"I Need to Become More Like a Potato!"

September 10, 2012

I LOVE SISTER MONSON! She is amazing and I am having a fabulous time! :] Laughing so hard and the Lord is on overtime with us because we have set 4 people for baptism this week! AMAZING AMAZING! The first of the month we had a mission wide fast to have 2 baptisms per month per companionship til the end of the year. We all (as a mission) felt so much power as we fasted. This week really showed God's power working through us. Here are the things in a nutshell that happened. In the white handbook it says that as missionaries we are not representatives of our wards or stakes, but I really think the ward would be proud of us if they were a fly on the wall and saw God's power working through us to bring to pass this goal the mission has. At this point last week the mission was at 470 baptisms. I'm sure that it has been more since then obviously but our goal by the end of the year is 1200. Last year we baptized 1033 people in the mission. So we have quite the ways to go. Even if we get 2 baptisms per month per companionship for the rest of the year it will leave us around 840-850. Obviously we need  divine intervention. The mission has been changing so much when the general authorites came in and re-vamped our mission. At the beginning they said that we would have a really hard, slow time for a while but then it will increase like crazy. They said that our faith will heal the mission as we take their counsel. Also we have recieved 78 new missionaries this transfer and we have lost missionaries to other missions, so our mission is almost starting over. If an older missionary is not training right now, they are still with a green companion. Sister Monson is not green at all it seems! She is a great example to me! She is amazing and I love her so much! So wise and so hilarious! We get eachother's sense of humor! :] So anyways here are the miracles this week....

We set Jeremy for baptism and without hesitation he said yes....

Bill and Rosa, who I taught in green valley with sister garner moved to the central stake while I was in Elko or sunrise....bill has been waiting for permission to be baptized ever since I was in green valley and on wed night president called us and said that bill has received permission from the first presidency to be baptized! So he is getting baptized after waiting a year on sept 15th at 11 am! :] yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We had a lesson scheduled with Summer and this was going to be a make or break lesson this week. As we were praying outside in the car before going into the house the word TEMPLE came into my head about a thousand times. After we said amen I looked at sister Monson I and said the word temple and that is it. So we changed our plans and met them at the temple. We gave a temple tour and then we set Summer for baptism on sept 29th! She came to church yesterday even though she was sick, she helped with yw and the yw leaders gave her a quad with her name engraved on it. Also she came with us to the fireside last night where a famous female lds singer Cali Reed came and provided a fireside for us. I WANT HER CD! SHE IS AMAZING! Please can I have her cd? She is recording with deseret book. She is incredible. We love Summer!

Yesterday after church a lady who is un named for now....its a secret that we cant tell yet....she has been investigating for 18 years and she came up to us and said "sisters....it is time." Im so dumb and I was like "time for what?" She said "to get baptized!" I about fell over. 

Also we have potentials coming out of the woodwork. It is insane how excited members are about doing missionary work. They all are in the attitude and mindset that inviting your non member friends over to have a lesson with the missionaries. Also the members are handing out BOMs like candy. I am in heaven right now. Some days have been hard but wow the Lord is working! All we have to do is live worthy and purify ourselves and God will bless us with people he is preparing. Since I have started this 40 day purification process satan has attacked me on all sides which has made me very weak at times, but through the help of the Lord he makes us strong!

Here is an analogy I heard last night from Cali Reed. Think about a potato and an egg and the reactions they both have in boiling water. the egg hardens and the potato softens. What is the reaction that we have in trials. Do we harden and become more bitter or do we soften, become more humble and come closer to God? That is a great question that we need to ask all the time.

This week I was honored because I was invited to be one of the 3 sisters that would attend Zone Leader Counsel. I was there with Sister Medina and Sister Vanderdoes...I like to call her Vanderdoodle :] It was a really good meeting and really set the tone for the rest of my mission. 

So I am soooooooo OVER members asking me when I am going home. I always say that I never want to go home and this week was the first time I have cried about it. The mission is the best thing that you can ever do in your entire life and I never want it to end. I STRONGLY DISLIKE WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT WHEN I AM GOING HOME!!!!! SO hint hint...I am really trying not to talk about it or ever think about it so unless you need to ask me a question about my return home or my plans please avoid the subject! The family does a really good job anyways, just a reminder. I love you and I miss you and I hope that I can help all of these people come to Christ through the waters of baptism and help the mission bring 1200 souls to Christ. 

It is amazing how much the Romney/Obama thing is really helping the missionary work move forward. There has NEVER been a better time to share the gospel with someone. It is so easy to bring up in the world today because of that. What an amazing blessing the Lord has given us! This will be a time that will be talked about for years and years to come! 

Love you and miss you all!  I need to become more like a potato. I have no idea what to say for my talk! I feel like my mission has been an explosion of EVERYTHING! hahahaaha. I trust you in whatever you want to say :]

Sister Fine