THE MOTHER'S DAY CALL! Hooray!!!

We got to speak to Sister Worthington on the phone yesterday! Her friend, Kalicia, joined us as well.  Sister Worthington cried when she heard our voices, and it was clear she's homesick, but she is doing well.  She said she loves her mission, and as hard as it is, she knows she is where she's supposed to be. She said she's in a VERY hard area.  Apparently, most of the people where she's at are scientists and mostly atheists. It's pretty hard to establish a common bond with people who aren't interested in religion at all.  This month has been especially hard because it's the end of the school year and people are so busy.  Sister Worthington did say that they have an appointment on Thursday with a part-member family.  She said they are going to spend most of this week getting to know the ward members. (Just today, she told me the ward is going to be split, and she's a little worried about how that will affect things.) I was grateful to hear that she is getting fed a lot by the members in her area.  She said she's almost getting too much food! Her area is split between two towns with a combined population of about 18,000.  The elevation there is somewhere around 6000 feet above sea level!  She said it took her about a week to get used to the high elevation, and that she feels like she's in a foreign country! Luckily, her health has returned, and it seems like her spirits have lifted as well.  She said that the priesthood blessings she's received have really helped a lot. It was wonderful to get to talk to her, but the call went by way too fast.  It's hard to believe we will have to wait until Christmas to talk to her again.  That feels so far away!  At least we have emails and letters to get us by until then.  We love that girl!  We're so proud of how hard she is working, how determined she is to stay positive and press forward and the faith she is showing. We know the Lord has a plan for her, and that she's making a difference even if she can't see it yet.  What an amazing example she is to our other kids and to us as her parents.