GUESS WHAT?!?! I got to go to the Mesa Temple this morning! It was so beautiful! I found out we get to go once every 6 weeks. Cool, huh?!?! I LOVED it! And I thought of all of you while I was in the celestial room... *sigh* It was lovely, and peaceful, and... just lovely...;-)
So, this week has been an interesting one with its up and downs and twists and turns. This past weekend we had a baptism! It was way awesome and she is such a strong young woman. She's 17 years old, and her brother is the only member (baptized a month ago) in her immediate family. At her baptism, we set up 40 chairs and we had people crowding in. We think we had around 60 people there just for her! It was so cool though because she bore her testimony and told her conversion story at her own baptism. That doesn't happen very often. She even had the whole program laid out before we even started putting it together. Even down to the little details like a pianist.
As for our other investigators, one is getting baptized next weekend. His interview will be taking place this weekend. And, we've also done a soft commitment with another. She is so sweet and is trying so hard to stay on her feet. She was almost evicted from her apartment last week, but after church on Sunday, she got down on her knees and prayed her heart out that Heavenly Father would help her. She said she had prayed before, but I think this is the closest she's felt to Heavenly Father while praying. We found out this last week that she got a job at the DI and is now working night shifts. We talked to her the day after she found out and she was just on top of the world. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she loves it. Then, I asked her if she would be baptized. She said she would, but she wants to learn more first. We're going to try to set a date for her to prepare for this next appointment.
We also met another investigator. She has a testimony of the gospel, and she's read the BOM 3 times. She was introduced to the church in jail (recovered Meth addict because of her time there), and she became the unofficial RS president while there. She's also read the seminary student manual for D&C, as well as read books by several LDS authors explaining the BOM. What's keeping her from being baptized? Smoking. However, she has a quit date for Friday, and then we're gonna set a baptismal date. I hope everything works out and that she is able to overcome this asap. She has a solid Testimony though, and even if it takes her a little longer than we want, she will be baptized. I just know it.
So, the work is going well. My trainer says she's never had so much and she's been out for 8 months now. We have tons of potential investigators, and we get referrals almost daily. It's way cool.
Dad, I hope the work in the ward is going well and that those investigators are serious. It is so cool when you get them to commit to baptism. In fact, in our Zone Conference this past week, the focus was getting people to commit to baptism the moment they feel the spirit, even if it's in the first lesson. We, as missionaries, are now expected to higher our expectations of our investigators. It's a win-win situation. If they say yes to a date, then you have a baptism date to work towards. If they say no, then it allows the missionaries to figure out what the investigator's fears/concerns are so that the missionaries can figure out how to address the issues keeping them from baptism. See? win-win.
Love to you all!
Sister Stephens
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