In The Bleak Midwinter, April Storms and Snows

Hmm. This week has been an interesting one. Not so much in odd experiences, but just a lot of time warp, I guess is the best way to describe it.

This week, my struggle was that I worked my very hardest this whole week. I was happy and bubbly. I was fearless. We went tracting every day and then did more tracting in the awkward 15 minute sections we had in between appointments. We talked to a lot of people, and I felt like we were being very successful. And we were. Just not according to numbers. This week, we got the lowest amount of lessons I've ever had on my mission and the area is a lot more established than when I first got here. But even considering that, I didn't get downhearted at all until Saturday night when we counted up our actuals for the week. And I understand that it's not about the numbers, but your commitment to the work. But I feel like this is the first week on my mission that I have really worked hard and yet I don't have anything to show for it. The life of a missionary is a hard one, rewarding, but hard. As long as I stay diligent and keep working hard, good things will come. And I understand that. But knowing and doing are two different things, haha. So this week is the week to keep doing.

Even though we only met with a very small number of people this week, we still did have some good experiences, especially with Karla. We met with Karla on Tuesday, and we were just discussing some things she has been reading in the Book of Mormon, when she paused and said," Sisters, you asked me a while ago to pray to know when I could be baptized. I feel good about being baptized in 2 or 3 weeks, after I can go to Church a few more times." I was shocked! We had given that to her 2 or 3 weeks previously, and hadn't wanted to push anything, so we just left it be. That very lesson, Sister Manning and I were planning on bringing it up again. The Spirit works! She is going to be baptized in April! It is so exciting. :) She also told us that she has a testimony of the Prophet, President Monson, and she believes the Book of Mormon is true. It is so cool to watch her testimony grow and develop! We also taught her about tithing, and she got so excited to give back to the Lord! It gave me new perspective on tithing, to see her so excited to pay 10% of her income to the Lord's Church. It truly is a blessing! She can't wait for Conference. :)

This week, because we were being more diligent and talking to more people, we had some great conversations with people that became potential investigators. The Spirit definitely leads us to those who are ready or who we can plant a seed in to start the process. It's cool how that works. 

The first Sunday Sister Manning was here, we spoke in Church. After Sacrament Meeting, we got a referral from a mother who was visiting her less-active son and non-member wife who are in our ward. We've tried a bunch of times this week to go over, but haven't been able to find them home. Yesterday, we went over again and just the mother was there, but she let us in and we talked. While we were there, her son and daughter-in-law came home and we were able to meet them! She is pregnant with twins, having them on April 7, so needless to say she is a bit miserable, but when new little babies join families is a great time to learn about the gospel because the parent's hearts are softened. So we will see what happens, but now we do have contact, which is the first step! 

There was a Pancake Breakfast for the community on Saturday that all the Minot missionaries volunteered at, serving the pancakes, pouring the milk and juice (some of us had to pour coffee once--THAT was awkward! Don't worry, though: I didn't (more rather, wouldn't) do it, and it was only because the staff who was doing the coffee was eating themselves. But yeah, talk about ironic?), and greeting them at the door. It was great because we got to talk to the staff a lot, or the other volunteers that were helping and develop some friendships with them. With some of them, we were even able to talk a little about what we believe. The lady in charge of it all was so grateful for our help and is sure to call us again. It never ceases to amaze me how serving others or the community, even if they are of other faiths (especially if they are of other faiths) brightens their day and yours and makes the Spirit even more apparent in your countenance. Moral of the story: get out and serve in your community! It is helpful; it is needed! You never know who you will meet while serving that is prepared to receive the message of the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The General Women's Meeting was AWESOME! I hope all of you women were able to watch it! If you weren't, here's the link so you can go watch it right now (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/04?cid=HPTH032714628&lang=eng). (Men, you could learn a lot from watching it, too!) It was so cool to see how they meshed all the ages together and all were uplifted. I love the video presentations and the inspired messages we received from our leaders. I cannot WAIT for General Conference this weekend! It literally is like my favorite thing ever. Not even kidding. So my invitation to you is to make General Conference a priority! Watch all 4 (or 5, depending on if you're a man) sessions with your family! Take notes! Write down questions you want to be answered, and I can promise you that your questions will be answered as you watch all the sessions of Conference. I have my questions ready to go, do you?

