"Called to Serve Him Heavenly King of Glory

I just LOVE being a missionary! There hasn't been a time in my life that I have been happier than I am right now. I wish everyone had this opportunity to serve the Lord and see what it's like to be a part of saving souls. :) I'm not going to talk about it much, but I don't want to come home and leave this. It's been pretty hard, but luckily I've been pretty busy so I haven't had too much time to think about it. I just got out of an interview with President after our study and I broke down and told him I don't want to go home if my whole heart wasn't in the work. If I haven't given my all I don't want to leave yet. I was listening to a talk last week where a lady (convert) got her Patriarchal blessing and in it it said If a missionary would have chosen to serve a mission 20 years earlier she would have been baptized then. When I listened to that I realized how important these decisions are. He promised me that every person I promised in the Pre-existence that I'd find and teach the gospel so they could be baptized have been found and baptized. (Excluding this coming week). I hope that I've given my all for Heavenly Father.

This past week was CRAZY! I don't think i've had a crazier week in the mission, but I think this coming week may beat it out. So... Monday after our p-day ended we taught one lesson with Cindy our investigator and then my companions dropped me off in Clear Lake (down by south shore) for exchanges.(Side note) While we were driving down there we were listening to a talk called "Conversion of a Catholic" and in one of the best parts of the talk where the guy is talking about his mission and the joy of his converts receiving the gospel Jessica Velazquez texts me," I just gave a Book of Mormon out to an investigator, it feels good!" That made my whole mission!

Anyways, I went down to serve with another sister trainer leader, Sister Haertel and her companions. The bishop down in that ward is set on baptizing 55 people by August 10 and they are a little overwhelmed with only having 3 right now. They can totally do it, they just need to exercise their faith. It was cool to see how dedicated they are! Tuesday night their bishop gave us tickets to go with the youth and their non-member friends to a Houston Astros baseball game in Downtown. That was so much fun! It feels so strange being in the world though haha... sounds weird, but I get anxious now when I sit around for so long without having a purpose or doing something important.

Tuesday night after the game all 8 of the sisters that were from clear lake came and stayed at our apartment because we had sister conferences the next morning and our apartment is right by the church. That was fun having so many sisters over! 

Wednesday and Thursday was the sisters conferences. It was sooo good! I wish it lasted all week, but then again it was good to have it over cause it's a lot more stressful planning a conference than I thought. Sister Ker and I were up really late planning the conferences and then up really early to go set up. We didn't get much sleep and then we got to be at the church for 13 hours of Wednesday! But it was worth every minute. This was the run-down of the conference...

President Ashton did a talk on the Restoration

Sister Ker and I did a talk on being purpose driven

Sister Ashton talked about dress and grooming and then also about recognizing the spirit

2 other sister training leaders did a training on How to Begin teaching

President Ashton did a Q & A for an hour

then we ended with a talk on Repentance by President Ashton. 

It went from 8-4 and I learned so much each day! I'll share my notes with y'all later. I think the biggest thing I learned though it how important it is to always be worthy to recognize the promptings of the Spirit. We have to constantly repent so we can receive those blessings. Just over these past few weeks I've noticed how grateful I am for the Spirit and how it speaks to each of us differently so we can touch the hearts of those we teach. 

I was grateful also for the chance that Sister Ker and I had to talk on being purpose driven. I didn't realize how much I've changed throughout my mission, but several experiences that have happened to me during my mission came to my mind to share (that I wasn't planning on sharing) I told of an experience my very first zone conference of my mission where we were talking about being purpose driven and putting our desires and wills on the alter of Sacrifice. I literally remember thinking to myself...."Ok... I can put everything on the alter.... except for 2 things. One being my body because I didn't want to gain weight, and the second Griffin." Both of those don't matter! But they meant everything to me at that time. The Lord knew better and knew well enough that I wasn't about to give those up... so He helped me to get rid of them so I could focus on things that matter more. Good better and best talk. The ripping away hurt quite a bit, and I told the sisters that, but without getting rid of those things I couldn't have put my whole heart into the work. And yes, there are still times where my whole heart may not be on the work because I am far from perfect, but at least it's more inline then it was at the start of my mission. I want so bad for the sisters in this mission (all 91 of them) to have their hearts on the work so the Lord can work miracles in their lives. Like in Jeremiah where the Lord is referred to the Potter with the clay. He only can fully shape us if we give Him ALL of us. 

On Thursday night after the 2nd Sister Conference I had Sister Ker and her companions take me to Sister Moreno in Pearland because I was going to be staying the night with her so we could go to the temple the next morning with Cristina Reyes! She was getting her endowments out and she really wanted us to come. It was such a great experience to be there with someone you've seen come such a long ways in a year. She struggled through so much since her baptism last year, but she was just glowing that day. As we sat in the Celestial Room talking she broke down into tears as I told her how much I could see the change in her life just by the way she looked. She had the light of Christ beaming in her eyes. I love the temple! 

That night when I got home I got a call from another recent convert, Robin, from Maplewood, and she said she talked with President Ashton and had permission to call me and invite me to her endowment on Wednesday! I am so excited for all of these people going through the temple and getting to receive the blessings the Lord has in store for them. I can't wait for Wednesday!!! 

Saturday Bishop had a meeting with us missionaries at his house... haha I'm not going to go into much detail, but pretty much they sat us down and said we can't be doing this...Meaning baptizing weekly... unless there is more preparation put in place. We were preparing Cindy for the following day, but after that 2 hour talk we knew we had to respect our ward council. It's been a bit of a struggle for me cause I know it's the Lords will, but I don't want to be a burden to the ward where I'm serving. Between us and the Elders in our ward we've had 9 baptism this month alone. They are grateful for our work, but frustrated at the same time cause there isn't enough people to help hang onto the converts. We only have 3 ward missionaries and 1 ward mission leader who has 12 kids. So we counciled about how we can get more ward missionaries to help us retain all these people.

Anyways, So... after the meeting on Sunday night with the general authorities and the quorum of the 12 we called our ward mission leader and told him... "Hey we have 3 possible baptisms this coming saturday what do we need to do so everyone is on board." haha It was an answer to our prayers that they had that meeting that was so powerful to get everyone excited and involved in this work, not just the missionaries. I loved the meeting!!! I love getting to be a missionary during this time while everything is changing and hastening. :) 

Cindy and Samuel are planning on their baptisms this coming Saturday and we had a miracle happen at church on Sunday... this guy named Rody came up to us with his Member Girlfriend and said, "what do I need to do to be baptized this weekend?" I guess he has been going to church for the past year, kinda like Andys story, but in a different ward and he wants to be baptized!!! We are going over there tonight to teach him. 

