Quick before I forget, I have a
NEW MISSION OFFICE ADDRESS!!!:
460 Kreag Rd
Pittsford, NY 14534
Anyway, about my week... HARRY GOT BAPTIZED this week! The ward was super supportive and even though we had to have it early on a Saturday morning the Relief Society room was packed. Lots of people participated and Yaneri was awesome and brought like 4 non-member friends who we hope to keep in touch with. It was so touching to see him making that covenant with the Lord and how that is going to bless him and his family. They are planning on the temple in a year and I want to be there! Sister Brown and I are already making travel plans ;) It's amazing because I've only been in Buffalo for 3 weeks now but I already have so much love for that family. After the baptism, we got to travel out to the sites with their family. We saw the Hill Cumorah and Visitors Center, the Joseph Smith Farm and the Sacred Grove, and the temple grounds. The Spirit was strong and it was cool to see how it affected him. He has a testimony of this gospel! After his confirmation on Sunday, I could see a difference in him. He has been cleansed, changed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And he is now a member of His church! It just makes me think of our family and how happy I am that mom and dad have always based our family on the gospel. It really does bring the biggest blessings and peace.
Aside from the baptism, it really has been a week of miracles. Either Sister Brown or I (or usually both) have been sick every day this week, and we got cancelled on for the majority of our appointments. In fact, EVERY appointment for three days in a row. BUT the Lord had a better plan, and it has been amazing to see Him go to work in our area. We are working hard on talking to more people every day, because we have been promised by our mission leaders that as we work towards talking to 10 new people EVERY day, we will start finding at least 3 new investigators a week and having 1 baptism each month. The Lord is really placing people in our path and as we are trying to do our simple part, He is providing miracles. Even though we were sick and busy with the baptism, we had more referrals, new investigators, and "other" lessons taught this week than any week in my whole mission. I am still not really sure how that happened, but I think last Tuesday night is a good example.
We had planned to try to contact an investigator named Bill last Tuesday, and he wasn't home. We decided to try to contact a potential investigator in the same community, and he wasn't home either. BUT we did find Bill, and taught him in his front yard. AND we found a new investigator who was standing in his driveway across the street from the potential's. And talked to another 3 people we hadn't anticipated finding. If Bill had been home when we first got there, we might not have found Mel (driveway man). A couple days later, we realized we hadn't knocked any doors and were running out of time. We had set a goal to knock at least 5 doors a day, even on days full of appointments. We turned down a random street, thinking no one would be home in the early afternoon, and we found a new investigator and another young man who we can follow up with in the future. We ended up having to leave after 4 doors, running late to an appointment but grateful for the guidance we'd been given.
Hope all is going well with the family. Sarah, I'm proud of you! You're going to do great in college! Actually, I'm proud of all of you. Thanks for your examples to me of putting the gospel frist in your lives. I know that when we put the Lord first, everything else gets taken care of. My favorite scripture of the week is 3 Nephi 13:34. He really will take care of us when we trust Him. I love you all!
Love,
Sister Schank
