Okay, new transfer, same area, new companion. My companion
is an absolute doll. I love her to death. She's hilarious, hardworking, and we
think the same way. We get along so well. We never disagree about what to teach
an investigator, and we're always having a blast, no matter if we're studying,
knocking doors, or teaching lessons. My favorite thing is that she love, love,
LOVES this area as much as I do. She can't get over how incredible the people
here are, how much faith they have and how strong they are even through really
tough living situations. It's so fun to be able to show someone something which
I care so deeply about, and have them appreciate it the same way. I just love
my new companion and this is going to be an amazing transfer.
Reasons you should go on a mission (I'm gonna put one in
every email):
1. Being on a mission helps you learn a lot about
yourself. For example, as it turns out, I'm slightly super incredibly
competitive. My wonderful zone leaders know this and know me. So they will set
goals for us as a zone, and then tell me what the set record is so far for it,
and that just sets me off and motivates me to beat it. Exhibit A: a few weeks
back, the goal they set for us was to contact 2000 people in a week (a contact
is an invitation extended, whether to go to church, be baptized, read the Book
of Mormon, visit mormon.org, or
have us come back to teach them more about the church). There are 16 of us in
the zone, so that means we each have to extend 125 invitations in the week. The
Zone Leaders told me that the most contacts in a day was 156. So I set my sights at 157,
just to find out later that the 156 was between the 4 of them in that area, not
a single person contacting that many. Whoops. Doesn't matter, because it was
the motivation I needed. I ended up contacting 175 that day, and 405 that week.
So as it turns out, I might be slightly competitive.
We had a baptism this past weekend, a woman named Sara.
She's 33, and has a 12 year old, a 10 month old, and is expecting twins in
February. She's never been married, but has had some really tough relationships
in the past that have helped her recognize that living the ways of the world
don't bring lasting happiness. She's been looking for a church to raise her
kids in, so that they can grow up with morals and values that she wasn't taught
as a kid. We've been teaching her for 6 weeks now, and finally Saturday she was
baptized. She bore her testimony at the service about how she's excited to make
covenants with God and take the first steps to return to live with Him again.
She was confirmed yesterday in Sacrament meeting. The spirit in the service was
so strong, and I was so touched by how anxious she was because it showed that she
really understood the significance of what was happening. I asked Sara why she
felt nervous, and she said, "the first time I was baptized (in a different
Christian church), it didn't feel real. But this time, it feels real". I
was happy to testify to her that it was real, because our church has the
priesthood authority of God to perform baptism ordinances. In the bible, Christ
walked 60 miles to John the Baptist specifically to baptize Him, when there
were any number of Rabbis along the way that He could have asked to baptize
Him. It's because only John, had that proper authority of God to perform the
baptism. It was important to Christ to be baptized by that authority, so much
so that he walked 60 miles to allow it to happen. If we want to follow the example
of Christ in all things, then we too have to ensure that we're baptized by
someone who holds the authority of God. Sara was baptized and confirmed by that
authority, and the spirit testified to her that this time around, it was
'real'. She is an incredible woman, and it's been such a blessing to teach her
and see how she's been blessed as she applies the gospel of Jesus Christ to her
life.
I've been in the WA-TAC 13 weeks, 13 is my favorite number,
and the church is true here too!
-Sis McQuiv
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