FAM!
Sigh... it's always so delightful to read your emails. It's fun to just sit here and laugh while I get your updates (because you are all hysterical), but then it becomes time to write back... I guess I have to return the favor for such uplifting letters. It's only fair. :)
Firstly, I'm so glad to hear about Jessica, Jord....er... Elder Wheeler! :) What a miracle!!! I almost started crying when I read about her. I will be praying extra hard this week for her! Mom and Dad, I'm glad the non-farewell went well. :) I can't believe you guys are leaving so soon! I am so excited for you both. Nat, your angst-filled letter had me giggling. I'm glad Lady AB will be here soon! :) And I'm STOKED your ward council is so on top of it- you will LOVE Clayton Christensen's book. Nicole, so glad to hear about Ryan's job! And glad the kids are settling in. Betas, you are a riot. I'm jealous I didn't get to hang out with Josh and Eric- they always have me in laugh-induced tears. (Josh, I was crying laughing about crazy ladies in Brazil.)
This week was lovely! (William says that all the time- very proper, he is!) More lessons with William - we've had a member at every lesson with us and it's the ONLY way to teach. They talked about the statistics at Zone Conference. The law of Diminishing Returns - I think - totally plays in. The (Clayton Christensen) research shows that you can teach 200 lessons to an investigator without a member and you will get 20 baptisms. 700 lessons = 22 baptisms. But when you have a member at the lesson, the number of baptisms at 700 lessons is over 100. AMAZING! And we totally saw it work this week- William was finally able to get work off to come to church (we were trying to play it cool and not to show how much we were geeking out) but we barely got to talk to him because Sis. Peet (who had come to one of the lessons with us) introduced him to her husband and then they took him to sit down with them. I saw Bro. Peet explaining things to William during the meeting and then they took him right to Gospel Principles afterwards. #FELLOWSHIP! That is EXACTLY how it should be. It was so nice because we were busy helping with the Sunbeams (Caty came and taught with us and she LOVED it- they are hysterical! I was dying.) And we're having an FHE tonight with William and Caty (and her parents) at our 1st Counselor's house (Bro. Cameron Parker- AMAZING! He played on the Harvard Tennis Team and his wife is adorable. Her name is Emily Elizabeth, so I might be biased.). So fam, help the missionaries out in your ward! Meet their investigators and start helping them feel welcome at church! (I'm not calling you to repentance, just suggesting...) :)
Caty is amazing as well. We took Kim Fowler (a rockstar lady in our ward) with us to a lesson and Caty requested that Kim come to more lessons. And Caty had AMAZING questions. We are so excited for her. Both she and William are wanting to be baptized in September, which is crazy because they're both totally ready and we've invited them both to be baptized this month and felt good about it, but I guess it's up to them? I'm still learning how this whole process works (spiritually and administratively).
How investigators are like boyfriends, part 2: We had a DTR with Allison. (For the older folks reading my letters, that means "Determine the Relationship") :) She talked to us about how she's doing spiritually - she's totally figured out personal revelation on her own and says she feels like she could eventually read and pray about the Book of Mormon and get an answer, but she's not ready for it yet. She totally already knows it's true (she didn't admit it, but we know!) but she doesn't feel stable enough yet to "change how she views the world." She's moving and trying to find a place to live with good standards, so she's stressed about that, but she'll probably move in with some LDS girls- we gave her the LDS housing info for here in Boston. So, it's all in due time. She's going to ROCK it when she gets there. (This all reminds me of how Nat kept telling me I needed to watch Downton Abbey, but I knew I was going to love it and I didn't have time during the semester to watch it, so I avoided it. Then, when she finally sat me down that summer to watch it with her and Mom, I was hooked.) :)
Phew.... so much going on, but it's awesome. I LOVE MY WARD! They're amazing! I just keep feeling more and more bonded with them as I work with them and get to know them all better. And I ADORE Sister Slater. She is so calm and hardworking and fun.
Don't know what else I'm missing, but I must go- we have to make a pilgrimage to Target for some groceries and it takes a lot of time with public transportation! (Which is awesome.)
LOVE YOU!
Sister Wheeler
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