MTC and the Character of Christ By Elder Slade

I have already answered many questions in a physical letter which I am sending today. Feel free to type it up if you want to in order to put it in a blog, but since I don't have much time I'm not going to answer all of your questions and I won't go into much detail.

Week #1 started extremely slow and is speeding up alarmingly fast. It feels like it's been so long that I can't remember what happened at home just a week ago, but it's not really a bad experience. You guys should all watch Elder David A. Bednar's 1.5 hour long talk called "the Character of Christ", which is an awesome talk. I watched it last night. This morning I went to the temple and did initiatories. It is the first time I have been to the temple since getting my own endowments; it was a great experience.

My district is only five strong; my two companions are Elder Halling and Elder Trockel. Neither of them are going to the same mission that I am, but we are all speaking Haitian Creole. I have some pictures, but this computer doesn't have a card reader, so I can't send them to you. I'll see if I can do it next week. (My P-Day is Monday.)

A quick explanation on my 7-week departure date: learning Haitian Creole is only a 6-week language, but the Fort Lauderdale Mission transfers are a week behind most other missions. So they'll consider us ready to leave October 29th, but I will stay in the MTC for another week to Nov. 5th (alone, I will probably get a French-speaking companion - so, alone) after the rest of my district has already left.

Haitian Creole is an awesome, and incredibly simple, language. It sounds awesome; it is easy to learn; it will be incredible to speak; but it will most likely be useless for the rest of my life. Hah.

The rest of what I want to say is in my physical letter. I'm almost out of time, but if you respond quickly I may be able to answer.

This may sound mean, but I was really glad that I got to fly to Utah instead of driving there. It was a lot of fun. I got a bunch of pictures of cloud formations (which I can't send you.)

And, I haven't seen Kyle here yet, and I think he leaves early tomorrow morning, so I probably never will.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

I told you all to watch "the Character of Christ", but I can't find it on LDS.org, and I can't get on Google to do a more extensive search, so here's some more info to help you find it if you can:

It's a talk by David A. Bednar, given on Christmas day (a Sunday) at the MTC, at least a year and 9 months ago. (Before the age change, anyway.) It really is an awesome talk.

LINK TO TALK

Member Missionary Work

How are you? It makes me so happy and a little bit sentimental to read about Brandon's mission preparations and everything that you all are doing too! It sounds like it was fun to have Grandma and Grandpa in town and spend that time with them. Tell Grandpa Putnam that I love him too and that He's in my prayers. I'll try to write him a letter later today so that he has something to read in the next week since I'm guessing he won't be able to move around much :)

This week felt slower than last because we had quite a few appointments fall through and we weren't able to get any more of our investigators progressing, but when we looked at the numbers and accounted last night, we saw that once more everything came together and we barely reached our goals. It's always amazing to me how that somehow always seems to happen! This means that this week’s goals are just a little bit higher again though. :)

I am so excited for Bennett and Verna's baptism on the 12th, I can hardly wait! I just feel so happy around those two, they are so special. I wish you all could meet them. Especially Grandpa Les and Becky, since they are very similar! The ward already loves them, if their name is brought up in ward council you hear a chorus of "we want them." :) Bennett and Verna attended one of 2nd ward's baptisms with us on Saturday, and they absolutely loved it. Afterwards Verna was telling us how she found herself humming earlier that day while she was cleaning which was weird to her because she normally hates cleaning. I told her that I thought it was probably because her spirit recognizes she has a lot to be grateful for. She laughed and said, "You know what I think it is?" and she got a little bit emotional and pointed to Sister Anderson and I. I'm so glad that Verna recognizes what a huge impact the gospel is having on her life. She and Bennett have been watching conference talks together for fun in their free time (SOLID investigator status.) They both attended church yesterday, and right before Sister Anderson and I taught the gospel principles lesson I heard Verna lean over to talk to Everett, and she asked him if he would be the one to baptize her. You should have seen Everett's face, it meant so much to him. Such a special moment!

We were also very excited to have one of the less-active women we have been working with attend church! Her name is Zola, and she is in her 80's but hasn't attended church in a long time because she was offended by someone a long time ago. She is such a sweetie. We found her a dress and a ride and she finally came to church yesterday. She said she absolutely loved it, and that she wants to come every week!