Yesterday, our ward did Fast and Testimony meeting due to Conference this weekend, and it was so cool because Jose got up and he bore his testimony! He talked about how before he joined the Church, he had everything and yet was not happy. He felt empty and didn't know what was missing. He said that he now is whole, that he knows this is the true Church because only the truth can make us whole. It was so inspiring! I was beaming from ear to ear. I t was so great to see him up there, a true member of the ward and a man of God. The Spirit was in his countenance. All of this work is worth it for one person! If I was to never get another baptism on my mission, I would still feel successful, because I helped bring one man and his future family into the joy of the Gospel. Living the standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or God's standards, is the ONLY thing that brings a fullness of joy and peace! Don't let the adversary convince you otherwise! You are powerful children of a loving God! 

I love you all and am grateful for your prayers! I can't wait from this week and for all that I will learn in it!

 

sister leslie. 

We matched that day, already! And thus it begins. 

 

Friday: Snow? Again? Really?

 

This morning: And yet again! Happy spring? (Will it ever come??)

Currently, with windchill it is 0 degrees outside.

Better than -60 though, so it is getting warmer here!

 

The Lord Doesn't Call The Qualified, He Qualifies the Called

That's for sure! I am so grateful for the atonement and for the ability we have to become better in this life!

Last Monday was all about packing and getting Sister Jensen packed and ready to go, while I was just trying to stay sane. We were running around all that day. Tuesday, we went to the Church and wrote in transfer books and all that, took pictures and the usual. Not going to lie, I was a stress ball on Tuesday. When Sister Jensen and I said goodbye to each other, we cried. The elders tried to tease me, but soon they realized that that wouldn't help anything, so they stopped. The first thing I did after Sister Jensen left was to get a blessing from the Zone Leaders (The elders in our ward) that I would be blessed with comfort and confidence in my new calling as a trainer. 5 1/2 hours later, we got our companions, and I was so distracted for all of it! I was trying so hard, but my brain was going about 80 million miles an hour. 

My companion is Sister Manning, from Lehi, Utah. She is 20 years old, already has her bachelor's degree in something to do with Psychology, and she has a great desire to do the work! 

I won't lie, this week has been really hard for me. I have struggled a lot. Up until Friday night, I felt very alone and very overwhelmed. I didn't feel like I was feeling the SPirit, and I didn't know how to teach this new missionary. I was very stressed and not acting like myself. Instead of being happy and bubbly like I usually am, I was solemn and quiet, which was weird for me. I didn't know what to do. I was praying a lot, but I didn't feel like I was getting an answer. The turn around happened in a very simple way. We went and taught Jose,  and since I've taught him a lot, it was a normal situation for me. I felt comfortable there and I was myself. As we walked out, Sister Manning commented, "You were really happy and bubbly in there." That's when it hit me that I had been holding myself back because I was scared of messing up. So, from then on I have tried really hard to be myself and to do my best. I realize that I will make mistakes, but Sister Manning truly has a desire to be better and to work hard, so it shouldn't be too hard to guide her in the right direction, using the Spirit's guidance of course. I'm much more confident in myself now than a week ago and I know it's because God helps us. He doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called! I am grateful for this opportunity I have at this time to be a trainer. 

