But Even When You Have the Perfect Kill Shot, the Work Isn't Even Finished Yet. You've Still Gotta' Pack that Sucker Out of There! 03/15/2010

Hello Family

This was a great week. Things continue to go well here in High Range Ward. Sister Allred and I had to give talks yesterday in church. Sister Allred’s talk was hilarious. She was talking about member missionary work and likened the scriptures unto herself in regards to the comparison between member missionary work and hunting. Quotes include:

“Imagine that a local comes up to you, tells you where all the good draws are, and then gives you permission to kill on his property! That’s so much better than scouting out the area for hours.” (Tracting stinks)

“But even when you have the perfect kill shot, the work isn’t even finished yet. You’ve still gotta pack that sucker out of there.” (Talking about keeping converts active and ready to go to the temple)

“Think of the joy you feel when the garage is all washed down and the meat is cut up and placed in the freezer, and how much MORE joy can come from sharing the gospel.”

Her talk was VERY well done, and she had the ward wrapped around her finger. Sister Allred…the fairy tale princess at first glance who doubles as a Bambi’s mom killer. We all love her.

Our ward mission leader spoke and he said the reason it is difficult to share the gospel with those around us is NOT because we are afraid, but because we as a society have stopped letting people into our lives. As we really get to know people on a personal level, the gospel is a less intimidating topic. Do you eat? He asked the congregation? Then you can share the gospel. How hard is it to invite our neighbors over to dinner, where they can see the pictures in our homes, and get to know us better? His talk was also brilliant.

Guess what?!?! We have a baptism date set for March 27! Yay! This is how it all fell into place. Last transfer, we tracted into a gentleman that said his friend was LDS, and that he was reading the literature given to him by his friend. His friend is in the Star Heights ward.

We stopped by a few weeks later, to follow up with this man we tracted into, and found out he had an appointment to meet with the missionaries in the Star Heights ward.

The Elders taught a couple lessons, and then invited us to help them teach.

We are finishing up the lessons, and if all goes well, the 27th will be a Baptism day! He came to church yesterday for the first time, and I think it all went well. Kind of awkward that his first Sunday was the Sunday we were assigned to speak, but it all went okay.

We also met the most amazing family tracting this week. They all sat down to listen to the message (a rarity on the mission) and even the teenage daughters were excited and asking really good, deep questions. Their father is from Ireland, and he is fascinated with other Christian denominations. He’s really been studying and searching, so he invited us to come back in an hour. We grabbed a member from across the street, (because at the time, he was the only adult home) and we basically went through all the lessons in one sitting. In Ireland, there is basically only one religion, Catholicism, so since moving to the US, he has been surprised to drive down the street and see so many different churches, and see people actually attending regularly. He’s been to a handful of churches already. Hopefully, we’ll get to visit with them again this week or next!

One of our other new investigators said this: “Were you praying for me? . . . I could tell.” He’s been pretty good at reading from the Book of Mormon lately, although he didn’t make it to church yesterday, we were sad. He is the investigator that lives way out on the edge of our area, we found out he hasn’t had electricity for the past two years.

So Yay for having people to teach!

Also, I asked President about the option of going home the late transfer. He said that it is an option, since plane tickets haven’t been purchased yet, but that he’ll look to see if there will be an even or odd number of sisters coming into the mission. If we are left with an even number, it would be a bad idea, because it would create a trio. But if there are an odd number of sisters, it might be a really good idea. I have mixed feelings on the subject. I think I’m just going to wait and see if President gets back to me on that. Part of me really wants to go home in June, and part of me thinks it would be great to stay out longer. My MTC companion is here in Albuquerque today for some medical stuff. She is also thinking about going home the late transfer, so that would be fun to have another sister to go home with. I heard they sent the “trunky papers” to all the parents a couple weeks ago. Any thoughts on the matter?

Well I love you tons.

Thanks for all your support. I love you and hope you’re having a great week!

Love,
Sister Waters