March 19, 2012

Hello dear family! How are all of you doing? So this last week, it rained 4 days straight! It was crazy! Started Tuesday and then finally Saturday we saw the sun for a little bit and then it started raining again! And then Sunday morning I woke up and there was an inch or two of snow! But then it started melting. But then 3rd hour at church (we have the 1 o'clock block), it started snowing real hard that we ended a few minutes early and everyone was rushing morning, but a few minutes later, it had stopped. Crazy weather, just to say.
This last week we picked up 2 new investigators of the Bahia faith. But yes, it's so very different from what I have come across. They are deeply rooted into their religion, but their religion teaches them to listen to everyone. And they seem to encompass all religions in a way. It's kind of interesting. Different from what I've heard of before. Anyway, they are willing to listen to what we believe in. It is a mother and a son. The son has already read most of the Book of Mormon. And we have committed him to finish the rest of it. That's pretty much what is new.
I spoke in district meeting the other day about how we can receive answers to our prayers. I used D&C 9:7-9. And talked about how it is through the Holy Ghost.
Oh, so for St. Patrick's Day, two days in a row we had corn beef and cabbage....not really my favorite, especially 2 days in a row... but at least we got fed.
So this is the last week of the transfer. My companion is getting trunky - it's her last week of the mission field. Next week I'll get a new companion.
We were able to meet our one investigator who has the date in June. She is doing well. We taught her the 10 commandments. She is very willing to live them. She is doing very well. It's kind of sad though. Since she's a 24/7 care-taker, we have to find someone in another ward to substitute for her. But the people we've had do it so far, well, most of them don't like doing it - mainly because the patient smokes. So she was unable to come to church because we couldn't find anybody willing to help. Sad.
Sunday we had a lesson before church. The High Priest leader really is on fire on helping us get lessons, it's great. The lesson was with a less active lady in our ward and a non-member girl that was staying with her for the week. It was good. We were able to give the girl a Book of Mormon and said she would read and then maybe find someone in Florida to teach her... hopefully it will happen. It was good.
Anyways, I think that was really all that happened. I love you all bunches and bunches. And remember the Lord loves you too!
(D&C 19:38)

March 12, 2012

So how are all of you doing? This week has been fine. Yep. So for my birthday, we had a really good lesson with one of our investigators. We taught the Plan of Salvation. So this certain investigator lives with his less active girlfriend, has for the last 8 years and they have a 7 year old daughter. We really emphasized in this lesson how in the Celestial kingdom we can be with our families forever. They are both usually really talkative people, but after we mentioned that the Celestial kingdom is the only place we can be together with our families forever, they were kind of silent. Making them think. We've talked about why they aren't married yet before, they just have excuses, but I am hoping and praying that now they will make it more of a goal to do it soon. Plus, our investigator is progressing pretty well. And they have a goal as a family to come to church more often - to be more active. And they are striving to pray every day as a family. And he is starting to read the scriptures again, but right now he is first reading the Bible and then he'll read The Book of Mormon. Anyway, that was good. They didn't come to church Sunday, but that was because they were all really sick.

Thursday we had our special meeting with Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Richard G. Maynes from the Seventy. It was a good meeting. They talked a lot about the Rescue and how the ward council should be working with us missionaries. Elder Maynes also talked about how the golden investigators we have that we baptized. They are the ones that will stay active and they are golden because they are ‘Searchers for Truth’. The searchers are the golden investigators. The other people, we are just trying to convince them it is true. But a searcher will come to know it is true for himself, without needing to be convinced that they know. I have really come to realize this; it really does come down to the desire of the person; whether or not they are ready to receive the truth and willing to accept it. It comes down to timing. So now my companion and I are asking ourselves every lesson, "Are they a searcher?" It's been good thinking in that perspective.

