Tamarye

It's been another great week.  Miracles.  We found five new investigators! In Kentlands!  The average last transfer was .5 (that's point five) per week.  Amazing.  Heavenly Father is SO GOOD to us, because I know this truly was a gift from Him, and none of our doing.  One is a former named Habilba from Sierra Leone who has already been taught everything she needs to know before baptism.  We're still going to go through all of the lessons, but this time it will be with her children as well.  She reminds me of Kadie, and she even has one girl and two boys, just like Kadie.  I love looking at how the Lord has prepared me for certain people.  Then, three of the five are from Iran.  There's Fred, his wife Sheri, and her brother Alex.  We might teach Fred's and Sheri's son as well, but for now it's the three.  All have very diverse religious beliefs, so it will be an interesting challenge, but Fred told us that we are the first missionaries he's let in his house in three years.  His wife, Sheri, is a former, and missionaries have always tried to check on her, but Fred hasn't trusted any of them enough to let them in.  So that's a miracle as well.  We'll see how this goes because Fred's atheist, Sheri's Muslim, and Alex is Christian.  It will definitely be a good growing experience.  The last one of the five new investigators is Brother Martin, a referral from the assistants.  They were driving down this road one day, and one of them saw a black man and said, "Hey, we should go check on him." The other one laughed, but then really felt prompted that they should go, so they did, and now he's a new investigator that they want us to teach.  He has family that may be interested as well, and we should be meeting them tonight, so we'll keep you posted on that.

Then there's Samuel, a new investigator from a few weeks ago.  He's been out of town, but we had the chance to meet his wife this past week.  He had told us previously that she went was 'Jehovah's Witness' and every time we called the number he gave us to set an appointment, it was her voice on the answering machine, so we were a little nervous to leave a message.  We finally stopped by, however, and she answered the door.  I was pretty nervous, but trying to be faithful, then I hear some of the first words out of her mouth, "Thank you for finding my husband!  Anything you can do to help him come back to God would be great.  You're welcome to teach our family anytime."  What a miracle! So, he's supposed to be coming back into town and we'll get to see him and his family soon.  We're so excited.

And........Tamarye got baptized!  And I'm a terrible daughter/niece/friend/cousin and forgot yet again to bring my camera with the pictures, but oh my, he's adorable.  He's 9 and already has such a strong testimony.  The baptism was so peaceful.  (Despite the fact the we forgot to tell Tamarye's sister about her talk..haha...oops.  And we forgot to tell Tamarye to bring a towel....tee hee...poor guy.)  But the Spirit was still so strong!  Favorite parts: Tamarye talked about why he wanted to get baptized and he said it was because he wanted the Holy Ghost, and to be a good example to his 4 year old sister, and to be with his family for forever.  Then after the baptism, Bishop Burton had all of the family sit in a little circle on the front row, then he pulled up a chair and sat in front of them.  He started with Tamarye and told him of his vision for  him.  He said that he saw him getting the Aaronic Preisthood when he was 12, then getting the Melchezidek Preisthood when he was 19 and going on a mission.  Then he saw him getting married in the temple and having an eternal family of his own.  I thought it might be a lot for a little 9 year old boy to handle, but Tamarye was just nodding his head and smiling the whole time like he already knew.  Then Bishop went to Tamarye's sisters, then to his mom who just got married, and talked about his vision for each of them.  Then he said, "And here's my vision for myself.  I see myself kneeling at the Savior's feet one day, telling Him that I did my best, and thanking Him for everything that He's done for me."  Then he got a little emotional, looked at Tamarye, and said, "Let's make it there together."  There was such a sweet spirit in that room.  It was beautiful. 

And to top that all off, JOHN DYER IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!   You remember Audrey that I taught and loved and learned from at the beginning of my mission?  Well, John is her husband and he's finally decided to take the step.  BAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  Sister Lewis called me at the VC last night to tell me and I almost exploded because I couldn't yell or scream or jump around, but I was SO HAPPY!!!!  And I still am.  My goodness, I love the Dyers.  Now, I just have to figure out a way to convince President to let me go to that baptism.  Prayers on behalf of this cause would be appreciated.  :]

Love you all!  Stay true to what's eternal.

