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!