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

Kentlands

Thus begins another adventure.

Kentlands is the opposite of Carrollton.   At least in almost every way when it comes to the ward and the members and the people we talk to every day. 

But I love it.  The ward is GREAT at doing missionary work.  Almost everyone we've talked to is sharing the gospel with a neighbor or friend.  And we have had a lot of miracles. 

Sunday morning we found a new investigator, Kelly, and Monday night we taught her again and she wants to be baptized.  Then we're working with Nina and Tamarye who are 10 and 9, and they're getting baptized as well.  They're the smartest cutest kids.  I feel so blessed!

Sister Morotti is great.  Again, I'm lucky with the companion I get.

And now, I have to go.  Sorry this was so short.

Love you all! 

Stay true to what's eternal.

-Love, Sister Welch

Apologies

Today's a short one.  I must not be praying hard enough that time will slow down.

First, I love my Taiwanese companion! She is the epitome of Asian and makes me laugh SO HARD.  I'm not sure if she means to, but everything she says is so funny that I just can't help it.  Oh my.  Too much fun.

As for the week, we are still teaching these wonderful families (Kyodai, Bumi and their girls; Kadie and her children) and we passed Serge and Angel to the French elders. Serge came to church this past Sunday and the entire family is planning on coming this Sunday. Angel's cousin is a member, and so they'll accept the gospel for sure.  I was so sad to give them away, but it had to be done.  Heavenly Father is really testing me with giving us all of these golden people like Lyzette and Serge's family that we have to give away.  But then we're so blessed with people like Kadie!

Kadie and her 8 year old daughter Yvonne are on date to be baptized August 12. Tonight we're teaching some of the commandments, and we can't wait. Every time we go over, Yvonne asks if she can be baptized this Sunday. She wants to be baptized more than any other 8 year old I've met, and she is a great example for her Mom. Kadie has the desire as well, and is incredible at leading her family in prayer and scripture study, despite being a single mom and her busy work schedule. They are such a wonderful family and will be such a great blessing to the church.

Well, time's up.  I love you all mucho mucho.

Stay true to what's eternal.

-Sister Welch

Hurricane!!!

Wow.  We are getting all sorts of crazy weather up here.  Luckily, the hurricane didn't hit us hard - it was just a bad storm - but they did cancel church when we had 6 investigators coming!  Bah! I was impressed with Russell, though, because he was ambitious and faithful enough to follow us on a 45 minute drive to Gaithersburg for church.  

And then we've had so many miracles!  We're only in our area for about 22 hours this week, but we have an appointment for almost every hour that we're in our area.  It's amazing.  It's my goal to work so hard that they have to split up our area because we won't have enough time for all of our appointments.  :]    And I wish I had time to go into all of it, but I'm writing a Mom letter this week, so enjoy the pictures.  And here's a song that one of the Elders made up, in honor of the hurricane.  It was sent as a voice-mail to the entire mission.

(to be sung to the tune of "Popcorn Popping")

I looked out the window and what did I see?

One big hurricane coming at me.

August has brought me such a nice surprise-

Tree limbs blowing right before my eyes.

I can buy some goggles and some gasoline

Then curl up in a ball and then just scream

It may not be so, but it seemed to me...

I'm going to have a lesson with Hurricane Irene!

I love you all!!! Stay true to what you know and who you are.

-Sister Welch

 Editor's note:  We did not receive any photo's.  If we get photo's in a separate letter, we will post them.

Have a Blessed Day

That is something that EVERYONE says here.  I love it.  We talk to people and before we walk away, even if they weren't the kindest to us, or wouldn't listen, they are sure to tell us to "have a blessed day" before they walk away or close the door.  It's kind of a joke among the missionaries and a lot of them say it in their phone's voicemail.  It might be one of the things I pick up from D.C.  :]

So, I forgot to bring the paper with all of the miracles from last week, so you'll just have to wait for those again, but I have some good news: we got 10 new investigators last week!!!!  Which in the English program here, is unheard of.  It's been quite the week.  I'll try to remember everything, but you may get some repeats when I write my email next week and include all of the blessings I wrote down every day.

