Dec. 20, 2010

Hello everyone!!! I sure hope that everyone is doing great! I'm awesome! We've had a really great week and things are really ramping up! I can tell that 2011 is going to be a good one, especially for the members of the Antelope 4th ward. We, miraculously, picked up 7 new investigators this week! It was AWESOME!

We started out by meeting with a new woman that we met a few weeks ago named Raj. She's Indian and her religious background is Sikh... I'm not sure exactly what that means yet... But we've started teaching her about the nature of God and Prayer, and it's going really well. We have a chapel tour with her today, and a regular lesson with her tomorrow. It'll probably go slowly with her for the next little while. It feels familiar to teach her the basics, just like we did the Napa, San, and Hieu. I love it!

We also got a phone call from some sisters in the Sacramento Mission about a man they've been sort of teaching. He's been going to church for about 3 months with his girlfriend who is a member. But he lives in our ward boundaries. So they suggested that he start meeting with us so we could have an actual lesson, and maybe he can investigate the church without his girlfriend always around so he can express how he really feels about it. So we met with Chris and his 10 year old daughter. And they are prepared! They've been reading the Book of Mormon every night together and attending church. Chris said that he knows that Joseph Smith is a Prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true. He's even given up coffee and alcohol already. He's not ready to get baptized yet because he says he wants to make sure he's making this change for him and not for his girlfriend. We're so excited. And, don't tell Chris, but he's going to get baptized in January, lol. His daughter is ready too. They're both saying things like, "when we get baptized" and "when we're members of the church" and stuff like that. It's cool!

We also got a phone call from another member in a different ward about a family that lives in our boundaries. The mom, Kim, was baptized when she was very young, and has really positive memories. But her mom, Helen, went inactive and got involved in a rougher lifestyle. Kim was able to get out of it when she was a teenager, and has legal gardianship of two of her siblings kids (who haven't been able to get out of that lifestyle), totaling 5 altogether. She's married, and she and her husband have two kids of their own, with one on the way. So they have 7 kids, 4 of whom are 8 or older. Anyway, Kim's been wanting to get involved in church so all the kids can be raised with better values and lifestyles than they've had so far in their lives. We invited them to the Christmas Party we had, and they came and the second they walked in the door nearly all the primary kids surrounded Kim's kids. They all know each other from school. It was really cool. We had our first lesson with them last night and it went really well. Kim is in! She's committed to coming to church regularly and is excited! We did a soft commitment for baptism, meaning we committed her kids to get baptized, but we didn't set a date yet. They all said yes! It's going to be great!

January is really going to be cool!!!

I guess that's just about it. I want to wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I appreciate all of you more than I think even you realize. And I know that your prayers and thoughts really help. I can feel them, especially on harder days. And I lean on that more than I think I even know. I wish I could get each of you something for Christmas, but all I have this year is my testimony, and I'll give that away every day!

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and He made it possible for me to continue to progress. I couldn't be here, doing what I'm doing without that knowledge. I have faith each and every day that the people I talk to will someday accept the gospel, even if they don't accept it from me. I know that Heavenly Father has again called prophets on the earth who make His will known and lead us in the way we should go. I love every minute of this work, even if I don't realize it till later the next day, lol. And I know that this special season is something to be treasured. Christ was born for us, and he died for us. That's the best gift I've ever gotten or will ever get.

Merry Christmas.

Love, Sister Reid.