Family,
Another week has gone by! I can't believe I only have one more week to email before I am home....that is freaky!!! This week has been full of surprises! Lots of things we did not plan for but lots of miracles. God is sooo good and he blesses us soo much!
Friday I got to see mom and dad! I was so excited to see you and it was fun to have lunch with you! We were walking around Temple Square and Sister Sonku and I have this little game we like to play about guessing all the black people and where they are from... we talk to EVERY black person that we see, anyway we stopped this lady and she was from South Africa. Her and Sister Sonku knew some of the same people so that was fun. We talked to her for quite a while and then we were like ok we need to go and we start walking to the South and I was like, "Sister Sonku look how cute that African family is and their 2 kids!?" Well we got closer and it is our investigator FRANK! I was sooo excited to see him! He was with his cousin and her 2 kids, but we got to talk to him for a while. We had a really good lesson with him. He is so solid! I love his sincere desire that he has it is remarkable truly. He was having a little bit of confusion why we want him to be baptized again for a 3rd time and so I talked to him about the priesthood but then about how as missionaries we are not just wanting people to join the church to join the church, but we talk about baptism so much because it is the first step to returning to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again and we want them to receive eternal salvation. That night I was thinking about it, and it made me realize how important baptism really is and I would rather baptize 1 person on my mission that makes it to the temple and is sealed to their family, then to baptize 100 people who never make those covenants after baptism. Baptism is not the end, but rather a beginning of a life, living after our perfect example Jesus Christ.
Speaking of sealing to their families, Saturday was one of the most special days for sure while I have been here. President is such a nice guy that he gave me permission to go to the sealing for Carter, Brad and Emily!! I did not really know what to expect with a baby sealing, but it was the most precious experience. It was so fun because I was able to see so many of my family on both sides and be with them in the temple. Though the actual sealing is very simple and brief, the spirit was so strong. I just remember sitting their enjoying the Spirit and then the door opens and little baby Carter is all in white so happy and calm. It was a beautiful sight and I could not help but cry. More importantly though, is that Carter is now sealed to his parents for time and all eternity and the relationships that they are starting right now will be able to continue in the life to come. It is an amazing thing.
On Sunday morning after sacrament, we were told that David Archuleta was coming that night for a little concert! hahah they told the sisters to stay quiet, don't clap and don't scream.... ya that didn't happen with 200 sisters that are from different countries going to see him in person! :) But it was very neat actually. Of course he sang, but we did a question answer and there were lots of questions about his mission and how he keeps his testimony strong in the music world and things like that. I was very impressed and very touched by many of the things he said. I took good mental notes of things that I could do when I get home to make sure that I continue to progress spiritually. He talked about how during the trips on the road he always felt like people controlled him, telling him where to go at what time and what he is doing every second of the day, but he said that one day it dawned on him that I CONTROL MY LIFE. If I want to go to church while I am on the road, I CAN... if I want to go to the temple every week, I CAN...I choose what I want to do. I love that. Ya I am never going to have to worry about Hollywood doing my schedule, but work school family friends can take over as well and take away from spiritual things, but if I commit to myself and to Heavenly Father, I can control my life, and I can do those things if I commit to do them. It was also fun to see the Lowe's! I had NO idea that Kendra was his pianist...she was sooo excited to meet me and it was fun to feel a little more connected!
This week has been great finding new investigators as well! We have found lots of new people to teach! People who are very prepared from mormon.org <http://mormon.org> chat. Just to share one example real quick, I was chatting with this lady and she said, I am very interested in your church, I have been studying and I told my husband I am going to be baptized at the end of this month! He is not totally into her getting baptized but she asked if we could help her learn more so that she could answer the questions her husband asked and help her prepare to be baptized this month...ok yes thank you I would love to help you! OH one more. This girl called in to find an address for a church building...she lives in Phoenix which made it 100x cooler, but we started talking. I invited her to go to church this Sunday and asked her if missionaries could come to her house and she said please send them! We continued to talk and long story short she told me she is not a member yet but was going to go to church and wanted to talk to me and meeting with missionaries so that she could get baptized! I am calling both of them later this week and I am so happy!! The Lord prepares soo many people to receive his gospel it is amazing!!
The church is true.
Sister Mindy Marsh
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