October 14, 2013

"There are few things in life that bring as much joy as that comes from assisting another improve his or her life."

Richard G. Scott

A woman in Erin's ward, Leslie Nufer, took this picture. She says, "We are thrilled to have Sister Missionaries in our ward! We love your daughter! Thank you for sending her out to serve. They are wonderful representatives of the Savior!"

This was another great week! Since there are 2 sets of missionaries in this ward, the Elders had two baptisms; they are great people! They were what we call “golden investigators” where the husband read the Book of Mormon in a week and then the wife got on board and fell in love with the church and the people in the church, so they decided that they wanted to get baptized. They are now working towards going to the temple so that they can be sealed for time and all eternity. It is such a great experience to see people want to work towards baptism and the temple!  

Sister Hyer and I have been working with a lady who was recently baptized a couple of months ago, and she is now getting ready to get her temple recommend. We are so excited for her! She thought that she had to wait for her husband before she could go through the temple, but that is not the case so she is meeting with the bishop this week and getting her recommend! :) 

We met 2 solid investigators this week, and I am really excited about them! One of them is Karlene, and we met her out tracting. We talked with her for about 15 minutes, and she was asking about missionaries and if we get to go home for the holidays. We said that we didn’t. Her response was: "We would like to have you over for Thanksgiving." It was such a sweet invitation! I was honestly thinking about the holidays. I knew that we would be taken care of, but it’s weird thinking that it won’t be with family this next year and a half. I was a little sad about it, but it was a great feeling to have someone that you just met invite you over to eat with their family. I think we are going to do it! :)  

We also met Tia who has had the feeling that she needs to get baptized, so Sis. Whitted has been talking to her a bit. We get to go teach her today at 1 pm. Sis. Hyer wasn't too thrilled about taking time out of our P-day and that it's in the middle of the day, but when the work calls, it's time to serve! I'll keep you updated on her. 

We had a really cool experience this Saturday. It was coming down to the end of the day, and we were planning on visiting a former investigator. We pulled up to the apartments, and their house was pitch black. We didn't want to disturb anyone, so we looked around and saw a man out on his bike. We started walking towards him, and he saw that we were missionaries and went into his house, brought out 2 chairs, and told us he wanted to learn more. We started giving the first lesson, and he took the Book of Mormon out of Sis. Hyer's hand and said "I will study this, and come to church tomorrow". Our response was "HOT DOG!" He is from Nazareth and moved to America to live the 'American dream.' I don’t think it has worked out the way he intended, but he came to church and loved it! He stayed for 2 hours and then had to leave, but he wants to meet with us on Tuesday and come to church again! :) 

Cornell isn't progressing the way we hoped for... he didn't come to church, and when we met with him, he said that he just isn't feeling the Spirit. We said that we are going to have the Elders teach him because we don’t know what to really say anymore. It’s sad when you don’t see someone progress anymore... 

We went to the temple on Thursday, and it was great! The Columbus, Ohio Temple is super small but absolutely gorgeous! I will try and send pictures. Transfers are tomorrow, and we are all pretty nervous and excited for them. We have a great zone and we don’t want to lose anyone, so that is the sad part. But the happy part is the fact that we are needed elsewhere, and there is someone that needs to hear our voice! :) 

Well other than that, my week was knocking on doors and trying to find progressing investigators. The ward is great, and we are stressing missionary work now more than ever. We missionaries had a meeting yesterday, and we are doing a fireside on November 14 for all the members to learn how to be a missionary. We are setting up 4 stations that each of us is going to teach. The stations are Commitments, Simplify and Intensify, Referrals, and How to Share Your Testimony in Everyday Situations. This will help the members who come out and teach with us know 1) how to teach, 2) what we as missionaries do, and 3) how to help us missionaries be more effective in this ward! I am so excited to start planning this and progress this work. I know that the Lord is hastening his work and is preparing all to receive his doctrine. Now it is our turn to find those who are prepared and are seeking truth. This work is awesome! The Spirit is real! God is our loving Father in Heaven!  

I LOVE MY JOB!!!

Love,

Sister Gale