Hello!

Happy Monday!

We had a bit of a rough week.

All this door knocking is exhausting! 

I think we met all of the preachers and ministers around here. I had more people preach to me this week then I have in my whole mission. It was crazy. We also met more people that want to date Sister Kramer then we have the whole transfer. It was crazy. I'll get into that later.

People we met (We didn't have too much happen this week, but these people will sum it up so I'm going to talk about them.)

Nice people we are going to teach:

Chris: We met him knocking. He was super nice. He invited us to sit on the porch and at first we were worried he was just talking to us because we are two pretty girls (You will understand that worry in a minute) but then he opened up and talked about his relationship with Jesus Christ and we were able to share a lot about the Gospel with him. It was awesome! He agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon and we are going back later this week to teach him.

Victoria: We knocked into Victoria a few weeks ago and she expressed some interest in learning more. She is a shy 13 year old, but she was nice. So we decided to stop by and see if she was still interested. Her mom invited us in and we ended up teaching the first lesson! We haven't taught any actual lessons in forever! It was awesome! We also were able to talk to her mom and her mom has tried out a few different religions but hasn't found what she was looking for. I told her that maybe this is what she is looking for (bold huh?) and I was worried about her reaction, but then she said "Maybe this is." !!!! So, pretty exciting. Our first actual new investigator in a while.

Kenson: We met Kenson the other day. He is from Haiti and has a prosthetic leg. He told us that he had leg cancer when he was in Haiti and his leg was really swollen. When the earthquake hit a few years ago, a bunch of doctors flew in and took a few kids back to America to help them. He was one of them. He said that he prayed and prayed that he would be able to keep his leg, but when he came out of surgery he found out that he had lost his leg. He said that he KNEW that there was a God, but also questioned God's love for His children. Kenson wondered "Were You sad when You took my leg from me? Why would You do that to me?" We were able to explain that sometimes God does things that we don't understand. But it's ALWAYS for the best. God knows what we need and wants to bless us! He wants us to be happy! And believe it or not, He WAS sad when you lost your leg. He did cry when you cried.

It was a really cool conversation and because he did lose his leg, he was able to stay in America, he was adopted by a nice lady, and now he is going to college. He's a really cool guy. We didn't set up a specific time to come back, but hopefully after his finals we can stop by and teach him more.

Now, to the not as exciting people we met...

The men who fell in love with Sister Kramer:

Jay: Jay is a guy who has an eidetic memory. He talked NON STOP for at least 45 minutes. He talked about all the languages knows, all the places he has visited, all the books he has read about religion, the Jewish religion, his job, his house, everything. I'm pretty sure he didn't breathe. Because there were NO pauses so we could break in and say something like "Well it was nice to meet you, thanks for talking to us! Have a good night!" No. None of that. And that's not all. I noticed about 5 minutes in that he wasn't looking at me. Not at all. His gaze was focused on Sister Kramer the WHOLE time. I was completely invisible. I could have dropped dead and he wouldn't have noticed. I was tempted to try it out and just run away. But I resisted. I'm pretty good, in general, at being invisible, but this was more invisible than I have ever felt EVER. It was such an odd experience. At one point he looked at Sister Kramer and said "Wow, your eyes are so pretty. I had an uncle that had gold flecks in his eyes like yours." (I got a picture of her eye so you could see) So, he was captivated by her eyes I guess. He also at one point was talking about DNA and how if her DNA were a little bit different she would be a dolphin. But she "would be a beautiful dolphin." hahahahaha. Some people are SO odd. But we figured he just needed someone to talk to.

Sister Kramer's eye.

Dave: This guy we met a few weeks ago and had a great conversation and he wanted a church tour. but then we had to reschedule it and then he bailed on that one too. Then we got this text from him: "Sorry I didn't get back to you last night about coming to church. I spent the night in Olympia. That's where I'll be soon. My life is moving fast, and I'm always working. I don't even have time for a personal life right now. You're very pretty, and very sweet, and it was nice being able to speak with you and the other sister (me)... it was the only contact I've had with a girl in months. I just don't seem to be making it to church any time soon. Sorry for seemingly wasting your time."

JR: This guy told us he would try to come to church. Then after church yesterday we got this text (after confirming that Sister Kramer was the one reading the text): "I just wanted to let you know you are very beautiful and it may have been god's will that you knocked on my door. I just felt a good vibe from you maybe we should meet up sometime to talk more." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? This is out of hand.

I think I must be more invisible than I thought. Even though I talk just as much as Sister Kramer.

We told Dave to look for the missionaries in Olympia, and then we texted JR and told him that we are Missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that we have dedicated this time to share a message about Jesus Christ. We told him that if he was looking to build his relationship with Jesus Christ that WE, TWO OF US, could meet with him, but that we are not dating right now.

