9/10/12

It is awesome to get to hear from ya'll! On a side note, next week is missionary Monday at the temple so I will email everyone on Tuesday.
I am soooo glad Amberly had an awesome birthday. I love the pic i got!  I cant believe that there are no under 10 now. crazy. I loved the 2 packages I got and the letters. They were awesome. Greenie.... lol. I loved the card and the picture of Aladdin! I now have an excuse to put up a Disney picture in my home. Keep sending those pages colored in.  Everything made me so happy. Trent! I want a nap! lol! We get just enough sleep here to survive. I have never been so diligent to going to bed on time. ever. Great job everyone with your missionary moments. That makes me soo happy. Missionary work is my purpose now and I know what it means when we say we couldn't do it without the members. every little thing counts more than you could ever think.

Guess what! Payne Kent (age 9) Got baptized on Saturday!!!! Exciting! And I've got the perfect picture that really shows each of our expressions. Lets just say they (him and his brother) were not the easiest to teach whatsoever and I am glad we don't have to teach them the recent convert lessons :) The best part was their excitement and the look on their dads face.

Our next baptisms are on the 20th. They just started coming to church and the both felt welcomed :)

Now we have a new date for someone on the 29th. This one is a miracle! She has 2 boys (one lives with the dad) and is divorced bc of an abusive relationship. The sisters before me were teaching her nephew but hadn't really talked to her at all. On my first day here, she saw us and asked if we had any way to help her nephew with employment. We went over to check on her and she completely opened up to us about her past and her boys. she was crying. We shared a little bit about what we believe and in faith and we said a prayer with her and gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet. A few days latter, we had an appointment in the same apartments that was a no-show. So we decided to walk over to her place. She had just found out that she needed open heart surgery. We were able to give her comfort, teach her about God. She believed everything we said before we said it. the spirit was so strong. She told us things that she disagreed with in her church and knew that when we said she was right that she had found the right church.  And then we both felt prompted that she needed a blessing. We went out to the car the get the phone numbers of the priesthood and a man walked up to us to talk. We got him name and number and referred him the the Spanish sisters. We also saw the no-show person who came up and said she was sorry bc she had been in the hospital but still wanted to meet with us sometime and come to church. when we got back to apt, and the woman did get her blessing the spirit was so strong. And her son wanted one to. We came back the next day and were able to set up a baptismal date. She said that after the blessing, her 10 yr old son was reading the bible suddenly. And he thanked his mom for letting him have that blessing too. it has been incredible everything with that family is still going good. I love them so much. She has soooo much faith. She shines now.

This week has been awesome! We have gotten a lot of work done in the Bernilillo ward. I have loved seeing the little miracles that occur each day. This week, the High Range ward had a youth conference of mini-missions. We each took two of the youth with us on a mini mission. beforehand, i was terrified. But with a million prayers and lots of faith, it was amazing! My companion and I were split only 2 weeks into my training. However, i was able to take the youth and visit a recent convert who had just received horrible news and a man that we ran into unexpectedly and who was interested in hearing what we had to say. It was amazing! i was able to show the youth what we do everyday as well as use what I have been trying to learn day by day. I know that all of the prayers said those few days saved me. I love the area and I love teaching. I am working on many things everyday including obedience, optimism, faith, and the courage to act upon my promptings as we teach.

There is a super sweet woman in the ward whose husband is not a member, so she cant have the missionaries over for dinner. so instead, she gives us each 10 dollars to take ourselves out each month.

It has been incredible to see so many people out here with so much faith. I love it so much. I miss all of you all of the time. i think of you everyday. Ya'll are all so special to me.

Love,

Sister Elizabeth McShane