Angels, Investigators, and Cook Park

-I found my middle name! Got a piece
of my grandmas in Oregon!

Friends!

Sister A and I in the actual Cook Park 

and our "white stallion" in the background

I have been dreading writing this email because there is SO MUCH to update you all on. First off, the zoo was fantastic! Sister A and I saw some great miracles this week from our finding efforts the week before. When we tracted two Saturdays ago, the last door we knocked on we kind of were sick of tracting and gave them our card and ran off for dinner. From the moment the family closed the door I knew we should have set up an appointment to come back but I didn't know how to go about it. I just pushed that prompting aside and we left. Finally after being pestered by the Spirit for a few days, I told Sister A that we had to go back. Then we almost died.. crazy story but all you need to know is that I could have been dead except an angel literally steered around us in the car. 5 minutes after this incident, we knocked on the door and walked away with a new investigator. Then 15 minutes later we had our SECOND investigator. This second investigator is golden. She told us that she has always wanted to be Mormon and sometimes she watches general conference on LDS.org for fun. She is 28, just married, and completely AWESOME!

So that is the Angels, and investigators part.. now here is Cook Park:

On Thursday, after a super fun dinner with our Ward Mission Leader and his family, we recieved a text from the Cook Park Elders which we immediately dismissed (Elder Jacobson and Smith who are our really good friends).. and underneath that we had two texts from President.You know things are pretty serious when President texts. Turns out that a missionary broke his leg and another missionary is sick or something and so they took the Elders from Cook Park and WE HAVE COOK PARK NOW. We had a week and a half of one ward bliss and now it is time to go back to work. (: We weren't sure if we were ecstatic or overwhelmed by this. But it has been great and they have some of the best investigators and family! Bonus: we get 10 hours of church again!! Speaking of church...

"You have to share a testimony to gain a testimony." -Brigham Young

Fast Sunday was yesterday and during the testimony meeting I felt impressed to talk about testimonies. As Bishop Glazier said yesterday, "my testimony is fragile." I think we can all agree that our testimonies are fragile and we must do all that we can to nourish them and keep them in one piece.

 I like what it says in True to the Faith about testimonies:

"Having obtained a testimony, you have a duty to nurture it throughout your life. Your happiness in this life and throughout eternity depends largely on whether you are 'valiant in the testimony of Jesus.' The quest for a testimony begins with a righteous, sincere desire."

In the words of my father, "It is easy to teach someone a correct principle.  But unless they put effort forth the effort of studying, praying, pondering, and obeying it, it is difficult to gain a testimony that will change there lives." He also likened it to being spoon fed the gospel. If you are just being told what to believe, your testimony will only go so far before you begin to break under the weight of Satan's forces. And you better believe that he is working harder and harder on us all these days. We are powerful children of God with more potential than we might realize at this moment.

It goes on to say that it is through the quiet influence of the Holy Ghost that testimonies come and through experiences your testimony will grow. What I want to focus on is "your testimony will increase when you share it." Do not wait for your testimony to be fully developed before you share it. Part of a testimony's development comes when it is shared. In fact, you will find that when you give what you have of your testimony, it will be returned to you-- with increase."

Don't wait to share your testimony with others. You have one for a reason! Don't be ashamed of it and hide it away. It is powerful and amazing, as well as fragile. Tenderly take care of it. "Your testimony will be most powerful when it is expressed as a brief, heartfelt conviction about the Savior, His teachings, and the Restoration." -True to the Faith I know that personally I was always very active in the church and I thought I was doing pretty good, but it wasn't until I came here on my mission and put my whole heart into this work that I realized I wasn't doing quite enough. I wasn't actively doing my best to learn, to grow, and to nourish my testimony. I might have been doing what I was supposed to but I wasn't doing it effectively. I was allowing myself to be spoon fed the Gospel. I listened and I did believe but I wasn't applying. My mission has changed that all. It has changed me. And it has only been 2 months...

You don't have to serve a full time mission to gain a strong testimony. Turn your hearts and souls to Christ. Move full speed ahead as you search the scriptures, actively look for missionary

opportunities and ways to serve others, do what He would do. Start in the home, then work to the rest of your home. Nourish what you have and gain more.

