Sisters, Blisters, & Maple Leaves: only week 11 and I'm running out of email titles!

Not a ton happened this week, but it was MUCH better than last!

Last week we had a whopping 3 lessons. All week. Not even kidding. But this week, we had 3 lessons by Tuesday! We felt so much better about everything after that. Sometimes you need a really slow week so you can recognize when things are going better. On Tuesday, we were tracting and met a girl named Sheng. She's Filipino and right when we said we share a message about Jesus Christ, she invited us in! We taught her the first lesson, and she said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray about it! she doesn't have a phone....but we set up a return appointment for Thursday, but when we showed up, she wasn't home. We've gone back everyday to try to talk to her, but she's never home...but that's the only way we have to get a hold of her, so we'll keep trying!

We also met with Charlene. She's a less active who was baptized about 5 years ago, but only stayed active for about 6 months. She has two kids, Natalia is 8, so she could get baptized! We've been trying to teach her, but Charlene's schedule is crazy! We watched a Mormon
message with her, and she actually prayed! She always says she'll do it "next time", so this time, sister McEwen said, "you said that last time..." and Natalia really wanted her to, so she did! It was SO GREAT! Prayer is SO vital to spiritual progression. There was a baptism of a child in the ward that night, so we invited them. When we got there, she wasn't there, so we were bummed. Then about 5 minutes after it started, the door opened, and there she was with her kids! We were SO EXCITED to see her! The spirit was strong, and Natalia LOVED the songs. Helping people to feel the spirit brings the most amazing feeling.

We also had a couple lessons with Griffin and Alora this week about keeping the Sabbath day holy. They live about 20 minutes out of town, so that's the excuse their mom gives for not coming to church, but Griffin really wants to come. His prayers are the sweetest. This week he prayed that somehow they will be able to get to church next week, and that "the missionaries can keep coming back every week".

We had 11 people who committed to coming to church (less actives/nonmembers) so we were so stoked about it! Then when 1o'clock rolled around, none of them came. NONE. That was a huge bummer. Kristina came though. She's the other sister's investigator in the other ward, but she's also attending the Alliance church, and it's at the same times as their ward. so she comes with us, she's progressing so fast, she just needs to pick between our church and the alliance. She knows our church is true, she's getting there. :)

This week I have learned so much about the atonement. We talked to so many people with such rough lives, and it just strengthens my testimony of the atonement. Because of Jesus Christ, literally ALL is possible. We can become brand new. I've really been thinking about the Christlike Attributes in Preach my Gospel, and how I need to stop focusing on becoming a better missionary, because I should be trying to become a more CHRISTLIKE missionary. If we do everything as He would, people will recognize us for who we are as representatives of Him. I know you've all probably seen this a million times, but it never gets old. Watch it. :) https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

Onward, ever onward.

Sister Jones