So many miracles are happening right now. I love getting to see them! This is going to be a great week I can't wait. 

I love y'all!!!

Sister Avery

Miracles Happen!!

June 17, 2013     Miracles Happen!!!!!

It sounds like everyone is doing well at home, except for the colds going around! I will pray for yall that you can get better quickly! I had a pretty bad cold a few weeks ago around memorial day, and it was physically draining! But it left after a week. Several other missionaries had it as well. Anyways, I hope you get better quickly!

 This week was another test of my faith and diligence in what the Lord has asked us to do. I have SOOO many stories I want to share in this email I hope I can share all of them. First I'll start with Andy!

So we met Andy about 1 1/2 months ago... He was dating a member (but they broke up a week ago). He has a Buddhist background and he is 24. He is in the Army and that is where he began to learn about Christianity. He has actually been going to our church for the last year, just not our ward until 2 Sundays ago. Well last week when I was on exchanges the sisters talked with him and he said he would feel ready for baptism in 9-10 months... they told him that he could be ready much sooner than that so they set a date for July 6th. We prayed last Sunday after Shannys baptism to know who could be baptized the next week and we felt really strong about Andy. The next day we took a member who is his age that was baptized 2 years ago with us (they've become good friends since he has been learning with us) and we had a powerful lesson about Baptism and trusting in the Lord. We told him we've been praying about it and we felt he was ready for this weekend. Anthony (the member) said he had fasted for him, and Andy was in shock that we would bring it up that soon. But after bearing testimony and him feeling the Spirit he told us he was ready! So we set the date for Saturday. Well.... on Friday we get a text from him saying, "Sisters I'm so sorry but my grandpa is in the hospital and he is really sick. They think he may pass this weekend. I think we will have to reschedule the baptism." So we prayed and prayed and prayed that everything would work out. Saturday morning we get a text from him that says,"My grandpa passed this morning." 2 minutes later we get another text saying, "my mom wants me to wait to be baptized untill everything is over with the funeral and everything." My heart dropped. I knew he was ready and I knew that God knew it too. We prayed as a companionship, and a few minutes later he said, "But I want to do it sooner, like tomorrow on Fathers day." I can't tell you how happy I was. The Lord had truly prepared him! 

So we call our ward mission leader and bishop and neither answer.... when they finally get back to us the Bishop said he doesn't want to do a baptism on Fathers day. I was like you've got to be kidding me! It's the perfect day for him to be baptized especially since his grandpa just passed. Anyways, so we told Bishop we would do what he wanted, but Anthony (the member that was going to baptize him) was going out of town on Tuesday so we wouldn't be able to do his baptism for 2-3 weeks. The assistants called bishop and he wouldn't answer, so they called President and he sent an email to our bishop (which President read to me this morning haha and It was perfect!) But basically saying that the Lord has asked us to help bring souls to Him weekly and that He knew we could. So he suggested that we do the baptism during the 3rd hour. On Saturday night after feeling very discouraged and disappointed we get a text from President saying, "Plan on a baptism tomorrow." Sunday morning we get a call from the Assistants saying that Bishop approved it! 

ANDY GOT BAPTIZED!!!! He is awesome! I hope that he serves a mission one day. :) The cool thing too about his baptism was that 1. we had another investigator Samuel at church with us and he was able to see the baptism and 2. Andy's family (extended family) came for the baptism!! There were like 10-15 of them there and it was so good for them to feel the spirit after them losing their grandpa and dad. 

Miracles happen according to our Faith. I told President this morning that I feel like each week it's gotten harder and harder, but it's because He is stretching our Faith even more each week.

Shanny left for her Grandmas this past weekend in Washington and we are praying that she has a great time there because it will be a much better circumstance for her to strengthen her testimony! Shanny is great, I just wish she had support from home. Her dad is not a good example to her of what a priesthood holder, or a father should be. :( It's sad. But all the young women LOVE her and they are excited to have her be a part of their group. So at least she'll have a good ward family when she comes back.

We are really trying to focus on retaining all the people that have been baptized! It's been a challenge with trying to get the ward on board with helping do the new member lessons, but we talked with bishop about that and we're hoping to get going with that. It's always hard and frustrating when not much effort is being put forth to people you've worked so hard with. 

Anyways, there are ups and downs wherever you go! 

Another highlight from the week.... The Velazquez! I seriously love this family! On Monday night we decided to go over for a bit to teach them about Family Home evening. Well we got there around 8 and guess what? They had already done it! haha We had never taught them about it. But I guess they read it somewhere online or in an ensign. They are just so excited about the gospel and about learning. Jessica and Anthony shared with us some dreams they had over the last few weeks and I know they are revelation from Heavenly Father, they were very specific and I couldn't help but cry because I know now how much the Lord is planning on having this family build up his church on earth. They have big responsibilities coming their way and I'm so excited for them. They were asked to speak last night at the investigator devotional and Anthony shared some things they had never told us. The day before we met their family (like 12 hours he said before we knocked on their door) he prayed to have the complete truth given to him. I guess he had been studying that night with all these religious books out everywhere and he wanted it all. And the next day we showed up with the Captain twins (the 10 year olds that referred us to them the night we opened this area). I am so grateful to see the Lords hand in each step of my opportunity to serve a mission. Seeing some of the recent converts I taught a year ago last night just brought up all the gratitude I've felt being a part of this great work I love it and I wouldn't give up this experience for anything else in the world. I know that God lives and loves each one of us, he is aware of our needs and he answers prayers in ways we sometimes would never think they'd be answered. WOW! It's cool huh? 

I still can't wrap my head around everything He can do, but I'm grateful for it! 

This morning the Velazquez (Jessica and the girls) left to Florida... :( It was a hard goodbye, but we went over to say goodbye before studies and after our Hurricane drill. Emma the 18 month old wouldn't let go of me. She always tries to get me to hold her (which we can't as missionaries) but I just got down and hugged her and she clung to me. I can't wait to come visit them soon.

Funny story for the week... haha so we go to Andys house for his baptismal interview and I park by a drain ditch on the side of the road... well Sister Hiatt opens her door and I hear something drop and she goes... "No way!" I thought it was the phone but she lost her water bottle in the 6 foot drain. After the interview we come out and Sister Owens goes to get in the car and I hear, "Oh no!" She dropped her shoe in the drain! haha I was laughing so hard I couldn't stop for like 10 minutes. We never drop anything out of our car, but the one time we do it falls into the sewer drain. haha Gotta love it. So Sister Owens walked around without a shoe as we walked into our lesson..... haha people probably think Mormons are so weird. Oh well!

