Howdy!
It feels like the weeks here are getting shorter and shorter (and it
has nothing to do with the fact that it gets dark now at 6 o'clock in
the evening...)! Last Monday we found out that President Sweeney
forgot that Sister Havea wanted to extend so her ticket to Tonga is
already bought for the 9th of November! Our time left together
literally just got cut in half. So we have been trying to work extra
hard and make the most of the time we have left! (a month left
together may seem like a ling time but it flies by out here!)
We now have two investigators on date for the 24th of this month!
Judy and Charles! Judy has been meeting with us for a while and she is
finally taking the plunge (no pun intended... well maybe a little...)
and then Charles is the older man that we have seen for only a couple
weeks who had a heart attack. It is the best thing to see people
changing to come to Christ right before our eyes. One of the less
actives we are meeting with, well she isn't so less active now, is
coming with us to do baptisms at the temple next week and we are going
to start teaching her the temple preparation classes so she can
receive her endowments! She is an amazing example for her family, but
not all of our less actives are making such great progress... There is
a quote by Elder Bednar that says "After we come out of the waters of
baptism, our souls need to be continually immersed in and saturated
with the truth and the light of the Savior's gospel. Sporadic and
shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial participation in
His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual transformation that
enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity to
covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto
God are required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity...
Total immersion in and saturation with the Savior's gospel are
essential steps in the process of being born again." It is so true. We
cannot expect to automatically have all these blessings and a great
testimony and relationship with Christ if we aren't putting in any
work. Slowly I think we are getting them to understand and as long as
they are making progress I'm happy :)
This week we had a Zone Training Meeting and it was amazing. First
off my zone leaders are like the coolest thing since sliced bread and
they are super in tune with the Spirit which makes them even cooler.
Anyways, we discussed a lot our reasons for coming on missions and how
that fuels us to be the best we can be. Some of the cools things that
we said were: "If we are striving to be celestial beings, we cannot
use terrestrial words and still expect to reach that goal" and "if we
want miracles like God performs then we have to live as God lives".
Elder Johnson, one of the zone leaders posed the question, what's your
why? I really had to ponder why did I really come on a mission and
this is the conclusion that I reached: before my mission I had a
testimony but I came on a mission to be converted. It is so important
to keep an open mind and heart everyday so that that conversion can
take place. Just like Elder Holland has said, belief is a good start.
But that's just what it is, a start. We sing all the time the hymn
Called to Serve. Called to serve what, called to serve when, and
called to serve how? If reaching our own conversion is the end goal,
we have to start now on that path back to Him. I am learning so much
every day and what I am learning I love to share. READ THE BOOK OF
MORMON IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE. It answers all questions and calms
all fears. It has for me and I know it can for you, but it can't
change your life if you don't read it.
Last night we had a Mission President's Fireside where recent
converts to the church bore their testimony and President Sweeney and
our stake president spoke. A few of our investigators came as well as
some of the less actives we have been working with. Once of the guys
that came the elders have been trying to get to come back to church
for almost a year! Sister Havea and I visit his aunt who lives right
behind him and one day when we saw her we decided to leave a note and
flyer inviting him to the fireside and he actually came! We were so
surprised! And then we were talking to him after and he said he is
going to start coming to church and the sports night that the
missionaries host every Thursday! So cool and all from a note! We
didn't even talk to the guy! Anyway, the fireside was pretty amazing.
There was a 13 year old young man from our ward that spoke about how
he fond the church and joined. When he bore his testimony I cried...
it was so sweet. He has so much faith and is such an example for all
of his family who are now investigating as well. He already knows that
he wants to go on a mission and you can see the Spirit radiating from
this young man. He has been through so much, just like most of the
youth that live on the reservation. It seems like they all have been
in a group home at at least one point in their lives, but all of them
have such great and strong testimonies and know that they can draw
from the Savior's strength. What great examples they are to the rest
of the ward.
The work here is great! I love you all, and look forward to all of
your emails, letters, and packages! Keep being the amazing lights that
you are :)
Sister Welch
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