-Sister Welch

Just the Weekly

Teaching 2 less active families who now want to go to the temple.  They both are young families, with kids, so it will be a blast to teach them and help them progress.

Seeing Sister Morotti being inspired with a scripture that made a member cry.  I love seeing growth, especially in the sisters I serve with, and it was very rewarding to see her receive that inspiration and then to see the fruits of her listening to the Spirit.  (By the way, the scripture was D&C 98:1-4).

Decorating for Tamarye's Mom's wedding.  (Tamarye is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!) Decorating, I've decided is the best type of service.  Much better than helping big families move into a three story house.  :]

The wedding! It was held in the Relief Society room, and it strengthened my testimony of the temple, interestingly enough.  I'm so grateful that I get to serve next to the House of the Lord every week, and have that reminder to stay worthy.

Why I Believe!  This was probably my favorite part of the week.  Kadie (who got baptized on Aug. 26) was one of the speakers.  She told her story and it was incredible to hear again how she found the church, and changed her life because of the peace she felt.  Ema Munu (the recent convert who just went through the temple) was there too, as well as Ike.  He was confirmed on Sunday, and he was glowing as well.  Ah! I never wanted to leave.  These people are just good, good people. 

And then we've been busy with appointments.  Such a blessing, especially in this area. 

Zone Conference was Monday, and it was wonderful.  Can't describe it.  I wish you all could just experience one.

And there's the week.  Sorry it's fast.  Love you all!

Stay true to what's eternal.

-Sister Welch

A Drop for an Act of Kindness

I'm not sure why, but I've had cheesy 90's church music in my head all morning.  I must be a missionary or something.

Anyway, this past week has been incredible.  I'll go backwards starting with yesterday. 

I went on an exchange with Sister Bleazard to the Spanish program!  It was a blast.  I surprised myself by actually understanding most of the lessons.  I think it helped that I know how missionaries teach and that I could probably teach the Restoration lesson is my sleep, so it wasn't too hard to follow.  We had a full day in the area, with no appointments, and we ended up teaching Bairo, Lita, Stephanie and Junior, and Andres.  Amazing.  It was our first lesson with Andres and he wants to be baptized.  Bairo was sitting at the park close to us while we were eating lunch, so we just walked up to him and started talking.  We taught about the Book of Mormon, and after we left, we looked back and he had it open and was reading already.  Lita is Peruvian and we also taught the Restoration with her, and Stephanie is a recent convert (Junior's her husband) that the sisters haven't been able to contact in weeks.  Miracles and miracles.

The day before that was Sunday.  Kadie and Yvonne came to church.  We heart attacked them on Saturday (which by the way, when I said to Sister Lin, "Let's heart attack Kadie!" she was very concerned for both Kadie and me) and they loved it.  They loved church as well and fit in with the ward perfectly.  We had taken a member named Sylvia with us to our last appointment, and that was perfect as well.  It was just what Kadie needed because she was able to open up, and these young moms were able to relate and strengthen each other, so they were excited to be at church together.  This is why we need the members.  They help so much!

On Saturday, we went to check on Blessing, the 17 year old referral that Bishop gave us.  We sit down and the first thing that comes out of her mouth is, "So I've read about 10 chapters from the Book of Mormon and I want to know what the difference is between it and the Bible because they seem like the same thing.  They just talk about Jesus!"  Then five minutes later her next question was, "Why don't any churches today have a prophet and apostles like Jesus' church did?"  I really wanted to ask her, "Who are you?!" No one ever asks questions like that, especially when they're 17.  She is super prepared, and should be getting baptized on the 26th. 

Friday we were at the VC all day.  I met a man who had joined the church 10 years ago after reading the Book of Mormon in 3 days.  He completely changed his life, and he was at the temple to start doing the work for his family.  He was so excited to hear that I could call his family and friends, that he gave me the names of all of his siblings to call and ask if I could send the missionaries to them.  I got a hold of one of his brothers yesterday, and he said that he'd love to have the missionaries stop by.  Ah! I love prepared people! (I wish I could say how exciting it is when miracles like this happen!  I don't know how though.  Do you feel the joy of this missionary work? Sometimes it's so hard to get it across in emails, but this week has been INCREDIBLE!)