Oh! I forgot to tell yall about Cindy! She is one of our progressing investigators. She loves it when we come over, well last week we had a lesson on forgiveness because she was having a hard time forgiving her aunt her really hurt her. As we were talking about that she brought up some deeper stuff she has been holding in, and it turned into something much deeper. We tried sharing about the Atonement and the Master Healer, but we had to leave before curfew and it was pretty somber as we left. She showed up to church on Sunday but as we went up to greet her she started crying and left before church even started.... We tried calling her and everything but got no answer. I was sitting there during Sacrament and couldn't concentrate. I keep having the example of Christ leaving the 99 and going for the 1 coming to my head. So after the sacrament Sister Hiatt and Owens stayed in sacrament meeting with our 2 other investigators that were there, and I took a young women and we went over the Cindy's. She explained that she felt like a hypocrite being there at church after what stuff she brought up and she told us she didn't know if she could do this anymore. We told her that church is not a place for perfect people, it's a hospital for sinners and every single person in that building has made big mistakes throughout their life... even the people on the stand. She texted us last night and said how grateful she was for us and all that we do and she said she had an experience that happened that she wants to share with us tonight when we got over. I can't wait! I'm kinda nervous, but I'm praying her heart was softened. The Lord has proved to me the past month how good He is at softening hearts and answering prayers I'm sure he helped her. :) We don't really do much as missionaries, the Lord does it all! But He just lets us experience the joys that He feels when we come to Him. And sometimes the disappointments that we feel too, but I learned why God is never discouraged... It's because He has perfect Faith. He knows everything will work out. I need to learn that so I don't stress as much. 

This next week is going to be crazy! I am going to be gone every single day... Tonight I go back down to clear lake on exchanges, Wednesday and Thursday is the sisters conferences we've been organizing the past month, and Friday I'm going to the temple with a recent convert from Maplewood who is getting her endowments :) Then that night I have exchanges with Alief. It's going to be fun haha 

Well, I'm sure I missed something, but that's all I can write for now! I hope yall are doing great! I love you and will talk with you next week!

I love you!!!     Sister Avery

F-A-I-T-H

June 10, 2013

Sounds like everyone is doing great! Sorry about your wisdom teeth Kailey. :) Hopefully they got some funny videos of you while you were out. haha

Allison have fun at camp this week!!! Be safe. :)

Dad, I'm so excited for your new calling! You will be so good. :) The Lord is stretching your faith cause he knows you can accomplish this AND you are going to be so good for the Priests to help them prepare for their missions.

It's all about Faith in Jesus Christ, if you don't already know. :) Seriously. My Faith in my Savior has been pulled, stretched, and strengthened this past week. I'm grateful for it even after all the efforts we put into it. I'll explain....

So President Ashton received Revelation from Heavenly Father that we need to be focusing on baptizing weekly. So we have been working really hard! We had Andy's baptism set up for this past weekend, but after visiting with him on Wednesday he told us he isn't quite ready yet.... So I go home that night and tell Heavenly Father that I KNOW that whenever He gives a commandment (or even a suggestion to be better) it can happen. So I told him that Andy cancelled on us for this weekend and I asked who He knew of that could be baptized. A girl from a part member family that we had been working with since we got into this area popped into my head... I questioned for a second because she had been really flaky and her dad is completely inactive AND we hadn't seen her in 4 weeks about. But I told Heavenly Father that if that is what he needed that we would do it I just needed a sure knowledge that it was His will and not just something that I wanted. So the that night I had a very specific dream about her and about what we needed to do, and I knew when I woke up that was our answer. I was really hesitant bringing it up to my companions because I thought they would think I was crazy (It was Thursday at this point). But I brought it up to them and we all prayed about it. We went to visit her and asked her if this was a desire that she had to be baptized, she got very excited and said yes. The only problem was her dad..... he doesn't like the church much anymore... or us missionaries. So we prayed and fasted and prayed and fasted to soften his heart. We texted him (cause he wont answer our calls) and he gave us permission! :) It was a complete miracle. BUT it didn't end there. So we did her per-baptismal interview and one of the questions we asked she had just gotten off probation on Wednesday! The Lord was setting this up perfectly, but she still needed to be interviewed by a member of the mission presidency. So we set that all up for Sunday at 12 right before church (the baptism is set for 4).... he didn't show.... there was a REALLY bad storm and we couldn't get a hold of him. We made several calls, and President was going to end up coming over to do it, but after sacrament meeting President Centeno showed up. She passed her interview and at 4:00 she was baptized! WOW! The Lord works miracles, but he does it according to our faith and our works. My faith and the faith of my companions grew so much this past week. I am grateful for that experience to know that when the Lord commands there is always a way. He answers prayers!

Last week I was also able to go on exchanges in Richmond with Sister Hinton and Sister Ritter, they are just opening that area and it is very nice! There are no apartment complexes and all of the houses are huge. It's a hard area to work in because no one is ever home during the day time because they work. I really look up to those sisters for their hard work.

I was also able to go with Sister Mekini and Sister Jackson down in South Shore for a few days! That was so fun to be back with Sister Mekini and also serving in my first area. I love getting to see how much my companions have grown in the gospel since we were last serving together. This missions faith is growing so much. :)

We had a study with President last week as a zone and it was focused on Alma 34 and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He had us focus on how we can teach this to our investigators because each of them need to realize that without the mercy of our Savior, which comes from accepting His gospel, we cannot be saved from the demands of Justice.

1. God is our loving Heavenly Father

2. He wants us to be happy

3. He give us commandments. There are good or bad consequences for our actions. Mosiah 2:41 Commandments aren't to restrict us, but rather to free us and keep us safe.

4. God lets us make choices.

5. We sometimes make mistakes. It's the only way to learn

-2 Nephi 2:5-8

-Justice requires that we suffer requirements... being miserable.

-2 Nephi 2:13 D&C 130:20-21

WE NEED MERCY!!!

6. God sent us a Savior.

-John 3:16 Jesus lived a perfect life 2 Nephi 31:7, 3 Nephi 12:48

-He met all the demands of justice.

-The way we can become righteous forever is by making covenants with the help of the Atonement.

7. Because of the Atonement we can have mercy on conditions of repentance. Justice owns us until we repent and obtain the Saviors mercy. Alma 42:13, 23.

What are you willing to give up in your life for this mercy?

Anyways, I thought it was very helpful to help our investigators understand how important this message is. We couldn't be here living on this earth without our Saviors mercy. :)

This morning Sister Ker and I met with President Ashton to talk about preparing for Sisters conference. We ended up getting onto a subject that both Sister Ker and I needed in our lives, and it was really helpful for me to hear and know. This is what he explained to us...

