Hello hello!
For anyone that has been watching the news lately concerning the weather in Florida ( which I dont really know who else besides maybe my family would be watching the weather over here... but ya know, just in case), you know that hurricane Isaac that is about to hit our mission. Its a small one right, now, but they are very unpredictable so it is very up in the air as to where it will hit and how big it will be when it finally hits land. Its been a crazy week trying to get prepared for it, but its been amazing that the lord prepares us well in advance for the things that we are going to need to keep us safe.
I truly believe that preparation for this storm started months ago when president Jensen decided and felt like we needed to start having mission wide conference calls. They had a conference call system in place when they first got to the mission but havent used it much since. So one week we were going to call in and talk about the things that were happening with tropical storm debbie and what we can do to stay safe. We got so excited called in, and it didnt work. So they rescheduled the conference call, fiddled with the system and again we called in and it didnt work. They began to do some research about how to get the conference calls working and found that it was going to be quite pricy to do it the way that they had been, so they had the office elders find another way. They found a free service that allows us to be on conference calls with up to 200 people (or somewhere around that number) So for the last month or so we have been having weekly conference calls as part of our district meetings so that we could get use to using the system and being all on the same page in matters concerning the whole mission. I remember president saying in his email that he felt like it would be a good idea to have them just incase any sort of emergency happens and we need to get things done quickly. Sister Hirst and I both turned to eachother and said. "there is a hurricane coming". (secretly we were a little excited).
So fast forward to last week when the storm began down by cuba and it was predicted to hit the panhandle of florida. Things were all in place for us to get things together quickly. President Jensen sent us a warning text and we have been having mission wide conference calls twice a day at 10 and at 5 since. Each time he can get us all the information that he needs to, update us on the storm and we can ask questions for the whole mission to hear so that we can all be informed and he doesnt have to be answering the same question over and over. It has been incredible and I know that its because the lord inspired him months ago to get this system in place.
Then again yesterday on our conference call, it looked like the storm would be passing our mission completely and heading more west, and that we would all be safe and able to do our normal missionary work, but he decided last night to evacuate the mobile AL zone because there is one bridge to get them out and he was worried about an emergency evacuation taking place. when he decided this, it looked like the storm would be missing them but this morning (after all the missionaries had left) the hurricane turned and the whole city is now being evacuated and there are major traffic jams all through that area of the states.
On a more personal note there have been things that have happened this week, and decision that I have had to make that the Lord has been preparing me to make since I arrived on my mission. I have had a series of promptings that have occurred since my very first transfer in the field and I never knew what they were or why I was getting them or what they meant, but when the descisions manifested themselves this week, it didnt take me long to realize that the lord had been preparing me well in advance to make the correct decision when I would have to make it quickly.
The lord always prepares us both temporally and spiritually when we need it, but we must be prepared to listen to the voice of his spirit when those warnings come, and courageously and faithfully act on them because they usually come when there is no danger in sight. I am so grateful for the spirit and to be part of a church that is built upon and believes in personal revelation and revelation for those we are in stewardship over. We truely are so lucky.
So other than hurricane prep, we've had a rather uneventful week. We went out on campus and helped alot of the freshman move into their dorms and invited them to church and activities with us. We are really excited that all the students are back for school so we will have lots of people to talk to. We split our P-day last week and headed to wacolla springs again with the institute couple (elder and sister johnson) because sis Fullmer is heading home in a couple weeks and she had never been. We got to see some manitees this time which was pretty awesome, and that was pretty much it for our week. If the hurricane turns anymore and heads back this way we will be sleeping in the church until it passes, which sounds kinda fun to me :). I cant believe this transfer is almost over and that sister Fullmer is going home in a couple weeks. She is the least trunky missionary I have ever seen. I think she is in denial, but hey! whatever keeps the work going. haha. Love yall!
Have a great week.
Sister Webb
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