Last week we set the goal of having four baptismal dates and at the beginning of the week it looked like a pretty tough goal. But we taught Shannon a lot and finished up the lessons with her. I asked her if she was able to pray about the Plan of Salvation and she said that she knows it's true. She believes all of it now and we set a date for her to be baptized on the 26th of this month! She came to conference and really enjoyed it. She's an awesome girl and I am so excited for her to become a member of Christ's Church. 

Regan wasn't making any progress and so we had to make the hard decision of letting her go. We won't be teaching her anymore but I know that we planted a BIG seed and that one day her heart will be ready to receive the message. 

We taught Quiyuan and she had some sad news for us... when she told her family about getting baptized her father did not approve. She will be returning to China at the end of the year and he doesn't want her to commit to a religion that will not be prevalent when she returns. We showed her a website called Mormons and China and it helped her a lot. We taught her about the tree of life and she said she would still meet with us. She came to the Saturday morning session of General Conference and really enjoyed it. We will be teaching her this week.

We are sad though because we had to drop her baptismal date and that was hard. 

Then we met with Chris and he started the stop smoking workshop with us and was well on his way to being baptized on the 12th. Then Saturday night he relapsed. He wasn't following all the steps in the program and realized he wasn't fully committed to it. He came to us wanting to really change and we believe he will be ready. He's made so much progress in the last couple of weeks. 

Dominique is doing incredible. We went over the baptismal interview questions with her and she is excited to make these promises with God. Her testimony inspires me and I have a strong conviction that the Lord is preparing his children. She will be getting baptized on the 19th of this month.

That night we biked home in the POURING rain and it was so funny. We were soaked and I loved it because I felt like a real missionary :) Wet, cold, and happy. Ha ha! :)

Friday we were sitting in the entrance area of the institute, reading scriptures on our lunch hour when I looked outside and a really happy guy that kind of reminded me of that famous workout guy with the poofy hair... came walking across the street towards our building. He had an orange shirt and seemed really excited about life. He saw me through the window and I waved at him. He stopped and started to walk up to the building. I opened the door and he asked me if Elder Loveless and Belnap were around. I told him they moved areas but that he was welcome to come in and have a seat. His name is Rayman and he had met the missionaries a while back but lost his Book of Mormon. We gave him another one and told him about what we do as missionaries- how our purpose is to bring others unto Christ etc.

He said he would love to read it and meet with us some time. We told him about General Conference which was the next day and told him we could teach him after. 

The next day he came to General Conference and loved it. Right after we taught him the restoration with the help of a couple members and he said that he would get baptized when he knows it's true. The next day he came to Conference again and we met with him after to see how his reading and praying went and so we could answer his questions. He said he had read to chapter TEN and had a lot of great questions about conference. Sister Huppi and I had prepared to present him with a baptismal date for the 2nd of November and he accepted to prepare himself to be baptized on that day. 

Great things are happening peopel. :) Just as they said in conference- this is a very important time in the history of the church. The Lord really is hastening his work! Catch the wave! "Join with us!" as Elder Uchtdorf stated. This church is so true and it is the only way to happiness and it is the only way to return to live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. My favorite talks in Conference were the ones on missionary work and Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk about how "daily decisions determine our destiny." We need to act now- not tomorrow. Make changes today. "You cannot procrastinate the day of your repentance." I know that we are preparing for the coming of our Lord and Savior. Share this gospel with all those around you. Help our brothers and sisters to prepare to the final judgement when our Savior, Jesus Christ will reign on earth. 

We can turn these perilous times into pearls as we let the truth swell within our hearts and share it will all the world. What a marvelous work this is. I know this Church is the Church of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior and I love him. 

And Happy Birthday Aunt Randy! Hope you know how much you are loved!!! :)