I love you all! Have a great day!

-Sister Waite

God changes plans

Hello!

What a week. On Friday, President asked us all to fast and then to designate Saturday as a day of finding. So we were all able to do a mission-wide fast! What holy ground this mission was on that day! We were blessed with rain on Saturday and a beautiful breeze throughout our finding which was so nice. As far as mine and Sister A's finding, we did A LOT of tracting and nothing really happened immediately, we found a few potentials here and there, but we know that our efforts are never wasted! We know that God's timing is much better than ours. Plus, when I saw that our ward is called Bull Mountain, most of our ward literally lives on this steep "mountain" and we tracted that practically all day so we are in tip top shape, sore, and hoping to see those blessings!

Speaking of God's timing, He performed another sign for us! During weekly planning Sister A and I sunk our ipads and then I looked at our calendar. I was the one who put in the plans for the day and so I was confused when I looked down and saw a man's name, all in caps, in our plans. I asked Sister A about it and she said she had never seen his name before, yet there he was, in blue (meaning he was a teaching appointment) and the time was set specifically for 5:15 AND he was tagged in the appointment which is something that takes an actual person to do. There was no way that anyone else could have gotten into our ipads and put that in. We knew in that moment that God had literally changed our plans around.. AGAIN! We did go over, but unfortunately the wife was home instead and said they weren't interested. As Sister A and I walked away we wondered why, if there hadn't been any miracle response, we were supposed to go there. We wish we could ask, but for now we have to be patient and trust that everything will work out the way it is supposed to. Perhaps we just weren't supposed to be somewhere else at the time. Hmm..

A lot of people have a hard time with the Fall of Adam. They can't understand why we believe that it wasn't a bad thing, but in fact a great thing, that Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. The Lord never leaves us comfortless. Our kind and loving Heavenly Father allowed his son and daughter to step away from his presence and grow on earth. Once they were led out, they were given direction and guidance as they were taught the Plan of Salvation once again. We can receive that same direction and guidance when we turn to Him.

 One Jehovah Witness lady even tried to convince us that we were sent into Satan's domain because of Adam's decision. How could such a loving and just God decide to send us into Satan's domain? This is earth, not hell. Heavenly Father created, through Jesus Christ, this beautiful world that we live. No, this is not purgatory. The Fall of Adam was indeed part of the Plan. It always was, it always will be.

I say, that this is the man who receiveth salvation, through the atonement which was prepared from the foundation of the world for all mankind, which ever were since the fall of Adam, or who are, or who ever shall be, ever unto the end of the world. - Mosiah 4:7

Christ was ALWAYS part of the plan from the very beginning. Had Adam and Eve chosen to live in the Garden of Eden forever, there would have never been any reason for the Atonement, and we would not exist. But the best part? The atonement is the center of the Plan of Salvation. Agency is a huge component also:

Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself. -2 Nephi 2:27

Adam and Eve were given the choice in the Garden because agency is part of the plan. Christ chose to suffer for all mankind. Through his actions, the Atonement was created and we can all be cleansed from our OWN transgressions. We might not be accountable for Adam's sins, but we do have personal responsibility. The Atonement is there but Christ will not heal or cleanse us against our will. That is still our choice and what a fantastic one! The Atonement is there, do we choose to access it? Or are we allowing ourselves to be comfortable in our trials and sins? What choices are we making with our agency? Are we giving all of our time and talents to the Lord?

This is the time to do so. Don't let yourselves become "retired Mormons," even if you really are retired! There is work that needs to be done, right here, right now, maybe especially at 5:15.

I have never been so happy in my entire life than I am on my mission. There is so much joy in coming to Christ and proclaiming to everyone that He lives! That the true gospel has been restored upon this earth! You don't have to be a full-time missionary to know these things for yourself. Ask Him! Don't just hear His word, READ IT!

I love my life, I LOVE Oregon, and I LOVE MY COMPANION.

I hope you all take a few moments to think about your own life and how you can add even more happiness to it. I love you all and thank you everyday for the prayers you send my way! Have a good Monday, now I am off to the zoo!

Love, Sister Waite

Pictures:

Sister A and I right after some great tracting and some beautiful weather

One of the steep hills we tracted.  What a beautiful view though!

