Week 30 - What?

Since it is light outside, we can exercise however we want now! So Sister Brock (my MTC companion) and her companion Sister Jensen, and I ran to the capitol. That is what the picture attached is. We look really gross but that is okay haha. My companion didn't want to run so she stayed behind with other sisters that day. It's actually really close to our apartments so it is not that far, it is just all straight uphill on the way there. It's so fun being able to do what we want for exercise!

This is my 30th P-day haha. Nuts! Can you believe it is almost week 5 of the transfer?

Well it has been a great week, but it flew by.

This week, we were able to take a motorcoach! They are so fun! Let me tell you what they are. So a motorcoach is usually a bus tour. It's usually a tour company that is coming with a large group of people. Multiple companionships get assigned to lead and contact the tour. Leaders take the tour, while contactors kind of herd everyone, and help teach. We grab a portable microphone, a flag, and some church materials (pamphlets, mormon.org cards, etc.) and we stand outside the west gate, and when the bus pulls up, everyone gets out of the car and stampedes over to you. Haha. So our tour bus had several groups! There were actually three large buses. There were 40 Mandarin, 30 Cantonese, 30 more Mandarin ,and 15 English which we took. So imagine all these people getting off the buses. All the Asians LOVE taking pictures, so they get off the bus and are just snapping pictures of the American sisters haha and recording us it was so funny. So we led everyone over to the Handcart Monument. They were all Filipinos from Australia. It wasn't that big of a group, so it was nice that it was more personal and we didn't need the microphone. But they recorded every word we said the whole tour! (even though that isn't allowed haha) We were so nervous! But it was so fun. They were an awesome tour group. We explained history but then we testified a lot at every location, and they were so sweet. Every time we would testify, they would nod their heads and go, oh yeah. It was so sweet. I am excited to take more motorcoaches this summer!

We have found a lot of new investigators this week, we are really grateful for that. It's always great to get new investigators to keep up our teaching pool. We are excited to be able to teach them. I am grateful for the chance that I have to serve here, because we get to teach a lot more than other missions! I think that will be hard when I go outbound. We are so blessed to serve here.

Tim got the Priesthood! How cool is that? He hasn't gotten a calling yet. Since he is still receiving treatment for his infection, he can only go to sacrament, so his bishop told him that he wants him to just focus on that right now and learning as a new member and getting comfortable in the ward and then he will get a calling. He is so funny. When we talked to him he said that for Easter he "hanged out with the grandkids" haha. He also told us that he keeps the Book of Mormon is his dialysis bag, how awesome! He says that he loves our phone calls, and that he counts on them especially after a bad week health wise. They energize him for Sunday and help him be recharged to read the scriptures. He also said that ever since he has been learning about this church and attending church and reading, he has seen how his health trial has been good for him. When he prayed at the end, he thanked God for the scriptures, and General Conference and for Heavenly Father understanding that he tries but can't do everything. It was sweet. This week we invited him to prepare to bear his testimony to us. We want him to really take the time this week to think about what he now knows, what the Holy Ghost has borne witness to him that is true. We are psyched to hear it! We tried to invite him to bear his testimony next fast Sunday but he isn't ready yet he said. He will be soon!

Sadly, what I thought would happen with Aaron, happened. We called him the next day and he said that he decided he doesn't want to be baptized, nor learn more about the church. Unfortunately we had to drop him. But God never drops his children, He has a huge area book .haha.

I got to take an investigator lesson with Sister Crotts! It was so great. She is only in her 3rd transfer, but is already training! She is an awesome missionary. It was so fun to not only see her, but to teach with her.

Sister Ann Clegg from the Relief Society General Board came to talk to us today, it was great! Sh talked all about the Priesthood. It's sad that that has to be the case, but I guess it's something we need to hear.

During Personal Study yesterday, I was studying Lesson 3: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I hit a paragraph that I read all the time, but it was so profound this time. It is:

"The Savior satisfied the demands of justice for those who repent of their sins and endeavor to keep all of His commandments when He stood in our place and suffered the penalty for our sins. This act is called the Atonement. Because of this selfless act, Christ can plead with the Father on our behalf. Heavenly Father can apply mercy, withhold punishment from us, and welcome us into His presence. Our Heavenly Father shows mercy when He forgives us of our sins and helps us return to dwell in His presence."

It is so true, Christ is always there as our Mediator, praying for us. When we repent, Christ pleads with the Father. I guess I don't know how to explain what I learned, but remember this week that Christ is pleading for you and He knows how you feel.

We have some lessons that we are really excited for. We love teaching! We have a lot of things to do with the cars, but we love when we can be regular missionaries and teach people. We will keep you updated with the new investigators and how they are progressing.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter, what a special day.

Have a wonderful week!