Yesterday we had ward conference. That was fun. The Webbs are in the stake. Brother Webb, or I should say President Webb, is the 2nd (I think) counselor in the stake presidency. Every time he saw us at church yesterday he would step in our way and shake our hand. And Sister Webb would get a huge smile on her face and give us hugs. I love them. They are so great to us. So Brother Webb taught the 3rd hour. It was really good. He taught about revelation. But before he started, he had to tell the ward members how happy he was to be there, especially since 2 of his favorite people were there. And those two favorite people were Sister Tubbs and Sister Walston. He also told them how he loved having us live with them, but that he has one major problem. He can't give us hugs. It was funny. It's true, he hates not being able to give us hugs, but he is great. Anyway, oh! And the first time since before my mission, I had a meal that reminded me of Moms! The chicken Sunday like dinner thing you make, with rice, cooked carrots (except they had a sweet dressing on them), salad, fruit, and bread. It reminded me a little of our Sunday dinners back at home. :)

So when I first got here we pretty much had 8 investigators...but we really hadn't been working with them all... so now we have come down to realize we only really have 2 right now that we are working with. We have 2 others, but they are kind of on hold right now. Not sure what to do with them. But yeah. Besides that, we are meeting with some of the less active and our recent converts, which I just love. The older man (recent convert), we had dinner with him and his wife (which we helped with - we got there a little after they did, so they were behind- it was fun being able to help with dinner) and then the next day we did service for them. It was great.

March 5, 2012

How is everyone doing? I'm still doing well here. My itchiness is starting to fade; definitely not as bad as it was last week, thank goodness. So this last week one of our investigators dropped us. He is the father of the boy who has the baptism for March 18th, but they didn't come to church yesterday, so they boy probably will not be getting baptized. The dad, he dropped us because he's just not ready. He has a lot of issues with the members of the ward making him feel inferior and out of place. He seems to know the church is true. We asked him if he believed if Joseph Smith was a prophet. He said yes and no. He has his concerns and doubts. But then he said, "I believe you missionaries." He knows that we know it is true. And trusts us. But he still has the issues of the other members. So hopefully with time things will get better. I hope and pray. But they might be moving soon. He got a job in Orville which is an hour or so away, so they are looking to move closer. Maybe things with the church down there will be better for him. And maybe he and his son will be able to get baptized down there. Hopefully. I pray that one day that their family will be united, active, faithful members of the true church of God. So anyways, that experience was interesting. Thursday we had Sister's Training. We drove down to Granite Bay, where the Weston's live. It was weird to see other sister missionaries again. There are 24 of us now in the mission field here. When I first came I think there were 18! Slowly we are building our numbers. But it was good to see them all - especially the ones I know, Sister Withers, Sister Crossley. Yep. Anyway, it was a good meeting. President Weston talked about how we need to have meaningful prayers. Prayers that will help us be closer to the spirit. Something I wrote down was this, "It's not about how much you accomplish, but how close to the spirit you become. Because then you'll be doing just exactly what you need to be doing." It's so true. If we are staying close to the spirit, we will be inspired to do what is most important. We will be able to have a greater effect on the people we come across. I am now striving to make sure my prayers and my life are more in tune with the spirit. This last week I realized how much we really need to rely on the spirit. One night as we were planning, I tried relying more on the spirit as we planned who to see the next day. A few random names came to mind. So the next day we visited those less actives and boy were the results great. One of them we might start teaching the lessons this week. And the other, she has a strong testimony still, we hope that through time something will happen. It's so cool what can happen when you are listening to the spirit! Saturday we had a lesson with another of our investigators - the one with the baptismal date in June. It was good. We taught obedience and the law of chastity. Yesterday, one of our recent converts and his wife did not make it to church, so we stopped by their place. It was good that we did. It was an off day for them, they looked worn down and tired. I was glad we stopped by. The recent convert, he has a speech problem due to a stroke he had a year ago. He hadn't talked to very many people recently and it is always good that we go over so he can talk to us. They say he always speaks better when we are there. I'm glad that we were able to help. Plus, he was a little depressed at first and he seemed a bit better by the time we left. Well, I love you all lots and lots. You are all so wonderful. Have a marvelous week!!!
Love you always,
Sister Kristi Walston