Sister Samantha Sue: Week 14

This past week, the ZL's challenged Hna Bonar and I to acheive 5-5-5 (5 progressing investigators, 5 lessons with a member present, and 5 new investiagators). Usually the mission goal is for each companionship to achieve 3-3-3, but we accepted the challenge and worked extra hard to try to reach these high goals. We didn't quite reach it (we were short one member present lesson. rats.) but we had one of the most successful weeks ever! We found 8 legit new investigators, something we really needed because our teaching pool was starting to run dry. One day, we taught 7 lessons where usually we get 2 or 3 lessons in a day. Now I don't want to say all this to brag, but instead to show that when we set high goals, and really work hard to achieve those goals, that God is going to work just as hard to help you! With His help we can do everything.

One family we're starting to teach a little bit more is la familia Muniz. Gaby is a member, she was baptized about 3 years ago and just returned this past week from her mission in Brazil! But no one else in her family is baptized. We tried teaching them while she was still on her mission, but they wanted to wait for Gaby to get back. It has been sooooo awesome to talk with Gaby these past couple days (even though she keeps getting her Portuguese and Spanish mixed up haha). Hopefully now with Gaby back the Muniz family can start to progress towards baptism! We had a great lesson about the plan of salvation with them this week. Erika, Gaby's sister, just had a baby last Saturday. So she's sitting there with her 5 day old baby in her hands, and we explain how just 5 days ago, her daughter was in the presence of God. The Spirit filled the room so strongly, and when Gaby started sharing her testimony, the rest of the family was in tears. I am so grateful the have this knowledge about the plan of salvation, and for this chance I have to share it with others!

I don't know why this came as such a shock, but this week it really just hit me that Luis is a Mormon! We went over one night to teach him and we could hear him blasting Savior, Redeemer of My Soul. He had made a channel of Mormon music on his Pandora account and said that's all he's been listening to ever since his baptism because it makes him feel peaceful. Then, we stopped by Saturday night to check up on him and he was watching the priesthood session of general conference. The gospel has truly worked miracles in his life. It makes me so sooo happy to see that Luis truly has developed a testimony of his own, that we as missionaries don't have to remind him to read, or pray, or come to church. He's doing it on his own because he wants to!

General Conference this weekend was the best! The YSA branch president invited all the missionaries over for conference on Saturday, and then we watched it at the church on Sunday. I loved the specific counsel given to us to 1) ask our Heavenly Father "what lack I yet?" and 2) choose a scripture each week to ponderize. I'm taking these challenges to heart, and I hope you will too! The part of conference that stood out to me the most was the story about the potter putting the clay exactly on the center of the wheel, and relating that to putting Christ exactly in the center of our lives. And in general, my favorite talk was President Uchtdorf's in the General Women's session. He gave that talk in the exact way that I picture Jesus Christ speaking to us, through a story that we can interpret into whatever we need to hear at that moment.

I am so grateful that we have living prophets and apostles on the earth today! I'm excited to hear more counsel from those three new apostles in the years to come, and I know that all the leaders of the church are called by Jesus Christ through inspiration.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Love you.

Hermana Baker