June 4th

Hello family and friends! Well I hope everyone else had as amazing a week as I had, I feel like I am floating on air! This week Sister Crandall and I got to have some amazing lessons and we see miracles happening here in West Richland. We had a great lesson with one of our investigators, Scott, and his wife Cathryn who is a member. We had another couple in the ward come over with us and it was so awesome to have them there. We were teaching about tithing and fasting and everyone had really great input and there was just a great spirit there. It was a really good way to start our week. Wednesday we went to teach a family that the missionaries have been working with for a long time. The dad, Don, hasn't been to church in like 40 years or something and his wife, Terri, and daughter Lindsey don't have much of a religious background. Lindsey has been going to Young Women's activities and absolutely LOVES it and Don and Terri love what a positive influence it is in her life. We talked with them about the importance of obedience and how important prayer and scripture study are. We shared a lot of really great experiences and Don and Terri asked some really great questions. We talked about faith and how it's ok that we don't know everything perfectly. We invited them to come to church and they agreed and came to church yesterday! It was amazing! We had a great meeting and I was so happy they were there. 

We had several other awesome lessons this week, but we were a little frustrated by Saturday because we hadn't found any new investigators this week. Around 2 weeks ago we set a goal as a zone that each companionship would find 3 new investigators a week and so we've been praying really hard about it and been really trying to find and talk to as many people as we can. Our zone leaders asked us on Saturday night if we had faith sufficient to find the 3 people the Lord has prepared and Sister Crandall and I both agreed that we did and that the Lord is watching out for us. We only had one day left in the week to find those 3 investigators, but we decided to fast about it and just trust in the Lord. As we sat in Sacrament Meeting in our first ward I was handed a note about 30 minutes into the meeting. The note said there were 2 girls, ages 8 and 9, that came to church with their Grandma and that want to meet with the missionaries and get baptized. Their parents aren't currently coming to church, but the Grandma says she thinks their dad is working on it. It was so crazy. All of a sudden we had 2 investigators that just feel in our laps, LITERALLY. Sister Crandall and I just looked at each other in amazement. And THEN we were driving out to dinner and we decided to call some people we've been trying to meet with for ages and try to set an appointment up. They usually never answer the phone and we've been a little frustrated with them, but we called them anyway, he answered the phone and was like "sure! let's meet next week!" Totally crazy! So now we had 2 more new investigators! Sister Crandall and I just smiled for the rest of the night. It was amazing.

This week has truly shown me, yet again, how much the Lord cares about each and every one of us. He hears our prayers, He knows the intents of our heart, and He blesses us according to our faith. I know that as we ask the Lord sincerely and then ACT on our faith, that He will provide answers and comfort and guidance. I am so thankful to be a missionary, to have the opportunity to share this message with people. I love you all, every letter, prayer, or thought is so appreciated. Keep being amazing! 

Sister Ellingson