Week 15 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family and friends!

Well, its been a LONG week. And its because I've been sick! ALL week! But I'm feeling better this week and I'm super excited to work.

My new companion, Sister Saxton is the best! We're so excited to be working together. For awhile there, I thought I was being punished by not being able to train Sister Rasch anymore. Now I know that President didn't want me to slow down the work, which I was doing. Now, Sister Saxton and I have the same work speed and style, so it's going to be great! The funny part is that we're exactly alike! Its just great!

Miracles this week; Grady was baptized! Yay! I only taught him a few times and he isn't technically my baptism since we handed him over to the other sisters because he knew them better. But, still it was amazing!

Also, we had three people in sacrament meeting yesterday! Record for this area! And this week, we're going to find a family of 4 that's ready to be baptized. We prayed and we know we'll find them. :) That's so exciting! I can't wait to teach a family!

So, all in all, even though I've been in bed most of the week (which has practically killed me because I want to be working!), its been an amazing week and I've only learned how to rely on the Lord more! :)

I love you all! Thank you so much for your love and prayers!

Week 14 (day 95) on the Mission Front

Hiyah family and friends!

Well.... What to say about this week....

All of our baptismal dates have fallen through. One needs to move out of her boyfriend's house which she will hopefully be doing this month. Another doesn't "feel up to it." And the other two decided that they didn't want to continue learning; they thought we were Pentecostal... So there's that. And second week in a row that we didn't have anybody at sacrament meeting.

So all in all, a very long week. Everything that could go wrong, did. It was frustrating! But, that's what I get for praying for patience, right? :P hehe.

Thursday was awesome! We had three lessons (the most we've had all week combined), and we biked 14 ish miles. My thighs are still so sore, but it was awesome!

In other news, I'm a part of an Emergency transfer. They're taking my trainee away and I'm staying in this area. Which I have mixed feelings about. Hopefully my new companion will know the area more and teach me how to build it, which is exciting!

Also, my address is 3553 Victoria Manor Ln Apt 210 Lakeland, Fl 33805. So feel free to send me letters and things. I didn't send it out last week because my companion had decided to go home and I wasn't sure what was happening. Now, I'm staying here, for sure.

I read a really cool talk this week called the Fourth Missionary that I think can apply to everyone in every situation. One of my favorite parts is where it talks about how the only thing we can give Heavenly Father, the only thing He doesn't already have, is our will, our hearts and minds. And as a missionary, and I think for anybody, to show our love to Him, we need to give Him that. We need to turn everything over to Him and let Him take control. It was a really amazing talk.

Anyway, there are a lot of exciting things happening here. I talked with my Mission President earlier this week and he told me he wants me to build this area. So, be ready for some miracles in my emails
because it's happening!

I love you all!

Week 13 on the Mission Front

Hello all family!

This has been a long week! Before transfers, I was so busy packing. I was so excited to be training and all that fun jazz! Well, transfers came and now I'm with Sister Rasch in Gibsonia! Which was unexpected. Everyone thought I was going to Hudson.  The work here is slow. Most people drive, and this morning we were told that we aren't allowed to talk to people in our complex.... Well, I don't know where to find. So that's been super hard. Especially because I was trained to always be moving and here, everything is just slow. It's rather frustrating.

The ward is great! The bishop gave me a blessing yesterday, which I didn't ask for, but I needed. And they always are volunteering to feed us, even though we can't eat with members unless we have an investigator there. It's still kind to offer.

And it's been hard because my trainee is in charge of the area, but I'm the trainer, so.... Well, it's hard. But, I think there will be some changes made soon, so excited for that!

I don't know what else to say there.... I haven't been homesick :) just Temple Terrace sick. But we will get things worked out! :) change is good, even though it's hard. And I know that Heavenly Father is walking me through my trials.

I love you all! Thanks for your support!

Week 12 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family!

Oh, I don't even know where to begin!!! It has just been a week full of miracles! R and T were both baptized on Saturday!!! It was just amazing! I cried... It was just... R was a miracle. She was baptized in another church two months before and when we met she just fell in love with the church and the Book of Mormon (she's almost done with Mosiah and its only been three weeks). Her husband came and we were able to have a lesson with him. He'll be baptized on the 30th! As soon as he quits drinking... Small obstacle. He loved church and he loved the baptism. Both he and R were just crying through the whole service. He knows its true.

