Hola!
Yep. This is my last week here! All of us DC South missionaries hop on a plane next Wednesday. I just bought a calling card so I can call you in that morning! I get to the airport in the morning and I will probably be calling anytime between 6-10 am. Probably closer to 7. I will just call the house phone, so let me know before Wednesday if I should call a cell phone instead!
Of course, it was another incredible week as a missionary!
Relief Society on Sunday was awesome! Sheri Dew came and talked with us. She is such an incredible speaker. She talked about how "Conversion requires immersion." Baptism by immersion, and immersion in the gospel. If we do not fully immerse ourselves in the scriptures and good things, we will neglect ourselves of true conversion. Conversion is a DAILY thing.
Sunday night I had one of the most spiritual experiences I have ever had. After being crazy and having fun with my roommates, we were falling asleep later than I had hoped. I got a really strong urge to get up and go to the bathroom although I didn't really need to. When I got in there, I saw a sister on the other side of the bathroom. When I came out of the stall she had left. I went back to bed and started to pray. I started to feel worried for this sister and continued to pray for her. I was SO tired and I didn't want to get out of bed. As I prayed for her, i was reminded of the story of the good Samaritan. Others simple walked past the man in need, or prayed for him, but neglected to help him. The good Samaritan stopped and showed mercy. Immediately I popped off my pillow and went out to the hallway. I found her sitting on the couches with a lap full of tissues. I sat down next to her and started talking to her. She is From Samoa and she was extremely upset. She had just gotten news that her grandpa was in the hospital and she was extremely homesick. She had just barely learned English in the MTC and was learning her mission language as well. I ended up talking to her for a hour or so. Every day this week I see her and chat with her for a little. She kept expressing to me how she was extremely upset and that me coming to talk to her was an answer to a prayer. It was a very simple but a very powerful moment for me. I was very humbled to see a girl completely leave her family behind (who are not members) and go to a country that she had never been to before to serve a mission.
Monday was Canada Day, so Sister Stanford went all out. Her mom sent us Canada Decor and she was able to have fun shouting "Happy Canada Day!" to everybody we past :)
Wednesday was also Sister Stanfords birthday and me and Hermana Wilcox kind of threw her a mini surprise party by decorating her desk. I totally used the Spencer family traditions. I sang our birthday song to her and did heavy heavy hangover!
Yesterday we had In-field training. We had a 9 hour meeting. It was surprisingly awesome! We moved from class to class and got trained on skills like, finding investigators, planning and goal setting and working with members.
It was really neat. One of my teachers was actually Elder Christianson from the District. They put together a play at the end and It was very fun and very informative.
Didn't Jordan help out with that or something in the past?
Happy fourth of July last night! We had a fun day. After In-field training we had a program where we had awesome musical numbers and sang patriotic hymns. Then we heard from......President Laney! Actually Brother Laney now. He shared a brief talk that was really neat. I went right up to him afterword to tell him that I was Elder Jordan Spencer's little sister. He was extremely nice. Afterwards, we watched "17 Miracles." I forgot that I hate that movie because it makes me cry the whole time. It was a really neat experience! Everything seems so much more spiritual as a missionary. After the meeting, we got to stay up past bedtime and watch fireworks. We watched the stadium of fire fireworks that they do in the BYU stadium. It was fun, but we are so tired today from staying up late!!
Something that they really stress as missionaries is working with the members. In a "perfect zion" the members will be finding people, and the missionaries will just be the teachers. It is so important that we have help from the members. The statistics are something like, 1 of every 100 (or more?) street contacts taught will be baptized, but like 1 of every 5 member referrals get baptized. Those statistic are like completely off, but you get the picture.
My challenge to you all, is to think of somebody, a friend OR an acquaintance and give their names to the missionaries.
This week we talked our investigators a lot. In the beginning, our investigators were grouchy and frustrated. They wanted to change, but didn't understand how. They both get "baptized" next week and they have completely changed. The Gospel blesses lives. This week we taught the importance of commandments, like the Word of Wisdom and Reading Scriptures Daily. We really have started teaching in a way that involved them a lot more. Like we gave a reading assignment to our investigator Miguel, and then had HIM teach us about it. It's incredible to see the change in them, even if it's role playing. I am excited to be in the field and work! :)
I love you all so much! I testify that I am on the Lord's errand and this gospel is true. Keep the faith and thanks for all you do! :)
Much love,
Hermana Spencer
PS. Thanks so much for the package! The second I saw Toblerone and Cheez-its I knew I was loved :)
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