November 18 2013

Good Morning!

I feel like I just logged off the computer last week and now I’m on it again. Time is crazy fast here on the mission this next Saturday is transfer calls. I can’t believe my first transfer in the mission field is almost already finished! There is a really good chance that I will not be transferred because our mission president likes to keep the new missionary with his/her trainer for their first two transfers. This will also be Sister Houde’s last transfer so that makes it very good odds will both be staying here. I am very happy for that though everyone told me when I was leaving the mission home when I first got here that Dows lake Ottawa ward is the milk and honey of our mission and I will be very spoiled there. I have come to realize this these past few weeks. We teach so much and all these young people are so willing to listen. I truly believe that the church is blossoming with the youth and I get to be apart of that! At the start of the week we were struggling a little bit because sometimes it’s hard to know if certain people you are teaching are serious or not about wanting to know more. On Tuesday we decided that we would go contacting a lot to hopefully find people that are really serious. Heavenly father heard our need and now this next week is packed full of new people we found to teach. In the next two days we have 6 new potential people that are very interested. We are very excited and eager to teach them.

Wednesday was such a special day. It was mission conference so General Authority Elder Piper of the Seventy came and talked to us. We got to ask him any question we want and he was so great with answering them and the spirit was so strong in the room there was no doubt in any of us that he wasn’t a general authority from our heavenly father! One of the greatest things he said was when we don’t obey certain commandments it’s because we don’t understand that commandment. The more we come to understand that commandment we come to see how important it is and why we need to obey it. He taught us how we should be teaching our investigators by teaching us things that we need instead of teaching us things that he wants to tell us! After the meeting President Patrick stood up and told us that Elder Piper would have time to interview ten missionaries before he left. The first name he called out was SISTER DICK. I thought I was hearing things and then everyone looked at me and said good luck!! I was scared to death, but he is just like any other Idaho Farm boy.  Elder Piper was a very carrying and sincere man, he asked me about my family and how I was doing on the mission.  You could tell he really cared. He told me to say hello to my family and he is going to be looking for me in the newspaper when I get home for rodeo!

This Saturday we had a baptism for the Elders in our ward investigator. Her name is Van and She is the cutest thing in the world and what she says is "she loves Hugs!" she is so pure and a sweet girl it was so great to see someone taking that first step with baptism! On Sunday she received the Holy Ghost at church and it was so amazing we had 6 investigators show up to church and for them to be able to see her receive the Holy Ghost was so great for them!!! Van is so shy when they walked off the stand she clung to one of the missionaries arm so tight and walked down the isle. You should of seen that elders face it was so bright red as she clung to him because she was so scared I know all he was thinking was "O no, a girl is touching me and I’m in front of the whole congregation"!  We were all just laughing and smiling at the sight.

After church we were invited to a Chinese potluck the Chinese elders were putting on. I was so scared to eat half the food at it because there were some interesting fish products and who even knows what I ate, but it was so great to see how many Chinese members we are getting. They are so close to getting their own branch!

I’m really excited for this next week of lots of teaching there is nothing better then explaining to people about this true gospel! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Dick