Something that I have struggled with my whole mission is tracting and trying to find the love for it. Something I was worried about with training is that I would be in charge of taking charge and having us go tracting. Sure enough, this last week was crazy enough that we didn't go tracting. Could we have? Yes. I won't make excuses for myself. But I will say that you can't become perfect in a day. So yesterday, we didn't have a lot of time, either, but I drove us to a street and we tracted for only 15 minutes, but we still did it! And the most amazing thing happened: I felt a love for tracting! I really had the desire to talk to these people and invite them to come unto Christ. Sister Manning was a little less than excited to go, but I was there at one point. We were able to get 4 daily contacts, which was great! That's more than we got all of last week. I am grateful for the mantle of being a trainer. It helps to push me to become who I know I can be, but have been finding excuses like fear to hold me back. Is it still scary to train? Yes. But I am already becoming better and I just hope in some small way that I will be able to help Sister Manning. :)

We had some exciting adventures this week! Namely, Jose got his wisdom teeth out this week on Thursday, and was getting a lot better. But then yesterday, during Sacrament Meeting, we got a text from him saying that he was bleeding again and in a lot of pain. He couldn't take his meds because they were making him sick (Sound familiar to anyone? Been there, done that and don't wish to repeat!). So we made plans to come over that afternoon to give him more pudding and applesauce (What else can you eat?) as well as find some Priesthood brethren to give Jose a Priesthood blessing. The adventure came in coordinating all of this and we just mentioned this to Brother Van Bibber, our ward mission leader, and also a doctor, and he got all excited and called in a prescription for Jose for anti-nausea meds, so we were going to go pick that up for him, but we ended up not needing to. Anyways. So in the afternoon, we went over with 2 Priesthood brothers and a RS sister so we could be there, and the blessing was incredible! This won't mean as much to you probably since you don't know him as well, but in the blessing, Jose was promised that his family would accept the gospel!! His family is not religious at this time. I got the biggest grin on my face, almost to the point of tears, and after the blessing Jose looked up at me and Sister Manning with the biggest smile I've ever seen him have, and he said in wonder, "Wow. Those are nice." (It was his first time receiving a blessing that was not for receiving. the Priesthood or receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost). It was so powerful! When someone is baptized, it not only affects them, it affects generations!

On another note, this week I learned how to jump start a car! The sister called us one morning needing our help to jump start their car. So, we went downstairs and borrowed a cable from the Noel's, and drove over there. We got there to realize that none of us knew how to jump start a car. We all knew the idea, but not how to actually do it. Not wanting to get electrocuted, we half-heartedly tried to figure it out for about 5 minutes-ish before a man walked out of the apartment building and asked us if we needed any help. We gladly accepted it and learned how to jump start a car! The elders laughed when we told them none of us had previously known how to do that. We casually explained to them that we've always had a man around to do it for us! Moral of the story: Ladies, go learn how to jump start a car! 

The Lord blesses His missionaries! We aren't perfect like all the little kids think we are (we also don't live at the Church building like they think we do), but we can become perfected in Christ, just as all of us can. Yesterday, Sister Manning and I spoke in Church about Missionary Work, and in my talk, I focused on how all of us as members promised God when we were baptized that we would be His missionaries. I explained a couple ways that we can share our testimony simply with our friends. These ways I thought of include:

 

> Be an example. Stand up for what you believe in! DOn't settle for less. Fear God more than man, know that we are blessed when we stand up for what we know to be true.

 

>When your friends ask how your week or weekend was, don't just say "Good.". No! Explain how well Mutual went or what you learned at Church. This opens the door for others to ask you more questions about what you believe, giving you the opportunity to share your testimony!

 

>If you have a friend or family member who is struggling, bear simple testimony to them! For example, if they are struggling with the loss of a family member, bear your testimony of the Plan of Salvation and how we WILL be able to see our loved ones again.

 

>Use Social Media! Social Media is a way we can reach a lot of people in a short amount of time. Bear testimony on Twitter, post Mormon Messages on Facebook. (If you haven't watched the new Mormon Message "Stop It", go to this link and watch it right now: https://www.lds.org/youth/video/bullying-stop-it?lang=eng) 

 

>SMILE! We have the truth! Which makes us happy! Don't be shy in showing the peace and happiness you have in your life because of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! 

I know this Church is true with all my heart! Go out and spread it! "We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness and peace to the human family." -President Ezra Taft Benson. 

Remember, God's a Mormon!

sister leslie.

 

Sister Jensen and I together!

