March 7, 2016

Week 3: Alma 32:27

Hello, my people!!!

Nobody panic, I'm alive! Our P-Day has been really busy. We went to the temple this morning to do a session, which was awesome, though waiting around for like half an hour afterwards while all the other sister missionaries took 218390849089321 photos again was less awesome, but whatever. Then we went grocery shopping and all that good stuff, but anyway I'm finally online!!! Not really much new to report. We're as busy as ever, driving all over the place and just trying to get in contact with all the elusive YSAs in Utah County! If there's one thing I've learned on my mission, it's that working with members is absolutely essential to the work. The likeliness of the two of us ever running into a nonmember is slim to none, so 99.9% of the people we teach are referrals and less actives. We'd never find any investigators if it weren't for the members. Keep that in mind!!! I've gained such a huge appreciation for ward missionaries, and I've realized the importance of being involved in what the missionaries are doing. We need help, and if WE need help, I KNOW the Sisters and Elders need help and support back home. Members make all the difference in the world when it comes to investigators. Seriously.

Anyway, that's my soap box sermon for the week! Get involved in missionary work! You don't need a name tag to share the gospel. We have friends, family, and neighbors all over the place that could use a spiritual kick in the pants! 

So we're teaching this man from the Dominican Republic and he is a "GOLDEN" investigator, as they say. He's met with missionaries in the past and has a gazillion friends who have all served missions, he's reading his scriptures, praying all the time, going to church, and has a real desire to know the truth, so basically he's doing everything he's supposed to and more! He's just waiting and waiting and waiting for his "answers", so we're trying to help him recognize the Spirit and understand that we get our answers more subtly than we'd maybe like sometimes. He's a really awesome guy. I so wish I spoke Spanish!!!!!!!!!! All of his RM friends served Spanish speaking missions, so half the lesson last night was in Spanish haha. But the Spirit was so strong even though I couldn't understand some of it. It was awesome. We taught him the Restoration, and when we were going over Joseph Smith's vision he laughed and said, "Maybe I just want to see God!" And I was like, "Who doesn't?!" We're meeting with him again tonight, and I'm gonna invite him to be baptized. YOLO. 

It's crazy how quickly time is flying. I can't even remember everything that's happened in the past week! It's just busy busy busy. I had my first Zone Training Meeting, so that happened! ​I also had my very first lesson that went completely by the Spirit, which was AMAZING. We've been meeting with this one guy, Daniel, and helping him get ready to receive his temple recommend, and when we met with him this week, he asked us about what happens after we die and all that, which was sooo not what we had planned, but we had a great discussion with him about the Plan of Salvation nonetheless. Turns out, he has a lot of medical problems, and his mom--HIS MOM--told him that he would probably die young. So understandably he was a little freaked out. I can't believe his own mother would say something like that, but that's none of my business. Anyway, he had a lot of questions about death and what it would be like and all that, so we just went over the PoS and reminded him all about the spirit world and such. It was really great. The Spirit was with us. I love it when you can tell you're really making a difference in someone's life as a missionary. I've been struggling a bit with whether or not we ARE making a difference, and in some cases, depending on who you're teaching, we probably aren't just because they're not invested and don't have that "desire", but in Daniel's case, we definitely ministered to his heart and his needs and gave him the comfort that the gospel truly brings to those who seek to understand and know it!

Anyway, this guy in the library across from me is being really annoying and I can't concentrate or deal with it anymore, so that's it for now folks! Thanks for all your emails. You have no idea how much they mean to me and really make my day! I love all the pictures of Brent Russel! He's getting so big!

​Love y'all,​

Sister Wainwright