This week was fabulous! Our most progressing investigator is Erin. She is on date for July 19 (because she has to get married) and her 7 year old daughter turns 8 on July 18 so she will be baptized with her! She has come to church faithfully ever since she moved into our ward and is so ready to learn and do. She amazes me every time we meet with her with her desire to be obedient. She is one of the most prepared people I have ever met. We have so much fun teaching her little family. Her daughters are really trying to understand (they are 7 and 4) and it's so sweet. Right now we are focusing on the Book of Mormon so she can gain her own witness of its truthfulness. She is meeting with the Bishop on Thursday night. She is already becoming a staple in this ward!
We are also teaching Patti! She's about 80 and her husband of 8 years is a member. They have come to church 3 times already! She is a cowgirl artist and every time we go over they feed us ice cream :)
We've also been working with Jennifer, Genesis, Mo, and Risa. They came to church a week ago from Sunday and we saw them again Monday night. Genesis, the 10 year old, was in a lot of pain in her legs, so we offered for her to receive a priesthood blessing. She really wanted one. Brother Dalton, the sweetest, kindest, man in our ward came and gave her one. I love priesthood blessings because it truly is what the Lord wanted her to hear. She learned that she is a very special daughter of God with a purpose. The spirit was so sweet and so strong there. Genesis even asked if she could have Brother Dalton's phone number so they could still be friends. A family in the ward, the Redds, had them over for dinner on Wednesday and it was awesome! Jen, the mom, is a pretty tough cookie. As we were teaching them, I knew I had to invite them to be baptized. I was really scared but I did it anyway. Jen answered for the whole family and said that they don't need to be but the positive is we now know their concerns and how to better help them recognize the truth!
On Tuesday we headed up to Collbran and had a day of tea parties. First we had the best luncheon ever with the sweetest old ladies who live up there: Sister Tolman (who is 82 but looks 60), Sister Newitt, and the new Sister Litton. Sister Litton just married an older gentleman who lives up there and Sister Tew and I are certain that she is going to get the branch started up there again. She is a firecracker. We dined on dainty little sandwiches. It was probably the cutest thing I have ever done in my life. They each shared how they met their husbands and how they came into the church. All 3 of them were converts! The second tea party we attended was the senior tea for all the graduating seniors. Karlee, a less-active we've been working with, asked if we could come with her because she had no one else to come. At first, we were thinking "is this an effective use of our time?" and then we got our heads on straight and thought "What would Christ do?" So we went! There was even a mullet magician! The RS president is a principal of the elementary school and she was there so we were able to introduce she and karlee! It was perfect!
Once again I saw SO MANY miracles this week. One of the most affecting was talking to my family :) It really put things into perspective of how imperative the gospel truly is and how real life is. Their examples have motivated me to be better, to be more anxiously engaged in this great cause I am a part of! Another miracle was Chris' baptism, in the 7th ward. I can't describe the incredible spirit I felt there. I felt God's love so powerfully and so purely. You can just feel the pure and courageous spirit that emulates from Chris. Chris was in an accident about a year ago that left him paralyzed from the waist down. He is so happy and such an example and I am so happy he has the gospel! This is what life is all about: helping people recognize the amazing power the can come into their lives as they put God first. I am determined to be more focused and hard working this week to help more people! President and Sister Murdock also came to this baptism. It's always great to see them! Sister Tew and Sister Winkelman also sang the song they sing at every single baptism, "Saviour, Redeemer of my Soul". I have played that song so many times I almost have it memorized. Everyone just loves it though so I am sure glad I brought it.
Our district leader, Elder Hewlett, sure makes district meeting interesting every week. This week we shot rocks at eggs he duct taped to a fence with a sling shot. If we hit one we had to role play a teaching situation or answer a question from PMG. Too good. The sisters ended up having to shoot 2 to every 1 that an Elder shot because we just couldn't hit them!
We were contacting referrals in a trailer park when we saw some people outside, so naturally we went and talked to them. Turns out they are meeting with the missionaries in Basalt (another town about 3 hours away) but they are moving here to Palisade! Such a huge miracle that we have met them already so we can help them get settled in and they won't get lost in the move!
Sister Tew is helping me learn so much about charity. She truly loves everyone and is helping me see how important it is to God's work because that is what He is all about. I am going to continue working on this attribute this week. My goal is to have love become the motivation for everything that I do, not just as a missionary, but as a daughter of God!
On Saturday I went on an exchange with Sister Winkelman. She is the best and one of the funniest people I have ever met! I laughed all day long. She hasn't been feeling too well as of late so we spent a bit of the day inside playing "Biblequest" where I discovered I literally know nothing about the Bible. It was great! I got to jump on the trampoline for a minute too! Sister Wink has the greatest desire to go and do. She is such an incredible example to me of diligence! Even when she can't go outside she wants nothing more than to do that! She's amazing!
Yesterday we had 3 investigators come to church! I really love the ward I serve in and I love how much all the wards I have served in have felt like home.
And there's my week! While on exchanges we also shared this super cool video with a family and I loved it! I love seeing the juxtaposition between Christ's time and ours. They don't seem relate-able because they are so different but Jesus Christ and real people are the most connected of anything!
Hope you all have the best week ever!
another service project, staining another fence!
We found sheep in Collbran.
I jumped on a tramp.
I love these sisters.
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