Talofa!

Got myself a new companion here in old Blackfoot!  Her name is Sister Leasi (Lay-AH-see) and she's from Samoa.  She's pretty awesome--already teaching me some Somoan, haha.  This week has been ridiculously crazy. I've been pretty stressed just with all the adjusting.  Sister Worrall and I went around for her last couple days seeing different people, getting pictures, etc.  I'll send you some. A lot of people were really sad to see her go.  But Sister Leasi is fitting in just fine.  She's a hoot, so people tend to love her pretty quickly. 

 

I've been pretty stressed the last week with making sure I have all the addresses I need, contacts, info, phone numbers, knowing where everybody lives, etc.  Leading out an area takes a lot of work, so I've been waking up pretty early to get caught up on some things I've gotten behind on.  Feels like being at school again.  Except no science.  I'm okay with that.  

 

One thing that really touched my heart this week was when we went over to teach the German student and the family of members he lives with.  When we got there, their 9-year-old daughter excitedly runs upstairs and brings down a sticky note.  She says that this week in school, one of her friends asked her about her religion.  She and another friend began to explain about The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith to her, and they bore their testimonies of the Church to this girl. "Then," she said, "I asked her if she wanted to see you guys to learn more, and I got her phone number for you!"  So she gave us the sticky note with the girl's name and phone number on it.  I was so excited that this 9-year-old girl was excited enough about what she believed to share it with a friend.  It made me feel like progress was really being made in the home of these members as well as the non-member that lives with them.  Warmed my heart :)

This week, I've learned the power of a positive attitude.  One morning this week, I had just woken up on the wrong side of the bed. In my discouragement, we hardly got anything done that day. Then the next day, we had a zone meeting that really made me see how much we could be improving in our work.  That night, even though we hadn't reached many of our goals, I said to our District Leader "we didn't reach this goal and this goal, but I have faith that if we pray for help to reach these goals, the Lord will bless us!"  So with that positive attitude in mind, the next day we went out to teach, and we ended up setting baptismal dates with 2 of our investigators in a single day! I was worried about these investigators not wanting to set dates to be baptized, but the spirit was present and their hearts were opened, so they accepted.  What power faith and a good attitude has to accomplishing goals! 

Sorry this week is kind of short.  Just know that I know that this gospel is true with every fiber of my being.  May I serve as a witness to my God that the things that I am teaching daily are true.  I love you all so much.

God Bless,

Sister Moreland

 

P.S. I can't remember whether or not I mentioned this last week or not, but if you haven't seen the "He is the Gift" video already, check it out! It's an awesome video about the true meaning of Christmas and it's very powerful.  It's really short so you can share it with your friends and family via facebook, twitter, or whatever other social media shenanigans you like to do. You can also use the pass-along cards from the December Ensign to give to friends and tell them what you enjoyed about the video. Share with the world about keeping Christ in Christmas and what an important gift to the world that he is!  http://www.mormon.org/christmas.  Merry Christmas, y'all!