December 09, 2013

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” 

- Mahatma Gandhi

Sis. Gale with the Whitted Family

This has been a great and interesting week! Starting off, Theresa is SOLID!!! She is getting baptized December 28th and has not smoked for a whole 9 DAYS!!! Man, I am so proud of her. She is holding out strong and making every ounce of effort to come unto her Savior. She said the sweetest thing yesterday that showed me why I am out on a mission. We were sitting in church, and she leaned over to me and said "I am so happy to be here". What sweet words to hear. She even said in Relief Society that this is her time to follow the Lord. It was great to hear those words. I wish I had a tape recorder just so that I could replay that over and over! 

Emerald, I don’t know what to do with her. We had a really spiritual lesson with her, but we just don’t know what to do... She knows that the church is true but won’t come to church. Why? In her words "because I am lazy and am not able to break this bad habit". We have called and showed up to her house, but on Sunday she just doesn’t want to come... it’s too cold. I’m from Arizona, and I still go!!! Well, I love going... I guess what she is missing is the love of going. But anyways, we talked to the zone leaders about her, and we are trying to figure out what to do with her so that we can help her.

We met a great little couple and were able to teach them yesterday. Their names are Matthew and Madison. They told us yesterday that they were praying to know what the truth was and that they wanted to follow the Savior and whatever He wanted them to do, and then we came knocking on their door. We taught them the Restoration, and although they said they "aren’t totally convinced," they are willing to come to church and read to know what it is they need to do in their life at the moment. The spirit was so strong during the lesson last night!

Oh! We are teaching a deaf girl!!! Her name is Emily, and she is so sweet. She grew up Catholic, but she doesn’t know if that is the truth. She is searching, and she met another deaf couple in our ward. They talked to her about the gospel, and she wants to learn. So, we had a lesson with her the other night. How? We are one of the 2 deaf wards in the nation. We have some interpreters and what is even better is that one of the interpreters is a ward missionary, and she likes to come out teaching with us. This is very difficult though because we have to talk slower and remember where we left off when we pause to let her finish signing. Hard but rewarding. We also gave her a chapel tour, and she loved the pictures and what everything meant. She is not able to come for the next couple of Sundays because of work, but she is going to be making it a point to come in the next couple of weeks. We teach her again this Tuesday!

Amish Horse Cart Crossing

I love the members in our ward. They are starting to get more involved by allowing us to bring investigators into their home to teach and also by bringing their friends to church. Isha, a single lady, brought a friend to church, and we will be teaching him this week! How cool is that???!!! I love our ward members!

While Sis. Gale is in Ohio being taken care of by Sis. Whitted, Elder Jakob Whitted is in Arizona being taken care of by Mama Gale

So we had some exciting news this morning, but first I need to give some background. As a mission, we had a goal of having 500+ baptisms for this year. Well, we have 446 to date with 48 on date. We only needed a couple more, so our whole mission fasted. Our zone alone has 11 on date for this month. (More than any other zone!) We met and exceeded our goal, so we are rewarded with another FUN DAY!!! I love fun days because they are fun! ;) Ha-ha More details to come!

Well, there is the summary for this week, and I want to close with my testimony. Being a trainer and all is great, but there is so much that I have learned with this responsibility. My trainee is way ahead of me and is training me and helping me become a better person. I love every moment that we talk to people about the gospel because we complement each other so well and help each other out! It has been great to feel the presence of My Savior in my life more prominently, and I can testify that He lives and this is His work. I know that I could not be teaching the way I am without His help and without the Spirit. I know that this is the way, and there is no other way! I pray for each and every one of you each night. I know that He can help us because He knows us. If you have ANY doubt, turn to Him, and He will lift your burden because "His burden is easy, and His yoke is light". I have relied on Him, and He has strengthened me; He can do the same for you. Read the scriptures; they are His holy word. I know this, and I love the stories found within the pages of the scriptures. They truly relate to all of us no matter what we are going through. I love you all so much, and I love this work. I love my job!

-- Sister Gale