Enough Said. Haha

The 4 Minot Sisters together for the last time

Me and my new comp, Sister Manning

 

 

Transfer Doctrine

I'll just get right into it. This time, we actually do have some changes. So prepare yourself! We got the call Friday night at 10:31pm. Ready for it? Sister Jensen will be moving to Mitchell, SD. She will be pinkwashing (When 2 sisters come into an area at the same time, what Sister Jensen and I did here in Minot), and her companion is currently in Bismarck. She's excited for the new adventure. As for me, I will be training a new missionary here in Minot, so I will be here for the next 2 transfers and then I'll probably move. How did I take the news? Well, let's just say, I literally went into shock and for the next day was practically crying for the whole day. I was terrified. It's interesting, though. Since Sunday (yesterday) was the start of the new transfer, I felt more peaceful and I felt the mantle (I guess that's how you would call it) of being a trainer came on, so I wasn't freaking out as much. But I'm still nervous. I'm getting to the point where I am almost excited, but I'm not quite there yet. I just hope I can do it well. I want to be as good of a trainer to this new missionary as Sister Jensen was to me. I know the Lord will help me, though, so I will make it. It will just be an adventure, and at times, a bumpy road.

I am so glad for this time I've had with Sister Jensen. She is awesome and amazing and I love her to bits. She has taught me so much about myself and others and how to build my testimony as well as help others come closer to their Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. It will be weird not having her around me, but I know that this is happening for a reason and that I am prepared. Or, mostly prepared. I am excited for Sister Jensen to touch the people in Mitchell. SHe will do a great job. :)

This week, we saw a lot of miracles, like always. I never cease to be amazed at the miracles the Lord blesses us with. We got 9 daily contacts this week, which is more than we've gotten in about a month and a half. It was a blessing because we haven't been able to go tracting due to Sister Jensen's foot, so our contacts last week were very low. Before we went in anywhere this week, we prayed that we would be able to get a contact. And the Lord provided opportunities for us. We did another MSU booth this week, and 4 people talked to us, more than ever before. When we went into the Salvation Army this week, there was a lady there talking to Michelle who then started asking us a few questions, and we were able to bear testimony of the word of wisdom and the purpose of sending out missionaries. The other day, when we went into the gas station to buy a car wash, a cashier there asked for a Book of Mormon, out of nowhere, and got his friend interested, too. Turns out that the first guy is a former investigator, and might be open to learning again. Everywhere we've gone this week has been filled with people for us to talk to, and it's been inspiring. I don't understand how people can say that God doesn't answer prayers. They're just not looking hard enough, because He answers every single prayer in His own way and in His timing. 

It's a great way to get in with people you haven't seen in a while when you tell them that Sister Jensen is moving and wants to say goodbye. We've been able to visit a lot of people and share scriptures with them. Not all of them have counted as lessons, but all of them have brought the Spirit and uplifted the people we're with. I'm just very sentimental today I guess because today is our last full day together, but we've had some great last lessons with people. I'm going to miss Sister Jensen so much. The good news is, we've been taking pictures with everyone practically, so you can see what people look like! Yay!

Karla is doing great! She is currently in the Isaiah chapters, which are way harder to understand, but she is barreling through it. She's almost done and is excited to get back to where it's a story. I don't blame her. She continues to read and pray every day, and is growing rapidly in her faith. I'm excited to continue to see her grow. :)

Jose helped with the Sacrament again yesterday. He's getting so good at it! He also was called as a ward missionary, so he has that calling and is way excited! We have him for 3 more weeks before he gets married and moves into 2nd ward. I'm going to not handle that well. So, I'm not thinking about that yet! I have many other things on my mind. But he is doing so good! He is praying, reading, preparing for the temple, progressing just as we want him to. And it's not for us we want him to be progressing, it's because we know this is what brings true happiness. 

I'm sorry, my mind is spinning at like 8 million miles an hour right now and I am trying to type this out. I hope it makes sense. Please forgive me if it doesn't. I'm very distracted right now. We have a lot to get done, so I will write more next week, promise! Love you all!

