Baptism

Dear family,

Osharrhea's baptism was absolutely amazing! I have developed a huge love for Osh and her family, just as has happened with all of the other investigators that I have had the chance to teach. Her brother Nick who was baptized with the rest of the family in February was the one to baptize her. The spirit was so strong, it was like a warm pressure literally filled the room from the very start of the baptismal service!

Sister Bartsch and I have found many new investigators recently, but we're struggling to find investigators that progress and that will keep future appointments. Help us pray for that! Nevertheless, we have seen so many small miracles- little tender mercies where things just seem to work out too perfectly throughout each day. Heavenly Father is the best secretary. Here are a few of those miracles:

Eric- A few days ago we had gone to talk to a former and we stopped on the way back to talk to a man who was working on his car. The man made it very clear that he was not interested, and in an effort to get rid of us he said, "Go talk to my neighbor, he's a 24 year old rich bachelor, go bother him." Thanks for the referral, Dennis! We were running late so we went back the next time we were in the area to talk to Eric. He just happened to be out on his porch enjoying the sunshine and drinking a glass of wine. At the start of our conversation with Eric he told us right off the bat all of the disagreements he had with our doctrine and why he wouldn't read the Book of Mormon, but for whatever reason both Sister Bartsch and I felt like we shouldn't quite leave yet so we continued talking to him even though he had said no. Partway through the conversation we found out that he's German and part Norwegian, which made Sister Bartsch's day! Sister Bartsch shared a really powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon, and by the end of the conversation he said he would take a Book of Mormon and just see what it was about. it was a complete turn around! We're going to go back in a few days and see what he thinks of the Book of Mormon so far :)

Ruben- Ruben took the missionary discussions a few months back, and we've been feeling like we should go see him this week. Ruben has been having a really hard time as he is dealing with repercussions of past mistakes he has made, and it is causing a lot of grief for his family. The first thing that his mom said to us in her broken English when she saw who was at the door was, "Last week I prayed for you to come again. Take Ruben to church." We're excited to start teaching Ruben again.

Rolando- We were walking back to our car after street contacting one afternoon, and we've been making more of an effort to make the gospel the constant focus of all of our conversations and thoughts. We were in the middle of a deep conversation about prayer when Rolando poked his head out from behind his car and stopped us. Rolando is 21 and moved here from Mexico a few years back, and he has so many questions about God and our purpose that he wants answered. Problem is, he feels frustrated and doesn't know if he even believes in God or not because he feels like he has tried praying over and over again and he feels that he has never received answers. Rolando began asking us all kinds of questions about prayer, and when I told him my testimony of how much prayer has changed my life his eyes got really big and he said, "You really believe that, huh?" He said we can come back to teach him more! :)

These are the little miracles that we see all the time!!! I feel so blessed to be at the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing! Missionary work is the greatest! Challenge for the week: look for all of the little tender mercies that the Lord orchestrates in your daily lives, and be amazed as you see that the more you look for them, the more there are.

Love, Sister Slade

The Lovely Osharrhea's baptism