This afternoon is going to be crazy. The 2nd ward sisters have been living with us for a few weeks now, and this whole time we thought that it would be them that would be moving apartments, but we got a call this week and learned that it was actually Sister Anderson and I that would be moving apartments. Our apartment is only a block away from the other sisters though, so it will be nice to see them every now and then still :)

My testimony of the importance of member missionary work was reaffirmed this week. A few weeks back the 2nd ward elders gave us a referral for a man named Charles that they had taught a lesson to but who was in our area. Sister Turley and I went to see him and he answered the door speaking in third person saying, "Charles isn't here right now, and he's been really busy taking care of his parents so I don't think now is a good time for him to meet with missionaries, but I'll tell him to call you when he's ready to meet." Last week a woman in our ward named Augustina C. (SOLID member status.) told us that she was bringing a friend to church. She showed up at church and we were so surprised to see that her friend she had brought to church was Charles! Charles looked a little bit flustered when Augustina introduced him to me as Charles, but then we both just kinda laughed! We taught a lesson to Charles and also his parents this week, and it went very well! Oh- and his parents are pretty strong catholic and there's no way they would ever let us teach them if we had just come and knocked on their door. So the message to everyone this week is....go do missionary work!!!!! Maybe one out of a hundred people let strangers wearing skirts and ties into their homes, but if the invitation comes from a friend or neighbor that cares about them, that's a different story!

I love you all bunches. We had a zone meeting this week, and the zone leaders said that when they met with President Bonham this month he told them some amazing things. When President Bonham went to a meeting with President Monson and some of the apostles before he came into the field, President Monson told the mission presidents "The time for planting seeds has passed, now is the time to harvest." He told the mission presidents that he had recently met with some of the leaders in China, and in essence they were told that "We know your church is going to continue to grow here in our country and around the world, regardless of what we do, but we're going to do everything that we can to slow you down." We live in an amazing time in history! Don't forget that The Lord loves all of you, and he needs each and every one of us to play a greater role in "harvesting." Love you all!

Love, Sister Slade

P.S. Brother and Sister Hansink (SOLID member status.) took us to eat at an Asian buffet this week and the fortune that Sister Anderson and I got said, "You will soon receive a letter from a loved one."- no joke! Haha. We thought it was so funny, we taped it to our door! You wouldn't want to destroy my faith in fortune cookies, would you? :)

Blessed Week~!

Hello! :)

What a blessed week! I think I better start with the most exciting news of all- Bennett and Verna H. are on date for baptism!!! Oh, and they also gave me permission to adopt them as my third set of grandparents :) So many prayers and spiritual energy have gone into teaching Bennett and Verna. From day 1 when I met Bennett (my first day out in the field!) I knew somehow that he would be important. For whatever reason Bennett and Verna have been on my mind constantly throughout this last week. At first it made me anxious, because I was hoping that it wasn't the spirit telling me that something was going wrong there. Sister Anderson and I stopped by on Wednesday to check up on them, and they were both still going strong reading and praying, but I still couldn't stop thinking about them after that. It reminded me a little bit of how I felt about sharing the gospel with D. When you really care deeply about someone, suddenly your desperation for them to accept the thing that you know is so important for them increases so much. I've felt this way with Bennett and Verna, and by the time Sunday came around I woke up and knew that that was the day that Bennett and Verna needed to commit to baptism. Sister Anderson and I decided to fast yesterday that we would know what to say and how to bring the spirit into the lesson, and when the lesson came my prayers were definitely answered. The entire lesson I felt as if the questions I was asking and the things I was saying were not my own. After the fact I didn't even remember most of it and I had to ask Sister Anderson for details so that I could write about it in my journal. At one point I asked Bennett and Verna if they believed that Joseph Smith was a prophet and if he truly did restore Jesus Christ's church to the Earth. Bennett said he couldn't say that he fully believed yet, but he's been reading and praying a lot, and he believes that Joseph Smith could be a prophet and that if he is then he knows his prayers will be answered. Bennett shared with us a very special, sacred dream he had about a week ago the night that he offered a particularly heartfelt prayer asking if the church was true. When we asked Verna she said, "I'm so close, so close. Just right there on the edge, and I believe, but I'm so close! It's to the point that I can tell that the next step is to take a leap of faith, and that scares me." It was perfect! I expressed to Bennett and Verna again how much I love them and how much Heavenly Father loves them, and told them that I knew that they already had a testimony of the truth, because they have already learned these things when they were in the pre-existence, and their spirits recognize truth. I told them that I knew that if they would show their faith by setting a date as a goal to be baptized, the Lord would answer their prayers and give them that last little bit of assurance that they needed. After they said yes and throughout the rest of the evening, I felt so happy! I can't imagine if I hadn't decided to come on a mission and hadn't been able to feel this kind of love for people and for my Heavenly Father. October 12 is going to be a very special day! :)