"When we attended the mission president seminar a few weeks ago, one of the wives of a mission president got up and said that when she came on her mission, she thought that doing missionary work would be her gift to God.  She then proceeded to say that she had since learned that God was doing His own work, that He was drawing all men unto Him, and that He allowed her to participate and have missionary experiences as His gift to her.  She stated that this was a gift that brought her great joy as she was able to share the gospel.  I love this perspective!  Too often we think that missionary work is all up to us.  That is a daunting (intimidating) thought.  The truth is God is preparing people to receive the truth.  As we desire and pray specifically for opportunities to participate in the work (see D&C 11:3-5, 8), and are humble and willing to open our mouths and be God’s instruments (D&C 33:8-11), He blesses us with chances to share the gospel.  When we have that kind of faith, missionary work becomes easy and joyful. "

Both Sister Ker and I are feeling overwhelmed because we want to leave EVERYTHING we can here, but we feel like we are lacking so much or things are standing in the way of us being able to do everything. Both of us have had companion issues where sometimes they don't want to be obedient or do the work, but President drew us a chart and showed us that no matter what, The Savior has already done everything for us, we just have to give our best efforts and he will bless us.

I'm so grateful for my Savior! I know this gospel is true and I know God hears our prayers. :)

Love y'all!!!!

Sister Avery

 

I Love being a missionary!!!!!

It's great to hear everyone is doing well. I'm glad Jen and the kids made it to Michigan ok! How is Chalece doing with her pregnancy? I miss all my nieces and nephews!

 

Things here in Texas are going great! I love being a missionary so much. It can be hard, hot, or whatever else, but we're so lucky to be doing what we are doing 24/7! I was able to bare my testimony in church yesterday and I just expressed how grateful I am to be a missionary right now when the Lords work is hastening so quickly. I LOVE it! Seriously, our goal of 1,000 baptisms is going to be accomplished this year as a mission. In April we got about 19 baptisms the whole month as a mission, and just this past weekend we had 19 baptisms. The work is booming right now and I am so glad to see it right before my eyes.

 

The faith of the mission as a whole is increasing so much. That is what President Ashton is helping us do. These are the steps to get exceeding faith...

 

We gain faith by:

1. Recognizing it is a gift from God.

2. Praying for exceedingly great faith with all the energy of heart.

3. Being exactly obedient.

4. Studying the scriptures.

5. Acting as if we believe (doing things that require us to step outside our comfort zones and exercise faith)

6. Being positive.

 

He is really having us focus on recognizing the miracles in our day, because when we see those miracles we realize how much God is a part of our life. So I have a challenge for each of you this week. Each night as you go to pray, think about a miracle that you saw throughout your day. You will ALWAYS find one. :)

 

This week was really good! Let me think what happened.....

 

Wednesday we had a mission leadership counsel and we talked a lot about using members to further our work. Finding through the members is the way to find those who are ready and will remain active. Each of the 6 baptisms in this ward since I've been here have been member referrals! So.... go find people for the missionaries to teach!!! haha

 

Thursday we had Jessica and Anthony come teaching with us to this man with absolutely NO christian background. Oh man those lessons are a bit rough cause you have no foundation to build off of, so I was kinda freaking out in the lesson cause I wanted them to have a great opportunity to share their testimony. But it ended up being ok cause Anthony studied lots of religions and he was able to help him a lot. Anthony also was able to go teach with the AP in our ward, and it was just the two of them and I guess it was the best lesson ever. Elder Nottingham told the whole ward council that Anthony is ready to be a teacher in the church and that his testimony is so strong! I am so excited to see how quickly they are progressing and growing in the gospel! I love their family so much. They are like family to me!

 

We are teaching 2 newer investigators who are progressing very quickly. Andy who is the boyfriend of a member. He is 24 years old and we had some great lessons with him this past week about finding out answers to our prayers. He really wants his answer of whether or not to be baptized, and so we did a study with him on how to recognize answers from the Spirit. I think he will be baptized this weekend or next! :)

 

We are also teaching Cindy! She is a new investigator and she came to church yesterday!!!! We have seen her the last 3 nights in a row and last night it was really cool cause she actually called us to come over to her house. Her baptism is set for the 22nd. :)

 

So many great things are happening right now!

 

On Friday Elli Ashton, Presidents daughter, got baptized! It was such a great baptism to go to. We brought Danielle with the two twin girls that referred us to their family. They really liked it too. On Thursday night President asked if I could talk on the restoration of the gospel at the baptism.... talk about intimidating. Teaching the Restoration in front of tons of missionaries who you know are critiquing you on everything haha... oh and in front of not only the mission president, but also his whole family, parents, and in-laws. haha it was fun. My new companion got roped  in with me, and Sister Hiatt was on exchanges so she missed out.

 

And then SATURDAY! The best day of the week. Danielles baptism! She was glowing. And her dad came in with his white shirt and tie.

Anthony baptized her like he had done it before!

Oh man! It was one of the best days of my mission to see their family. The ward absolutely loves their family and is so grateful for the strength they are going to add to this ward. :) I'm grateful Heavenly Father allowed me to be a part of their conversion.

 

Next step... Temple!

 

Well, I love  y'all soo much! I'll talk to you next week!

 

Sister Avery

 

Happy Late Memorial Day!!

Sorry I wasn't able to email y'all yesterday they switched our p-days this week so we went out to teach yesterday and today is our p-day! 

How was y'alls memorial day? Do anything fun? We had 2 BBQ's with 2 different families... The Velazquez and the Moores. It was fun, but lots of food! I hope you were able to go see the grave sites of grandma and grandpa and Lamont. I was thinking of them lots yesterday. I'm grateful that families are eternal.

Well.... let's see what happened this week. Transfers! I have 2 new companions in Mission Bend with me. Sister Owens is 20 and is from Sunny California and is the greenie in our companionship, and then Sister Hiatt is a sister from Southern California who has been out for 9 months. She is 27 years old, so I'm pretty sure she is the oldest sister in the mission. We've been having fun. It's been a big adjustment for Sister Owens to the mission... lots of questions of why we have certain rules, and I don't like being the party pooper on everything, but Sister Hiatt has been helping me out a bit too. We met with President today for our weekly study and we went over consecration and obedience, and we talked about how all the little rules are the foundation for us to receive great blessings. It's by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass. Like sight and sound for example. We can NEVER be away from our companions unless one of us are in the bathroom or in a meeting with President. It is probably one of the hardest rules for me, but especially as a new missionary coming in trying to get into the habit of never going into the other room without your companion. But President explained it well this morning when he read us Alma 37 and showed that Alma gave Helaman a command to polish the plates... and he was going to be king. But he said, this may be foolishness, but that is how the blessings will come. So we're working out the kinks with all the questioning right now. :) 

On Thursday night we had a dinner with the awesome family in our ward, they remind me of Reid and Shellys family and they invited the Velazquez family over! We had a great lesson on the importance of family history work and the temple. They are so excited for the temple! I can't wait for them to be sealed. 