And T.... oh, T.... he's 12. And he's been coming to church for years! Less active family, but his grandparents bring him. But his dad wanted him to wait until he was 12 before he decided to be baptized. So us missionaries have been calling him daily for over 5 months, just waiting for his mom to finally get a Saturday off of work! FINALLY!!!! she did. But on Wednesday, we get a call from the grandmother, because his mom lives in another ward boundary, the bishop from the other ward wanted to postpone the baptism until he could come.... WHAT?!

DO NOT PANIC!!! He was baptized. A lot of prayers, and the Lord's help (also, his grandmother wrote the bishop an email, and probably not a very nice one...) and Tyler was baptized! It was great! He's been waiting so long for this!

Also in big news.... TRANSFER WEEK! And yes, I am being transferred... And yes, I am also training. Well, finishing training, but that's almost white washing! I'm super excited! Very sad to leave here, especially after the baptisms, but I know it'll be great no matter where I am! (Also, I may or may not have had to buy ice cream for everyone in my district.... I was so sure I wasn't going to train... bad bet I guess? Haha!)

Sister Rasch and Sister Wheeler

I'm out of time, because one of the sisters in my apartment went home today. Sad! But she finished her mission strong (really strong).

Hermana Miller

 Anyway, I love you all! Thank you so much for your love and support!

Week 11 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family!

It has been one of the all time craziest, roller coaster weeks of my mission!

To start off with... L was baptized!!!!!!!! Which was a miracle! On Wednesday, he was done, and didn't want to do it anymore. But then Thursday he changed his mind and tada!!!!! It was super amazing and also completely chaotic.... But great! Ever try to organize a baptism in one day? It takes so much effort!

We also did exchanges this week! Sister Bowe and Sister Kitchen both came down to our area to help build it, so we were finding for a lot of the time. Sister Bowe is amazing. I didn't get to work with Sister Kitchen, but Sister Bowe is like my twin sister! She wanted to know what I did before my mission and what I did in my free time, etc. Well, guess what! Exact same things. It was so amazing to geek out about stuff like that! She's really great! She's going home next week, so I'm going to miss her, but it was such a good day!

Sister Bowe and Sister Wheeler

Sister Kitchen and Sister Goodman

We have two baptism coming up this week as well. A twelve year old who's been ready to be baptized since April, but his mom couldn't get a weekend off to come, so finally! he'll be baptized Saturday! Yay! And Rosie who is just the coolest person you could every meet! And her husband came to church yesterday! :) Yay! He loved it and will also be joining us for FHE tonight! We couldn't be happier about that!

I think that's it for now! I love you all and I'm thankful for your love and support!

Week 10 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family!

Well, where to begin?! Its been a miracle week, again! We ran in to three of our former investigators and they all came to church yesterday! It was such a miracle! And two of them had dates set before they stopped meeting with us! And both want to keep meeting with us!

One's crazy though... I don't remember if I wrote about this, but remember the girl that we gave a church tour to and she wanted to be baptized and found an answer to her prayers because her father's name was Joseph? Anyway, long story. We thought she was the golden investigator. Her name's J. And she turned out to be homeless and severely bipolar. She came in to church one time and had a seizure... Well, more like convulsions... I don't know, it was kinda over dramatized. But she bore her testimony in church yesterday... which was not as bad as we thought it was going to be. But then she promptly walked of the stage and passed out... Bishop ran over and gave her a blessing and everything... Oh boy... But she brought her fiance with her and he seems somewhat normal, so we're going to try to teach him. We'll see.

We're teaching a lady named R, who is one of the happiest people I know. Every lesson she goes on and on and on about how much she loves the Book of Mormon and how excited she is to be baptized! She'll be baptized next week and we almost wanted to push it to this week, but sometimes its hard to actually get a lesson in.

And then L is getting baptized this week! Which is also a miracle because he talks a lot too! So its great that he's going to be ready!

Oh! I get to try alligator today!

Sister Wheeler and Sister Howard get ready to try alligator

And, one of the Elders in our district bought a toy snake and tried to scare another Elder, which worked. Anyway, somehow it ended up in our car and now in our apartment and we're all trying to scare each other! Its rather amusing.

And I'm pretty sure I was bit by the spider again... stupid bug. I don't know why it hates me! I'm the only one that gets bit!

