ask you about it?? Wow! She is
such an amazing sister! :) Okay, so one more crazy story about the
fireside! As I was visiting with Sister Burnham, I saw the Dyerly
family from the Chelsea ward. (Joel Dyerly is the one that knew David
M Fisher from his mission.) So I talked with them for a few minutes
and they had another son that recently returned from a mission. As we
were talking he said he had served in the Florida, Jacksonville
mission. I couldn't remember for sure, but I thought that might be
where McKay Howell was serving. So I decided to just ask him! When I
asked if he knew an elder Howell, his eyes got big and he got super
excited! Ha ha, apparently, McKay and him (Elder Dyerly) were
"brothers" in the mission! Meaning that they had both been trained by
the same elder! The Mormon world is such a small, connected place! I
love it so much!! :)

We had exchanges this week and of course they were totally inspired!!
I love how that always works out! Sister Holmes came to Hill St with
me and Sister Thompson went to North ville with Sister Godfrey. As
Sister Holmes and I were teaching one of our investigators named
Hannah, we asked for her information so that we could refer her to the
missionaries in her area. As she said her address, Sister Holmes eyes
lit up and she got this huge smile on her face, she then announced
that she KNEW the missionaries in that area, in fact it was HER area!!
Ha ha, It was really neat that she got to be a part of the teaching
process and it made for a super smooth transition! So many miracles
this week!

So, one more amazing story! :) Yesterday after Sacrament meeting I was
taking a bathroom break. (ha ha, big surprise, right! ;) ) As I was
washing my hands Sister Thompson saw we had a phone call coming in.
She quickly answered it and after a few minutes started furiously
taking notes. I looked over her shoulder to see something about, "U of
M Hospital" "Leukemia" "Meet there at 4:00!" When she hung up she
looked at me with a slightly confused look and said, "Sister, we have
to be at the U of M hospital today at 4:00!" She tried to explain the
situation but we were both slightly confused, so I called the guy back
to get some additional information. I found out that he was the ward
mission leader from Ithaca, MI. (It's in the Lansing mission.) And
that they had an investigator at U of M with Leukemia who had about 2
weeks to live. She had been meeting with the missionaries and really
wanted to be baptized but she had been so sick they hadn't been able
to coordinate it yet. With such a short time left and the knowledge
that she might not make it back to Ithaca they wanted our help to
coordinate and see if we could get her baptized soon! We were both
shocked now, but agreed to meet Bro Anderson at the hospital at 4:00.
When we walked into Danielle's room there was this overwhelming
feeling of peace and I could really feel Heavenly Father's love for
his daughter that he loves so much! She couldn't hardly talk, and she
was so hooked up to tubes and iv's and everything else, but she
definitely has a testimony! You could see it in her eyes, you could
even feel it just simply by being in her presence! Bro Anderson gave
her a blessing and the Lord promised her that she would heal enough to
be able to be baptized, it was the most beautiful blessing! The spirit
in the room was so strong! We still are not sure exactly how or when,
but we are going to do our very best to help her be baptized like she
wants! It was such an honor to be a part of that special moment, we
are going to keep visiting her and doing anything we can to help her!
:) Just keep Danielle Perry and her family in your prayers! We are
going to need a miracle for her to be strong enough, but with God, ALL
THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!!!!

Whew, and with all of that exciting news, I will end with what I
started: Transfer call are in AND . . . . we are both staying!!! Not
really a surprise cause we are still doing our training stuff, but I
was kind of hoping that we would end up with a trio! ;) Oh well! :)
Mother's day is coming right up!! I can't wait to talk to all of you!
:) I love you all SUPER DUPER MUCHO!!! :) Thanks for being the best
family ever!

Love,

Sister Bishop