Monday, July 7, 2014

Fifty-fifth Week in the Field



Hola Everyone!

This week has been such a good week!

Garrett got baptized on Saturday!! It was such an amazing experience to be able to be apart of. I've loved being able to see him grow and set such a good example to his family and friends. His faith has surpassed anyone that I've ever met. He knows it's true. Hermana Killpack, Hermana Newland, Hermana Wallace, and I were able to sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" for the special musical number and it definitely invited the spirit. It felt as if angels were singing with us to help the spirit be even more present than it already was. There were a couple non-members there (including his grandparents) that I know were touched by the simple yet powerful program that was arranged. On Sunday, he was confirmed! When someone gets confirmed, I appreciate it almost more than the actual baptism. The spirit was even more strong. We were able to sit by him and his family during Sacrament Meeting, so when he came back down from being confirmed, we asked him how he felt. He told us that he could literally feel the Holy Ghost entering into his body. It's amazing how in tune he is with it and how he recognized it right off the bat. Right after he was confirmed, the young men blessed and passed the sacrament. I was fortunate enough to be sitting right by Garrett, so I got to pass it to him and he was able to partake of the sacrament for the first time. The way he treasured it was so sweet. I could tell he was enjoying every minute of it. This week he's going to youth conference and then directly to scout camp, so we're not going to be able to start his follow up lessons for another two weeks, but at least we know that he's being taken care of. The ward's been so supportive and is jumping on helping us out with that. His mom told us that she hopes we can stay around until she gets baptized in October! I hope I can too!

Eusevia is doing amazing! We were able to have a lesson with her on Tuesday with Lucy from the ward. We taught the Restoration and Lucy was such a great help. She had so many great insights that Eusevia really appreciated and she even offered to lead her to church on Sunday. Eusevia readily accepted and said that she would bring all of her kids as well. Unfortunately, Eusevia wasn't able to make it to church because her sister came into town, but Lucy is still reaching out to her and we're going to have another lesson tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to set her with a date tomorrow as well.

Hannah is a new investigator that we found last week who is so prepared. She's 17, but is turning 18 next week. She's getting ready to go off to college and is really interested in learning more about the scriptures and God. We gave her a Book of Mormon last week when we first met her and when we went back for our return appointment this week, she told us that she read. When she opened up her copy, we noticed that she had highlighted and made notes that she made while she studied. She had amazing questions and asked us if we could come back this coming week at the same time. We already found a young woman to go with us and she's really excited to come and meet her. Hannah wasn't able to come to church yesterday because she ended up going out of town with her family, but she said she'd come next week. 

Jasmine is still doing okay. We haven't been able to have the blessing yet because one thing or another came up, but Brother Kurtz suggested that we invite her to their home to have a family home evening to help her understand how to invite the spirit into her home. She wasn't home yesterday, so we didn't have the chance to talk with her, but we're going to jump on that and get it organized as soon as we can. 

Juan is doing so amazing! We had another lesson with him on Thursday and we had our ward mission leader come with us. We called him right before the lesson to make sure he was still going to come and he asked if he could bring a friend along as well. Of course, we told him yes and he ended up coming too! His name's Hector and he has a lot of potential. The lesson (Gospel of Jesus Christ) went so well and we were finally able to set Juan with another baptismal date for the 2nd of August. He's so prepared and so ready. It got even better because he came to church for the first time yesterday! He showed up right before Garrett finished getting confirmed and waited with Brother Ennis out in the foyer. He stayed all three hours and enjoyed the whole thing. During Sacrament Meeting, Saul, one of Juan's fellowshippers got up and bore his testimony directly to Juan. It was so amazing! During the other two hours, Juan participated and great comments. Tony, another brother in the ward, told us that Juan is definitely prepared to enter the waters of baptism and make that change in his life. We're so excited to keep working with him! We have another lesson with him on Wednesday.

The Jones family came to church again! They enjoyed it and that they wanted to become more active again. We were talking to Sister Jones after church and we found out that their oldest son, Chris, wasn't baptized yet, but that they would talk to him to see if he would be interested. We're going over to their home tonight to talk about teaching him and getting him ready! 

Thanks so much for all the love and support!  Keep the faith!

Con amor, 

Hermana Halliday
Alma 53:20-21
 
Garrett got baptized!  Brother Mansfield baptized him.

Hermana Wallace and Me with Garrett on his baptism day.

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