We've had some GREAT lessons.  We taught Ishmael and brought our ward mission leader, Drew Richardson, who got home from his mission about 2-3 years ago, so he was great to have.  Ishmael's two friends were there as well and their names were Jonathan and L.J., which I kid you not, stands for Little John.  I tried not to, but I laughed so hard when he told me that.  I didn't think he was being serious!  But he was.  And his name's Little John.  Anyway, we taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation, and it took over an hour because they kept asking so many great questions! We used a lot of scriptures from both the Bible and the Book of Mormon to show how they complement each other and how both are the word of God.  We also spent a lot of time explaining authority and how baptism is a necessary saving ordinance, not just an optional way to show our faith.  All three of them were having a hard time understanding that, which is interesting to me because it's right there in the Bible, but I think at this school they're attending, the professors are teaching them a little differently.  We also committed all three of them to read and pray to know that it's true.  It makes me laugh sometimes, how simple the gospel is, and how simple it is to follow, but people just refuse to do themselves a favor and read the Book of Mormon and pray about it.  So if you would, pray for Ishmael and his friends.  They need a little push in their lives.

Another great lesson we had was with the Dyers.  They are the type of people I thought I'd be teaching when I heard Washington D.C.: white, wealthy, high class, educated, etc.  (They're also in their early 60's, just for future reference)  They've been coming to church for months with their neighbors, the Willis', but the Willis' didn't want the missionaries to teach them, for whatever reason.  But, on Friday night, both Sister Hazen and I felt like we should visit them, so we went over, and they were home (between their vacations to Costa Rica and Alaska) and they invited us in.  We'd met them before, and they are very gracious people, but we spent the first five minutes getting to know them until Audrey Dyer just asked, "Could you teach me?  We'll do a weekly thing for about an hour every week and could you just answer my questions and come teach me?"  AHHHHH!!!  Of course we can!!!  But then it gets better.  She said, "I really want to be baptized and join your church.  I just have a few concerns."  Which ended up being that her sister-in-law owns a coffee plantation and she's worried about what her friends might think.  And she's afraid she doesn't know enough.  Those are her concerns.  She's already living the Word of Wisdom (except for coffee), she gets the Ensign mailed to her, she's consistent at church, she's reading the Book of Mormon, and she's so ready!  She said her husband is on this journey with her as well, but he's just moving at a little slower pace. I have faith though, that they'll be baptized before the end of the transfer.  And they'll be solid when they do join.  She said that herself.  She said, "I just want to make sure I'm ready when I do this because it will be a commitment I make for the rest of my life."  And eternity, I thought, but she'll come to understand that.  Ah!  I'm so excited to teach them.  I'll keep you updated.

Rebecca (Giovana's little sister) is also doing great.  She read Alma 40 in the Book of Mormon, and we had a good lesson with her.  She's not scared of asking questions, and she has her own way of thinking, but she's open with us, so teaching her is a treat.  Giovana isn't as committed, but she's a single Mom, works all the time, and just has a crazy schedule, so it's harder.  But both are really interested and will hopefully be coming to church soon.

Mr. Ralphy

Malea was another miracle.  And a member referral.  She's so prepared and told us she wants to join the church, but she's sadly not in our area.  Her member friend is in our ward, but Malea's in a completely different stake, so we gave her up to another set of sisters.  They were ecstatic and I'm really excited for them.  Malea is wonderful.

A little story before I go.  A couple nights ago, our power was out when we got home.  And it was a pitch black, humid, 90 degrees in our apartment.  Bleh.  We luckily had a 72 hour kit with glow sticks and a flashlight, so we did our planning by the light of two glow sticks, got ready for bed, and then just laid there on our blankets, sweating.  It was SO HOT.  And I really am not complaining, by the way.  I have no right to when there are missionaries across the world who never have air conditioning.  But I was just laying there laughing at the situation when Sister Hazen ran into the kitchen, and came back with all of these packages of frozen food.  It was going to thaw out anyway, so why not use it, right?  But then I really couldn't get to sleep because Sister Hazen had a bag of burritos on her head, and I had a package of vegetables on my stomach, and it was hilarious.  Maybe you would have had to be there to think it's funny, but just imagine us laying there with frozen food all over, trying to cool us down.  Funny.

And I know I probably say this every time, but Sister Hazen is so great!  We just laugh all the time and we have such a strong companionship.  It's amazing what can happen when there's unity and love.  10 new investigators, for example.  And as a side note, they're all a different race.  I love it.  Brazilian, Filipino, African, Caucasian, Hispanic, etc.  It really is a different country here and I'm loving every minute.  

I hope all is going well for you and I love hearing from you all. I'll try to respond to your letters as soon as I can, but know that I pray for you (family and friends) often.  Have a blessed day!

-Sister Welch