This week was full of good ol' hard work! We stayed extremely busy and found while we taught. A big part of missionary work is finding those that are truly prepared. My Mission President explained it well- "Sifting is hard work. You have to take several scoopfuls of sand and sift before you find a nugget. Sifting is what we do in missionary work. Scooping is what we do also. I am so happy our mission is exceeding our Region and Area in "scooping" and "sifting." Because of our hard work we are one of the top baptizing missions in the Midwest." This is what we do. We get sad when people don't keep commitments or ask us not to come back, but it's all part of the process. We are starting to narrow it down and will hopefully have a baptismal date set soon. We are teaching a guy named John who is actually our neighbor. The way we found this golden investigator was a pretty fun story.

Last Monday we needed quarters for laundry and so we went across the street to get some at a restaurant. We were not happy when we put all the clothes in and realized we were short 50 cents. We didn't want to go back to the restaurant because that would be embarrassing. We looked everywhere and couldn't find any quarters so I grabbed a dollar bill and started nocking on doors around our apartment complex. No one seemed to be home in the middle of the day till one door opened. A man in his 30s with some sweet dreadlocks answered and got his little jar or change to see if he had any. He was nice and said he just did laundry and sadly didn't have any. Then he said "You guys are Mormon right?" I flipped my hair back from covering my nametag and said "Yes! We're missionaries!" He then told us he would love to sit down and talk with us some time. We came back two days later and taught him the Restoration. He told us that he has been religious but is looking for a change. The spirit guided our lesson and Sister Adamson and I taught with love and unity. At the end of inviting him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon I asked, "If you come to know these things are true for yourself, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone who holds the proper authority?" He accepted. SWEET!

We will be teaching him again this afternoon at 4 and invited a member, Brother Keetch, to join us in the lesson. We are really focusing on involving the members and getting to know them. I'm excited to teach him again and see how his reading went. He had a close friend pass away over the weekend which is so sad... but because the next lesson is the Plan of Salvation I know that we can apply it to his life. The Lord is the Master of this vineyard and it is SO cool to labor in the field with him. I love this!

One more highlight of the week really quick...

The C. family (name removed by request) was on our "Potentials" list and we decided to contact them and see if we could teach them. When we knocked on the door they gladly let us in and Brian and his wife Melissa (age 40s) told us about their history with missionaries. He explained how they had been taught many years ago but that when he read the story of Nephi getting the gold plates, he could not understand or accept the fact that the spirit told Nephi to slay Laban. Sister Adamson read to him the scripture that says it is better for a wicked man to perish than a whole nation to dwindle in unbelief. "Yeah, yeah, that's all the Elders could give me. But it still doesn't make sense that God would say, thou shalt not kill and then command someone to kill." Then the spirit brought to my mind the atonement. I explained to Brian that God let his only begotten Son be tortured and killed. That he knows more than all of us and can see the greater purpose for the bad things that he allows to happen. The spirit was strong and I read a scripture to him about the atonement and what it does for us. Then Sister Adamson explained that the Lord gave Laban two chances to just give the plates to them. He still used his agency and he still decided to be wicked. It was after God gave him the chance to change that he was delivered into the hands of Nephi. We also talked about war and fighting for righteousness and how Nephi was fighting a battle for the Lord.

Brian then said, "Okay, I feel like we can move on now." His wife Melissa put down her knitting needles and explained to us that we had just done something that no missionary could ever do. That Brian had been stuck on this thing for years and whenever missionaries would come back to try to teach them he would ask if they had solved the Nephi problem and they wouldn't ever tell them anything more than what the scriptures said! They couldn't learn any more because he couldn't have that question answered! WE DID IT! Two little baby missionaries that hardly know anything solved this problem and then gained their trust! They told us to come back Friday for a salmon dinner.

We then told them about the ward cake auction put on every year to raise money for boys and girls camp! Their 11 year-old boy CJ just happens to be an amazing chef that leapt at the opportunity to make his famous New York-style cheese cake! They came to the auction and were welcomed by everyone in the ward and it was so cool to see the ward fellowship! CJ won an award for his cake and they even bought something.

Another family we are teaching came to the auction as well but I don't have time to say anymore. Until next time!

The Church is TRUE!!!!

Love,

Sister Collett