Taking on Tacoma: One Year in WASHINGTON!

Hey Everyone! Happy Monday again!

The sun came out today so life is good. :)

We had a really great week this week! We were able to see lots of success as we worked hard and did everything we could to be exactly obedient. We're pretty bad at doing everything exactly right, but I definitely noticed lots of blessings as we tried.

We were able to find about 6 new investigators this week. I'm not sure how solid they all are... but the more new investigators we have and the more people we invite the more that will accept the gospel... right? :) There are at least two of those six who are really great. :)

Michelle, is living with a member of the ward and she was investigating the church about a year ago, but then they made her feel like she was being pushed and the missionaries stopped coming. They came to church again a few weeks ago and we found out she wasn't a member so we hopped right onto that and visited them. We really feel like she is much more ready now. She came to 9 am church on her own yesterday even though her boyfriend didn't really feel like coming that early. Then he came to church at 11:30 for the other ward and she decided to stay for that one too. A bunch of people already know her at church. (That's the thing about Elma. Everyone here has lived here for generations, and everyone knows everyone. Also, almost everyone is related somehow.) She's super sweet, we love people that keep their commitments. Also, her daughter, and the son of her boyfriend both also want to be baptized. So. We will definitely encourage THAT desire. :)

Another new investigator that we found is Timothy. He didn't come to church, but we did teach him the restoration on the doorstep when we knocked into him, and he was super nice and genuine. And he was really impressed by how excited we all were to tell him about the gospel. He especially liked Sister Cox's testimony and thought it was amazing that she got teary eyed talking about the 1st vision. So, he decided to try it out. He came on a church tour last night and we showed him the classrooms and the chapel and the font and answered his questions and invited him to be baptized on March 12th. (Which also, I just found out, happens to be my Dad's 39th anniversary of joining the church, and I wouldn't be here now if missionaries hadn't knocked on his door 39 years ago. So, that's pretty cool)

He wants to be baptized if he knows that it's true, so please keep him in your prayers! :)

Some random things: we drove by a guy that was walking what looked like a wolf. I told Sasser "I think that was a wolf!" And she wasn't sure. But then we had to get gas and the guy walked past and his dog TOTALLY looked like a wolf, so being the missionaries that we are, with the ability to talk to anyone, we asked him. And then he spend 30 minutes telling us about his wolf-dog that was born in the wild to a wolf, but has been raised as a pet! So cool! She was beautiful and huge, and when a cop drove by with it's siren, the wolf-dog HOWLED.

Also, on Saturday, James, a recent convert invited us over for waffles (Sister Sasser asked him for waffles) when we got there, he had a sign that said "Welcome to waffle shop!" and then we went inside and he had a table set up with menu's on the table and he was wearing a hat! He took our order and then made waffles for us! It was so fun! I love when people take the time to do fun things like that for us. It really made our week.

Other crazy things: on Friday, we did service at the food bank. And then afterwards the sister missionaries in Shelton were going to be here so we could go on exchanges. Well, while we were heading to our apartment to meet them, we got a voicemail from President Blatter saying that he needed us to call him back as soon as possible. So we did and he told us that he needed Sister Cox to pack up her stuff and be in Olympia by 3 pm. (This was around noon) And that she would be transferred to the Olympia 1/5 area. Soooo that threw quite the curve ball into our plans. The Shelton sisters were almost there, so we just decided to let them come and we decided that I would drive one of them and Sister Cox to Olympia, while Sister Sasser stayed with the other sister. So, we packed up Sister Cox's stuff (it amazingly only took about half an hour. Give her a few more months in the mission and it won't be even close to that easy to pack all of her belongings!)

So, we drove to Olympia and dropped Sister Cox off and I was very tempted to visit a few members there, but I decided to be obedient. (I served in Olympia 4ish transfers ago.)

Then Sister Lee (the sister I was on exchanges with) and I drove back and got back to work. We had a great time knocking doors. She's SUPER bold, and doesn't care at all about what people think. It was so fun to invite people to be baptized and to hear them say "Oh, I've already been baptized" and then watch her as she said "Would you be baptized again?"

In my mind, I would think people would get mad or offended at that but they never did! They would stop and then say.... well, yeah, I guess... if it was true.

And then we'd bear our testimonies that we know that it is true. It was pretty cool.

We got some of our new investigators that way...we'll see what those people bring when we meet with them next week. :)

I expect lots of miracles this coming week. Sister Sasser goes home a week from Wednesday, so this is her last week as a missionary. And it's important that we make it a good one!

So, be prepared for some amazing miracles! :)

I read Alma 7 this week and I really like how it helps us to understand what the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ can do for us. I especially liked verse 15 which says,

"I say unto you, come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism."

This applies to all of us. Especially the part that says, "LAY ASIDE EVERY SIN, WHICH DOTH EASILY BESET YOU." GIVE IT UP. Is it worth it to hold onto those things that are holding you back? We have a loving Heavenly Father and all He wants is for ALL of His children to return to Him. We have so much potential, it's incredible! And when we hold onto those little things that bring us down, we are giving up so much! It's not worth it!

So, those are my two cents.

I love ya'll!

Have a wonderful, sunshine-y week! I hope we all get to see lots of miracles and tender mercies along the way!

Love, Sister Warburton