Man, the missionary work here in this mission is growing so quickly! This last transfer we set a record for the # of incoming missionaries in the US. 41 new missionaries came in! None of the office staff, Presidents fam, or the assistants got any sleep last week I felt really bad! But it is so cool to see how quickly the Lord is hastening his work. I'm so grateful for the chance I get to see how much its speeding up. President asked a few of us departing missionaries to bare our testimony at transfer meeting with all the new missionaries and I just told them to get ready to have their lives changed! I am so jealous they are just starting their missions! 

I  had a leadership meeting on Saturday with the zone and district leaders and we went over our goals for May and it almost doubled from April! AND we only had 3 baptisms as a zone in April, but in May we had 10! Our mission is going to hit the goal of 1,000 baptisms this year. :)

On Sunday we got to sit in on Anthony Velazquez's priesthood ordination. It was such a cool experience to see that! He is going to be baptizing Danielle this coming Saturday!!!! It is going to be the best day ever. I can't wait! Jessica came out teaching with us and it just reaffirmed my testimony of the reason I am here serving a mission. She bore testimony right from the start of how the gospel has changed her life and her family's life. She knows it's true and you could see the excitement in her eyes as she told this investigator about her conversion. I love testimonies! 

Being a missionary is the best! I love getting to see lives change so quickly as they accept the light Christ is offering them. 

Well I hope everything is going well for y'all. It's starting to get real hot here in Texas! Gotta embrace it. 

I love you!!!!

Sister Avery

Last Transfer - May 20, 2013

I'm dying a little bit right now because today is the start of my last transfer. I am so sad! BUT I did find out that I'll be staying here in Mission Bend to finish out my mission!!!! I will also be training a new sister, and another sister will be joining our companionship that has been struggling with obeidience.... yep President is making me be the party pooper and help her be obedient. I'm a little nervous about that, but it'll be good to show her how much obeidence brings forth the blessings.

This morning Sister Ker and I went to President Ashtons house and he showed us the transfer board of what will be happening this wednesday at Transfers. It is AMAZING to see how much effort is put into each one of the decisions on that board, and how much time he must spend with the Lord trying to decide where each of us goes. The mission here is exploading! We will be getting 41 new missionaries this week, and only 12 leave. Shows how much the work is hastening huh?

We also did a study with him on Unity. The beginning of being unified with anyone has to start with the Lord. We were talking about how each one of the apostles has such strong personalities and decisions, but it's never a debate it's always unified and unanimous.

 

While we were at Presidents house the missionaries that are going home started coming in. It made me so sad to see so many of my close friends leave. President looked at one of the Assistants shoes who is leaving and said, "that is how you know a missionary worked hard through his mission." (His shoes had holes all over in the toes and heals).  :) Oh the life of a missionary.

 

Oh! Kailey congrats on your seminary graduation!!! I'm proud of you. :) I remember how I didn't really care graduating from Seminary, but now I'm really grateful that I did. One of my companions didn't graduate and she wishes she did.

 

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK!!!!!

 

The Brother and Sister Velazquez got baptized this weekend!!! They asked me to give a talk and I was pretty emotional. I feel like I've gotten a pretty hard shell on my mission and I don't cry to much anymore, but while singing the opening song I had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude come over me because I knew that was the day I had been praying for my whole mission. To bring a family unto our Savior! It was such a privledge to see their family sitting there together with the light of Christ in each of their eyes. I'm so grateful Heavenly Father lets us be a part of the joy He feels when we come unto Him.

On sunday night Jessica (Sister Velazquez) came with us to an Investigator Devotional and she got very emotional when the guy that was speaking started talking about "His angels--Elder Born and Elder Mortensen-- who saved his family and brought them the gospel." She looked over at us and had tears streaming down her cheeks and said, You guys are our angels.

 

I am so grateful the Lord led us to them. They were so prepared for the gospel. They are already looking forward to the temple and asked if we would come. :) Oh man! I love them so much! I just wish they didn't have to experience opposition so quickly. They called their family on sunday before their confirmation and told them what they did, and they all think we brainwashed them and that they are going to brainwash their girls. I know they are strong enough to resist, but it's still hard seeing them go through it.

 

Brother Velazquez got interviewed for the Priesthood and he will be ordained next week and be able to baptize Danielle the next week! That will be a special day. :)

 

Today we are going to the allegator park with them! That'll be fun.

Pray for them if you will!

 

Everything else is going good! We are teaching a kid named Andy. His girlfriend is a member and she introduced him to the church. He is set to be baptized on the 8th of June. He has already been to church 2 times and we are 1/2 way done with the lessons. He is a sharp kid.

 

Thanks for everything you are doing for me! I love you so much and I'm grateful for you. Please let me know if I can do anything for y'all.

 

Sister Avery

FAMILIES ARE THE BEST!!! May 13, 2013

Thanks so much for your visit yesterday! It made my whole week. :) Seriously, I don't know what I would do without all of you. I really believe I have the best family. Both my companions don't seem as close to their families and it made me really grateful for the relationships we have. I told them they would probably cry after their visit, but neither did so it made me look like a baby. haha Oh well! Love y'all!

Mom and Carter I'm glad y'all made it safe to Michigan, I was praying for y'all in every prayer. I'm jealous you got to go to the Nauvoo temple! I heard it's really pretty. Maybe if I go help Carters family move back in August we can stop by. :)

Well, this email will probably be a bit shorter since we talked yesterday, but I'll try to fill y'all in on what's happened this past week.

So last monday President called me and asked if the assistants had talked with me last saturday about doing training at all the zone conferences last week. They hadn't called... But I told him I could hurry and prepare for Tuesday morning. We were able to go to all the zone conferences and do a training on teaching when we find. I was talking about this in the missionary leadership meeting a few weeks ago and I think that is why President asked me to talk about it (lesson learned.... don't bring things up like that otherwise you'll have to do trainings). Several times when I've been on exchanges the sisters will go knock on a door to ask for someone specific and if that person isn't there they will just tell the person who answered the door that they will come back later. Well there were two times in a day in Alief when I stopped them and just asked the people at the door if we could share a message with them. We were able to get in and share a message and both people accepted a baptismal date. I remember at the beginning of my mission I was quick to just hand off cards and walk away, but now I've seen enough times to see that EVERY SINGLE PERSON we come in contact with have been placed there for a reason. Not just some people need salvation. Everyone does! The sisters in Alief have gotten really good at this now and they have lots of investigators! I'm proud of them.

