August 12, 2013

This week has been absolutely nuts. Just crazy. Monday night, we got a call from the Assistants, wondering if we would have room for another sister. They said they would call us on Tuesday if she was going to be staying with us. So on Tuesday, at 1:45ish, we got a call from the Assistants, saying we needed to be in Richmond at 4:30, to pick up a new sister, Sister Mullen, who was going to be our new companion for the next little while. Sister Mullen is from Calgary, and she is assigned to the Portugal Lisbon mission. She was there for 3 transfers, but the government gave her a tourist visa, so she had to come back here to get a new visa, so we are in a trio for the next two or so months. It has taken a little adjusting, because our apartment is very big, but I love it! It is so much fun. Not to mention, on her second full day here, we found a new investigator from Portugal. She speaks really good English, but I think it is easier for her to talk about some things in Portugese.

 

We have found so many new investigators this week! Before this week, it was super amazing if we found 2, and that was usually our goal. This week, we found 8! It's kinda funny, because the second week of the transfer, Sister Ellgen and I set a goal to quadruple our numbers, especially when it came to the key indicators. We have key indicators for baptismal dates, sacrament meeting attendance, member present lessons, progressing investigators, and new investigators. Well, as of this week, we have hit the goal of quadrupling our number of new investigators. Now we are going to focus on sacrament meeting. Once you find them, you have to get people to church. If you can find them and get them to come to church, everything else will start falling into place. They will meet members, who will come to the lessons. They will be more willing to keep commitments, which means they will be progressing. They will have a greater desire to be baptized, which means we will set a date with them. Church is so important!

 

L has continued to be such a miracle! She comes with us to so many lessons, and she is always willing to come on short notice, which can be really nice when a member cancels last minute. She just gets it, when it comes to just about everything with the gospel. There is an unendowed member temple baptism trip on the 21st, and she is going to go! I am so excited for her to be able to do baptisms for the dead. I can't wait to here about her experiences in the temple!

M came to church yesterday, and she hadn't smoked for a day. So we are going to see if it holds for a few more days, and then we are going to pick her up again. I really really want to be able to help her! Heavenly Father can do so much to help and bless her, she just needs to let Him! It is so frustrating sometimes, to see these people who need His help, but they won't let Him! Gah!

 

Anyways, I love you all! Transfer calls are in a week, and I'm a little afraid I'm going to get transfered out of Surrey. There are times when I don't think I would mind just staying here my whole mission. I love Surrey, and next transfer is going to be great. They are sending another set of elders to this ward. Right now, we cover half the ward, and the elders cover the other half. But next transfer, the two sets of elders are going to split the ward in half and we are going to cover the whole ward. Something crazy is happening is Surrey, and I can't wait!

 

Love,

Sister Peterson