A Sad Farewell to Gaarde

Transfer day

Good day everyone!

Well it is transfer day and things have been changed a bit. Sister A and I already knew for a week or so now that we were losing Gaarde ward and we are so sad. After the last lesson with one of our investigators last week, we promptly got in the car and started crying. But we know that this is for the best. We started preparing for only one ward and it just felt like a huge weight was taken off our shoulders. We never even realized that we were so overwhelmed until this moment. People were getting lost in the cracks. President must have trusted us a lot because we are both so fresh and we were given the amazing and rare opportunity to cover two wards in this mission. 

We had interviews with President Ballard last Wednesday and he has been challenging all the missionaries to write home "small plates" instead of "large plates." He is all about making sure our personal studies are beneficial because that is what starts a good missionary for the day. He asked us to ask a question going into studies and seek to not just understand them, but really know why it is important and how to teach it (gain the intelligence). This week I didn't have a set question but I did want to study more about Joseph Smith and his life as he translated the Book of Mormon. It shouldn't come as a surprise that many people out here have read anti material and I really wanted to build that extra shield to protect myself against it and just gain a stronger testimony of Joseph Smith. 

As I read a lot of great material, including the Testimony of Joseph Smith at the beginning of the Book of Mormon, I came to realize more and more what I already knew. Joseph Smith was simply a human; a human that went through more trials than I can even imagine. Sure, he had thoughts that weren't exactly in line with God's will, but he overcame them. Joshoph Smith History even states that he had "frequently [fallen] into many foolish errors, and displayed the weakness of youth, and the foibles of human nature." However, he was conscious of his shortcomings and pleaded for forgiveness, doing his best to remain pure. He never said he was a perfect man. Doesn't that sound just like us? "Saints are sinners who keep on trying."

 In the article "The Coming Forth of the Book of Mormon" by Matthew S. Holland it talks all about the lose of the 116 pages and how after that point, the plates were taken from Joseph and he was very sorrowful for what he did. That was what changed everything. Sure he made mistakes, HUGE mistakes. But the Lord did forgive him and from that moment, Joseph "began a pace of religious contribution the likes of which the world had not seen since the personal ministry of Jesus Christ." Joseph and Oliver Cowdery then translated 588 pages of the Book of Mormon in 65 working days. I encourage you all to read this article if you haven't already because it goes on to talk about how correct every bit of information is historically and how no mere man could have done that alone. 

What strengthened my testimony the most was in Doctrine and Covenants 135:3:

"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fulness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!"

This church is the true and living church upon this earth. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and he did come upon this earth and perfected His Gospel. Joseph Smith did restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ once again and the Book of Mormon does contain the fulness of it. It is another testament of Jesus Christ and should be read "EVERYDAY, EVERYDAY, EVERYDAY." I know these things with a surety in my heart. 

Have a grand week and I can't wait to hear from all of you! Love each and every one of you!

-Sister Waite 

Picture:  Saying goodbye to the Grimmius family.

When missionaries and balloons unite

A Phone Call from God

Hello!

On Tuesday we went and saw M. It had been a pretty terrible day and Sister A and I were just not enjoying it. But we walked into their house and the first thing that M and her mom said to us was that they had been reading and praying together. They just lit up when they said that and were practically dancing in their kitchen. It was so great to see how happy they were! It immediately lifted our spirits and brightened our day! Her brother even stayed and talked with us a bit which is something that M said he has never done with missionaries. After our lesson, we took M to stake volleyball and it was a blast!

Wednesday we took some time to call some part member families and see if we could come by. In the middle of these phone calls, we got a call from a number we didn't recognize. I answered and it was silent on the other side. So Sister A looked the number up in our area book and we found out it was from an investigator who hadn't been interested. We called back and it said there was an error and the number hadn't been in use for a while. There was literally no way that someone could have called us from that number, yet it did. We hadn't even been looking at this lady and definitely hadn't called her. So what happened? Well it was our Heavenly Father giving us a phone call, obviously! We went to her house but she wasn't home and the man told us would we come come back in a few days. Heavenly Father was just putting her in our sights for right now!