That's all for now! Thank you all so much for your prayers! I could definitely feel them this week!

I love you all!

Week 9 on the Mission Front

Hiyah Family!

I hope all is going as well with you as it is with me!

It has been a wonderful week! To start, Saturday we had two baptisms! Brother C and Sister F were baptized! Yay! They were both miracles! To say the least. And the Elders had two at the same time too! Our district rocked baptism this month and we passed our zone goal! Yay!

On top of that, we passed our max lesson! We got 40 lessons this week! I can't believe it! And we had zone conference one of those days, which took up the majority of the day. It's so amazing to see the miracles we have seen! Heavenly Father is just the best! Sister Goodman and I have a lesson goal that we have to get before the next transfer in three weeks. We don't think we'll be staying together, so we have to - have to - have to reach this goal! So, hopefully, our lesson count will only be increasing! :)

There's this other woman that will be getting baptized soon, Sister D. Ah, she's just amazing! Every time we see her, she has to spend ten minutes talking about how much she loves the Book of Mormon! Its great! Its so amazing! She'll be baptized in two weeks and she's already offering to bring meals to members. Its so amazing!

We had 5 investigators at church yesterday! One of them, Sister T, we had to go by her house to wake her up. And she didn't get up! So we thought there was no way she was going to make it! And then, low and behold, she walks through those double doors! It was a miracle! And she loved it! As did Sister D, as well.

Also, I chopped my hair off. It was too hot! And I want to get it even shorter, but we'll see. Maybe in a few weeks. :)

Zone Conference was great! I got to see a bunch of missionaries that came out with me, which I loved. Oh! And President bought a big metal sword and told us that, if we were willing to commit to serving the Lord as a warrior, we should sign it. Which was apparently really creative for him. :P Hehe, it was great though! We got to take pictures of us holding the sword in warrior like posses! Haha!

I'm out of time, but I love you all! Thank you so much for your support!

Week 8 on the Mission Front

Howdy family and friends!!

I don't even know where to begin with this wonderful and blessed week! There has just been too much!

Okay, lets begin with baptisms. We have two coming up this Saturday; Randi, and Eric. Eric we met a few weeks back while finding and the first thing we said was, "Do you want to be baptized?" and he said he already was (typical) but it couldn't hurt to do it again. Well, lo and behold, he's being baptized and he's great! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he went home and got rid of all of his coffee the day of and has only touched it once since then. He has never missed a day reading either! He's just great!

Randi walked in to the church and asked to be baptized. Seriously. Last week too. She said she met with the missionaries a year ago, and decided it wasn't for her, but she hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. So she's being baptized this Saturday! And she's a miracle. A straight miracle. She's teaching me more of Christ's love and the Spirit than we are teaching her! Its amazing!

Also, our district leader has two baptisms this Saturday as well, which will make it a quadruple baptism!

And there's more to that. Our Zone goal this month was to get 12 baptisms. Our district, yes, district, already has 6. That was our goal and we still have the four this weekend! Its so amazing to see the Lord literally hastening His work!

We also surpassed our record for lessons this week! Which I didn't think was possible!

And we met a girl who was baptized a month ago and wants to be baptized again! Her date is for the middle of August. And another lady who finally committed to be baptized, but won't set a date quite yet. AND someone that Sister Goodman met before I was here called us this week and now has a baptismal date as well.

It has been crazy busy here!

The worst part of the week though; I have about four or five spider bites. At least, that's what we think they are... they're huge and a deep red. I don't know where I keep getting bit either. Possibly in bed? Ew...

Big bugs - EW!

Anyway, it has been a miraculous week! Satan is trying his hardest to combat us though. One of the dates set in our zone was in a serious car accident and is in the hospital (she was the last time I checked at least) and another one either tried to commit suicide or was poisoned. She's okay now, but... well, not great. But I also know that Heavenly Father is on our side, and He's better and stronger than Satan could ever be. We just have to have faith, trust, and a little pixie dust. :P

I love you all, and I miss you!

Week 7 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family!

Best. Week. Yet.

To start, and I'm not saying this to brag at all, because I know it's because Heavenly Father has helped us to beat our lesson record! 34 this week! I honestly am still shocked that we made it! We had to
start getting a little creative. For example: we taught a lesson whilst speed walking with two investigators. And we do phone lessons and Facebook lessons occasionally too.