As if having Bennett and Verna on date wasn't enough, we had another lesson with Jennifer on Thursday, and she has set a date for baptism as well! When we asked her how her reading has been going since we had our first lesson with her last week, she showed us that she's almost done with Mosiah. Solid investigator status! It kinda startled me when she said yes when we invited her to be baptized. We hadn't taught any of the commandments up to that point, so hopefully when she understands just how much of a commitment baptism is, she sill still feel that excitement! I think that she is sincerely searching. :)

Sister Anderson and I have even been blessed in lots of small ways this week too. I had an amazing experience on Friday. We had a lesson scheduled in one of the further parts of the island, but they didn't show. Sister Anderson and decided we would try one more potential, then go back home to have dinner. I was driving to see the potential, and suddenly I just turned onto a street. It was extremely sudden, and it was almost like I did it without thinking- like it was somebody else who consciously decided to turn and not me. We drove to the end of the street, not really knowing why, especially since the street was kinda in the middle of nowhere, but just doing it, and got out and started to knock on doors. We walked up the driveway to the second house, and there was a man there who we started talking to. It took all of one minute for us to make the connection that this man was one of Everett S.’s coworkers- a man that Everett has told us about a few times, and who had been asking a lot of questions about the gospel recently, but whose family isn't on board with it. We had a really amazing conversation with the man, and walked away afterwards completely in awe, because this definitely wasn't a coincidence that of all the houses we could have come to that day, Steven happened to live in this one and just happened to be outside. Hopefully with Everett's help we will be able to teach him and his family soon!

At the start of this week I was thinking a lot about what Sister Anderson and I needed to do to make our goals that we had set happen. I had this very strong feeling come over me where I realized that the Lord WANTS us to succeed. I have no doubt in my mind that he has hundreds of people here in Oak Harbor ready and prepared to hear the gospel, and he doesn't want us to be teaching just one or two of them. The trick is that I need to be in a place where I have the faith and I'm working hard enough that he trusts me with those people. I thought about the scripture that says "I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say." I decided to tell Heavenly Father that I felt accountable to him for the goals we had set, and that Sister Anderson and I were going to work as hard as we possibly could and focus all of our thoughts on him this week, and if we did then I expected him to bless us. It wasn't really a gentle request, it was more like a pleading demand. Maybe that's wrong to demand something of Heavenly Father. But it obviously didn't bother him too much, or he wouldn't have given us so much success this week! We barely reached all of our goals this week, plus we had so many tender mercies and special moments with people on top of that. This week we set our numbers a little bit higher, which will make us stretch, and we're going to test him again and see if our teaching pool continues to expand.

Anyways. All that happened, plus a million other things. I wish that you could be here to experience everything with me! I love you all! I keep your picture in my scriptures and pray for you multiple times a day.

Love, Sister Slade

New Companionship

It's been another crazy week. Sometimes throughout the week I'll think, "Oh, I have to remember to tell my family about that!" but then by the time I actually am able to sit down and write you guys, I feel like I have nothing to say!

Last Tuesday (oh man, that was a million years ago!) we all met at the mission office, and were waiting there until around 9:30 when President Bonham was finally done interviewing, praying, and rearranging companionships. It's really cool the way they put the companionships together. Basically the new missionaries sit on one side of the chapel and the trainers sit on the other side. We'll sing hymns until President Bonham has come to a decision about all the companionships, then when President Bonham comes he'll say the names of the companionship and the area they're serving in. Both missionaries meet and hug in the middle, then sit together in the middle pews until everyone has been paired up. It's pretty hilarious watching some of the elders pretty much attack each other. Our zone leaders are going to be having 2 more elders that are waiting for their visas with them, so when President Bonham announced the fourth member to their quadpanionship they all leaped up and said, "Get him!" The new elder was a teeny tiny shy redheaded elder and I think he about fainted when they all surrounded him in a big bear hug. Such a funny moment!

My companion is Sister Anderson, from Las Vegas, Nevada! She is very open and extremely bubbly. I don't think she owns anything that isn't pink, and if I had to describe her I'd say she reminds me of five Eliza's in one! She has a lot of excitement for the work and she genuinely wants to do everything that she can to help others!