There is a family in one of our wards that we had a harder time connecting with (members). We had an MRL (member referral lesson, where they set up a date to do missionary work) with them and so we decided that we would tract their neighborhood and show them that we were putting in work, so they could too. That really opened them up and they were so on board. The father gave us some names of a member family that no one could find and so we went out to tract their apartment complex. We found out that they don't live there anymore but we had time and decided to keep tracting there. We were running out of time and almost didn't finish with the last two doors. Then the saying that Elder Jacobson, District Leader, said came up, "If you love them, you will knock. Do you not love them enough to knock? or knock again?" So we knocked and found this family who was so prepared! They were Spanish speakers and we didn't want to be poachers, so we reluctantly gave this family up to the Spanish Elders. It was a little sad, but we know that we will be blessed for finding that family and that we will receive someone who is prepared for us!

This is what the Spanish Elder's later told us:

They had decided to do a miracle find (pray that there will be a miracle amongst their tracting a really rich neighborhood) but by the end, they hadn't really found anyone. A few minutes later, we called them and gave them this great prepared family! We were their miracle! The Elders went and met the family and they are doing so great!

Thursday was our one month anniversary of being a companionship! Friday we didn't have anyone feeding us (a rare occasion) so we went out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant and it was a great celebration. Anniversary dinner for the win!

MIRACLES ARE HAPPENING PEOPLE! We got out of a lesson and were driving to do some finding when I look out the window and see Karleen, a lady we have never met but the Spirit told us who she was when we see her walking all over this town. I saw her walk into McDonalds and did my Drew thing were I yelled her name and Sister A quickly pulled over. We had no clue what we were going to say, but knew we needed to talk to her. We walked in and Sister A looked in her bag to find anything that would help. I just walked up to her, towards the restrooms, she turned around and not knowing what else to do, I just said "Hi, how are you? What is your name?" Awkward right? But it had to be done! She said her name and then Sister A and I did the worst surprised expressions ever and explained that we were the missionaries who had been leaving her notes! She was so nice and open to us and hopefully we can actually see her soon! Then a man came up and gave us a gift card and said he was paying for our lunch! But we weren't there for food, so we slipped out when he wasn't looking.. We still appreciate it!

Something that has been on my mind is the Grace of God. Grace is the "divine assistance and endowment of strength from God. He pours out blessings of power and strength, enabling us to achieve things that otherwise would be far beyond our reach. It bestows temporal blessings and spiritual gifts that magnify our abilities and enrich our lives. His grace refines us. His grace helps us become our best selves." -President Uchtorf

Keep being member missionaries and know that God loves you! He really does.

And I do too!

-Sister Waite

Meri's brother let us try on his super awesome
 Storm Trooper helmets!

A Friendly Reminder:  Do your Family History!

Another Day, Another Dawn

our awesome trip with the Elders.
Waiting in line at Voodoo Donuts

Hello Beautiful People!

So update on Downtown Portland:

It is so fun! But there are definitely A TON of homeless people! and it kind of smells everywhere... We got permission to drive our car down there and met up with some great Elder's who showed us around. Our mission only goes half-way through the bridges towards Vancouver so we walked half-way on the bridge which was really fun. Then we walked over to Voodoo Donuts. I definitely got a super yummy and filling doughnut with Oreo and peanut butter on top. Let's just say, there was no way we could get any food truck food that day! We will leave that for the next adventure in Downtown. We also went by a homeless camp and as we were walking, I saw Elder Willie (funniest person ever) flinch and then look at me with a smile on his face. I was so confused until I looked down and saw a real life human turd on the sidewalk next to me! All the Elders laughed so hard as I frantically ran away laughing. Powell's bookstore was our next stop and it is HUGE. We saw some other great sights and funny people! Great P-day to say the least!

It ain't downtown without some Voodoo

This week was really weird. We did some service every morning for a non-member couple in Gaarde ward. We walked their dogs at 7:30 and then they fed us breakfast, which meant our studies were pushed back and it just was such an off week. It was a great week though! We were fortunate to provide a lot of service. Including when Elder Jacobson, our District Leader, totally tricked us into cleaning a house for a Jewish couple who use missionaries for service. But it was all good and we did it gladly. We also cleaned out the garage of this old man and then our new favorite less-active sister, P, pulled up and ended up helping us too! She had just gone to the farmers market and bought us flowers! She is the kindest lady and we really love her.

