July 17, 2013

This letter is coming late because this week is transfer week and so they switch P-Days to wednesday on those weeks.

 

I have good news:

Our investigator Corey is officially baptized and confirmed! 6 dunks later and we finally got him fully immersed under the water. I almost died in my seat. My body has never felt so tense. I had to keep reminding myself to calm down to not drive the spirit away. He's a big man and the boy he choose is a teeny 16 or 17 year old. Bad combo. After 2 he started almost hypervenalating in the font. But we got it all calmed down and figured out - another man had to go in the font and help dunk him - and we dunked him forwards. Despite all that, he said it was one of the best days of his life so thank heavens the spirit took over on that one. The entire time I was like Satan, we will stay here all night if we have to to get this man under the water so stop trying to stop it.

 

I have just...news. Not sure whether its good or bad:

I am staying in Ellington.

We got a call on saturday from President while we were in the middle of a service project. He was talking to sister Crane and called her to be a sister training leader. I got excited for 2 seconds thinking i will be able to learn so much having a companion who is a sister trainer. Then he said, unfortunetely you will be leaving Ellington. I was devistated for 2 seconds at the thought of her leaving me. Every day i wake up and wonder what I would do without Sister Crane. She's amazing - of course shes the sister trainer - i even predicted it...i just predicted she would stay.

THEN- President said, "and Sister Bell?" Well thats never a good sign. I said "yes President?" He said, "You are staying in Ellington. I know you and Sister Crane love eachother very much but the Lord has called you be a trainer in Ellington - will you accept?" Well when you put it that way I dont have a choice. All I could say was a simple "Yes." And the next thing I know Niagara Falls moved in. I've never seen so much liquid come out of my eyes before. I haven't cried on my mission yet which I was starting to get really proud about. I think the amount of liquid that came out of my eyes made up for it. Sister Crane just hugged me and held me there for a long time. She just let me cry there until I was done. The Elders Quorum president walked by and had a funny look on his face. Poor guy - but when we told him later he understood. I can't bare to see Sister Crane go. And as this week went on I realized more and more about how many questions I ask her...and then I realized I will still have all these questions and i wont have a Sister Crane to answer them.

I think this will be good. The Lord knows each of us and what we need in order to progress and I think he knew I needed to progress. i know this will help me learn at an accelerated rate. Training lasts for 12 weeks....in case anyone hasnt looked at a calendar recently i've only been out for 6. I haven't even finnished my OWN training and I'm expected to train someone ELSE? I have just been praying that my poor companion will have compassion on me. I am now the driver and I'm supposed to know where to go and how to teach people and I just dont. I am going to the store today to buy a GPS...not a purchase i was looking forward to making. We just got a new investigator this week and by next lesson I really want to extend the invitation for him to be baptized and this week we are teaching a lesson for the first time (that girl that we met on the 4th of july!!) and whether or not we extend the baptismal invitation, its still the most important lesson and im scared out of my mind knowing i wont have my comfort spot (aka sister crane) to lean upon.

The Lord is definetely teaching me to lean upon Him more than Sister Crane.

 

There is so much to do and I feel like I just can't do it all. We have a digital mission in our mission. missionaries are specifically assigned. We have a website that consists of blogs written by members. They have researched the most common searches on google - that is where they derive the topics for the blogs and postings. They have worked out a way so that when people search those questions, this blog is one of the first to pop up. They are currently working on linking it to mormon.org so that when people click on a word or "learn more" it takes them directly there. We reached out to them in curiosity. Bad idea - they asked us to pilot this area and ask members to write some of the blogs. We need to find writers, photographers, and an editor. The goal is for every mission in the area to have an effective system worked out that can run itself. They have asked us to try this out, figure out what works, evaluate the weaknesses and success and try to figure out an effective program to strengthen the blog as well as strengthen members and struggling members as they write.

I guess they figured that a greenie training a greenie means we don't have enough to do.

 

The gospel is true. I feel like i'm a terrible teacher and i feel like nothing makes sense but in the mean time I keep thanking heavenly father for the testimony he has given me, because that is something i DO have. I can tell people what I know and I can testify and I know that he has given that gift to me. I testify that this gospel has the fullness that Jesus Christ established on this earth. I testify that the book of mormon is the most correct book and that a man will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than any other book. I know the Lord and His atonement works from the inside out. so many times I see people in a poor situation and the first thing I want to do is fix their situation so they can feel the spirit. But I am quickly reminded that the Lord doesn't fix situations, he fixes us, our hearts, and our desires, and then the situation will naturally unfold. He works from the INSIDE - OUT....not the opposite. This is possible for each of you. Thank you for your letters and your pictures. Please go share the gospel. Please go reach out to hands that hang hopelessly down.

 

All my love from Ellington....for at least the next 6 weeks,

Sister Bell

 

Keepin it real...because it is real.......even when you have no idea what you're doing.

 

P.S. - you know you're in the best area in the world when strangers go door to door and leave a cow sugar cookie with a "happy cow appreciation day" note attached. Sister Crane and I died laughing - this place is the best.