Week 31

Mar 10, 2009
Hello my dear family! How are you all doing? I hope all is well. It sounds like you had a beautiful weekend together. I was thinking of you! Well I am not being transferred! I was worried that I would be leaving this area but I am not. I have new companion, Sister Hart. She is from Colorado and has about 4 transfers left in her mission. She is a great girl. We have spent some time together so it will be fun to get to know each other more. This is her greenie area. She knows some of our investigators but not many. I am not senior but I know the area better so now I have to be more of the leader in planning because I know what is going on. It feels weird to be switching roles. Long Beach was closed which surprised me. President moved all 4 of us to the same zone so that we sisters can be together. We are excited. We also found out that there are 4 sisters who have recently received their calls. They come in June and July! Sisters Colwell and Hoover left early this morning. I can't believe that they are gone. It seemed so far away when I first got here and now the time has come and gone. We shared a few tears but I didn't cry too hard. I'm sure it will hit me later on. They seriously are two of my best friends in the whole world. I wouldn't be who I am today without their love and support along the way. Heads up Sister Colwell fully intends on coming to meet the famous people in all of my pictures. She is very excited to meet all of you and I hope that she gets in contact with all of you! She is amazing! Ok so are you ready to hear about the amazing week I had? I hope you have all braced yourselves! So I briefly mentioned Melissa when I wrote you last week and that she was going to be baptized on Sunday. Well we met with her before church Sunday with one of the Johnson girls and committed her to be baptized. She had started reading the Book of Mormon and read the entire introduction. She went to work that Sunday and got her shift covered. We had dinner and family home evening with her and the Johnson family. It was great! Melissa informed us that she had told her supervisor that she was getting baptized and couldn't work on Sundays. Her supervisor changed her schedule permanently. We hadn't even taught her about keeping the Sabbath Day holy yet. Tuesday she came to the Relief Society activity and we taught her another lesson with Cassandra. Cassandra and Melissa are in the same situation because their loved ones are serving in Iraq. She told us that night that she had enrolled in institute and bought a bible. Wednesday we finished the 4th lesson with her at the Wheeler's. She came with a new favorite scripture from her institute class. She was interviewed on Thursday and we had the baptism on Sunday. It was kind of a unique experience because she moved out of our area on Friday. For technical reasons she was baptized into the other ward but we don't care. She has made a covenant with her Heavenly Father to change her life for the better. She is an amazing girl! She beat us to the baptism and was like a little kid at Christmas. She was counting down the hours. I wish everyone was that excited about the gospel. She had some non member family there and her best friend. The font had a leak so they went into the font and the water was at their knees. They had to fill it back up before she could be baptized. It was funny. Sister Hoover, me, and Evie sang “I Love to see the Temple.” Melissa loves temples and is excited to be married and sealed to her fiancé! She is so great! I have learned so much from her! She is an answer to some long sincere prayers. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and knows me. We were promised a baptism together and that promise was fulfilled. God truly answers our prayers and fulfills every promise he gives if we are but faithful and do all that we can do. I know my Savior lives. I know that this is His work and that He prepares people for each of us. I am nothing without him and I can't find his children who are ready by myself. It was a pretty crazy week packing and visiting everyone for Sister Hoover. She has left some big shoes for me to fill. We had a great time together. Sister Hoover, me and Sister Colwell was quite a trip. Sister Choi was a little surprised at how loud and crazy we were. We just love each other and have joined in this great work together. This last transfer we had 67 baptisms as a mission. The Lord is truly blessing us as we move forward in faith. I pray that all of you are doing well. I love being on a mission and I love seeing the changes that people make in their lives. I pray for you always and love hearing from you. I will be at the same place for another 6 weeks. Bishop Johnson on Sunday told the ward council to put us to work because they were fortunate to have 2 of the 4 sisters in the mission. He said “let's keep them here”. I love this ward and I’m so grateful for this sacred calling. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Love Hermana Mickelsen