ANTI-Mormon preacher people:

Shay: He spent a long time telling us why the Book of Mormon is evil because it is "adding on" to the Bible which Revelations warns about. (If this is something you struggle with go read "My Words Never Cease" by Jeffrey R. Holland) while we were knocking on other doors, I guess he found our car and put the last page of the bible on our windshield.

Marcos: He talked forever about how unless we begin speaking in tongues we haven't received the Holy Spirit.

Sherry: She listed off a bunch of things that she thinks we believe. She said "You believe this and that is wrong because of this. And you believe this and it's wrong because of this." So we told her that she wasn't correct on most of the things and then said, but we respect your beliefs, we hope you have a nice day. We finished by asking if she knows of anyone who IS looking to build that relationship with Christ and she said "No, but even if I did I wouldn't tell YOU." The way she said things was politely rude. She goes to the church right next to ours that preaches anti-Mormon sermons.

Jim: He started out by asking a few questions, and as we explained he acted more confused. I caught on pretty fast that he knew what he was doing and figured he was either already Mormon, or anti. Then he started going off about our perspective on Heaven and Hell, and that we filter the gospel of Christ, and that OUR Jesus is different from HIS Jesus. Which is dumb. I don't know why so many people think that. He told us that we are sinners and that we think we can earn our way to heaven. I told him that Faith without works is dead. Then he told us at the end that unless we give up this "Mormon stuff" we will be going to Hell and he said "I will pray that you will get a witness that what you are doing is wrong"

We met like 6 people just this week who thought it was their job to convert us to their religions. And we also met about a bajillion other rude people.

I started to get a little discouraged and on one day after walking up the 20th ridiculously long and bumpy driveway in the heat, with blisters on my feet, being rejected over and over and over, I started to doubt my testimony a little bit. I wondered "How DO I know that this church is true? How do I know the Book of Mormon is true? Do I just believe it because I've been raised to believe it? I've never really looked into any other churches, so how do I KNOW?" I hate admitting that, but those are the thoughts that were going through my mind. It is SO true that discouragement weakens your faith. Because I was discouraged.

I thought about this a lot, I kind of sunk deep into my thoughts and had so many things filtering through my mind. By the end of the night though, when I had cooled down, taken off my shoes, and started writing in my journal I remembered and I wrote down:

"Now I can think clearly and I remember that I love the Book of Mormon. I know it's true because it helps me to feel loved, to feel hope, and to learn. I know there are modern prophets because I have heard them and following their teachings makes life better and easier. I know the priesthood is real because I've received blessings. I've been healed and comforted from them. Everything in this gospel makes sense and I KNOW it is true."

This morning I read Alma 30 about Korihor the Anti-Christ, and I applied it to myself. Korihor told the people all sorts of lies. Just like people do about this church now. He tricked them into thinking they were in bondage and that there was no God. When Alma asked if he believed in God he said there was no proof that there is a God. "How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ." (v 15) Later, Alma said "I say unto you, I know there is a God, and also that Christ shall come. And now, what evidence have ye that there is no God, or that Christ cometh not? I say unto you that ye have none, save it be your word only. But, behold, I have all things as a testimony that these things are true" (39-41)

"Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of I, yea, and also al the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (44)

There are certain things that we need to be SURE we have a testimony of:

1. You need to KNOW that there is a God. That can't be a doubt. Follow the example of Alma and look around you at all the evidence that there is a God. And that that God is your Heavenly Father and that He loves you.

2. You need to KNOW that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. That through Him and ONLY HIM, you can be saved and return to that God that loves you so much. You need to have a testimony that He lived and died for you, and that His Atonement covers every sin and weakness that you have.

3. You need to KNOW that the gospel of Jesus Christ has literally been restored to the earth through Joseph Smith. That the Priesthood is on the earth again and that through that Priesthood power we can follow the example of Jesus Christ and make those covenants with God that will help us to return to Him.

4. You need to KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true. "Just as the arch crumbles if the keystone is removed, so does all the Church stand or fall with the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. The enemies of the Church understand this clearly. This is why they go to such great lengths to try to disprove the Book of Mormon, for if it can be discredited, the Prophet Joseph Smith goes with it. So does our claim to priesthood keys, and revelation, and the restored Church. But in like manner, if the Book of Mormon be true -- and millions have now testified that they have the witness of the Spirit that it is indeed true-- then one must accept the claims of the Restoration and all that accompanies it." (PMG page 104)

These are not beliefs that can be borrowed from our parents, leaders, or friends. These are truths that you MUST know for yourself. There are people who are tricky and will try to make you doubt. But if you have a rock solid testimony in these four things then nothing and no one can shake you.

(I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.)

I love you all!

Please send me conversion stories (and by conversion stories I mean: How did you get your testimony to where it is now?)

Love,

Sister Warburton

More Pictures!!

You would not believe how tan I've gotten, considering I'm in Washington "The sunless state"