Week 77: And now it gets tougher...

November 10, 2014

Dearest family and friends,

It's been a great week! The energy in the mission with the goal of 70 baptisms has been WONDERFUL, but I think we're starting to get to the tough part of this goal. I think we were all on a bit of a spiritual high after the mission conference, but now we're being tested. I think half of the baptisms we were supposed to have this last weekend dropped, so we've really got to do everything we can!

We still don't have any baptismal dates for November here in Cromwell, but there has been some exciting progress!

- Our eternigator (eternal + investigator) Shari finally had us (the Sisters) over for dinner. She's been acting scared of us this entire past transfer, but she warmed up to us this week and we think she likes us. :) We love her! Her son and daughter got baptized last December and are AWESOME, but she's been dragging her feet for some reason, even though she comes to church every week. The funniest part was when we pulled up Elder Holland's video "Lord, I Believe" and Shari wandered out of the room like she usually does when the missionaries start the spiritual thought. Her daughter paused the video and her son threw back his head and yelled, "MOM! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME BAPTIZE YOU?!" and she responded from the other room, "Yesterday!" :) She's got some attitude, but we adore her and are excited to help her progress in any way we can. We took her daughter out to a lesson the next day to a member who's in the hospital and before we even left, Shari asked if she could bring dinner to the family that night. Shari LOVES to serve and is already such a wonderful disciple of Christ. We've just got to figure out what's holding her back and help her take the next step! :) She DID ask the Elders to teach her the first lesson again this week and asked for a Priesthood blessing to stop smoking and they felt like that was some serious progress, so we're excited! :)

- We have a new investigator from RUSSIA! Her name is Yana (or Yanina) and we met her when we delivered a HUGE Bible to her client, Virginia. Virginia is 85 and homebound and Yana takes care of her full time. Yana knew about our church because she investigated for a year when she lived in Oregon! She really liked it, but it seems like she never understood Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon because she never had one in Russian- so we fixed that this week! Thankfully, the Elders had a Russian Book of Mormon, so we took to her and had a good discussion with her and are going back this week. We LOVE her so much already! And I want so much for her to understand what he have to teach because her daughter passed away 8 months ago. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation!

- We only got to meet with Fannie once last week, but it was a good lesson. I think we can understand a bit more where she's coming from. She feels like she's at a gridlock with understanding if authority is necessary for baptism and if she really believes her infant Catholic baptism didn't have authority. I think we need to help her STUDY the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of it by finding answers in it. She reads it and understands it just fine, but I believe in President Christensen's advice to really help them study with a question and written homework. We'll see if that helps! And Fannie didn't come to church again, so that's not really helping! :( But, Maggie says not to give up or be discouraged. Maggie has been an AMAZING influence and help. It is so cool to see a very recent convert turn around and be so uplifted by teaching her friend! :)

Alright, I'm afraid this is turning into a HUGE email. But, things are going so well. I love serving here and Sister Watts keeps me in constant stitches. :) And I am so grateful for this time I have to serve and deepen my testimony of the gospel as I help others learn about their Savior. There really is no such thing as sacrifice in this work because our Heavenly Father always showers us with blessings. I'm getting way more out of this deal than is fair.

I love you all so much! Please keep praying for our 70 baptisms goal and our investigators!

Much love,
Sister Wheeler