I think Satan knows that I'm feeling very inadequate and that Sister Anderson is homesick, because He sure works hard on new companionships. I remember when I first got here with Sister Turley pretty much all of our appointments that week fell through, and all three of the people that were on date for baptism fell off date. Well... we've had another rough start. For whatever reason all of our appointments have been falling through and I have to keep reminding myself that as long as we're continuing to work hard and relying on the Lord, I can't blame myself for other people’s agency.

Despite the frustrating things that have happened, there have been tender mercies! Our dear friends Bennett and Verna came to church on Sunday and loved it!!!!! They've been asking more about baptism recently, and we're really hoping that they'll agree to setting a date for baptism this week. Out of all the people we have taught, Bennett and Verna are my favorite. They are basically the greatest. The more I love teaching them and sharing special experiences with them, the more anxiety I feel. Something that has been so apparent to me since coming on my mission that for whatever reason I didn't really expect is that Satan is real. He works very hard on missionaries, and he works overtime on their investigators. Both Sandra and Shannon have decided to completely discontinue lessons. Even though they both have received that witness that this gospel is true, the stress from living the gospel got to be too much for them. It's very sad, because we love them, but in the end there's only so much you can do, then you just have to hope that sometime in the future they will find the strength they need to commit. Right before transfers Sister Turley and I had a lesson with Bennett and Verna. It went really well, then at the end of the lesson I suddenly had the thought that I needed to ask them if they had been praying specifically about what we have been teaching. I was so glad I did, because Bennett said, "Yes, problem is, I've been getting the opposite answer." Apparently on the nights that Bennett prays to know if this church is true, Satan has been working extremely hard on him, particularly through his dreams. We shared with them the part of the first vision that we don't normally share with investigators about how Joseph Smith experienced the power of the adversary before seeing a pillar of light. Bennett and Verna are SO strong and SO prepared, and Satan absolutely knows that. I feel like we're actually fighting for Bennett and Verna. I can't let him get these two, they're too special. Prayers would be much appreciated.

A few weeks back Sister Turley and I knocked on a door and met a woman named Jennifer who said that she wasn't interested. She seemed really family-oriented though, so we gave her a Family Proclamation. Last week Sister Anderson and I decided that we should check in on her. We did, and I was so happy when she told us that she had read the Proclamation and really liked it! She agreed to have us come back, and our first lesson with her went really well! She said she will definitely read and pray, and she also said that she will definitely be baptized if she finds that these things are true. :)

One of my favorite hymns recently has been "Because I Have Been Given Much" because some days I'll have these little epiphanies where I'll feel absolutely overwhelmed when I think, "How did I ever get to be so blessed?" I know that this is the Lord's work and that each and every one of his children mean so much to him. I've been thinking a lot about the atonement recently whenever it rains, and about how people always say that there are two parts to the atonement- the cleansing power and the enabling power. I know that the atonement is real! His love for each and every one of us is infinite and unconditional. It feels so good to know that I have already chosen the winning team. I hope that you have too! He's rooting for you!

Love, Sister Slade

A daughter and a baptism!

So. I don't even know where to start. This has been the craziest, longest, most roller-coaster stressful week of my mission! Last Monday feels like a lifetime ago.

I guess I'll start by telling you that I'm going to be a mom! Let me explain. So we have our own special "mission language." Someone’s first area is where they are "born" their last area is where they "die," if you leave an area then come back you are "resurrected," etc... So Sister Turley is my "mom" since she is my trainer, and Sister Cromar is "grandma" since she trained Sister Turley. Leadership calls were on Thursday, and both Sister Turley and I are going to be training new missionaries!

We've known for a few weeks that they had 19 sisters coming in tomorrow, so I've known that quite a few sisters would be training and that it was likely that some of the sisters in the group that came in with me would be asked to train too. I've been a little bit stressed thinking about it all week and always having it in the back of my mind. More like a lot stressed, to the point of feeling sick to my stomach whenever I dwell on it. When Thursday came around we had quite a few lessons scheduled, but I couldn't focus very well, and when the phone started to ring at 9:30 Thursday night I was sweating bullets!