The Gospel is true! I have learned for myself!

sister leslie.

Pictures

 

The Best District Ever

We went out to see her horses and thought we looked Amish, so it was funny. 

Sister Veazey-Long, Brother Long (who WILL get baptized someday),

Bishop Lund, Sister Lund, Me, Sister Jensen

The Mckinney Family: Justin (BF of Kaitlyn), Kaitlyn, Sister Jensen, Ashley (investigator),

Me, Sister McKinney, Brother McKinney

Sister Jensen, Brian, Bryce (3), Karen, Maggie (1 1/2), Me

The Billings Family: Doug, Sister Billings (Our Minot Mom),

Sister Jensen, Me, Sam, Tim

 

I Had Never Been To Prison Before...

More on that in a second. First off, please send all letters to the mission office this week as Saturday is transfer calls and either Sister Jensen or I will be leaving on the 18th.

This week a lot happened. We had Sister Osburn with us for Monday and Tuesday while Sister Saunders went to  Rapid, and we had a lot of fun with her. We were walking out of the house one day when the doorknob decided to come with us. The Noel's were out of town in Florida, so we couldn't leave as we didn't have a way to lock the house, and if we did, we wouldn't be able to get back in. So we brought the doorknob with us that day to use as our key until we got a hold of the Noels and were able to borrow their garage door opener. Teehee!

I don't have any pictures of this (yet), but Sister Jensen did have to get a boot on this week. It's a preexisting thing from clogging. It's either the beginning stages of a stress fracture and/or tendinitis. So this week has been a bit interesting because she can't walk as much. But she's doing great. She just has to wear it for 2 weeks. We are still getting a lot done, we were able to be the vessels in bringing people closer to Christ this week. And that is always a fantastic feeling. :)

Last week, I mentioned that we got a new ward missionary, Drew Tonini. Well, it was great to have him with us this week. We took him out like 4 times I think, because he doesn't mind coming with us to a few of the interesting people we have! He understands! Haha. I want to be a ward missionary when I get home. :) He went with us twice to see Danielle and Anthony this week, and it was an interesting experience for sure. We were able to share a message the first time and then read with Danielle the second time, and were trying to gauge their interest level. We love them so much, but they don't seem to have a lot of desire, and we can't force people to have desire, so they are probably going to be dropped this week for a time. It is so sad! But hopefully this time will help them to gain their desire back. And we'll still pop in every once in a while. 

Karla is progressing so great! This week, we taught her about the law of Chastity, the Word of Wisdom and the 10 commandments. Oh and Follow the Prophet. (We thought she would be getting baptized on the 15th, but it's going to be pushed back by a month or so). She took it all in so well! She is willing to give up her beer, coffee and tea and anything else that she needs to to be baptized. She doesn't feel ready to be baptized yet, and that is why took her off date for a bit. We want her to be ready. She understands it's a big step to be baptized, and as she says, "Once you're baptized, you are held responsible for keeping the commandments. And so I want to be baptized when I know I will be willing to keep all the commandments, all the time." She understands it! Every time we go over to teach her, I learn something from her. You can learn so much from people! Karla's aunt is a missionary for the Jehovah's Witnesses, and she called Karla this week and was talking to her and after that, Karla's progress has slowed down a little bit, but we are working with her and she's going to make it. She just needs a bit more time. And there is no problem with that! 

We had a great relief society party on Thursday in which we got to learn how to make fondant flowers from a non-member who is good friends with a sister in the relief society. She moved from Scotland 2 years ago, and she has the best accent ever! She's a true Scot. I could listen to her talk all day. (haha okay that's a bit creepy. But her accent is way cool.)

We had Zone Training Meeting this week (where the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leader go down to Rapid City to get training from President and Sister Anderson, and then they come back up and share it with the whole zone on that Friday) was AWESOME! One of the best ones so far! The trainings were all very inspired and it was awesome because as part of it, we had a counsel all together as a zone. It was a very spiritual experience and I received person revelation on how I can improve as a missionary. Namely, to be patient with myself and to understand that becoming better takes time and I won't be the perfect missionary in a day (even though I want to), and that through diligence, I can become better. I love missionary meetings. They really are the best!

