Sister Nielsen in Washington: Welcome to Connell! (Beginning Transfer 7)

Monday, December 7, 2015

Things in Connell are going really well already! The sisters have done a great job in this area, and the members are already so involved! It's been so cool to see how many of them have come up to us to give us an update on people they have been working with. We've only had two dinners with members so far, and already have three referrals! We have some big shoes to fill.

A lot of our week since Wednesday was spent in the area book and sorting through our directories and the great notes the sisters left behind for us. We spent a lot of weekly planning going through the big pile of former investigators to see which of them stood out to go by and visit. We pulled out a lady named Christina, who apparently has been meeting with missionaries from Basin City and Connell for 8 or 9 years. She already is doing Family Home Evening, and her two youngest kids have already prayed about the Book of Mormon and know it's true. When we went by to visit, we read a little from the Book of Mormon again and invited them to prepare for baptism again on the 26th of this month. We'll have to figure out a ride situation for them, it sounds like, because after she insisted they'd be there on Sunday, they didn't make it to church. Elder Harward, our district leader in Walla Walla, used to always tell us, "Church attendance directly correlates with member involvement." We'll have to ask her about it at her appointment tomorrow.

When we got to the area, we discovered the sisters had already been preparing two, almost three, people for baptism: Art, Haleigh, and Jackie. Haleigh lives with the members we live with, the Quintons. (Yeah. We live down the hall from one of our on-dates. Haha! :)) She is on fire, ready to be baptized on the 27th! We met with her Friday night and went over the interview questions with her. She passed with flying colors, but it definitely won't hurt to go over a few of the commandments. She had a hard time remembering all the details about tithes and offerings, and we're thinking it'd be very beneficial to go over Sabbath Day observance with her, since we came home from church and found her streaming the football game to her husband via FaceTime. Haha! (Can't get away with much when you live with the missionaries. ;)) (I'm sure she had a good reason. She just seems like she is so ready and converted.)

Art is another the sisters have been preparing. Apparently they haven't been teaching him for a long time, but it sounds like he is slowly starting to see the correlation between the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and the teaching record said something about how he was having a hard time finding answers. He's doing pretty well as far as quitting smoking, but still could use more of the foundational things. He's been to church twice and is on date for the 19th, so we're hopeful the fast we had yesterday will help him start to receive those answers and continue to act in faith by preparing for the 19th.

Right now our plan of action is to go through and try to visit all the former investigators that were in the area book (there were so many) and then try to work the area based on whether or not they're home or interested. I was really overwhelmed by it all when I first got here, but I think we're slowly starting to get the hang of it. I already really love my companion, Sister Evans. She has a good head on her shoulders, and she really is a great missionary. Her testimony is so genuine. We're already accomplishing a lot and it's only been a few days.

Another cool thing that happened this week was when we were contacting former investigators. We just happened to be standing there by our car trying to figure out where to go when Cynthia pulled up. We struck up a conversation and found out that she is searching for answers and seemed very open. We have an appointment with her tonight at 6:00!

So far the transfer has been quite good! I'm hopeful of the progress I've seen, and I've been trying to remember what my mission president told us at the transfer meeting about opposition and where feelings of doubt and fear come from. I already love it a lot here in Connell. I can't imagine how much it will grow as I get to know more people.

~Sister Nielsen