Thursday we saw Ike.  He's G.O.L.D.  He asked us when he could be baptized, then if he was getting baptized in a river or if he could be baptized in a church somewhere.  And THEN he asked us how many times he had to come to church before he could be baptized.  Honestly.  Who knows about things like that?!  That whole lesson with him was one of the most spiritual experiences I've had on my mission....mostly thanks to Sister Lin.  She's full of the Spirit, that one is.

Wednesday was our amazing lesson with Kadie and Sylvia (member present).  We brought a shoe covered with mud (because that seems to be an easy thing to find in my closet for some reason) and talked about how our bodies are temples and we need to keep them clean.  Before we taught Kadie's family, I've never been able to think of so many object lessons.  We're teaching her again today about Baptism, Confirmation, and the Word of Wisdom.  Pray for us.

Well, I think I'm caught up on our week.  I want to start including Sister Lin quotes, but I'm out of time for today. 

I love you all!!!

Stay true to what's eternal.

Love, Sister Welch

My Journal Should Be My Area Book

I used to be so good at writing in my journal but that seemed to stop
as soon as I came on a mission.  Hmmm.  Something is not right about
that.  I've thought about it and realized that my time at night is
spent updating teaching and progress records.  And I really have
thought about making copies of them and then gluing them in my journal
so that I remember that I actually did something on my mission, but
we'll see.

Anyway, Quince Orchard, Sister Gros and I are all doing fantastic.
Susan and Sabir are getting baptized this Saturday!!!  Sabir talked to
his Mom last night and told us this morning that she is completely
fine with him making this choice.  It was such a relief to hear,
because when we met with him on Monday, he was extremely nervous
about talking to her, and frankly, we didn't blame him.  It makes me
laugh to think about it now because he was telling us that whenever
they have to have a serious conversation, he likes to stand, but she
wants him to sit close to her, but he gets so nervous that when he
looks at her it's like she's moving farther and farther away, and the
longer he looks at her the smaller her head seems to get.  Poor guy.
He really was nervous.  But because we're nerdy missionaries and know
the best way to help him is to have him practice, we role-played with
him. :]  It certainly was good entertainment for us and good practice
for him.  We asked him if he felt better afterward and he said, "Yeah,
but I just know my mom's head is going to do that shrinking thing
again."  It was REALLY hard not to laugh.  But he did seem to feel
calmer and better prepared.  The rest of the lesson he couldn't stop
smiling and asked us if the interview was going to be serious or if he
could smile during it.  We told him he couldn't smile.  And he got a
really scared look on his face...until we couldn't take it and just
started laughing.  I don't think he would have been able to stop
smiling even if we told him too.

Susan is very excited as well and is more worried about things like
what to wear, who to invite, etc.  She should have some friends coming
that aren't members and we're praying that her parents come as well.

One thing I'm looking forward to is being able to spend two days a
week with Tracy and Anthony.  We haven't had that time to give to them
lately, (it's just been one appointment a week and daily phone calls)
but now that her husband seems to be expressing a little interest, and
they're letting a friend (Brian) stay with them, we should be able to
help them progress more quickly.  They've invited us for dinner
tonight and we're going to go over the Family Proclamation afterwards.
We're excited.

Other funny story.  Last week we met a referral given to us from a
family in our ward.  His name is Josh, he's in his thirties, has two
little boys, is going through a divorce.  He's had a really rough time
lately and told us that he's been questioning the purpose/point to
life and if God is really there and told us that we came at the right
time for him.  He opened up easily and we were just talking to him on
his porch when it starts POURING only like it can in Maryland.  Within
two seconds my shoes/clothes/hair were soaked.  We tried to crowd
under the porch and block it with our umbrellas, but it was coming
down too hard.  But, because we're missionaries, and persistent, we
kept talking so that we could set up an appointment and he just yells
above the rain, "Go home!  We'll talk later! Why are you still here?!"
And we yell back, "Because it's true!"  Then we set up an appointment
really fast and he goes back inside while we dash into the rain.  Now,
to explain the rest of this story: sometimes the "missionary joy" is
just too much to keep inside, and sometimes Sister Welch doesn't watch
where she's running and jumps in a puddle and water goes all the way
up her leg, and sometimes a person just has to scream and laugh.  And
that's what happened.  But that's a normal day, so we just kept
running back to our car, and thought nothing of it.  A couple of days
later however, Josh calls us to reschedule and we talk for a couple of
minutes until he says, "Remember that night when you two came over and
it started raining?  Well, I heard you screaming and laughing as you
were running away and I thought, 'That's what I'm missing!' I need
that back in my life."  Oh boy.  How embarrassing.  I almost told him
that all he needed to do was to jump in an enormous puddle and he'd
feel better, but... I didn't.  Instead I apologized that he had to
hear me acting like a 5 year old and told him we'd talk during our
lesson about how to get that joy back in his life.  That is what the
gospel's about.