It was transfers week! Which is absolutely crazy! For one, I've been out that long. For another, we got 27 new missionaries in!!! And we're getting the same amount next month! So many missionaries are training now! The APs each have a trainee!

Sister Goodman and I were able to help train the newbies on church tours, which was really amazing! The newbies are so spiritually strong, I took notes on them. But, that took more than four hours out of our day, which is a lot of finding or teaching time. But, The Lord took care of us. People are now walking up to us and asking to be baptized. You think I'm joking, but I'm not. During our training, a girl walked in to the church and told us she wants to be baptized. She used to meet with some missionaries, but stopped because she didn't feel ready and now she is. She is the coolest person every! She's from Caribbean and is making us dinner tonight.... :)

Sister Wheeler, Sister Howard, Sister Miller, Sister Goodman

Okay, crazy story for the week. We were visiting a less active/ recent convert family. The wife was baptized two years ago and the husband is less active but while in foster care, was baptized. We already knew that the father was a little bit... Well, somewhat crazy. We've visited them before and he's asked us to leave. Anyway, in the middle of our lesson, the two start bickering and then arguing and then! He threatened for a divorce and walked out and told us to call someone to get him a ride. We scurried away. As of yesterday, they're still together, but it was bad.

Okay, another crazy story. So multiple appointments had canceled on us, so we traveled back to the church to have an early dinner. While we were eating, one of the APs came in and told us there was a woman looking for us. We walk out into the lobby and there was one of our former investigators, having a seizure. One of the senior missionaries was already calling 911, but it was kinda crazy. It happens a lot to her, though. That's why she's a former investigator now because she was always in the hospital. Anyway, it was nuts.

Also, some of the senior missionaries are going home, and so the Online Elders won't be able to handle all of the work that their supposed to do. They're the ones that assign missionaries referrals and such. Anyway, each companionship now has to take four three hour shifts a week working online. Crazy, right?

We have three investigators with a baptism date in the next three weeks. And they're all solid. Yay!

Alright, final item. Yesterday, I was studying in Alma when I came upon a rather mind blowing verse. Chapter 40 verse 3, it says, "inquired diligently of God that I might know..." And then he begins
to talk about his revelation with the Resurrection and the Spirit World. If he hadn't asked, we may not have had that piece of information. Interestingly enough, I've also been reading "Our Heritage" which is about the pioneers mostly. But early on in the book, it also talks about how Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were translating the Book of Mormon when they came upon some verses about baptism. And so they asked Heavenly Father what it meant. And because they asked, they were given the priesthood and were able to baptize. If they hadn't asked, where would we be? Okay, I'm sure Heavenly Father would have had someone else ask, but my point is that so many things have been revealed because people asked! Isn't that great to think about?! Anyway, food for thought.

I love you all!

Day 41 on the Mission Front

Hiyah family and friends!

We did not end up moving, so we're still in the same house. We'll be moving in August though. Also, its transfer week. And guess who's not being transferred. Me. Which is great! I don't want to move yet! Only one elder in out district is changing out. But Sister Goodman thinks next transfer I'll be training since we have 30 new missionaries this month and 30 next. Which is crazy! We don't have enough people for that!

It has truly been an amazing week! I hope you have all had an amazing Independence Day! I definitely did! Our ward had a float in the town parade, and our Bishop ordered like 500 or so pens with Mormon.org written on them, and we had countless pass-a-long cards and pictures of Christ. And the biggest miracle, we gave everything out! It was amazing! To think of how many people now have the church's contact information! Afterwards, we also had a nice cream social too, which not very many people went to, and we didn't stay long enough for ice cream, but the hot dogs were good. The rest of the day was almost painful though. There was nobody out! We had one lesson and then nobody else wanted to meet and so we tried to go finding and it started pouring! So even less people were outside. And, well, no fireworks for us, obviously. But it was still a great day! Pictures will be coming soon!

Temple Terrace Ward, Brandon Stake

Sister Wheeler, Sister Howard, Sister Goodman, Sister Miller

We also had three baptisms yesterday for our zone! (And they weren't a family). One has been waiting a year, and the other two were just contacted less than a month ago. It was really spectacular. We also
had eight investigators at the baptism. Seven are from one family, (and that's not the whole family... There's twelve of them) and the other was a single man who's ssoooooo getting baptized. The family is iffy because they speak Arabic... And I don't. So there's a small communication gap, but we did just find a member who speaks a little Arabic! Yay! And one of our investigators from Egypt speaks Arabic.

