Well this week has been so nice and warm! It's been nice to be outside more and enjoy the sunshine:) It actually makes knocking on doors all day bearable. The area is slowly progressing but we are enduring and knowing that we are doing our very best. We have had some memorable visits especially with less actives and recent converts. We are definitely getting our foot in the door so that the ward members can transtition and help them, since we move around all the time. The ward has been great at making an effort to help us make these transisitons, so we have some great appointments set up for the upcoming week.

The other night we had a lesson with a Spanish family, yeah didn't think I would have to learn spanish. There are no Spanish Elders in our area so we are teaching them:) The daughter speaks English but the parents don't so we brought a member of the ward, Bro. Gill, to help translate. Luckily we have Spanish editions of the Book of Mormon and the pamphlets we use, so I have been studying up on those so I am slowly understanding what they are saying. We had a refferal that wanted a Book of Mormon and they are Spanish as well, so that's been a highlight:)))))

Like I mentioned earlier our work with less actives has been pretty effective this week and hopefully it will help them remember the importance of coming to church and those feelings that they had. My personal study has been improving a lot this week and I have been able to study the lessons but I am able to apply it more to their personal situations. Yesterday, in sacrament meeting, the topic was Joseph Smith, and one of the Bishopric was reading the account of Joseph Smith when he went into the grove of trees to pray. As I was following along in my Book of Mormon, I was touched by the part where as he started to pray he was overcome by a dark feeling that almost took over but he continued to pray and the light came. I think a lot of us go through experiences like that where we just have to keep going and the light will come. I was reading a talk by Jeffery R. Holland, 'None were with Him' and I know that the Savior went through those experiences that he did and was alone for a time so we never have to be alone. I am coming to know my Savior more than I ever thought I could and I want others to have that comfort too. We taught a woman, Sister Wilkerson, the other day and she is incredible! She taught herself how to read by reading the Book of Mormon, yeah she gets so excited when we come over. We read with her 3 Nephi 11 and she just got so excited when we read that when the Savior comes and teaches the people. I love that chapter and I keep reading it over and over:)


It's still been a tough week, with a lot of appointments that keep falling through or we go to visit some people and we can see that that they are there but won't answer the door. I think people can be scared of change, but we see so much potential in them, they are breaking my heart. Sister Vanderhooft and I felt the Spirit so strongly in those lessons, and so it is hard to swallow when they don't want to meet with us anymore. We have been keeping them in our prayers though and we won't give up on them yet. Sister Vanderhooft and I have been doing well at being motivated as we tract and we know that we just have to bear simple, pure testimony on a doorstep and it's amazing that the Spirit can touch people for a short time, even if they don't want to learn more. We just need to keep going and love as the Savior did.

Sister Vanderhooft is so encouraging and is helping so much, oh my goodness she is just the bees knees:) Every night before we go to bed, after our prayers, we tell each other something that great that the other did that day. We have definitely been doing well at looking at the good in each day and seeing the Lords hand in the work. We got called a jazebelle the other day, so the only thing we could do was laugh and tell ourselves that I guess we aren't frumpy then:))))) I have been learning how to be sweetly bold, as Sister Collins would say, and some people just need to hear it straightforward. We also started talking to this lady and her son on their doorstep, they are very Catholic, and they were asking questions of our beliefs and why the Book of Mormon is necessary. Then she mentioned something that made me sad, she believes that when we get to heaven that we won't be with our families and that we will just be brothers and sisters but won't recognize each other; she told us she won't recognize her son and that it's just temporary. We testified that we know we will be with our families for eternity and that it's a good thing and that is part of the plan of a loving Heavenly Father, she didn't believe us. She was very nice, but it's just sad because that doesn't sound like heaven to me. Yeah I have definitely heard it all this week, and my knuckles are starting to have caluses on them:)

I cannot wait for General Conference to come!!! Sister Vanderhooft mentioned a great way to get more out of general conference, as missionaries we are like pitchers of water and we are constantly pouring our water out to others and general conference is a chance to fill our pitchers back up. A member of the bishopric is making fliers for us so that we can invite those that we come in contact with to come watch general conference.

We have interviews with President Collins this week and I'm looking forward to that, oh my heavens he is so amazing. We email a letter to him every week and he responds every week, I just can't imagine reading through 150 emails a week and responding to them personally! He's amazing:) Love you tons and thank you for your prayers, I truly have been able to feel that strength!!!! Big Hug, Little Kiss, Little Hug, Big Kiss

Love,
Sister Lamb