How has your week been? This week has been pretty great for me! Samantha had some concerns so we decided to post-pone her baptism one more week. She met with President Irion this past week and has been able to resolve all of them. After her meeting with President, we were talking to her and asked her how she was feeling about baptism now. She said that she was feeling ready and everything and committed to being baptized this coming Saturday!! We announced it in church and everything and she is really confident in her date. She has been meeting a ton of ward members and everyone is super welcoming and friendly to her. I'm super excited! I think that one of the coolest things that she said when we were talking though was how after we get moved out of this area that she wants to keep in contact with us and stay friends. It was great!
Another person that we have committed for baptism is Shirley Moore. think of the nicest lady you know, times it by ten and you have Shirley Moore. We moved her baptism date up to February 8th and she was completely fine with it! On the last lesson we taught her, we told her that next time we come we were going to teach her the Word of Wisdom and gave her the pamphlet. Her husband who is a member started talking about how that was the hardest commandment to follow because we couldn't eat chocolate... and he loves chocolate. We quickly cleared up that we could eat chocolate and told him that we would explain the rest of it next time. I was thinking though, Brother Moore (her husband--member) must have a lot of faith to give up some of the small insignificant things in life--like chocolate-- for the gospel.
I love the South. The people here are very unique and very set in their ways. My companions and I went to visit an old former investigator this week. As soon as we got in her door, this lady just starts talking about anything and everything (typical for the South). Once we were able to start sharing our message with her. She decided that she wanted her son to listen in. He comes in and starts telling us how he knows all about us Mormons. He gathered all of his information from his peers, Pastor, and most importantly, South Park. ... so you can see how reliable the information he had was. Needless to say, his heart wasn't particularly open to what we had to say. With most people we talk to, that is the response that we get. In some rare cases though, people are willing to listen to missionaries and are then converted and baptized. Sometimes though, these people still hold on to some of their past beliefs which aren't always entirely true. One of the members in our congregation falls under this rare case. This past Sunday this member started talking about how they preached at her old church and healed people with the laying on of hands. She shared one particular experience where, after she laid her hands on a person's head, that person what was immediately was given new eyeballs.... This was shared during Relief Society... and the person sharing it was a woman. The poor teacher did not know what to say to that except for "well, thanks for sharing." It was pretty great. Gotta love the south!
We got some new promising investigators this past week, a small family. They are Pedro and Julie and they have a three year old daughter Madeline. When we found them, I wasn't quite sure just how promising they were. We've gone over and taught them the Message of the Restoration and part of the Plan of Salvation. When we returned for our second visit, Julie had read from the Book of Mormon and Pedro said that he would come to church on Sunday!! Awesome! And sure enough, Pedro came to church on Sunday. Pedro doesn't say a whole lot, so I am not quite sure what he thought about it, but his three year old daughter LOVED it! When he went to go pick her up from primary, he asked her if she was ready to go, she simply looked at him and said "No, I want to stay here." That was pretty great. We go back later this week to see what he thought of it and all. I am really hoping that he had a good experience and felt the spirit!
This past week we went and had a lesson with a less active member of our congregation. One of the reasons why he does not come to church is because he is deaf. Since none of my companions and I know ASL, we found someone who did and brought them with us. It was a bit of an interesting lesson. This member had not been to church for over 10 years and had some very basic questions... like if we believed in Jesus Christ. We were able to tell him that we did and relieve some of his other concerns. One of his biggest concerns for right now is that he wants a priesthood hold man to sign for him at church... the only people that we know of here that sign are women. We are still working with him. Hopefully something will come up or he will have a change of heart!
Quick update on Bobby: Bobby does not like cheese, he does like peanut butter cookies. I left some oreos in our mailbox for him so after this I will see whether or not he took them. Hopefully he likes them alright!! He's a bit of a picky eater to be honest though. :P
I learned a new word this week that I have been trying to incorporate into my vocabulary. It is a form of the word "you". People pronounce it like "you-ins" but from what I can tell, it can either be spelled "yuns" or "yeens." It is basically a substitute for you all or ya'll. Pretty great.
This truly is the Lord's work and I am so grateful to do it!! I love missionary work and I love serving the Lord! I feel like, especially with this past week, I can relate to Ammon when he says "... but behold, my joy is full, yeah, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." (Alma 26:11). I feel so blessed by the Lord and I love this work! Thank you so much for all of your love and support that you give me!
I love ya'll tons!!!
Sister Spencer
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