Hello!
This week was the best week ever! First off I must talk about Melanie's Baptism which was absolutely amazing! Melanie was so excited and she had invited some of her family and friends and a lot of people from the ward came to support her. I didn't see her once without a smile on her face. She couldn't have been happier. Her friend who invited her to church last year and is the reason for her finding the church spoke and it was beautiful. When she was baptized it took three times to fully immerse her under water. It was kinda funny, now we have a joke " Third times a charm!" While she was getting changed Sister Despain and I used that time as a teaching moment and taught the first lesson talking about Joseph Smith and the book of mormon. We gave a book of mormon to all her friends who came. It was a great opportunity to share the gospel and I hope her friends felt the spirit and will want to learn more. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this before, but melanie is an amazing poet. She writes beautiful poems. She came back and was able to share her poem with us. It was so beautiful and it was all about her changing and being this new person. People were crying afterwards.. it was amazing! The baptism was perfect and the Spirit was present. I loved seeing her so happy and she kept describing it like she was a new person. To give an example of how amazing Melanie is, she brought her first tithing slip to her baptism and gave it to the bishop after her baptism. I think the bishop was a little shocked..it was funny, but that's the type of person she is. Her testimony is so strong and she loves the Lord with all her heart. I feel so blessed to have met her and I feel so blessed to be apart of her path to returning to our Heavenly Father. I wish you could have all been there! She was most excited to receive the Holy Ghost on Sunday. It was so great!
I feel like I could end my email right there because it was such a great baptism, but we worked a lot and we found a new Investigator. It was a member referral and we stopped by her house and she let us in and we taught her the first lesson. She has two little boys and her husband is in the Army. She reminds me and kind of looks like my sister Laura. I just wanted to give her a hug, but I think she would have been a little creeped out. haha After the lesson we asked if she had any questions that she wanted answered. She asked about her kids and if they died what would happen if they weren't baptized. We gave her Moroni 8 to read. She told us that no one else had been able to answer that for her. So we hope to see her this week and I'm so excited! Its so hard to be patient I just want to visit her everyday! haha I was excited about that!
We had District meeting and Interviews with our Mission President this week. I love when they come in town and I love listening to our mission president speak. He is amazing! My interview was good. He apologized in a way for giving me two companions in a row who are on their last transfer, but I told him I was fine. He also asked me how I would feel about training in the near future. Not next transfer, but soon. I think it freaked me out a little bit. How can I be trainer.. I just got out on my mission. I still feel like a greenie. So well see what happens with that. The district meeting was centered on our personal study. "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my work, then shall your tongue be loosed.." D&C 11:21 We must study before the Spirit can help us in our lessons and reveal to us what scripture to read or what to say. It was a great lesson and I"m going to focus a lot more on my morning program. He told us how the scriptures are like poetry that there is a deeper meaning. When we read them we must not read it in a literal way. That everything you read has a deeper meaning. It was a great lesson, it made me more excited to learn and study. I love being able to study for 2 hours in the morning!
So Friday before Melanie's baptism we went to lunch with her. On the way she wanted to stop by and pick up a skirt she wanted for her baptism. It was a Indian store (reminded me of Israel) She told the owner that she was being baptized and she was to become a latter day saint. Well she was familiar with mormons and we started to ask her questions. Come to find out she is atheist and she got really defensive and said if God allows suffering to happen then there is not God. Let me remind you this is a day before Melanie's baptism so me and Sister Despain were a little worried. We left the store and just had to laugh and explain to melanie.. don't worry this happens all the time. Melanie handled it well and was actually saying stuff to her. She is going to be a great missionary.
So as you know i'm sure, there is a Book of Mormon play on Broadway and we hear about it all the time here in upper state New York. It has been the talk of the town I guess since it won all these awards. When ever we ask people if they have ever heard of Mormons before they always bring up that play. Even though its a bad play we can use it to our advantage and we do. Whenever they bring up the play we say this to them, "Well thats great, but the real Book of Mormon play has been going on for 20 years and its in Palmyra New York and its free!," Then we give them a pass along card with the info for it. haha This things are always going to come up and we just have to take it and make it into a good thing. I've heard that the church has been putting Mormon.org advertisement all over New York City, I bet those missionaries are loving it! So if you have been approached with this issue, just say what we say.. show them the real book of Mormon play! haha
We have had two missionaries get home from their missions this week in the ward. It was great to hear them speak and to see how their mission blessed their lives and others. It makes me happy that I still have so much time left to improve and work harder! Its also been great because each one has come up to us and offered to come to any lesson we have opened.So we will always have a member present! haha I love return missionaries.. they love their mission and they want to continue to be missionaries. When I get home I'm going out with the missionaries everyday! I never want to stop being a missionary! You can tell they were great missionaries!
This week has been a great week! I feel so happy and blessed to be a missionary right now in Glenville New York. I love the people here and I love being a missionary! Share the GOSPEL!!!! Give referrals to missionaries!!!
Love you all,
Sister Stacey!
Pictures:
Some are of the baptism. Then some are from when we went to lunch with Melanie. The last ones are from our lame Hike. We wanted to go hiking and we were told this was a cool place..no it was lame! haha I guess any hike will be lame coming from colorado! ha
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