Stay true to what's eternal.

Love, Sister Welch

Happy Day, All is Well . . .

I cannot believe it is possible to be this happy!!!

Audrey was baptized on Saturday and it honestly was one of the happiest days of my mission and one of the most fulfilling days of my life.  She was glowing.  Sister Hazen and I went back together and it felt almost like we were going home.  Neither of us had been back since we served there together and then here we were, companions again, going back to Olney.  When we walked into the church, John was the first person we saw and he was almost glowing as much as Audrey was.  We asked him how he was and he said, "Wonderful.  I couldn't be happier for her."  He then told us that he'd been trying for months to get her baptized and he was glad that she finally had listened to him.

 It makes me laugh to know that John was on our side the whole time and I know he'll come along soon.  What a day that will be when he is baptized and when we can come back and go to their sealing!

The program at the baptism was beautiful.  We probably had half the ward packed into the gym and I smiled thinking, "This is how it should be."  Sister Corina Miller, one of Audrey's fellowshippers and a convert herself, said the opening prayer, and then Sister Chris Willis (the friend/neighbor to introduce her to the church) spoke about baptism.  Then Brother Willis performed the baptism.  Words cannot express how joyful that moment was when I watched Audrey make that covenant.  She finally did it! I wish I could put into words all of the prayers, and studies, and thoughts, and notes, and lessons, and encouragement that we gave to her so that you could understand how miraculous this day was.  But there's just no way to say how much Audrey means to me and how much it meant to see her "enter in at the gate."  Oh my.  Happy, happy day.

And on that same day I got to see Erin.  She was the little miracle I had during festival of lights that just walked up to me and asked if we could talk.  She's 18 and is dating the RM and was taking the lessons.  Well, now she's getting baptized too!

Sabir=Incredible.  Here are some Sabir quotes:

"The Book of Mormon is amazing."

and

"I told my brother we're like Nephi and Sam in our family."

and

"I already repent daily."

and

"I gave up coffee a long time ago and I'm so much happier now."

and many more.  Sometimes I don't think this is real life.  But it is!

And Sabir introduced us to his brother Quadir (they're twins, hence the names), and Quadir is just as golden as his brother.  Pray that they'll both be ready for the 10th of March.  We're sure they will be!

And Susan is Susan. Which means she's wonderful and happy and has so much faith!

And Tracy.  Wow.  I don't know where to start with this one.  We have had quite the week with Tracy.  I sadly don't have time to go into details, but I know without any doubt that Heavenly Father loves His children and notices even the details of our lives and our needs.

Tracy is evidence of this.  I have never felt Heavenly Father's love for someone so powerfully as I've felt it for Tracy.  She has, by far, the most excruciating challenges and life I've ever heard of, but Heavenly Father knows her, and loves her, and wants her to succeed and she WILL.  Please keep her and Anthony in your prayers.  She needs to feel those angels around her.

Oh, and one last thing.  I saw Sheri!!!  The Elders brought her to the VC and that woman is amazing too.  After her knee surgery she wasn't supposed to walk for a few months, but she had so much faith in her blessing that she's walking all over the place now.  Wow.  Her baptism is the 4th of March.

Miracles, miracles.

The Church is true.

Stay true to what's eternal.

Love, Sister Welch

P.S. Mom, could you send me the instructions on how to fix dry wall?

One of our investigators had a little accident that resulted in a giant hole in their dining room wall.  Oops...  Thank you!