They're a really great family though! We just have to teach in the simplest form. I had an inspiration to teach them, I am a Child of God, and they really liked that. Other than that though, they need a lot of activity in the lesson, which is fun because I have to be creative. Five of them have a baptismal date, but in our lesson with them on Saturday, the one boy who seemed the most set to be baptize backed out. So.... We're going to try to get a Book of Mormon in their hands before we stop teaching them. We'll see though.

Also, guess which mission just beat their all time baptism record! We beat 66 for the month! And our goal for this month is 84! Which we are sooo going to beat! Our zone goal was 10, which we only got 9, but this month looks more promising. Sister Goodman and I will hopefully have two, but definitely one.

We had another encounter with an anti. Well, two actually. And that's a lie as well, apparently there's a group of them. When I first got here, some of the elders told us not to waste our time with Bob (obviously, I changed his name). Well we met this girl, Rachel (that's her actual name, haha!) who flagged us down and wanted to meet with us and asked if she could bring a friend. Turns out they wanted to bash. We found out who they were before hand and gave them to the other sisters in our area and they met with them and threw down! It was great. I mean, awful, but great. And then they tried to go bother some other elders and they threw down too! They've apparently met with six or seven sets of missionaries to try and sway them, but we will conquer! Haha! They don't seem offended at all or anything. They tried to friend Sister Goodman on Facebook, so they're fine.

Other than that fun jazz....

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!!!!

And...

Happy Birthday Riley!!!!!! I'm glad you got my package in time! And I'm glad you shared, I figured you would. :)

And....

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!!!!!!!

I love you all! This has been an amazing week! Thank you all so much for keeping me in your prayers! Something I want to challenge you all to do; when you pray this week, only thank Heavenly Father for what you have. Don't ask for anything, just be grateful. As a companionship, we've been only saying gratitude prayers and we've been blessed tremendously!

Also, write me about when you gained your testimony, and how you first grew your faith. :)

Again, I love you!

Day 33 on the Mission Front

This week has been a long week, but it has been better than last week! Yay! Which is saying something, considering we had a baptism last week...

So Jason was confirmed yesterday! Hazzah! It was great and I had to write it down so he could read the blessing later since he only speaks a little bit of English. When we asked him how he felt, he said that is was a secret... so we assume that's good! We're so excited for him! But he goes back to China in three weeks, so... We're going to be busy getting him to the temple and everything. He received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday as well so he'll be passing the sacrament next week. He's worried he's going to spill the water. Haha!

I don't know if I mentioned this, but we met a family of 12. No, that is not a typo. 12. 10 children. And we were able to teach them this week! They're so hard to teach though! That father is at work all the time and the mom speaks zero English! They all speak Arabic. But the children we think understand. At least the two 16 year olds do. And they want to be baptized, but they kinda said that before they knew that we're Christians and not Muslim... We don't know how to fix that. But they still want to meet with us so that's good.

Our Zone got 9 baptisms this month! Yay! Our goal was 10, but we'll take 9! And next month looks even more promising! For example, there're two baptisms next Sunday, in just our building. Hazzah! None of them are ours, but still. We had some planned for the week after, but one was crazy and is supposed to moving to California to press charges against her ex who hit her seven years ago, and the other just broke up with his fiance. So... They probably won't happen. But, the week after that we'll have a few. Yay!

The beautiful missionary with her Black Badge of Courage (name tag)

Okay! One more story! So we were having a phone lesson, a lesson over the phone, at the church and in barges  one of the senior missionaries and he starts explaining, while we're still on the phone, that a boy just hit his car and wants to know more about the church! Well, like you, we didn't know how those two connected but we hurriedly finished our lesson and went to meet this boy and he had accidentally bumped in to the senior missionary's car and they started talking about church and whatever so he decided to stop by. Also, there was no damage to the car. Also he committed to baptism. It was a miracle.

I lied, one more story. We met a 'prophet' this week. He chastened us for having 'graven images' of Christ and when he was four he saw Him and that is not what He looks like. It was terrible! We meet so many people here that say they're prophets... its so weird...

I must go now, but I love you all! I pray about you all the time and I'm so thankful to you for the support you give me. I wouldn't be able to do this without you or without my Heavenly Father. He is real. I was making a list of things that I know. And I can't deny that He's with me and this is His work.