I shared my experience with Noo at the zone conferences about how Sister Draeger were out on our bikes at it was 8:50 at night and we were lost. This was when President Saylin was here and he really pushed talking with 10 people on the streets each day. We were at 9 and we knew we needed to get our last contact. We saw Noo out on her driveway and decided to go talk with her. We shared a bit about the Book of Mormon and she really wanted us to come back. 4 Weeks later she was baptized and now is preparing to go through the temple! I know that was a blessing to us and to her to see the Lords hand in guiding us to be where we needed to be and to talk with everyone about the gospel.

Also last week on Friday we had a great lesson with the Velasquez family on tithing. They both committed to pay tithing IF they became members of our church. Elder Nilsen was there at that lesson with us and he asked what would be holding them back. Anthony said he still feels a little weird about being baptized. He told us his background and we told him that he needed to pray specifically. He hadn't done that yet. His wife Jessica has her answer already, but wants to do this as a family! Which we want too! We committed Anthony and Jessica to pray together that night and ask if that is what Heavenly Father wants for their family. It was a powerful lesson.
Well, on sunday Jessica leans over to Sister Hinton in Relief Society and said, "we want to be baptized this saturday! We got our answer."

Please pray for them!!! I know They have some struggles in their life right now, but I know that Heavenly Father put the gospel in their life for a reason at this time. I know that they need this and I am so grateful to get to see this miracle of the change in their lives.

They offered skype from their house on sunday so they could meet y'all, but the Sanders had it set up already. I hope you can meet them one day.

So the plan now is Jessica and Anthony will be getting baptized this saturday and Anthony will be baptizing Danielle (she is 10) on the 25th or June 2nd. :)

Hmmm..... what else happened this week?

This morning President had Sister Ker and I in his office for another study. We studied Real Intent and helping us missionaries and investigators gain more real intent. It was really cool to see the revelation we received to try to help the mission. We dug into Hebrews chapter 4 (especially vs 12) which was really deep and hard to understand, but President helped us to learn what it meant. A belief in Christ stems from action and doing the small and simple things (like reading scriptures and praying) When we don't act on the small and simple things our faith begins to fade and we lack faith, and then miracles cease. Alma 37:3-7 and D&C 64:33-34 compared to Alma 37:38-42. Those who choose not to enter into Christs rest don't have faith and won't have real intent. It's a choice. Just as it is a choice to have faith.

I love studies with him cause it makes the scriptures come alive. I hope I can keep learning how to study the scriptures rather than just read them. P.S. How's y'alls Book of Mormon challenge going that I gave you?

Anyways, I love y'all so much and I'm grateful for all you do. Thanks for your love and support!

Sister Avery

I cannot believe it's already MAY!!! Where is the time going?! I'm getting more and more nervous cause the weeks seem to be going by days and the months like weeks.

But It sounds like everyone back home is doing great! I can't wait to chat with y'all this Sunday! We've had a countdown on our whiteboards in our apartments for about 2 months now. Happy early mothers day mom!!!!

This week has had lots of ups and downs. Most of the downs are just from stress. I'm trying to learn not to stress so much but THIS IS PEOPLES SALVATION! It's hard not to stress over that. But the Lord is really teaching me to put more things in His hands and not worry. Because honestly if we are doing all we can, He will do the rest and always help things to turn out the best way. I feel like I've been in the refiners fire a bit this week. On Tuesday we had a mission leadership meeting and it was the 2nd one with the new callings with the Sisters in the mission. I think it just overwhelmed me a bit because our mission is now focusing on baptizing weekly instead of monthly. Last year in October President Ashton asked us to raise our Faith and pray to baptize monthly, and so I had been praying so hard to accomplish that, and the Lord has helped me through each month! The Lord is now asking more of us, and with the goal of 1,000 baptisms this year President is asking us to again raise our Faith, by instead praying for Exceeding Faith to find and baptize weekly. I know it's from Heavenly Father, but just when I thought I was going to die from not being able to work any harder this test of Faith comes in. :) haha He told me I was not only in charge of Mission Bend baptizing weekly, but also the other areas in my zone and especially Alief where I should be spending 50% of my time.

I want to be able to do the best I can, but I feel I'm lacking so much. I want to be here in Mission Bend because SO much good is happening here, but President has asked that I spend more time in Alief cause they are still trying to pick up the area (but they did have a baptism last weekend!!! The first in several months for that ward. ) I was so proud of the sisters there! I think I'm just very protective of the people we are working with here in Mission Bend especially the Velazquez family, and I want to be there every time we teach them. But the Lord is teaching me that He can do all things.... even without me! I had to humble myself this week and turn the area over to Sister Hinton and Petersen. I trust them cause they are great sisters. I just need to keep exercising my faith in the Lord and in His power.

The day after the leadership meeting Sister Ker (the spanish sister trainer leader) and I met with President to do a study with him. We studied Exceeding Faith. I'll have to tell you all about it later, but here are a few references we studied....

Moroni 10:8,11

Alma 13:3

Alma 19:7-10

2 Nephi 3:24

3 Nephi 19:18-22

Jacob 3:1

Moshiah 26:13-16

Alma 60:25-26

Ether 3:9

Ether 2:14-15

D&c 46:8

John 7:16-17

Alma 32:28-29

You'll have to do a study on Exceeding Faith! It's a cool topic and It helps to strengthen our Faith as we study it. I think the biggest thing I learned is that Faith is a choice and it comes through practice, study, and prayer. Exceeding Faith is required for our Salvation and I really believe that is why God is expecting us young missionaries to start increasing our Faith for the last days.

On Wednesday we went to go try a less active that the Relief Society President asked us to go see and she wasnt there so we tried her neighbors to see if they knew if she still lived there. The girl that answered was about 17 years old and her name is Allona. She told us we could come back and bring her a Book of Mormon. We went back on Thursday and taught her the Restoration. After we extended her a baptismal date she accepted and said, "can I give you a affirmation of Faith?" We didn't really know what that was, but we told her yes. She told us that her mom is a youth minister at her church and they are really involved at her church but lately she had been praying to find her own way since her pastor is leaving this month. She wanted to know what church to join and we showed up at her door. She wants to read the Book of Mormon, and the cool thing is that she is friends with Lauren and Ashley Casey! We are meeting with her tonight, but it just made me so grateful to know that Heavenly Father is listening to each of our prayers. The answers come in ways we may never expect them to come.

