Becoming a Southern Bell: Finding Reprieve

Hey Y'all!

This week has been crazy, but absolutely amazing. :) To start off, we had the amazing - and much needed - opportunity to attend the temple for Zone Conference this past Wednesday. The peace and solice were exactly what I needed, espeically at that time. It's crazy to me that I ever waited more than three months to attend the Temple back at home. Now, I find it hard to wait that long. If it were up to me, I would go every week if I could! :) Attending the Temple does wonders for my spirit and re-energizes me for the next three months.

After the temple, we had Zone Training. Since Sister Kanongata'a and I are Sister Training Leaders, we had to help give the zone training with our Zone Leaders. We were stressing about it all week! Once we were done with it, we felt exhausted, but so much better. We also have a funny story from it as well. :) We played a game where we blindfolded an Elder from our zone, hid a jar of Nutella in the room we were in, and had one of the assistants to the president
try to talk the elder to the Nutella. However, we let the other missionaries try and get in the way without making noise. THAT WAS A BAD IDEA!!! All of the Elders in the Zone attacked the poor blindfolded Elder, who just so happened to be our District Leader. They were literally hanging off of him, putting chairs in his way and all but wrestled him to the ground! Ahh! But in the end he got the Nutella and we were able to relate it to how we as missionaries need to follow the council of our mission president and exactly obey all of the mission rules he has set. In the end, we did feel the spirit, although I might not ever do that game again for zone training. :P

The rest of this week has been full of ups and downs. It has been by far the most fatiguing week I have ever had. We were exhausted. However, we worked though that exhaustion and were able to see may miracles. One in particular came as we followed the council of our mission president to contact 15 new people a day. We had gone to a trailer park where one of our less-active members live to pick up something from her house. When we left, we decided to turn around at the end of the road. As we did, we noticed a woman sitting outside her house. We had seen her a few days before at this trailer park and wanted to talk to her, but never got a chance. Immediately, we pulled over, jumped out of the car, and walked right for her. And what a good thing we did! We talked with the woman who's name is "P" a while and learned that she had taken the discussions from Elder missionaries about a year ago and had even attended church 4 times! She had wanted to see the temple, and the Elders had tried to set something up for her when for some reason they all lost contact. Perhaps those missionaries were both taken out of the area, or whatever, but during all the confusion this poor woman was lost. She had been given a Book of Mormon and was now living with her daughter-in-law after her son had passed away. She loves missionaries. How amazing is that?! The Lord knew exactly where she was, what she was going through, and when to send us! :D We hope to pick her back up as an investigator and help her and her family progress in the gospel. Please pray for "P"!

Unfortunately this week, our main investigator "J" dropped us. Please pray that he keeps reading the Book of Mormon on his own and one day will ask for missionaries again.

Y'all might not remember, but we had an investigator when I had just gotten out here, named "Th". For various reasons we had decided to drop her a few months ago. However, over Mother's Day we sent out a text to all the mothers in our ward and investigators, to which "Th" texted back. This is the first contact we have had form her since we dropped her! So, on Wednesday we decided to go back and visit her. We had a powerful lesson, and she told us about how she had fallen and hurt her back really bad. In that time, she realized that she needed to go back to church. Yay! :D We committed to read the Book of Mormon again and to come to church. However, Sister K and I personally think she has some kind of mental problem. Her and a companion we were out on exchanges with the next day went by to do service for "Th". They knocked at the door and "Th" screamed at them as if she would kill them. The sisters quickly went to the car, shaken. Just as they got in, "Th" came back out and acted as though nothing happened. Hmm.... Weird. She didn't attend church either. However, we hope to keep teaching her if we are safely able. Everybody needs the gospel, and who knows, perhaps this is what she needs to make her emotional side more stable.

Like I had mentioned before, we did our first exchanges with sisters in our zone. :) What a fun time it was too! I went out with Sister Christ, who I came out with and was in my district at the MTC. It was so incredible to see how much we have both changed and grown as missionaries to the Lord. One lesson that really stands out to me from that day was with an investigator named "T" who we dropped in to see. We had an appointment with him, but as we got there, he was just about to leave to pick up his son. We had enough time to give him a short lesson on the Restoration and ask him to read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. He was very interested as we spoke and we both testified so boldly. "T" took a BOM and told us to call him next week about a time to sit down and teach his family. It was so cool to teach with Sister Christ and to see the miracle of a new investigator become more interested in the gospel. :)

Every day in the mission field has been an incredible experience for me. The weeks seem to fly by, though. I can't believe that it has been over 4 months since I left my life in Utah to go serve the Lord. I feel as though I just got off the plain yesterday! It makes me realize how important and precious every second out here is. I only get to do this once, and this once is flying by so fast! :)

As I was studying, I came a cross a scripture that so adequately describes what I as a missionary want above all else. What is of the most worth to me. :) It is found in Doctrine and Covenants 17:6

"And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father. Amen."

That is the reason every missionary out here is called to serve. That is what is of most worth to me personally and probably to every other missionary. :) To preach repentance to our Heavenly Father's children. To bring them into the waters of baptism so they may one day enter His kingdom and we can rest with them, rejoicing. I hope when the day comes that I go to the Celestial Kingdom, that I see the people I helped to bring to the gospel. That I can hug them and congratulate them. Then I will see the last fruits of my labors out here. To see them in white that third time, in the Celestial Kingdom with their families. :) I can't wait for that day, and hope to keep that at the center of my mind as I teach all of my investigators. :)

Y'all's Southern Bell,

Sister Welch