Baptism!!!

DANEIL WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!   

It was incredible.  There were a few bumps in the road, but she made it, and the baptismal service went perfectly.  On Friday, we were supposed to meet with her and finish up the last few principles in lesson four, but she was sick and couldn't meet.  That scared me to death, but it worked out that she could come to the Visitors' Center in the morning on Saturday.  We taught her, she had her interview with Elder DeKlerk, and then she went home with Drew (Ward Mission Leader) and Katie to get ready for the baptism.  After our shift at the Visitors' Center we raced down to the church, and helped her finish getting ready.  It was so exciting to see her in that white jump suit! We took a lot of pictures which I'll have to send you.  She's such a goofball, and took pictures with her program in front of her, like a prison number....just because she was in a jumpsuit.  What a character.  The program itself was great.  Holly Weaver, a member in the ward that has taken Daneil under her wing, gave a talk on Baptism, I played the piano and prayed, Sister Hazen talked on the Holy Ghost, and Katie said the closing prayer.  Elder DeKlerk was the one who baptized her, which was a neat experience for him, because it was his last week in the mission.  As soon as Daneil came up out of the water, she said, "Was that it?" and Elder DeKlerk said, "Yup."  Then Daneil's like, "Well, that was fun!" And then as we wrapped the towel around her in the jumpsuit she said, "I smell something fresh," and Sister Hazen and I both said at the same time, "It's you!"  Daneil was apparently talking about the fabric softener, but at that point she was even more clean than the jumpsuit.  We laughed pretty hard at that.

Then that night we took her to the Relief Society Broadcast, and the dinner the stake put on.  It was just what she needed.  She met some great women in our ward, and she got to hear how Relief Society was established, about charity, and about covenants, when she had just made a covenant.  I couldn't have planned the Broadcast better.  Oh, and this was funny too.  During one of the talks, I don't remember which one, they showed Minerva Teichart's painting of Christ with all of the sheep.  We noticed that all of the sheep around him were white, but the one he was holding was black.  Holly leaned over to Daneil and whispered, "See, Jesus loves black people too!"  We all lost it and I probably didn't hear the next two minutes of that talk because we were all so focused on trying to not laugh out loud.  Holly is so good for Daneil.  She loves being teased.  That night, we also gave her a CTR ring and she's worn it every day since.  It fits her perfectly.

On Sunday she was confirmed, and on Monday she came to dinner and FHE with us.  It's so exciting to see how far she's come, and how quickly we loved her.  When we first met her, I thought, "She could be a missionary one day." And who knows! Maybe she will be.

As for the rest of the week, there was so much that happened!  I don't know where to start. 

Aunt Sylvia - I met your friend Jenny Williams and her family! They stopped by at the Visitors' Center and we chatted for a little bit.  They are such a sweet family and I gave her a hug for you.

To all of the Whitney Ranch Ward Members - Thank you for that beautiful card! It made my day and I'm so grateful for all of the prayers and support.  I love you all!

Also, transfers were today!  I had a lot of mixed emotions because it was so hard to see Sister Hazen leave, but I'm so excited about my new companion: Sister Withers!  She was actually companions with Sister Hazen in the MTC.  One thing I love about the VC is that I know all of the Sisters and I'm already friends with the people I'll be serving with.  Sister Withers is from Rigby, Idaho.  She's down-to-earth, very honest, and we've already been laughing so much.  She's sarcastic in the best way, and she'll be so good for the people we're teaching with.  I can tell already that she's fearless, and has a good grasp on the eternal perspective.  It's going to be an awesome transfer.

I wish I had more time to talk about our investigators, but I will tell you this, really quick.  We had committed Audrey to live like she was getting baptized last weekend (like I told you) and I followed up with her at the baptism.  She said she had gone 3 days out of the 6.  And usually I'm not this bold, but I told her, "Well, I know that if you had gone all 6 days you would have gotten your answer."  And she knew it too!!!  She could have gone all 6, but she's just being a turkey and holding herself back.  She did tell us, however, that she and John have planned a trip to Palmyra in November because she wants to go to the sacred grove.  She's already acting like a member, for heaven's sake! And I love her despite her stubbornness; she's so much fun to teach and I learn every time we teach her.  And I always leave her house feeling at peace.  She'll make it, it will just be in her time and the Lord's time.