On Saturday we invited the Velazquez to the Alief Sister's baptism, and they came! They were very interested in what was going on and Jessica kept asking me lots of questions about the Priesthood authority. When we went over there on Sunday after church (their 4 week in a row being at church!!!) we brought Brother Johnson, who is the seminary teacher, and he is the one who's family got in the terrible car accident last year. We taught about the Power of the Priesthood and eternal families. The lesson was so good and I think it really helped Anthony to know and understand what His role will be. Dad, I was able to bare testimony of how grateful I am for you baptizing me and playing a role in my salvation with that first covenant I made with Heavenly Father. I wanted to thank you for that! Anthony got emotional when he found out he would be able to baptize his daughters. :) Their family is doing so well! I can't wait to see their sealing.

Yesterday Anthony and Jessica even fasted! Who does that when you're not even a member yet?! I thought that was so cool. They fasted about their baptism and I thought it was a sign from Heavenly Father that sunday school was all about covenants!

This gospel changes lives. It is hard someday to see people not accept it, or to take advantage of it, but it's so worth it when you find someone like the Velazquez who have been so prepared for it in their life.

Thank you for all your love and support! I'm so grateful for the family and the way I was raised.

I love y'all!!!! Talk to you in 6 days. :)

Sister Avery

Rain Storm!!!

WOW! This week was fun! It went by pretty quick, but it ended with a bang on Saturday night. We had a ward bbq which the Velazquez family were going to come to, but then the rain storm hit. We still ended up going, but there were maybe 3-4 families there.... and they were the ones who planned it. I felt bad! But really, this was a crazy storm!!! The streets were completely flooded up to our knees (not joking), so we had to park our car and walk after the bbq to go to an appointment. And I've NEVER seen rain or floods like this one. We ended up pushing a few dead cars out of streets with people and it was actually pretty fun! Our shoes are ruined, and our clothes got drenched, but we laughed lots and we didn't want to go in early, but the assistants told the district leader to come find us cause other sisters cars were flooding and they didn't want us to get stuck. We told them we parked our car in a safe place and we would be fine till 9:00 and we kept going down the street, but they followed us and then told us our apartment flooded.... So they took us home and our apartment was fine. I was so mad! haha But the next day Sister Hinton and Petersen asked Elder Nottingham (the assistant) why he lied to us about our apartment, and he said that was the only way he could get me to go home. Oh well!

I guess there are supposed to be more storms this week, so we'll see if it happens again. I'll have to send pics.

Guess what?! The Velazquez family came to church again! It was their 3rd week in a row and they are loving it. We had a linger longer after church and they stayed for that and I'm pretty sure every person in the ward went up and greeted them! I was grateful a few ladies even invited Jessica to have her kids do play groups with them. They really like the ward. Earlier last week I went over there teaching with a member in our ward while Sister Hinton and Petersen went to another lesson. We taught them the Word of Wisdom and that seriously has to be one of their biggest hurdles cause they love coffee... But they both said they would live it and just pray for the strength to overcome it. I love their family so much! I can't wait to see them get sealed next year! The quote that says, "Missionary; someone who leaves their family for a short time so other families can be eternal." is so true! I love getting to see their progress in the gospel :) On Friday night they invited us over for dinner and they really opened up to us. I just felt bad cause I was a little sick on Friday and so trying not to get sick at the dinner table was a little hard, but Heavenly Father blessed me. :)

President Ashton called us last week with a referral of someone he contacted while he was out to eat. We contacted her the next day and we've been teaching her. Sister Hinton went on Splits with a less active sister in our ward who said she would come teaching with us and she had a great lesson with her. I think it even helped the less active out way more than the investigator cause she was able to teach 50% of the lesson with Sister Hinton and bare testimony of the truths she knows. She even asked to share something in church on Sunday in Sunday school and she said how big of an impact that made on her! We are trying to do that with more less actives so they will have the fire burning in them to do missionary work.

I was able to go to the District leader council this morning to set some zone goals for the month with the elders. It felt so weird being the only girl and having NO companion by my side... I think I'm going to be awkward when I get home! Anyway, it was a cool experience to set those goals with the Help of Heavenly Father. We all got the same number in our heads for how many baptisms they zone can get this month! It was definitely inspired. Tomorrow we have a mission leader council and I've been asked to talk about how mission exchanges are going with the sisters and how we can improve. I just wish everyone wanted to be obedient so they could receive the blessings. So many people want to get blessings without doing their part. But for the most part this mission is doing really well! We just have to Increase our Faith to bring more people to Christ.

We've also been teaching with several of the youth in the ward still and they are doing great! We have missionary correlation every Saturday morning at our bishops house (and his wife makes yummy breakfast!!) and he told us and the elders that the youth in the ward have made a 180 degree change the past few months and he can see several of them serving missions where as before he would have never thought they could make it! President Ashton is inspired to have us working closely with the youth. They need just as much strengthening as anyone else, if not more!

I love being a missionary!

I was able to go back to Memorial this past week to help some sisters there and we had a really cool experience! We had several of our lessons fall through and we were knocking at this one persons door and I saw across the way that there was a door open and I told the sisters we needed to go try them. We went up and knocked on their door and it ended up being a Spanish couple that spoke zero English. I told them we would be right back and we went to go get some Spanish pamphlets in the car. We ended up teaching them a 45 minute lesson!!!! They are going to be baptized. We sent them to the Spanish elders and told them this is a golden referral. After the lesson the lady told me she wanted this for her son as well and he lived in Mexico. She called him and had me speak to him about the gospel. We told him about mormon.org and contacting the missionaries there.

I think Heavenly Father needed me to learn a little Spanish from Sister Moreno so we could at least tell the family about the beginning of this great plan God has for us!

Things are going great! I will try to send some pictures from this past week. :)

I love y'all so much! Can't wait to talk to you in a few weeks.

Sister Avery

Ping Pong Ball!?

It sounds like everyone back home is doing well! I am always excited to hear how everything and everyone is doing on Mondays. :) Mom, I'm so proud of you to be building all of that stuff. I tell people down here all the time that I hope I can be like you because you never stop learning. I really like that!

