The Ups and Downs

Hard to stay dry when it is pouring rain

Meet the Mormons activity at church

This is  a picture of the Berdin family. I got a letter from them this week! Sister Teo says that they are still going to church every Sunday! Yay!

Dear Family,

This week was a good week! It was super busy. We had interviews with President Ostler, choir practice, and our ward had a Meet the Mormons movie night! 

Sister Arif and I are working hard, and we really love this area. Our recent converts are still doing great! And we have some new investigators that we are starting to get excited about. One of the investigators we really focused on this week was Nanay Amacio. She is the mother of 2 of our recent converts.. They were baptized last year, and one of them is preparing to be sealed to his family this coming November! The missionaries have visited her for awhile, but she has been really hestitant to get baptized. She comes to church frequently, and listens to us when we come visit, but has not been able to really progress towards baptism. This week Sister Arif and I taught a lesson about temples and eternal families. For the first time, she really opened up to us. She began to cry as she expressed her sorrow for her husband that has passed away. We bore testimony that families can be eternal through the temple. She came to the Meet the Mormons activity and to church on Sunday. Keep her in your prayers!!

My companion, Sister Arif was baptized in 2012. She and her brother are the only members in her family. Her father is passed away, her mother is still living, and is Catholic. Her family is all pretty much Christain, either Catholic or LDS.  They do have missionaries in Pakistan but only Elders from Pakistan. Its okay to post her picture. One fun thing-she is actually engaged!! Her fiance is a member too. They often have very long engagements. Dating is not really allowed in her country.  Its fun to be with her because Pakistan is not Westernized at all. She doesn't really speak English super well, but is just the cutest and sweetest thing.  I just love her. 

Another highlight of this week was hearing about the people in my old areas!! I saw a Sister who just got back from Palawan who was serving in my old area in Santa Monica. She said that the Segovia's are preparing to be sealed!!! I am SOO excited for them. I also got a letter from the Berdin family! Sister Teo said that they are coming to church every week and that Baby Arianne was just blessed. Also, when I saw Sister Teo, she told me that Robert is still doing great, and that Carol is preparing to be baptized!!! I don't know if you remember me talking about her.. Sister Pamesa and I taught her together. When we first started teaching her, she was pretty closed. She told us that she wasn't really interested in being baptized, but that she just wanted to learn more. My very last day working in that area, Sister Pamesa and I taught the Plan of Salvation. We talked about the reasons Heavenly Father sent us here to Earth, and what things we have to do to be able to return back to Him with our families. After that lesson, I left the area, and Carol went out of town! But this week when I saw Sister Teo, she said that Carol is progressing towards baptism!! She said that Carol shared how after that lesson Sister Pamesa taught about the Plan of Salvation, she went to the gym and just started crying. She couldn't explain why, but it was then that it all changed. Nothing is more exciting for a missionary than to get news like that (: (: 

So, life is good! But of course, life isn't perfect. Last night, ALL of our lessons fell through, including our back ups. We were trying to OYM and look for new investigators when it started POURING. We were outside and had no place to go. Everyone punted us, in the pouring rain. Even though these aren't the things I email about, things like that happen all the time. Such is missionary life. But, I love the saying that even though our good days may not outnumber the bad days, the good days will always outweigh the bad days. 

I love you!! Have a great week! The church is true!!

Sister Lockwood