Week #86 - Well I love her...but I love to fish!

To Whom it May Concern:

We had another good week in Sonoma. Unfortunately a lot of appointments with our best investigators had to be post-poned, but we're looking forward to this week. We're meeting with a girl today who has a baptismal date for June 26th and we're pretty excited. We've both got a feeling that she'll be baptized sooner than June, so we'll see how today goes. This morning we planned out what we hope will be a very solid lesson all about the Holy Ghost.

Yesterday was a good day at church. We were asked to come into a primary class and tell all the children about being missionaries and how we prepared- and then for the young men we were "interviewed" in front of the class about our lives before the mission, how were got to this point, and what the mission has done for us. It went really well and it was a very cool experience to try and help them see the importance of preparing immediately. The less time I have left in the field, the more things I want to accomplish before I leave. My desire is quickly growing to tell every potential missionary everything I can that would prepare them better for serving...or at least help them understand how important it is to do so.

We were also asked to bear testimony in sacrament meeting about the Savior. I told the story of Cara and how she was the first person I ever taught in the mission field and the first person I baptized. It was amazing to see the change that occurred after four months of teaching a total skeptic when she finally read the Book of Mormon. When we finally got her to start reading it, she finished it in two days and was baptized a week later. The words of that book are the words of Christ- just as Nephi says- anyone who reads them will know that they are. I can't even explain the change that occurred in her- but it's amazing to see what the Savior can do for someone and how he can completely purify someone's heart. She went through the temple a few months ago which was great to hear about. Sounds like she remains a completely solid member of the church. I want to witness another conversion like that before my time here is over!

So life here is good. We had interviews with President on Tuesday- sounds like I'll probably stick around Sonoma for the rest of the mission, but we'll see. He promised me that if I make these last few months of my mission about someone else then the spirit will touch me in a way that I'll never forget for the rest of my life. It was a pretty intense promise.

The Gospel's True!
Elder B