Talking in Church

Great things are happening in Oak Harbor! Probably the highlight of my week was yesterday. Sister Turley and I were asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting. After struggling for weeks to get anyone to come to church, last week 3 of our investigators made it, and yesterday 4 of them made it!! I'm thinking that this means that we need to get 5 investigators there next Sunday. :) Our end goal is to have more investigators at church than there are members... :)

Chuck Q. wasn't able to come this week, as he works every other Sunday. Darlene came again, though, and we've also been teaching her twice a week to prepare her for her baptism. She says that she is 10 times more excited for her baptism than anyone could ever be. She has been so prepared. When Darlene was little her family wasn't raised in any religion. She says she remembers going to the store with her sister on Sundays, and when she would see all of the people coming out of church in their nice skirts and ties she would hide behind the cars because she so badly wanted to be one of them but she felt ashamed that she didn't get to be. Darlene really related to Joseph Smith's story because when she was older she still wanted to go to church but she never did because she thought, "Well, which one am I supposed to go to?" We had a lesson with Darlene at the Glade's home earlier this week, and after we taught the Plan of Salvation Darlene asked what the Plan of Salvation meant for her mom, since her mom didn't have any particular faith and was never baptized. We were able to talk to her about the temple and how after she is baptized she can do her family history. The spirit was so strong and it was so overwhelming to realize that when Darlene is baptized it won't just be Darlene, but it will be her mom, and her grandparents, and her great grandparents, etc... such a happy moment for all of us!

We had a lesson with Sandra earlier this week. In last week’s lesson Sandra said that she is "Ready for Round 2." She is fully realizing what Satan has been doing in trying to prevent her from being baptized. Sandra even told us how her triple combination she ordered a while ago came in, but she put it in storage. When we asked her why she said, "That's my gift to myself for when I get baptized." With Sandra it really is "when" rather than "if." She says that when she went to the Baptist church for most of her life it felt "easy," but now that she knows this church is true she knows that she is accountable, and that scares her. The main thing that is holding her back from baptism is that she knows just how hard it will be and what a serious commitment that is. In a sense she is scared she won't be able to be perfect. Oh Sandra, if only you knew how similar we all are. In the lesson last week we discussed baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost again. We told her that not to downplay baptism, but in the end it doesn't really matter if she's baptized this month or next month or the month after, but the gift of the Holy Ghost is something that is worth hurrying for. We invited her to set another baptism date for September 28, and she said she is going to pray about it. She also promised us she would come to church yesterday, which she did! Sandra absolutely knows this gospel is all true, so it felt more like a returning less active rather than in investigator coming to church.

Tiffany also came to church again, and this time she brought her daughter!

Then the absolute greatest feeling was sitting on the stand and watching our dear friend Bennett H. walk into the chapel. He stuck out like a sore thumb sitting in the middle of that mass of white old people, I almost had to chuckle! I have such a big love in my heart for Bennett H.

I loved looking out at the faces of all these people we've been teaching and all of these members who I have grown to love so much, and having the strongest feeling of "This is where you belong." They all couldn't be more different. Bennett the business owner was looking down right classy with his nice black suit and shiny red tie and ipad that he used to look up scriptures. And Tiffany was as loud and interesting in appearance as she is in talking. Yet they all just seemed to fit anyway.

Love you all bunches!

Love, Sister Slade