July 12, 2010

decided to label all these e-mails so I remember when exactly they were.

So Transfer 3, Week 1

So transfer calls came on Saturday. My comp and I were praying that I didn't get transferred--we have so many goals and good things coming up. And guess what? I didn't get transferred!!! What an incredible blessing that is!! So my first 4.5 months of my mission, at least, will be spent in this area.

Felicia, our investigator who was supposed to be baptized on July 15, is also very glad. We set another baptismal date for August 5, and her sons will both hopefully be baptized the 6th. That way their dad will come too and Felicia said she'd love to give a talk at their baptism. FINALLY this excitement she's desired is here!! We are so excited. And it's because of her sons. We've been having weekly volleyball games at the stake center at 7:00 with some investigators and less actives and some members as well. It's been quite successful and Felicia and her two sons LOVE it. She was shocked when we told her that Tyler, her 16-year-old, wanted to be baptized. He said, and I quote, "Well, I might as well because sooner or later I have to. And even if I don't get baptized while I'm alive, you'll do it when I die." He's really a good kid. I have seen him change already with the lessons we've been teaching him. He started out shy and quite and wouldn't say anything ever. But now that we teach him seperate from his mom he opens up and asks questions and has even PRAYED!!!! We were so excited when he told us that. Except that he said it didn't work because he didn't pass her permit test, which is what he prayed for. And Felicia is becoming more comfortable with praying in front of us. It's so great. She didn't used to like to pray in front of us because she felt stupid. In May she prayed out loud with the missionaries for the first time ever. And now she does it every other lesson or so. We are so excited about her desire to draw closer to Christ and to experience the blessings that obedience brings to our lives. She and I are now in Alma--she's in 5 and I'm in 8. I am so thankful for the scriptures and for the opportunity I have now to read them with Felicia. What an incredible amount of comfort and guidance they offer us!! I love Alma 2. Though the Amlicites and the Lamanites joined forces, and their numbers are described as vast as the sands of the sea, the Nephites "waxed strong" with the Lord, and were able to not only drive them back, but defeat them. Just like us in our lives. Our sins, fears, doubts, concerns--they all are numbered with sands of the sea. But we WILL wax strong with the Lord, and just as the Nephites defeated the Lamanites and Amlicites, we will overcome and defeat our doubts and fears. What an incredible blessing the Lord and His mercy are in our life!! Thank goodness for it.

I read often and am told often that we as missionaries will be our first converts. That is so true. The past couple of weeks I've really grown to cherish the gospel in my life. My desire to read and reread the words of the prophets in the Book of Mormon is even greater than my desire to read and reread Twilight or even Harry Potter. There is so much truth in the pages of the BoM. My testimony of it and its healing powers has grown so much. There is so much goodness in those pages!!! I get mad at myself sometimes for not recognizing how awesome the BoM was pre-mi. How selfish!! We as members of the church truly hold a TREASURE in our hands--a treasure that some people have never heard of. How awful that we don't treat it as the gold that it really is. Man. Another thing I recognize that is so incredible is the PRIESTHOOD!!! Holy moly!!! It's so strange for me to think that Ryan Greenburg, Thomas Roberts, Daker Draney, Jared Colton, Andrew Yates--all those guys that I grew up with now have the ability to heal, bring comfort, and bless folks. They can baptize someone. They can confirm them a member of the church and give them the Holy Ghost. They can be that mouthpiece for our Father and Christ and guide us. HOLY COW!!!! They are MY age!!! How thankful am I for the Priesthood in my life!! I cannot wait until I get married to a worthy RM Priesthood holder who will be able to share mission experiences with me and be able to bless me when I'm sick, worried, or need comfort. When that day comes it will be incredible. I am so thankful that I'm serving a mission. I remember when I was 16 I wanted to be married when I was 20. THAT IS SO YOUNG!!! I wasn't blessed with incredible intellect or maturity, and I would have been a terrible wife at 20, so selfish and immature. I feel like I'm 50 at least sometimes out here. The calm that comes with the Spirit as we teach--I would have never imagined myself like that. I can't believe I'm doing this. I've already been in the field for 3 months. How crazy!! Time flies so fast here. And I'm thankful that I am surrounded by AWESOME members who are so generous and concerned about our well being. Thank goodness!! Make sure y'all let the Elders know out there that if ever anyone cancels their dinner appointment that they can eat with y'all, because I know that I'm so blessed in this area with several families who offer that.

