Buckeyes, Baptisms and Blessings

Steven is doing so great! He is such a wonderful father and is teaching his boys the truths of the gospel that he now holds so dear. He has daily prayer and scripture study with them and has started having Family Home Evening! It is amazing to see not only how his baptism is blessing his life, but how it is affecting his sons and their home. I am sad to say he will be moving soon because of his assignment in the military, but we are hoping to continue to develop that relationship with his sons so they will have a desire to keep coming to church.

We have been meeting with Will, who referred himself to us, and his granddaughter Brooklyn. I love going over there because they both have such strong faith. With that though comes some questioning of why the Restoration was necessary, but I know that as they pray and receive that witness for themselves there will be no room for doubt. And let me just tell you, Brooklyn is the sweetest thing ever. She has so many questions and really wants to understand. She was afraid she missed our last appointment so she wrote us a letter about what she learned from her reading of the Book of Mormon and how excited she was for us to come over again. How cute is that?! Before we left last time she told us how much she loves the feeling she has when we are there and how we light up the room. You do not even know how good that made me feel, to know that we invite the spirit so it can be outwardly recognized.

 This week we had our 4 Week Follow Up training. Can you believe that? I have been here a month! We had different training's and discussions and another interview with President Daines. We went back to Ohio State to go contacting on campus, but this time we weren't paired with someone more experienced but with another new missionary! I was in a trio with Sister Hansen and Sister Nielson, our little MTC group! We did so good! I am proud to say that I just went for it and wasn't sacred at all, I initiated conversation and walked faster than I ever have in my life to keep up with people and teach them on their way to classes. It was so much fun. I love being a missionary!

We ended the week with an amazing thing, Keith's baptism! It is so wonderful to see how happy he is knowing this is the right decision. I loved hearing him bear his testimony of how he received a witness that our words were true and that he had seen a difference in his life because of this gospel and especially from reading the scriptures often. I am so grateful that I have been able to witness this change in him.

You know what I am grateful for? A loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers. I love that we can call on him in times of confusion, like one of our investigators this week who suddenly doubted everything she has every known and everything we had taught her. Through relying on God she was able to overcome this. I love that we can pray for strength in overcoming trials and weaknesses, like when I ask everyday for the confidence and faith to open my mouth and share what I know when my fears try to hold me back. I have seen small but very obvious improvements and I know this is from the strength He grants me. I love that we can pray for correction. That one may sound a little strange, but that is something our District Leader challenged us to do this week and it has been very difficult, but rewarding. God knows us better than we know ourselves, but more importantly He knows who we can become and how we are going to get there. If we ask our all-knowing Father what we can improve, he will lovingly tell us the direction He intends for us. By following that direction I know we can become something greater than we could ever imagine or attain on our own.

Love you all