Speaking of P, she has been our little miracle. We have been trying for a long time to get a hold of her and a couple weeks ago we finally did! She had us come over and it was just perfect timing. She has had a hard year and things were finally going better THAT VERY DAY we visited. She has two cats who don't ever come out to see anyone, but they did for us and she was just so amazed and kept saying that we were "special young ladies." The next time we went to her house, she said she was quitting smoking the next day. We definitely have seen so many amazing miracles with her and get to have dinner with her this Wednesday which we are SUPER excited about!!

Sister A and I got to sit in during a Patriarchal Blessing for a lady named Rose who we love. She has come back to church and is just the most amazing person. It was the coolest experience!

Saturday night at around 8 I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament at 9 the next morning. Well, I was one of TWO speakers. I ended up talking for 20 minutes and I prepared for 30! The Lord definitely helps you when you need it because some how that was probably one of the best talks I have ever given in church.

I loved what our Zone Leader, Elder Wilkinson, said in District meeting this week. He gave some really long and seemingly pointless story about his childhood but then related it back to joy and it was great! He talked about how "men are that they might have joy." This life is not a steady stream of sorrow with little intervals of joy, it is a joyful path with bits of trials and sorrow. There will always be happiness right around the corner. ENJOY the path, don't just endure it.

Love you all!

-Sister Waite

One Month Down

Hello people!

What a quick week. There is so much to say, but I already forgot half of it. 

First off, Sister A and I study in the park every morning. One day, a lady was walking by us and this was our conversation:

"Hi guys! How are you today?"- lady 

"We are good! How are you?"- us

"Good! So what school do you guys go to?" -her

"Oh, we are actually missionaries and we are just studying here!" -us

"Oh okay, I just see you here everyday and I wanted to make you aren't homeless"- lady 

*she walks away*

"uhh, thanks?"- us

I guess that is what we get when we have blankets wrapped around us and we look half asleep still. haha

A church that is on the same street as our church building has some of the best quotes on their church board every week and I thought I would share them with you every week. I forgot the last few times so here are a few:

"worry is the darkroom where negatives develop"

"God answers kneemail"

"avoid truth decay, brush up on the bible"

"little is much when God is in it"

"love is its own reward, bitterness its own punishment"

AND THE BEST ONE:

"hipster Jesus loved you before you were cool" -such a Portland Oregon thing to say

On a more spiritual note, this week has been so great! Our investigators are progressing so much and we have been doing quite a bit of finding lately. We hope to see some fruit from our labors. The Lord's timing is impeccable. We went to teach Juliette and had something planned for the lesson. As we were sitting there talking to her, she asked some questions about temples and right then she received a call from her son who she hasn't talked to in quite a while. It gave us just the perfect amount of time to change what we felt prompted to teach her. We just looked at each other and knew that talking about the temple was what was needed at this time and it was such a great lesson!

Drew, previously known as "Skinny Santa," has been making leaps and bounds! He came to church before we had even finished teaching The Restoration and it has been so amazing to see the way this Gospel has changed him. His personality has even become different in a very good way. He has a hard time with sacrament because of the noise from the children (Bull Mountain ward is pretty large and has A TON of children) but he still says he likes coming for "Bible Study." 

The other day we were supposed to have a lesson with him and we had some members go to his apartment to pick him up so we could have the lesson at their house. They called and said he wasn't home! We were so disappointed. Before this lesson, we had some time so we thought  we would go "inspiration door knocking." Sister A told me to tell her where to go with my "greenie fire" so I said to turn right and go on Bull Mountain Road. I just said whatever popped in my head first. I told her to make some turns and then I picked a house. We continued to do this for awhile with really no luck. We never said anything, but I think we both hoped we would have some cool story about it. We went to go drive to Drew's apartment and as we were turning onto the main road, I screamed' "DREWWW!!" and frantically pointed out the window. Drew was sitting at the bus station and Sister A quickly pulled over. We figured out a ride for him to the members house and all was right in the world again. We might not have found any new investigators, but we found Drew! Had we not gone on that road, we never would have had the lesson we had that night. Talk about miracles right there!