You are probably wondering why my heading is "ping pong ball"..... Well that is because that is what I was this week. I felt homeless cause I was all over the place. haha The housing missionary, Elder Nilsen (who is like family we are so close), even bought me my own blow up mattress and sleeping bag so I have somewhere to sleep while I'm on exchanges. Ah I have so much to talk about and so many stories, but I'm really bad about typing them all out so some will have to wait but I'll see what I can write today.

Monday I got to start out here in Mission Bend and we did a family night with a less active mother and two of her kids. We did it on building our foundation on Christ, and it was really interesting because their house is very old and it hasn't been in good shape, but the past year they have been fixing it up and working on the foundation to get it solid so they are safe. We talked about how it takes time to build that foundation but over time it will become solidified so they don't have to worry about the effects of building our homes or our testimonies on the sand. We were expecting them at church yesterday and even got a text from her that morning but they never showed up. We are going to keep working with them!

Tuesday we had our district meeting and then I went to Alief with Sister Howard and Sister Cordova. They are starting to feel a little more comfortable in their area and I think they are starting to get the hang of things better, but President still wants me to spend time there as much as I can. We found 3 new investigators while I was there and were able to extend some baptismal dates! I hope that helped them get excited and feel like there is work to do.
 It's been a little bit hard because Sister Howard has a very strong personality and wants to be independent so I don't think she wants me there. She even mentioned on the phone last night that she didn't know how much help I was being there and she said she would just call when she needs me.... I feel bad because I feel like I'm giving my all to help them out the best that I can, but she doesn't seem to recognize it. In studies today I was thinking about how Christ must feel that every day from lots of us. We feel like we can do it on our own, but when something bad happens we call for help. It made me realize that I shouldn't just be calling for help when I'm having a hard time, but at all times! Even in the best of days.
While I was there in Alief we had our interviews with President and for some reason after interviews I was just having a hard time feeling very overwhelmed with everything, Elder Nilsen came to inspect their apartment and while there he gave them a talk about cleanliness and how the Spirit only dwells in clean places and then he talked to us about how special we are to our Father in Heaven and how he wants the Spirit to be with us so we can feel of His love. I needed that. It's cool how the Lord sends answers to prayers through those around us.

Wednesday night late I went back to Mission Bend and then Thursday morning I left to go on an exchange with the Maplewood sisters. The zone leaders asked if I could go help them because they aren't finding any new investigators and they aren't talking to anyone. I went there super worried because I feel like so much work had been done there last year and I didn't want to find that area dead. One of the sisters that just got transferred there is one of the disobedient ones that we've been trying to work with and so I think I went in with the wrong mindset to change things there, but I left realizing that the best way to help people change isn't to tell them what they are doing wrong, but instead to show them (or try to show them) the way we should be doing things. She responded in a better way than if I were to just go in there and tell her what's up.

Oh man being back in Maplewood was a rollercoaster. The first thing I hear is that Daniel got drunk the night before and fell and he wasn't doing well. The weird thing was that I got a letter from him on monday and he said that he had fallen into his alcohol a few weeks ago and then realized what he was doing and so while he was watching conference he realized the impact of the Atonement. So when I heard that he drunk  again I was so mad! I knew the Erianne in me would go in there and be like, "Daniel, WHAT THE HECK!!!!" But I knew that the Spirit definitely had to guide us through that visit. I've changed a lot on my mission.... I'm usually the most talkative one in the lessons, but for some reason I mostly just sat there and listened. We read the scriptures and talked about how Alma applied the atonement even after he was one of the vilest of sinners, and then felt the overwhelming joy that Christ offers us. Daniel just cried. He kept saying over and over, "How could God take someone back into His arms like me?" I realize how deep the Atonement of our Savior is, but it really took on a different meaning for me that night. It's hard to see people suffer through that and other things, but I'm so grateful to see the Atonement take effect in peoples lives here.
 At the end of the visit I had him sign a "contract" that he would do his best to apply the Atonement in His life each day through his prayers. We saw him last night at an investigator devotional and he seems to be doing much better.

We also got to see Noo while I was there and it was fun because she didn't know I was coming, and I hid behind the sisters when we came in so after a minute of her talking with them I popped out and she was SO excited! It made my day. :) Noo is preparing to go through the temple in July! I'm so excited for her. She is doing great!!!

This is the best part of missionary work is seeing people progress and learn more about the gospel to the point that you can see the light in their faces!

I'm glad I was able to go to Maplewood and help out there. So much is happening! They saw me yesterday and told me they went out contacting and felt a lot more comfortable. :) I hope it helped them.

Friday night I came back to Mission Bend and Saturday morning Ashley got Baptized!!!! She was glowing she was so excited. The young womens president spoke at her baptism and talked about how each of us are so different and lots of people wondered why she didn't get baptized with her twin, but then she told us that the Spirit teaches us according to our understanding. Each of us have different life experiences so we can learn in the way Heavenly Father knows is best. Ashley and Laurens grandparents came to the baptism and they told us they felt the Holy Ghost there so strong. The Young Women even sang and I could see her grandma tearing up. We are hopefully going to start teaching them. :)

After the baptism we met with Jessica and Anthony Velazquez! They are the family that came to church last week that are AWESOME! I love their family so much. Seriously, every single time I come out of their home I feel so happy and I know they will be baptized but it's a matter of when the Lord feels is best. I can't wait to see them sealed in the temple.
When we walked into their home I felt different, it felt brighter there, and later in the lesson they told us they have been reading the Book of Mormon! She read all the way to 1 Nephi 8 since Wednesday. :) Her husband Anthony is someone who studies all religions and reads lot and lots of religious books, but he told us she has never picked one up the whole 10 years of their married life until now. We brought them a kids Book of Mormon for their girls and they were really excited about it. Yesterday they came to church!!!!! As a whole family. :) Jessica was a little hesitant about sending her kids to primary, and her youngest to nursery but she let them go. About half way through sunday school they nursery leader came in with Emma who was screaming. She was pretty sad so they went out into the foyer and then decided to go home to get her food. The two older girls stayed and came home with their neighbor. I hope they liked church! We are going to see them on Tuesday so I'll let you know next week but please keep them in your prayers. Anthony is very smart and he told us this week, "The Book of Mormon is the most correct of all the books I've read and it lines up spiritually, but academically I don't agree with some things." AGH! Academically doesn't matter!!!! So please pray that his heart will soften.

Last night, like I said before, was the investigator devotional. A member in our ward invited her neighbor, Angela, who we haven't taught yet but she wants us to teach her this week! She really liked it. The Lord is preparing peoples hearts!

I am so grateful to be a missionary. It's been hard, but Salvation isn't easy and it was never easy for our Savior. I'm grateful to know He is there at all times.

I love y'all!

Sister Avery