July 13, 2015

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" 2 Corinthians 5:17

This week we saw the hand of God in so many of the little details. Sister Salts finally got her visa on friday which is bittersweet for all of us, but her desire was to stay here at least a transfer and to witness a baptism And all of that happened right in time! We were a little nervous about Nick getting baptized this week because he went on vacation the week before and we weren't able to meet with him very much, but everything came together at the last minute and the Elder that interviewed him for his baptism said it was one of the most powerful interviews he has ever conducted. We haven't known Nick for very long, but over the past year after witnessing his son Boston's baptism, he has become a changed man and learned the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. His little family is now complete in a way and beginning a new journey to prepare to be sealed in the temple a year from now. As excited as Nick was for his baptism, his greatest desire from the beginning has been to get to the temple. I'm so excited for them! Everyone was crying during the service and the spirit was powerful. I'll include a picture at the bottom:)

We started teaching 2 adorable new kids this week, one named sage and the other Taylor. I haven't taught a ton of kids on my mission and it is always a new adventure. You really have to adapt to their attention spans and level of understanding so you don't confuse them and they enjoy the lessons. The first time I walked into 9-year old sage's house, she pointed her bow and arrow made out of tree branches at me and shouted "no one with pixie cuts is allowed in this house!" Which was ironic because her two neighborhood friends who came to join the lesson also had very short hair. She is very energetic and likes to talk over us so we figured out a system- we will teach for 15-20 minute and do a game for 10 every lesson. Taylor moved here from Washington to live with his grandparents who are active members in one of our wards. His mom is a member but not super involved so hopefully seeing her kids accept the gospel will make her want to change! I learned the power of childrens' examples through seeing how Nick and Lindsay were inspired by Boston. They feel strongly that Heavenly Father put Boston in their family to lead them back to following God.

Sister Smith and I will get another companion tomorrow named sister Coglieniese (pronounced call-ah-knees) from Idaho. She is waiting for a visa to Brazil but who knows how long that will take! Sister Aguilar has been training her in my old area in Rose Park and she is a very hard worker and super obedient. I've been so lucky to get amazing companions throughout my mission. The Lord has blessed me in too many ways to count! I read a great devotional from Elder Christofferson this week about the need for feeding our spirits daily. I couldn't find the written version but here is the link to the video: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-01-1000-give-us-this-day-our-daily-bread?lang=eng I love that he emphasizes the importance of looking ahead to the future but remembering to take things day by day. If we don't do that we'll never reach our end goals! So much of this life requires faith, patience, and trust if God if we want to be truly happy.

I've gotten really good at telling people I've been out just over a year when they ask. It doesn't feel like lying until they say "oh so you have about 6 months left?" Something like that....:) I am determined to work hard to the end, especially because school is causing me to lose a week:/ I can still remember so clearly being in the MTC... time flies, don't take it for granted!

Love, Sister Pearson

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