Again, I love you!

Day 27 on the Mission Front

Hello family and friends!!!

It has been an amazing week full of countless miracles!

To start, yesterday, Jeff was baptized!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! I almost
can't believe it actually happened since even last week, he wasn't
sure if there was even a God or not. But it happened! And he liked it
and said that he had a really special feeling. That's great! He's from
China, and only speaks a little English, so Bishop had someone come to
translate the prayer for him and some of his friends. It was really
special. I'm so glad I was able to be a part of that.

On Saturday, we did exchanges, so I went down to Brandon for the day.
It was really a miracle, because I was just out of energy. Sister
Goodman and I realized later, that it was because we fasted three
times this week. Anyway, I was just done, barely moving and Sister
Young and a few if her investigators really got me moving. And then,
on the way home, we were able to talk for a long while about the
stress of being a missionary. It was really good. She's only been out
a few months so she understood everything I'm going through and gave
me some advice on how to help it. It was really an answer to my
prayers. And she's amazing! I hope I get the chance to be her
companion sometime. (Cool fact, she's a direct descendent of Brigham
Young and her dad works with Greg Cook and helped start DoTerra. Did I
also mention that Sister Goodman's mother's maiden name is Cook?)

Sister Young and Sister Wheeler

Our zone is also starting something new. In contacting, we say, "hi,
we're missionaries and we teach about Christ and prepare people to be
baptized in three weeks. How does that sound?" Or "do you want to be
forgiven of your sins?" It sounds crazy and bold and you would think
people would turn away, but it's working miracles. They started it in
Taiwan and their baptisms per month shot up to, yes, 35!!!! Per
district!!!! Ours is barely pushing four! So we're trying it. Already,
we've set two baptismal dates, which is great!

Day 21 on the Mission Front

Hello family and friends!

I hope all is going well at home! I miss you all! Happy belated Father's Day! Yes... I forgot... shame face!

It has been a crazy week. For example, Wednesday evening, it was pouring and our appointment canceled, which normally means that we'd go outside the church and wander along the sidewalk until we found someone. But, we didn't want to go swimming and it was getting to a ridiculous about of water, besides the fact that people tend not to listen to you at 8:00 at night when they're getting drenched.

So we prayed about what to do and where to go. It was one of the most frustrating things ever! Every thing we prayed about was no. Should we go see so and so? No. Should we call so and so? No. Finally, we just said that we had no idea what to do and we both thought of an investigator we have named Jeff. That's not his real name, he's Chinese, but he goes by Jeff. Earlier that day, he told us he didn't want to be baptized, which was pretty heartbreaking because he was sad about it. But that's a long story. Anyway so we decide to go see if we can find him. I don't know why, because we didn't have an address. Instead, we found a girl, we didn't get her information, but we bore our testimonies and invited her to church. I don't know why, but we were supposed to find her.

Also, we ran into another girl a few days later who's daughter had just kicked her out of her house and called the cops on her. So... that happened.

We also have an investigator named Josie who was also kicked out of her house by her brother. And her mom called us asking if she could stay with us. Well, no. But we still have some of her stuff in our trunk. So... that happened too...

BUT! This week has honestly been the best one yet! And I can't completely explain why, because we barely passed 22 lessons this week (which is actually pretty good considering we had Monday and Tuesday off). But we have multiple new investigators, and one is a family! Yay!

And yesterday, was probably the best day I've had on the mission. Sundays are amazing anyway, but yesterday... Okay, so, to start, we had four investigators at church, and one of them it was his first time. He's Egyptian and has a baptismal date for the 29th, and we planned that when we met him BEFORE the first lesson. And he's brought his mom to a few lessons. And then we had a lesson with Jeff, and a Chinese man in the other ward. I guess the reason he didn't want to be baptized was because he doubted and you can't doubt to be baptized... We of course, settled this. And, in our second lesson with him yesterday, he said he'll be baptized next Sunday... I couldn't calm down! I was running around the kitchen trying to make lunch and I was so crazy that my companion told me I was making her anxious! It was rather funny. We also taught Josie, and that lesson went beautifully. She's also set for baptism on the 29th.

