He is worthy!!

Hi all!! Currently writing to you from Georgia at the host home we’re staying at! Over the past three weeks, I’ve been walking through training for the mission field in Forest City, North Carolina before heading to Guatemala. Its been filled with lots of growth spiritually and emotionally, but also relationally with the 16 other people going to the nations!!! There’s three different teams, a few going to Italy, a few going to Southeast Asia, and then 9 of us going to Guatemala!! These people have the sweetest love for the Lord, and it moves my heart watching them run after Him! Just in these past weeks, prayer has been a big part of what we do, so my prayer life has grown tremendously and I know it’s because the He’s surrounded me with people who are so anointed with His calling!!!

Throughout training, I’ve had to walk through some struggles with anxiety and mental health, but seeing Jesus actively change the way I handle it has been transformational. He really is so good and I’m just so blessed to serve him. During training, they’ve equipped us with different ways to accurately share the gospel and make disciples, as well as preparing our hearts to be full-time missionaries in foreign cultures, which meant working through past emotional problems and anything that would hinder us on the field. Part of our evangelism training had us go out into the harvest, so I got to do some prayer walking which changed so much for me! It’s simply walking up to people and asking them if we can pray for them in anyway, which in turn can sometimes lead into testimony sharing, or gospel conversations!

We went out a few times, but the one that stuck out to me was when we went downtown. I got the privilege to pray over 5 people and share the gospel with 3 of them, as well as my teammates with a few more. But I write about this to say, I saw so much of just empty religion. All these hearts seeking after and idolizing WESTERN CULTURAL CHRISTIANTY and not Jesus! They’re so caught up in the going to church aspect, but don’t even realize they don’t really know Him.

All this training isn’t just for our countries, but while we’re still in the States and for when we get back too!! Another day when we went to the laundromat, I prayed over a few people in the span of an hour and even shared the gospel with another one. It wasn't even planned. No one forced me, but it was simply GOD! He's showed me that it's not about the outcome, but how we respond when Jesus calls us to go. Something that was shared with me this week: “Our success is defined by our obedience”!! We need to be allowing the Holy Spirit to convince the other person of the truth of the gospel; Holy Spirit does the saving not us. All that being said, GO TELL SOMEONE ABOUT JESUS THIS WEEK! Whether it's with a random person in a grocery store, or your mom or dad who doesn't know Him. He's calling you to go! Being a missionary doesn't require a program or a foreign culture, it just requires your feet and willingness!!!

While we’ve been there, we’ve been super connected with Element Church! We did all our training there, and even went to some of the youth, young adult, and women’s groups!! And they have a coffee shop right across that I’ve dropped so much money on LOL. The three weeks we were there, we stayed at a church, and all 12 of the girls slept on air mattresses in a tiny nursery — it feels weird to say but i miss it!!! And it’s funny how used to it I got! We got settled in host homes yesterday before we leave in a few days, and when I found out I was getting to sleep in a real bed and have a shower in a clean bathroom and have a laundry machine nearby, I almost cried! The way I used to live, it really was a luxury that I took for granted every moment. Every day they sat aside times in the morning for us to meet with Jesus and spend time at His feet and it’s been so so sweet, as well as some worship time too! I’ve been able to lead worship with my guitar a good amount too and I loveeee it! I also got rebaptized!! The Lord had been putting it on my heart for a while and I’m so thankful I was able to be obedient in that and really say I’m His!!

Overall, I'm super pumped for Guate in just one day and I am so expectant for what He’s gonna do there. I’m praying that my love for God this year pales in comparison to the way I love others —— and that my whole life might prove that God is good. Training showed me so much. It showed me that dying to self is an every moment choice to surrender! It means being content with any food, offering, climate, society, solitude, and any interruption by the will of God. It means waking up every day and choosing to worship Jesus instead of the opposite, and asking for strength to deny our flesh. It means choosing to serve even when it hurts and you're tired and you miss home. That's dying to self. Are you dead yet???

I also wanted to thank each one of you for all the love, support, and continued prayers over my heart, my team, and this year that has enabled me to be apart of what God is doing in the nations!! I would greatly appreciate if you could keep praying!! Here are some of the specifics:

• for God to open the hearts of the people of Guatemala to recieve the gospel

• for our team to walk in continual unity as we’ll be living together for almost a year

• wisdom for our leadership through it all — logistics, ministry, travel, etc

• safe travels for the teams (Italy, Southeast Asia, and Guatemala)

• for this year to change our hearts and the way we live out the gospel

• for boldness! and obedience to when the Lord speaks to us!

Click here to see some pictures from the past three weeks: https://livransome.wixsite.com/guatemala/gallery

Thank you for reading!! I love and miss you all, and I’m praying for you!! Stay tuned for a newsletter coming in the next few weeks with updates from Guatemala!

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