Ha,ha: Saturday we had a super fun experience. We had a ward Chili Cook-off combined with a dessert auction for the Young Women to go to Girls' Camp. Ha is was the best because people love the missionaries and so we had some very generous sponsors. So us and the elders each had $200 we could spend. It shocked everyone because who expects the missionaries to have money? At the beginning, there were these homemade snickers. The elders bid $80, and everyone was astonished. Then we bid $90, and  everyone was flabbergasted. Someone else won, but it was the thought that counts. Ha. We did buy a cake for $100, which was great because when we bid, the whole room was so silent you could have heard a pin drop. It was great. We also got some $50 orange rolls. And then ward members give you the desserts they bought, so we have a TON of desserts at our apartment now. It was so fun though.

Now, parents, don't freak out when I write this next paragraph, okay? Okay. Good. Yesterday, we got to go to prison to visit a referral we got for a less-active sister. It was quite interesting. We waited in the lobby for 2 1/2 hours (visitations get pretty crazy), and we heard all sorts of crazy stuff. I won't go into too many details, but let it be said that having just come from church, the church and prison have 2 completely different feelings with them. People would talk to each other about who they were there to see and stuff, but not anyone would talk to us. We stuck out like a sore thumb. Haha. We were in our skirts, holding our scriptures, talking about church stuff....but the person we went to see wants to come back to church and gets out in 2 days, so we can start working with her! Her name is Carrie and we love her already. But going to the prison made me so grateful for the life I had. I saw people having withdrawals from cigarettes and all that, and I am so glad that I am not dependent on something like that for my energy. The gospel truly frees us. It's not a list of rules that is there to inhibit out freedom, it is a list of tools that will bring us happiness. I know it! I see the gospel help people every day!  

I love you all! The gospel is true! I know it, I know God knows it, and I cannot deny it!

sister leslie.

 

Us with the doorknob "key"

Us with Angela, an AWESOME lady who moved from Scotland

who showed us how to make fondant flowers. 

All the sisters in our zone: Sister Gogan, Sister Aiono,

Sister Jensen, Me, Sister Osburn, Sister Saunders

Our "$100" Cake

The temp yesterday: can you believe it?!

 

 

Tuna Fish Ice Cream Sundae, Anyone?

It is currently snowing outside. It's warmer today, about -5 with windchill, so we're excited about that. And Sunday will be the warmest day at a nice 31. Not even above freezing, but I'm considering just wearing a jacket. You have no idea how nice 31 feels after 3 1/2 months of 10 to -60 weather. Spring can come anytime now and I will be fine. 

This week, again, we saw many different miracles. It's amazing how involved the Lord is on the details of our lives--we just have to pay attention! Karla is progressing well. We have her on date for baptism in March, but not quite sure what week yet. But she is so hungry and thirsty! She reminds me on Enos when he explains, "And my soul hungered". That's what she has. She reads in the Book of Mormon everyday for an hour just because she wants to and gets so involved in the story that she can't put it down. It's really quite amazing to watch her progress and learn more. She asks questions, honestly trying to understand what we are teaching. She follows through on commitments, and so it is so inspiring to watch her grow. She wasn't at church yesterday, but we're meeting with her tonight and can ask her why.

Yesterday, we got the glorious news: Next Sunday, 2 ward missionaries are going to be called and set apart! WOOHOO! We haven't had ward missionaries the whole time we've been here and they are greatly needed. One is going to be Jose, which he will EAT up because he loves coming out with us and always asks us when he can go out with the elders. So he will love that and then the other one is Drew Tonini, who got back from his mission on Tuesday. So he's very gung ho about it all. He's like "If you want me to go try potentials with you or go tracting or anything, just give me a call! I will do anything for the missionaries." I want to be a ward missionary when I go home. I do kinda feel bad for him, though. He served his mission in Riverside, California and had to come back to Minot in the middle of February. Haha. It's an adjustment for sure. 