The Zone Leaders were supposed to have a baptism yesterday, but he didn't show, which was really really sad. :( But we think that they'll be able to keep teaching him and plan for another day. The sisters we're rooming with also had someone drop them, and he was planning on being baptized too. Someone got to him and used Anit-Mormon stuff. Its sad that we can see Satan hastening his work as well.

I can see so many blessings from the gospel, and I don't just mean in my life. We're doing a lot of work with some recent converts right now and I can't tell you how many times they've said they're happier or things are easier. It really is amazing to see how people grow from this knowledge.

I also asked for a priesthood blessing yesterday. Elder Lloyd, the district leader, blessed me with strength, and that when I don't feel strong, I will know that I should, "run to my knees." I love that. Run to your knees. Prayer has been the strongest tool we've used out here. And I do run to my knees a lot and I can't explain the comfort and love that I feel when I am speaking with Heavenly Father. And I hope you're all running to your knees when life gets hard.

I love you all!

Love,
Sister Wheeler

Day 15 on the Mission Front

I have to apologize! I forgot to tell everyone in my last letter that my P-Day was moved to Tuesday for this week; we had our zone conference yesterday so they had to reorganize our schedule.

This week has been full! of miracles and blessings! FULL! Our entire district is having the greatest... well, I'd say luck, but its not luck. We're all being exactly obedient and we're all being blessed to see this area bloom. It's gotten to the point, that when we walk up to people, they say, "Oh, I just talked to some other missionaries." :) Or we'll be talking to someone and I look over my shoulder and on the other side of the road, I see the Elders talking to someone else that managed to sneak by us. Its great!

Oh! Okay... Amazing story! So we have this investigator who is completely ready for baptism. But she's living with her boyfriend (which means she can't be baptized), and they've been together for 12 years. She wants to marry him, but she won't until he stops drinking. See the whole problem? And every time the Elders have wanted to go teach him, he was drinking and it didn't work. BUT! Guess who came to church on Sunday! Her boyfriend did! And he loved it! He agreed to meet with the missionaries and made a ton of friends and yay!!!

Remember how last week, I said we had 25 lessons? Well... this week... 30 lessons!!! We almost reached 32, but the last two fell through (sad day!). But 30 is great! My companion, Sister Goodman, is amazing! She keeps us so busy! Everyone say I have the best companion in the whole mission, which is probably true since President Cusick brags about her at every single meeting we have. :) Its really great. I hope that I can be just as powerful as she is when I'm done being trained.

I have a bike, and a car, but mostly, we walk. There are so many people walking right past the church and we just nab them and drag them in to the church building. :) We now have 7, yes, 7 baptismal dates set and 6 of them are in June, although at least one of those probably won't be ready to be baptized. And we have one that we're just waiting for his mom's schedule so she can be there for it.

At the Zone Conference yesterday, Elder Clark from the Seventy spoke to us. He said some amazing things and answered a lot of my prayers. But at one point, through the jokes and everything, he put the majority of us (like 120 missionaries) in tears. He told anyone that had a friend or family member that was inactive from the church to stand up. Everyone did. Which was surprising to me. But then he went up to one of the Elders in the first row and asked who was inactive. The Elder said his sister. And Elder Clark asked what he'd pay to bring her back to the church, and then the missionary started crying and of course he said, everything. Elder Clark's point was that the people we teach aren't just people on the street. They're somebody's brother, sister, mother, father, etc. And we need to work our hardest to help them. We're the answer to people's prayers and we have to work our best to help these people improve their lives and to be the best they can. This isn't about how many baptisms we can get. This is about how many people we can help. That's the beauty of what we believe; that the gospel can help people become better than they were, and help them fight these challenges. I've been titling my letters 'Day _ on the Mission Front,' because I know that this is a battle. I've seen it since I've been out here. Its been hard to combat that. But we're winning. And we will win.

Sorry for that tangent there. I'm out of time now, but I know that what I'm doing, is the most important thing in the world right now, and its where I'm supposed to be. Its been hard, and yes, I've felt homesick. But there is no amount you could pay me to back down now.

I love you all, and, like I said, I miss you! Be safe!. (I hear you're having thunderstorms?!)

Love,
Sister Wheeler

Praise

These two sisters speak with EVERYONE they come in contact with and are busy teaching all day every day. — in Temple Terrace, FL. (Florida Tampa Mission Cusick Facebook page)

Sister Goodman and Sister Wheeler

Week 1 in the Field

Hiyah family and friends! I hope all is going well! I miss all of your lovely faces, but I am having a blast here!