I'm feeling very inadequate. Even though I've learned a lot in the last few weeks, I still don't know what I'm doing. Going to Trainer's Training on Friday helped a little bit. President Bonham talked with us about the process he went through to decide who would train and where everyone would go (They're opening up 10 new areas for sisters). He said that he organized his board the way that made the most sense, then he prayed and to his surprise didn't feel right, then he would rearrange and pray again, then rearrange and pray again. He said that when he finally felt at peace over what he had decided, he knew that each of us were supposed to train for a reason and that "Whom the Lord calls He qualifies." This brought me a lot of comfort, but I'm still scared. At the same time, I'm really excited because I know that this is going to be a big learning experience. Already in the last few days I've seen a big change in how much I rely on the Lord- there's something that changes about your prayers when you're really pleading because you realize that you need 10 times as much help as you realized.

So anyway. We'll be going to Mill Creek for transfers tomorrow. Ahhhh! I'm so nervous. Oh! And Penn Cove ward is getting a 2nd set of sister missionaries, but the mission office hasn't been able to find an apartment in their area, so there are now 4 beds set up in our apartment and we're gonna be 4-packing it for a while. I guess it's not a real 4-pack because they're covering a different area, but it's going to be interesting living with 3 other girls instead of just my new companion.

Darlene's baptism was absolutely beautiful. Everett performed the baptism, and I had the chance to talk with Darlene a lot afterwards since I was her escort. She said that she had had tingles all day, and they had just been building and building. I can't even tell you what beautiful, wonderful people Darlene and Everett S. are. Yesterday they gave us both the most beautiful letters of gratitude and love they had written for us, and I feel like I can't even share what they wrote because it was just so special. We're all looking forward to going to the temple for them to be sealed in a year!

I wish I had more time to write about investigators and the lessons we had this week, because there were some significant (and not so significant) ones, but that might have to wait until next week since we have a lot to get done today so we're trying to cut our emailing time short. But I love you all!

Love, Sister Slade

P.S. Really quick I just remembered that I have to tell you about the most hilarious thing that happened this week- so yesterday the ward knew that one of us was going to be leaving (we're still waiting for the call to find out which of us it is any hour now) so everyone was saying goodbyes and that sort of thing at the linger longer, and Brother Hansink (sassiest, most hilarious old man you will ever meet) comes up behind us, puts an arm around each of our shoulders and says, "Now listen, I don't care what the book says, I'm gonna do it anyway," and he gave each of us a kiss on the cheek. Sister Turley and I were laughing so hard. We teased him that sister Hansink isn't doing her job of keeping an eye on him. So I guess now I can say that I was kissed on my mission... ;)

Thigh On A Mountain Top

I'm not sure what to write about this week. After a while the days and weeks just seem to kinda blur together. I've noticed that if I miss even one night of writing in my journal (which some nights I'm so tired I just go to bed instead of writing :/) by the next day I have to look in my planner to remember what it is that happened the day before.

Probably my favorite lesson that we taught this week was with Bennett and Verna (Don't tell the other investigators, but those two are always my favorite. :)) Such a big love in my heart for those two wonderful people! We taught lesson 3 about the gospel of Jesus Christ, and afterwards I invited them to be baptized again. They both said that they're not quite ready- Bennett has more questions and Verna wants to hear the rest of the lessons first, but Bennett said that there is a "strong likelihood" that they will decide to be baptized. Bennett told us that he absolutely loved church! He sat next to Brother Penaloza in Prisethood, and brother Penaloza showed Bennett how you could download different LDS materials onto his ipad, and Bennett told us that ever since then he has been "like a kid in a candy store." He's been downloading gospel principles, the other standard works, etc... He even told us that he knows our missionary schedule now, and also that "I found out that I'm an investigator!" We congratulated him and told him that not only that, but because he came to church, he is a progressing investigator! This was after last Sunday, when someone approached us and said, "Oh, is this one of your investigators?" and Bennett said "No, I'm just visiting." We all laughed about that. Bennett and Verna didn't come to church yesterday, even though they said they would be there :/ Sister Turley says that we might have to spank them. That's not against the white handbook, is it? :)

Bennett and Verna are planning on coming to Darlene's baptism this next week though! Darlene is excited as can be, and we are too!

Shannon came to church for the first time yesterday, even though he only stayed for the first hour. I think he started to feel a little bit of anxiety and had to leave. Sandra told us that she was coming but didn't show up. Oh Sandra. I'm not sure what more we need to do to help her. :/

In the middle of ward council I looked down at the agenda and saw that the opening hymn was "Thigh on a Mountain Top" and it took all I had not to bust up laughing, for whatever reason the immature side of me thought that was so funny.

Transfers are next week. Why are transfers so stressful?

I love you all!!!! I'm looking forward to hearing from you! Letters are still much appreciated :)

Love, Sister Slade

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