Hmm, so the rest of my week. We moved out of the Walkers. That was so hard. Another blessing of the mission is that somehow your heart is opened to everyone. I never thought it was even possible to love a family so much, but the Walkers proved to me that you can. We adore them, every ounce. They are so incredible. I won't go on and on about them because I sent a letter home Thursday or Friday that should be telling you about my love for them. But they are my other family. I know that when I move out to Utah post-mish I could come down to Vegas (a 5 hour drive!!) and stay with them whenever I wanted to. They are so bomb I can't even tell you. MAN!!!! And so we moved in with the Player family. She's due with their first baby in TWO WEEKS, so that should be interesting since our room and the baby's room share a wall. Hahaha...hmm...what else what else!! We got a GOLDEN investigator who is BEING BAPTIZED!!!! But in Provo, UT. Did you know that now they call full time missionaries to serve in the Referral Center in the MTC??? That's just the call center. They call folks and take the calls and teach. The Elder we're working with said that he's been apart of 100 baptisms already--and he's only been out a YEAR!!! But we're going to help finish teaching him while he's vacationing in NV for 3 weeks, and then on his roadtrip back to Wisconsin (where he's from), he's going to stop in Provo so Elder Albright (I think that's how you spell it) can baptize him. We're so glad that Kenny (the investigator) is making these choices!!!! He's like the most golden investigator one could ever want. He says everything makes sense, seeks out going to church (aka already had all the info he found online for himself before we even met him and invited him to go to church with us!!). We've also received like 5 other referrals this past week that we plan on continuing to contact (aka they haven't answered their door or phones...yet). I feel that my stalking abilities has grown.

We also meet with this girl named Denise. She hasn't been interested in the church, but we watched Finding Faith in Christ with her and her RC roommate and the Elders who taught her roommate and she CRIED and said that she wanted to start reading the BoM!!! So we're thinking that we're going to ask her if she wants us to come over and read it with her so we can explain things or laugh about things or whatever. She and I really click--though no one apparently can tell I'm a huge nerd, I AM AND I AM PROUD!!! That is the only thing that got Denise to open up to ANYBODY--is the fact that I read like no body's business pre-mi!!! I love how the Lord will use EVERYTHING that we have to offer!!!

I also sang in church yesterday. I sang "I know that my Redeemer Lives"--my favorite arrangement. It was so awesome. Our ward is really REALLY young and there are kids yelling and screaming the whole time, but I didn't hear much of that while I was singing. The spirit was so strong, and I ended up getting choked up at the end of the song. I got several hugs and such after I sang, and even a bear hug (sorta) from this big man. Sister Gutke was giving me a hug and telling me I did well when the large man, Brother Teeples (probably in his mid-late 60s) came bounding up behind us and hugged us both. It was a Gutke sandwich. My comp and I laughed about it a lot afterwords. And then we went to the Walkers to eat dinner. HOLY COW THEY ARE AMAZING COOKS. She made ribs that just fell off the bone. AHmazing. Better than any I've had ANYWHERE. And some Mormon potatoes, DELISH, and then zuccini (I was able to avoid that...muahaha).

I just realized how long this email is.

Anyway, there's not much else news wise. Except that last week we had to give some Elders our car for the day so we walked 3 miles in 110* before we both were about to die and called a member to pick us up and give us water. I packed down 5 glasses AND an otter pop. Man oh man. The Elder that lives with Grandma (or lived), his family is in my Zone. Cool, huh? Where in Vegas is the SpanM from? Oh, SpanM is Spanish Missionary. Span-M. Yeah.

Anyway, I love y'all dearly and hope all is well!!!!!!

Sister Mack

Read Alma 2 or regret it forever.


ps, will you get me Sister Johnsten's email so I can forward these to her too? I think she'd like them. And maybe even Sister Ernst. Or anyone else who'd want these.