I've already seen an alligator. Be jealous. It was awesome.

And I've already been bitten by a spider. Don't be jealous of that. It feels like a huge mosquito bite and itches about tens times that.

My companion, Sister Goodman is great. She's one of those people that run around like crazy though and she tires me out! We pack out lunches and dinners and just eat at the church. She was disappointed that we only had 26 lessons this week! 26! But I'd rather be busy, so I don't mind.

Sister Goodman and Hermana Gillett

Lemme think... It's really hot here. And humid. My hair stopped doing what I want it to when the plane landed. It rains at least once a day, which is actually pretty cool. We had one really good storm already.

I'm in the Brandon stake, Temple Terrace ward, which is itty bitty, and lacking a lot of people. But it's growing. The church building is at the perfect location though; right across the street from USF, a college. So the sidewalks are always busy and we can be those creepy weird missionaries that talk to EVERYONE. I mean it, too. I can't remember half the names and lets not even talk about their faces! But they are such cool people.

We have four investigators with a baptismal date!!! Yay! And there's one that wants to be baptized, but is living with her boyfriend and they've been together for 12 years and she doesn't just want to kick him out. But she comes to church and we visit her all the time. She's a really neat lady.

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. I love you all!

God be with you till we meet again!

Arrival

An email I just received:

Your missionary has arrived safely in Tampa at the Florida Tampa Mission.

At the MTC

Hiyah family and friends again!

Week 1 is done! And it has really been a blast! I'm loving it here! And part of that might be because I don't have time to feel homesick or sad or anything! And my companion and district are just awesome people! The teachers are even better! I guess there's a saying that if you make it through the first three days of the MTC, you'll be fine. I hope that's true! Because it'll be a piece of cake! Okay, not really, but it won't be hard enough to kill me! :) 

Umm.... Okay, honestly, this week has flown by so I don't remember much of what happened. I will say though... Last Sunday, the Sunday before I got here, Elder Holland came and spoke. This last Sunday... Elder Bednar came! Surprised everyone! It was one of the coolest experiences of my life!

That is all for now! Wish me luck while I'm out here! I love and miss you all!

Love,
Sister Wheeler

First letter!

Hello family and loved ones! Greetings from Provo MTC!

Everything is going really well here! I don't have much time on line, but I wanted to let everyone know that everything is amazing, at least for now! :)

Just so you know, the food here is amazing! Haha, I just got back from breakfast and I feel like I gained a hundred pounds!

And things are busy! I think we've had a total of ten minutes to ourselves and even that was supposed to be used as a personal devotional, so quiet time, kinda.

MTC District at the Provo Temple

Well, I don't have much else to say! Except that the Spirit here is amazing and I've never felt this close to my Heavenly Father. And I know, without a doubt, that I am supposed to be here, right now, doing His work.

I will send out another email next Thursday, so talk to you all then!

Love,
Sister Wheeler

Heading to the MTC

Troy and I took Rachel to Utah. We visited my grandmother and Aunt Chloe in Logan,

went to the Salt Lake Temple,

"Let me take a selfie!"

stayed at Kaye's house (a family friend),

Yes, that is all she gets to take for the full 18 months!

she got a free meal at IHOP, we spent some time at the Provo Temple grounds,

So much like her Dad

and then we dropped her off at the MTC.

There she goes!

Here are a few more pictures from our fun day:

The stripling warrior and her mother!

Going forth to serve

Mom not letting go

The cutest missionary there is!

Facebook Goodbye

Here is Rachel's Facebook post the night she left for the MTC:

Goodbye friends! I leave for my mission later tonight for Florida! I'll be back in 18 months! I won't be on Facebook for that time. I also won't have my phone, so if you have my number and you try to text me, you'll probably get my brother.  I am thrilled to be serving the Lord in spreading His word. I know this next year and a half will be difficult, but I can't come up with a better way to be spending my time and energy. I love you all! And thank you so much for your support! My mother will have my Facebook account from now on and she'll be on later to post my contact information. For now, if you want to email me, you can at rachel.wheeler@myldsmail.net (please keep it clean writing, and don't expect a response right away since I can only email once a week!) So long!

The Call

Sister Rachel Wheeler

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Florida Tampa Mission.

Rachel opening her call