Dearest Family and Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I don't know about all of you, but 2012 is going to be the best year ever. I get to spend the entirety of it on a mission, serving and bringing people closer to Christ. I really can't think of anything that could be better. Nothing brings the joy and fulfillment like bringing souls unto Christ. I know this may sound a little preachy to some of you, but seriously, this is the greatest thing in the world.
Last Saturday, Scott Stolberg was baptized!! It was a truly wonderful experience. He said he could "fly" home afterwards. He has always described the Spirit as an excitement within him, but on Saturday he said it was going crazy "like a pregnant women feels when her baby kicks, only in my chest." He is already sharing the Gospel with people he sees and has incredible fire and enthusiasm for learning more and doing the work for his ancestors. Talk about the spirit of Elijah! Scott has so many trials and hardships in his life right now, but he doesn't care. He knows it is Satan and he won't let anything stop him. He knows, has faith and hope in Christ, that all will work out. He has already seen blessings in the form of work that have come into his life as he has changed and is obeying God's will. He mentioned to us that he finally understands how we can go out and knock on people's doors and share the Gospel with them because he feels the joy and happiness and can't contain it. He wants to share it, too! He (and everyone else) is always surprised when they find out we are two little white girls walking around these neighborhoods. Scott described it: When they show up, it is like turning on a light and watching all the cockroaches scatter. It is true, the people who know they are doing bad things get away as fast as they can, especially when we mention prayer.
However, I think some of the people at the house Scott is staying in are more comfortable with us. During the 45 minutes we were there, we saw drinking, smoking, drug deals, fighting, swearing, admissions of selling drugs, and child neglect. Fun, right. These are the type of things Scott has to live around. Hopefully not for long!
Other than the wonderful blessing of a baptism on New Year's Eve, our night was uneventful. We had to be inside by 8 and we counted down to 10pm. We were in bed by 10:30 as usual and woke up at 6:30 and it was a new year. Amazing how it still comes even when you aren't awake to see it. The other surprising fact was that we still had 5 investigators in church Sunday Morning. We were supposed to have 8, but some people partied a little too much.
One of those at church was Charlene. She brought her two daughters who are super cute and they were actually very quiet. We are so excited for her because she is getting baptized next week!! She is amazing because she accepts everything we teach her and can meet all the time. We've been able to teach her everything in less than 3 weeks and now she is ready for her interview on Thursday! I can't wait! I'm so happy for her!
Guess What!?! I finally rode my bike! Big deal, you may say. But it really was. We rode for 10 miles!!! And it was hot and humid. But we did it and we didn't die! Yay!
Despite the heat last week, by the way, today is rather cold. By 10am it was only 56 degrees. And it is really windy so the windchill is probably colder, too. Welcome to January in Florida.
We also taught a few lessons in Spanish this week. A couple from Guatemala let us come teach them a few times, but we're pretty sure they aren't at all ready to commit to baptism. They are Catholic and we don't really know enough to help them anyway. Hopefully someone that speaks more fluent Spanish will find them and be able to help them more. I basically just sat there listening anyway. I decided I could understand what they were saying if they spoke 3x slower. I don't know what I'm going to do if I get transferred to a Spanish area. It won't be pretty.
Speaking of transfers, next week are transfers again so I will be emailing on Tuesday again. I'll know if I'm staying or going, but that's all.
Oh, I almost forgot, Scott's baptism almost didn't happen because there were 2 funerals on Saturday. Luckily, we were able to fit it in between them. And then, while they were changing out of their wet clothes, we watched some Mormon Messages. Sadly, we watched the one about Chris Williams. It is an amazing story of forgiveness, but it is really hard to watch when they keep showing the street you grew up on. Plus, I remember the night that accident happened, so it was really difficult to watch. Good thing Sister Hawkes and I sang "When I am Baptized" before that, we were both crying afterwards. (Yes, I sang again. Yay for musical numbers)
Well, I'm out of time and we need to go wash our car in the cold weather. Hope you all have a wonderful year! But don't wait until the end of it to tell me all about it!
The Church is True. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer!
Love,
Sister Anna Sheffield
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