Friday, April 6, 2012

Did you invite the Easter Bunny to Conference??

Cause I did. We were driving through this random neighborhood looking for people to car contact (which, by the way, is a horribly awkward thing that I'm sure Sis. Balmforth will laugh her head off trying to tell you about) and we saw these two bunnies chillin on somebody's lawn. I don't know what the deal was, but I rolled down the window and stopped the car and asked them if they would like to come. No response, but I think I planted a seed. Good for me.

Speaking of General Conference, it was so amazing!! I don't know what it is, but it was way different as a missionary. I was totally glued to the screen and I loved every single minute of it. The Saturday morning session in particular felt like it was speaking to me. The whole thing. It was a little weird. But mostly great. I think my favorite talk was by President Erying. He just has so much sincerity and love in his voice when he speaks and I remember feeling the Spirit so strong while he was at the pulpit. It was awesome. I love hearing from the prophet and the apostles. Everything was so good and so applicable. I can't wait until the next issue of the Ensign comes out. I had to keep reminding my self of that while I was watching it because I was furiously trying to write down the cool things I heard and the impressions that I got. The MTC choir was way cool, and The Finnegans' grandson was in it. We saw him a few times and every single time she turned around and yelled in the chapel, "That's him!! There he is!!" It was so cool. Here were some favorite things I heard from Conference:

-He did the best he could with such light and knowledge as he had.
-Before I hear the words "Well done" from my Father, I hope to hear them from my mortal father.
-Invite the Spirit, set the example, and help them live what they learn.
-Love of God is not just a suggestion or well-wishing. It is a commandment.
-We must make our own sacrifices to prepare for the rewards God has planned for us.
-The way to have faith and rise above trials is to believe there is a Balm of Gilead and that He will not forsake us.
-55,410 full-time missionaries in 2011 :)
-Your children will call you blessed.
-What thinks Christ of me?
-Be not afraid; only believe.

Yep. And many many others.

Our week was sooooooooo good. We had an awesome miracle on Monday where we got a new investigator, Brian. He lives in the barracks and his randomly assigned roommate is a recent convert who is super gung-ho about missionary work. His mom is an inactive member of the church so he knows a little, but not much, about it and wants to learn more. So, we met with him 3 times this week and he is super solid. On Wednesday we asked if he wanted to know if the Book of Mormon is true. He said yes. We asked if he thought it could be true. He said every word. Awesome. Then we saw him last night before he goes out of town for a week to see his family and we taught him the gospel with the cycle circle thing and we asked him where on that path he thought he was. He said probably between repentance and baptism. You. Can. Not. Make. This. Up. So Sis. Balmforth goes 2 for 2 on textbook deliveries and goes, "great so when you get back we can set a day for you to be baptized if you want. How about the 21st since you get back on the 13th?" He said that would be great. So yeah, we have another investigator on date. He is a super nice guy and you can tell he is really prepared for the gospel. He said he feels better when he reads the Book of Mormon and when he meets with us and we told him that's the Spirit and after he's baptized, he can have that all the time, even at work. He liked that idea. He liked it a lot.

We got to teach a lot of people this week, less actives, investigators, members getting ready to go on missions. It's great. We got to see Megan last night. We haven't seen her in forever because her new job keeps her working on Sundays. Things are crazy for her right now. It broke my heart a bit cause when we were talking she said she had been thinking about us and how she doesn't want me or Balmforth to leave. We told her it was probably going to happen....and soon. I told her it would probably be me and she got a little teary eyed and so did I and all I could say was, "Man, this sucks." But it's going to be ok. We're still working on helping her get back into activity and feeling the Spirit more constantly. Satan is so tricky and he always gets you with your little weaknesses. You have to be so careful because it is so easy for him to sneak in and drag you slowly down and you don't realize it until you're sitting at the bottom of a hole and you need help to get you out and the only person that can help you out is the Savior. That was a ridiculous run-on sentence, but it's true. We have to stay on our guard all the time.

Yesterday was kind of a hard day, just realizing that eventually I will be leaving and I won't be able to work with these people that I love so much every day or every week. I think that's one of the biggest things I've learned here: how to love people. Pretty much everybody and their dog knows I'm not a super lovey huggy person, but Silverdale tore down a lot of the walls I had built up and these people found their way into my heart. I really learned to love here, and I won't forget that.

That's about all I got for today. We are looking forward to another great week. Transfer calls on Saturday and Easter on Sunday. Lots and lots of work in between. Balmforth said something to me yesterday that really stuck out: endure to the end. And it also reminds me kind of something that Natalie told me. Sometimes at the end of a transfer or the month or the week or whatever you just feel burnt out and done. That's when it's most important to do what you have to in order to endure to the end. It means you give it your all and you work as hard as you possibly can. So this week, I will endure. Not it a "oh this is something really crappy that I have to get through" kind of thing, but a "I don't know what's coming, I've worked so hard here and I don't know what else to do" kind of way. Just keep swimming, just keep enduring.

Love you all so so much and I hope you have a great week. Letters are coming soon, I promise!!

Love,

Sara

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