July 18, 2011

Hiya everyone!

I hope that your week was great! Ours was much better than it's been. We actually had some of our investigators come to church, which was nice. A few of them have started progressing and it's been fun to see them realize that we're doing more than just coming to their homes for "bible study" but that we want to help them achieve a level of happiness and satisfaction they've maybe never had before. It's nice to be back in this situation, which I haven't really been in since my first area.

As far as specifics goes, we've got a few exciting prospects. The first being that one of our investigators, Juanita, from Colusa, is getting baptized on the 31st. I don't remember if I've talked about her at all. But she's totally golden. She started coming to church the week after we left Colusa. And she hasn't missed a week since. We've been going up once a week to teach her the lessons, and she's excited to get baptized. YAY!!! We also finally got Jan and Leonard, also from Colusa, to commit to baptism. I handed Leonard a calendar and asked him when he believed that he'd be ready to get baptized, and he picked August 28th. It was really cool! So we'll continue to go to Colusa once a week to teach them as well. :)

We had our first Interview with President Weston this week, as well. And it was AMAZING. he's a great guy. And he's going to do great things for the mission. I already love him so much. Our interview was almost 20 minutes long. And it was much better than any of the interviews I ever had with President Pendleton. I love him too, but President Weston is great. He told me all about how much he knows about me. Without ever having met me before. From what other missionaries have said about me and from what he's observed in my interactions with other missionaries. He said he NEVER says that any missionary is the best, except for his trainer from his mission. And then he said that I'm the best. He said that only the best missionaries are trainers, and that's why I'm training. At the start of the interview he said he couldn't tell me if I'd be training again. By the end of the interview he said that I would definately be training again. He said that my ability to "lift where I stand" will lift the entire mission for years to come. He said that my level of success is unprecedented in our mission and that I've been that successful because of my ability to listen to and qualify for the spirit. It was nice to hear. Don't worry, though. I'm not letting it get to my head. I'm excited to get to spend more time working for and with President Weston. He's going to be great!

Transfer calls came this morning, and Sister Hurtado and I are staying together one more transfer. President Weston did say that he knows how hard it is to work in a companionship where there's a language barrier... He served his mission in Tokyo, Japan... He knows how much Sister Hurtado and I are struggling. He knows what this is like. He knows that it can be a little lonely. And he promised that it wouldn't be forever. We'll have one more transfer together. And then he said he'd give me a strong companion. He says he knows the joy of working two by two, instead of all by yourself with a shadow, and he wants me to have that again before I go home.

That's pretty much it for the week. I'm looking forward to the start of a new transfer, and the opportunities that will be there for us. Lots of growth and lots of success.

I love all of you and I can't wait to hear from you over the next couple weeks!

Love Sister Reid