Transfer 10 Week 4

Family.

What a miracle baptism is!!! Elizabeth is now officially a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It was a beautiful baptism with a great turn out of people. This is also the first baptism Galena ward has had in just over a year. Crazy, huh? Elizabeth had some of her kids who weren't members come and a couple friends, too. Someone told us one of her friends in particular was next to be taught. We'll cross our fingers :o) And the lesson we taught with her this week was fun--we did the 10 commandments and using a "fence" to teach it. We put a commandment on each little thing that goes horizontal and it gave the visual that we need all commandments in our life in order to have full protection from the outside world. Literally the idea came to me as we were driving back from a missionary meeting. Heavenly Father prompts us randomly--so we must always be on our toes so that we can be prepared to respond :o).

Saturday was actually an overall AMAZING day. Brother Chatterley shared with us a story about how Tanner (his son) and Calvin bore testimony and talked about the gospel to their friend for 2 hours late into the night. Calvin is on fire. He has prayed and knows that there are folks here that need HIM to come into the gospel. How amazing is that? I'm so thankful to be a part of his life and to have taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I can't wait for June 11!!

Jacqui is ON FIRE!! We had dinner at her house Saturday and had a discussion and saw that she had bought multiple things from the "Mormon Bookstore," not just scriptures! She bought a quote by President Uchtdorf, she bought a "Families are Forever" sign, "There is no place like home," and a 10 commandments thing too. She also had a friend over and without realizing it, bore an amazing testimony about the truthfulness of the church--about how it makes sense that there would be another testament of Jesus Christ because it makes sense that God would talk to all His children. AH it was amazing. I wanted to do a backflip, except I'm pretty sure I would've severerly hurt or killed myself :o).

Friday...ah!! We met with Jo, a new investigator. She's GREAT!!! She is VERY blunt, has a bit of a potty mouth, but is amazing none-the-less. She called us upset Friday night and we didn't hear an explanation until Saturday, but she was upset because of someone's lack of faith in God. And she called US for comfort because she knew we'd understand. I was touched by her trust in us already. She's so great...just like everyone else we're teaching.

Sunday night we met with Paul, an investigator we hadn't seen for a while. It was nice because we taught the apostasy in a way we hadn't before. We committed him to baptism in the first lesson, and he agreed, though we didn't set a specific date. He is excited to receive answers to prayers. We are too :o)

Last night we went to a Fireside with President and Sister Dyer (future mission presidents in Bolivia) and two other couples. It was such a touching experience because when President and Sister Dyer got up there to talk all they could talk about was Elizabeth (they have been the ones fellowshipping them). I was moved to tears on several occasions, including one where Sister Dyer read from her journal about our first encounter with Elizabeth and she mentioned me!! They have been too kind with complementing us and our teaching, and I was further humbled to know and recognize the growth I've experienced as I've tried to align my will closer to the Lord's. He has changed me and made me better. I've been able to enjoy the blessings of that growth, too. I am more in tune with the spirit--more likely to follow it's promptings without worrying about what will happen. If the Lord wants it done, who am I to not do it? I've enjoyed the amount of knowledge He has blessed me with as well, but realize how little it is in comparison to what it could be. I look forward to a lifetime of learning in the Gospel.

I love this gospel. I love the opportunity I have to grow closer to my Savior. I'm thankful for the growth I've been able to have and for the continued growth I'll get to experience. Life is awesome.

love love love,
Sister Mack