Speaking of gratitude, guess who got two packages this week? Aunty Lynnette, I dropped off a letter to you mourning the lack of buttercrunch in my Christmas right before I picked up your package with buttercrunch! Oh happy day. Thanks McHardys for the Kinder Eggs (much appreciated by my companion as well) and the hand warmers. It's difficult to write phone numbers and appointments in your planner when you can't move your fingers, so those will be very useful as the temperature continues to drop. And Stewards! So many Christmas goodies! Thank you thank you thank you. Letters are going in the mail to all of you this week.
Speaking of letters, I don't have an address for David and Sara Walker, and they sent me a postcard! Also, it's really important that packages go to the mission office instead of the apartment, since I can only get them here with a photo ID. If I get transferred before a package arrives, then it will just sit in unappreciated loneliness in the post office.
The work is picking back up after the holidays. Christmas as a missionary is wonderful because you're serving the Lord. It's horrible because all of your investigators leave and no one wants to talk to you and you have to start all over again when they come back. We are thrilled that school has begun again. We thought that one of our investigators had lost interest over the break, and then he just showed up at church, dressed to the nines and ready to stay for the full three hours! We were floored, and grateful. No sooner did he show up than our newest investigator, Christian (what a prophetic name, eh?), arrived.
Christian is our biggest miracle. The elders tracted into him on his birthday, Wednesday 4 January, and he agreed to let us come over and teach him. When we showed up the next evening he was so excited that we didn't even have to knock- he threw open the door and invited us in. We got to know him a little, then started at the beginning with the Restoration of the Gospel. He has no religious background at all, but he soaked up everything like a sponge. We didn't make it to the First Vision before we had to leave, but he agreed to see us again on Saturday.
On Saturday we brought our ward mission leader (who is AMAZING. We couldn't do this without the members.) and continued where we had left off. We showed him Finding Faith in Christ, and he loved it. We invited him to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, and I as I extended that invitation my heart was pounding. What if we scared him off? What if he didn't really want to commit? What if he didn't think it was a good thing?
But he accepted without a moment's hesitation. Christian is the embodiment of childlike faith, Mosiah 3:19 in the flesh. He is incredibly sensitive to the Holy Ghost and readily accepts everything that we teach him. We finished up by telling him about the First Vision and the Book of Mormon, which he gladly accepted, then we invited to church the next day. He was thrilled. Jack (the ward mission leader) set up a ride for him (seriously, we're toast without good members) and we went home dumbstruck at how the week had gone. We called our district leader (who found Christian) to tell him the good news, and guess what? They had just set a baptismal date for their newest investigator, a young man that we found and referred to them! We spent about ten minutes celebrating over the phone and going all the other miracles for the district this week: the zone leaders baptized a long time investigator, we found new investigators, members are coming back and giving us referrals.... the list goes on.
Christian came to church, and stayed for not one but two parties afterwards. He made friends, felt the Spirit, and ate up everything that he was taught. His only questions were "When do I get to be called brother?" and "Who is our prophet now?". He's even started shopping for suits. Christian was prepared and waiting for the gospel, and he is meek enough to accept it. He is an example for all of us.
Street contacting has gotten so much better now that there are actually people to talk to on the streets. I've kept a mental list of the nationalities of people we contact and teach, and here's what I've got so far: Canada, the USA, England, Ireland, Portugal, France, Switzerland, China, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mauritius, Morocco, and Russia. The ones italicised are actual investigators.
So that's what's happening in my neck of the woods. The Church is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior. The path of discipleship is difficult, but worth every step. We do not walk it alone, but with our brothers and sisters in the gospel, our families if we are so blessed, and of course with the Savior. I love you all to bits and pieces.
Sister Turvaville
Sister Loar and me street contacting in the snow. It's all melted now, though, but I have high hopes for more.
This is Carmen's baptism. Carmen is from Romania and came here to escape Chuchesku (I have no idea how to spell his name, but you know who I mean, right?). She has had a hard life, but she's always had faith in Jesus Christ. After 9 months of meeting with our Zone Leaders, she finally decided that this was the right church. We love her so much!
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