Its Rainin' Investigators

Hello family!

My new companion is Sister Goode from Disney Land, oops, I mean, Anaheim, California. She is funny, genuine, and filled with the spirit! We are looking forward to tearin it up this next transfer in Halls Lake YSA! We cover 9 companionships of sisters together, so we will have 2-3 exchanges per week,  our first one being this Thursday. I'm very excited!

This week, despite all the crazy change and schedules, has been one of the most fulfilling, miracle-filled weeks of my mission! We're short on time to email today, but even if I had the full amount of time I couldn't tell you about all of the amazing miracles we have seen! We'll save that for after the mission :)

So here goes! We put our investigators John and Bry on date for baptism this week. Both are earnestly seeking, and we are so excited for them! John is a guy who Sister Glancy and I contacted at the college last week. He says that he knows that God exists because of feelings he used to have when he would go hiking with his family in Colorado (Hmm. That sounds familiar!) John came to FHE and loved it! Unfortunately he had to work so he wasn't able to come to church, but he is reading the Book of Mormon, asking limitless questions about how Jesus Christ can help him in his life, and progressing wonderfully! Bry was our member referral! His brother and sister-in-law were recently baptized into the Beverly Park ward recently. Bry s a pretty quirky guy. He happens to be pro bowler so that's pretty cool! His prayers are some of the most genuine I have ever heard out here, perhaps only second to Verna's prayers. March is looking to be a great month for us!

Gabriel is still loving church and reading the Book of Mormon. He made me feel like a proud mama this week when he invited his stepbrother Alex to come to FHE and volleyball! Man oh man, this kid is an outstanding member missionary and he's not even a member yet! Gabriel was going to be moving to Texas but he told us this last Sunday that they decided to not move after all due to some things that happened in the family. God works in mysterious ways... perhaps Gabriel is meant to continue his progression including making the covenant of baptism, in this ward that he has grown to love so much? :)

This week we got a text message from a girl named Melissa basically saying "Hi, you knocked on my door last week, I want you to teach me the lessons." I didn't even remember who this girl Melissa was until we met her again. She was one of those "One last door" contacts, and Sister Glancy and I couldn't have talked to her for more than a minute last week before we had to run to our next appointment. Turns out Melissa has been dating a member and going to church with him in one of the family wards. When we came to visit her she told us that she has been reading the Book of Mormon the last few months, she knows it's true, and she wants to be baptized, she just needs to take the discussions. (Which she has already taught herself through reading the pamphlets that she found online, by the way.) Heavenly Father, did you seriously just drop an already-progressing investigator right into our laps? Well thank you!

As if all that wasn't enough, on Sunday Sister Goode and I realized that we were one new investigator away from meeting the Standards of Excellence this week- something that everyone says is unheard of in the YSA ward. I say, "All things are possible through Christ who strengthens me!" President has told us that he expects all STL's and Zone Leaders to meet Standards of Excellence weekly, so Sister Goode and I said a prayer after church and went to work. The girl we had an appointment with cancelled, so we went to see a potential/referral that we had received the night before in hopes that they would be our new investigator instead. Well we got there and had a good conversation but it didn't quite pan out. Right afterwards I remembered a former that lived nearby that Sister Glancy and I had gone to see 2 months ago, but I had totally forgotten about since then. (One of those ever so subtle "whisperings" that it's so easy to not recognize). Well we knocked at the door of this guy Anthony, and it looked like the house was dark and empty. Right as we were about to walk away the hall light came on, and Anthony answered the door. He pretty much stared at us then asked who had sent us. Apparently another missionary on the street had invited him to come to church the day before, and he was going to, but he accidentally slept in. He had been thinking about the Mormons a lot recently, and he had just been praying for direction when we knocked. Anthony came out and the three of us stood out in the rain talking about Jesus Christ and his role in the repentance process. One prayer and a return appointment later, we met standards at 8:00 Sunday night. Sister Goode and I jumped into a HUGE puddle to celebrate our "Victory week for the Lord" and since we had been soaking wet all evening anyway.

The miracles have simply continued this week, because Heavenly Father likes to make good on all of His promises. The missionary department is touring our mission this week, so Sister Bonham joined us for our lessons last night. With Sister Bonham we found a new investigator, and taught Anthony the first official lesson. The spirit in that lesson was so strong. He had already started reading the Book of Mormon the night before after we left, and he also bought us this huge pink and orange umbrella. Haha. So thoughtful! Partway through the lesson he said, "I feel like these things are true, everything makes sense. I think I need to pray to know if these things are true and if I need to be baptized." Sister Goode and I were both thinking "Uhhh... yeah, yeah it would be ok for you to do that! Good game plan!" :)

Through my personal study and the miracles that we saw this week, I have determined that there is no "secret" to missionary work. If we are simply striving to do what Heavenly Father wants us to do- working hard, loving everyone, being strictly obedient, and developing Christlike attributes, etc... Heavenly Father will literally "laden you with many sheaves." I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for everything that He has given me. Please pray that these miracles will continue. Thank you for your love and support!

Love, Sister Slade