West Palm Beach, mi vida.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

 Whoa. Life is crazy.  And awesome.

Hello everyone!

Time for the news.

New News: I'm TRANSFERRING!  Don't know where to yet, I just know that I will no longer be in West Palm Beach. Sad Day. I will greatly miss this area. Especially the recent Converts! They are like my little babies and I can't wait to see them grow and become amazing members. Some of them already are!

I will also greatly miss Sister Keyworth! She is an amazing missionary and I've learned an incredible amount of information about Missionary Work that I didn't know before. I thought for sure we would have another transfer together so that I could learn even more from her. During the past week, we had a lot of Really awesome miracles happen but also a lot of trials of our faith. And throught it all she has taught me so much.  We had a companionship study with the Zone Leaders yesterday and it was so helpful. The key is to enjoy it. They told us not to do anything that we didn't want to do because we are supposed to be happy. Also, don't ever forget to live the Gospel (Faith, Repentence, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Endure to the End) because it is the way to gain all blessings. We took that counsel and we forth with faith. We basically harvested (knocked doors) all day, but we found 7 awesome people/families! I was so excited to go back and see them! Also, we had a great lesson with the Aunt of a really solid member. Don't worry, she'll be getting baptized soon and I'll be missing that, too. Oh well, they are in the capable hands of Sister Keyworth and ......who knows?

Old  but Awesome news: We had two baptisms this week. The first was Santos. He was blessed while fishing and then we didn't get to see him for a long time. Because he works in a field, he can't work when it is raining and was able to come to General Conference and our ward conference before we even had a lesson with him! He really enjoyed both and the second time we were able to have a lesson with him. A week an a half later he got baptized! He had such a thirst for the gospel and when we found him, he didn't even know who God was! Now he can't wait to read the Book of Mormon and go to church! It was a really amazing experience to help him trust in God, ask in prayer, recognize the answer and then go fill up the font the moment he said yes to baptism! Even though he had to move to North Carolina, I know he will be taken care of because he knows how to receive answers to prayer and that will help him get through anything! Plus, he called us and asked where the church is there and if we could sent missionaries to him! If he was the only person that I met on my mission, that would be enough.

The Best (in my opinion) News: The other baptism was probably the reason I was in West Palm Beach. The 2nd day I was here, we decided to harvest. As soon as we got out of the car, we saw some guys standing outside their door. We went right up to them and left a blessing and invited them to baptism. They weren't really sure at that moment but said we could come back. It took a long time and a lot of phone calls to actually be able to meet with Joel, but it finally happened. We set him with a date, he came to church, and then got scared and dropped us. Then a few days later he called us up and said he wanted to talk. We had a few lessons here and there, but he wasn't really serious about changing. Six weeks ago, he asked us to come over and then told us he wanted to get baptized on May 13th to honor his deceased mother! It was so awesome! He owned his date and told other people as well. As the weeks went by, he got scared again and dropped us. Then he called us a week later and said that he wanted to know why we were so happy and he wasn't and was impressed by how patient and kind we were to him. He said he felt better when we were around. We had some really awesome members come over and help him understand the trials he is going through and then on Saturday night, he told us he was going to get baptized the next day! It was so incredible to see the change that came over him! He is so happy now!

 I love the Gospel and how wonderfully happy it can make people. Real happiness is not something you can get anywhere else. And here we are with all the happiness ever, just hording it all in the church. Go, spread the word, spread the happiness!

I will greatly miss this area, but I know that God knows where I need to be to grow and learn and become a better missionary. I look forward to meeting my new companion and area!  I will tell you all about them as soon as I can.

Not news, but still important:  CONGRATULATIONS to Ian and Jill! I wish you all the blessings in the world for your marriage! I'm so happy for you!

In case you can't tell, I love being a missionary. I'm assuming I'll still love it in a different area, but I'll let you know for sure next week. God knows what's going on, so what else matters?

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!