Sister Jensen and I have found a correlation relating to how many lessons we get in a week. We have found that when we focus on the people and just wanting to bring them closer to Jesus Christ and have a sincere desire to help them change, we get a lot of lessons. But when we focus on the numbers and getting a lot of lessons, we don't reach our goals because our minds and hearts aren't in the right place.  So that's why this week we only got 13 lessons (which is the highest we've ever gotten before though). We were focused on the people this week at the beginning, and had 11 lessons by Thursday with 9 more appointments on Friday and Saturday, but then we looked at the numbers and only 2 of them went through. We have remembered this lesson and will apply it into later weeks. We are here to teach people, not lessons. So we are also here to focus on them, not on the numbers. 

This week with Jose we weren't able to actually meet with him, but last night we got to have him over with us to a member's home for dinner and then we watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration". And it is so POWERFUL! I hadn't seen it in a while, and it was cool to be there when Jose could watch it. The Spirit was so strong! At the end, I lost it, just like I always do and after the movie, everyone was all worried about me because I had cried at the end and I was like, "I'm fine! It's just a sad part of the movie!" Haha so it was funny. But yeah. Powerful movie. Also yesterday, Jose was able to help with the Sacrament. He didn't bless it, but he helped pass the water and bread to the deacons. It was cool to watch because he was beaming. The less-active we are working with in 2nd Ward, Jennifer, is also doing well. To explain, we got in contact with her through Jose. He referred Jake and his wife to us, and so we went and stopped by and because Jake works crazy hours in the oil field, we got permission to start working with Jennifer and helping her. She is a sweetheart and she is way fun to be around. She's a convert of about 4 years and she wants to come back to church, so we are just helping her to feel comfortable to come back. 

Remember: You can tell if you are truly converted or not by your desire to share the gospel! If you are converted, you will talk to people and you will not fear because you won't be able to bear that they don't have the happiness and peace you do! It is possible! Becoming converted isn't impossible! 

I know this is a shorter letter, and I am sorry, but these are the highlights and I hope it brings you a joy that the work is working. Don't get discouraged by the wickedness and evil in the world: we already know who is going to win! Good is going to conquer evil, so we don't need to worry! We just need to prepare! "And if ye are prepared ye shall not fear."

We taught an object lesson to an 8 year old boy who wanted the discussions before he was baptized. So we taught him Keep the Sabbath Day Holy this week. We got a nice big serving of vanilla ice cream in a bowl and explained that the ice cream represented Sunday. We asked them for what good things they can do on Sunday. For Church, we added chocolate syrup, for scripture study, caramel, for repenting, Reese's pieces, for prayer, gummy worms, etc. So it made a delicious sundae. Then we asked what bad things we could do on Sunday. We said "Clean", so we sprayed windex on it. They said, play video games, so we put a crushed up CD in it. We said do yard work, so we added grass in there. For laundry, we put in a dryer sheet, for shopping we put in pennies, and for recreational activities, we put in tuna fish. We then stirred it all up, covered it in whipped cream and asked who wanted to eat it. No one would, for some odd reason. We asked why, and they told us because of everything that was in it. We explained, "But you went to Church and repented and read your scriptures! You did good things!" They then made the connection that to keep Sunday holy, we must refrain from doing anything bad. We explained that even one thing can mess up your Sunday, just as just tuna fish in their ice cream would have ruined their sundae. It was a fun lesson and it got the point across. The best part was: we got to eat ice cream afterwards!  p.s. This makes a fun FHE activity! Yumm! 

I love you all!

sister leslie. 

Me with "Bear" (the Noel's dog), before he went to his new home. I'll miss him a little bit, 

but I won't miss him sniffing my behind. 

What "Mo" told us the actual temperature was Saturday morning around 10:30. Yikes!

Me, Sister Jensen, Elder Plitt and Elder Probert (Minot 2nd Ward Elders)