I love you all.  Stay strong.

-Sister Welch

Editors note:  The day this was posted on Katherine's blog, the quote of the day was

"If you have God on your side, everything becomes clear."  Ayrton Senna

Daneil

I can't wait to tell you this news!!!!  Daneil is getting baptized this Saturday!!!!  I'm so excited for her, (can you tell?).  I don't think I've even written about her that much, except to mention her, so this email is going to be about her, mostly. 

She's from Jamaica, like I said before, and her Dad passed away when she was fairly young.  She lives here with her "Auntie" and cousin, and the rest of her family lives back home.  She works as a nanny, and she is such an incredible girl.  She's a miracle.  So here's the story.

A couple of weeks ago, we were checking on some referrals that the elders had given us, and Daneil wasn't home, but we ended up leaving a sticky-note on her door with our number and names and a note.  The next week, we were visiting some less actives that lived in her apartment complex when our phone rang.  Usually we don't answer during appointments, but it was pretty casual, so we answered the phone.  It was Daneil.  And she wanted to come over, and she lived two floors right above where we were sitting at that moment.  Not a coincidence.  So we ran up there, and scheduled an appointment with her for later that week.  

When we went back for her appointment, she was outside waiting for us, and as soon as we went up to her, she just started bawling.  Apparently her cousin had not been very kind that day, and then Daneil's whole life story came out, and the three of us had this instant connection.  We spent a lot of time just getting to know her before we taught anything.  We actually asked her if she wanted to learn about God's plan for her first, or the Book of Mormon (since the Elders had given her one).  She said the Book of Mormon, so that's where we started.  She just laughed at us the whole time we were teaching, and didn't want to answer questions, or believe anything we said, so I wasn't sure how this was going to end up.  But when we called the next day to see if she'd read, she had.  And that was the beginning of her keeping commitments. 

She's incredible.  When we asked her to live the Word of Wisdom, she stopped drinking alcohol, coffee, and tea that day and replaced them with warm milk, which she said was a good substitute, even though I can't imagine drinking warm milk.  Bleh.  When we were teaching the Law of Chastity and about how important it is to be modest, she said she was going to stop wearing her mini skirts, and she asked us if she should take out her second piercing.  We didn't even mention earrings!!!  Plus she's stopped listening to some of her music that "makes her feel bad."  She's just so observant, and so prepared.  And she's excited to be baptized.  This is how it should be.

Some of my favorite texts from Daneil:

"Translate: wa gwaan? Wa unu a do? wen mi a si unu again? Good luck, lol!"

After asking here where she was in her BofM reading:

"Testimonies of that man i don't remember his name and i dont have it ith me now, but I keep thinking he is moses but its not. lol."  (Referring to Joseph Smith)

"I feel so good after reading at nights"

"R u guys ok? Just checkin, haven't read from u all day."  (Haha.  It's pretty bad when your investigators contact you.  But good that she expects daily contact, right?)

"I just read and i feel great."

She is great!  And I wish I had time to write down all of the funny things she's said, like not to mention the "B-word" in front of her Auntie, she hates white clothes (which may be a problem this weekend...), and she's not excited about wearing a jumpsuit "like the hillbillys."  Just some of the many sassy comments we get from her.  But oh, am I'm so, so excited for this weekend. 

By the way, Sister Matsumori (the mission president's wife) came teaching with us this week because we're SO busy.  Last week we really did not have time to meet with all of our investigators, and we're thinking about going on splits this week.  It's crazy, and I love it!

We asked Audrey to live this week like she was getting baptized on Saturday.  We're sure she hasn't received an answer yet because she hasn't taken that step of faith into the dark. She just needs to live what she knows she should, and after the trial of her faith, the miracle will come.  She said she'd do it, and I can't wait to get the call from her this week that she got her answer. 

Transfers are next week.  I'm pretty sure I'm staying, but I'll let you know.  Love you all!!!

-Sister Welch

P.S. Madison - thanks for the ice cream!!!  I loved it.  It made my day. 

       Tegan - you've been married for over a week!!! Aaah!