Nov. 22, 2010

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had as awesome a week as I've had! It's been wonderful!!!

We started out with the Half Mission Tour on Tuesday. Elder and Sister Malm (from the 2nd quorom of the seventy) came and gave us some wonderful training on how to be better missionaries, better finders, and better teachers. I had to give my 4 minute talk, which was nerve wracking, but it went pretty well I thought. They had me write it out, and read it, so that it would be as close to four minutes as it could. I can send you a copy, mom, if you want it. It basically sums up the success we've been having with all the Buddhist investigators we've been teaching. It went really well. I got a lot of compliments. And a special handshake from Elder Malm, and a hug from sister Malm. It was a wonderful day.

On Friday we had to go to Trainer/Trainee, which is a full day-long training that all new missionaries and their trainers have to go to. I felt like I had just gone as a greenie myself, seriously. It was fun to have some training from President and Sister Pendleton on how to teach better together. It's definately something that we've needed to work on, since there are three of us, and not just two...

Then, the big day on Saturday! We had three baptisms! Hieu and her two kids, Ava and Harold. It was a wonderful baptism. The Spirit was awesome, and the room was PACKED! We had to set up more chairs so everyone could fit. I'm REALLY looking forward to the next time, and maybe we'll have to move into the chapel! That will be cool. Luckily, I didn't have to really do anything this time, because I got sick on Friday, and wasn't feeling well at all on Saturday or Sunday. Now I'm really battling with the Flu virus and wishing that I could have a refund on my flu shot... lol... But don't worry mom, the ward here is taking really good care of me. The bishop actually told us not to come to our usual early morning meetings on Sunday so I could get some more sleep.

Ironically, we weren't able to because we got a call from the missionaries in one of the other wards that meets in our building at 9:00 AM. It turns out one of our new investigators, that we just met this week, had showed up early to church, having got the times mixed up. So we scrambled to get there, and attended the 9:00AM ward with him. His name is Joel. He's an older widower, and he's really been prepared to meet with us. He's actively looking for the truth. Funnily enough, he heard about our church by listenting to a Christian Radio Station. They were bashing pretty hard on Mormons, and Joel wanted to find out the truth, so he looked for a church, and found us that way. We've started teaching him this week, and we're really looking forward to getting to know him better.

We've also been able to do a little tracting this week, which is the first time in almost 3 months because we've been so busy. We've met a few potential investigators, and we're looking forward to all the new possibilities we're seeing here. It's been a wonderful couple of months, and we're not letting ourselves slow down! We've had some great referrals from the members in the last couple weeks, and we're excited to start teaching those families too.

I guess that's really just about it for now. We have been invited to spend thanksgiving with Hieu and her family, so we're really looking forward to that. :) I hope that everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know that I love you and I'm certainly grateful for all your prayers, love, and support. I know that I couldn't be out here without all of you behind me. It's a wonderful experience I'm having, and it's wonderful that you're supporting me in everything. Please be safe in all your travels. Mom, when you see everyone this weekend, please give them all hugs from me and tell them I miss them, and that I'm sorry to not be there.

Love, Sister Reid