Life is so great and I am so happy to be here as a missionary!! 

I want to quote what my dad wrote me this week. He is so inspired!

"The first month is in the history books and you have only seventeen to go.  I say that not in means of a count down of you returning home but as a time limit to your potential successes.  I am sure you felt that first month came and went like a thief in the night.  With as much as you accomplished, that was just a warm up.  It is now time to pick up the pace and start jogging."

I am going to continue to give my 100% and am so thankful for the love and prayers and letters I receive from all of you. Keep doing your best to be member missionaries because you will be able to help out in His work far much quicker than we can at times. I am headed off to Downtown Portland in a bit so tune in next week for a fun summary of the adventures that lie ahead!! (:

Love you all,

Sister Waite

Pictures:

While on splits in Cedar Creek this week,
we found the ghost busters car!

We made a fort last night because our room was
too hot to sleep in last night

-Stepping in faith one large foot at a time...

Small and Simple Miracles

-Sister A and I got some rad face paintings

Hello!

Is it seriously already Monday?? Where did the week go!

Let's see if I can be orderly in this email.. It's so hard to remember everything! Well for starters, I LOVE MY COMPANION. Sister A is seriously so fun and quirky and I love it! She is the best trainer I could have asked for! And we totally jam out to spiritual music. Our current favorite is "Hark the Herald, Angels Sing" by Pentatonics. Life is never boring, that's for sure. My favorite thing about her is her prayers. This is an example: "Thanks for allowing us to have zone meeting.. even though I don't like meetings. It was good..Probably what I needed." and "oh and so and so, HOLY MOLY that kid!! Please help us to know what to do with him." 

-Studying at the park on P-day

When I first got out here, Elder and Sister Joy said that I looked just like their daughter so I told Sister A that I might get that a lot. I didn't know how much! Last week, about 5 people said I looked like someone they know. I must just have one of those faces? It is definitely a blessing because then people feel comfortable around me and open up to us!

So there is a guy out here, his name is MS and TC is really good friends with him and his wife. We decided one day to visit him because our area book said he hadn't been contacted in awhile. We knocked on the door and he immediately let us in. He was so kind and basically told us he is a dry Mormon. It seems that his wife isn't too interested which could be why he hasn't joined the church. But he knows it is true and told us that himself. A few days later, after a hard but good lesson, we arrived home and had a text from Sister Ballard telling us to call her. We instantly were wondering what we could have possibly done wrong. We called and she said that MS had texted her (he knows them well too). He said that we were great representatives of the church and mentioned a few other nice things. He also told her that we had forgotten a sweater at his house and he could bring it to the ward or we could pick it up (Good Job Sister A!! She didn't even do it on purpose). We had her text him back and say that we would be at church at 2 and he could bring it then. He never did show up but we went to his house after and assume he is on a trip with his wife. When we had visited, he kept saying that we should come back to visit. I think he really does want to join the church but just doesn't know how to go about it with his wife. Sister Ballard told us how proud she was of us which was such a great thing to hear after such a difficult night. 

Sister A and I had a less busy day on Thursday so we went to visit M and her mom, both less-active. We were a little later then we had planned but that ended up being perfect because M pulled up right then. Had we been any earlier, we would have missed the opportunity to visit them. They are the sweetest people and we read a chapter in the scriptures with them. While reading, her mom got a phone call. When she came back, we had finished and were talking about the chapter. She looked like she was going to cry but was almost glowing. It turns out that she had been worried about her job because she just had surgery and is taking some time off. She had been waiting for a phone call about her job and they told her that she could take as much time as she needed and they would find her a spot when she came back. Then M received a phone call from her job and was told some wonderful news also. They both knew that these miracles had come because of reading the scriptures. The Lord works in such miraculous ways.

D, our "skinny Santa," has changed so much. I love seeing the way the Gospel of Jesus Christ can uplift, strengthen, and humble those that we are teaching. D came to church yesterday and stayed for all 3 hours!! We have only taught him the Restoration too! He was in Sunday School answer all of these questions about the Atonement and Sister A and I were literally left with our jaws dropped. What an amazing man! Not only did D come to church, but M did also! We had so many of our less-actives and investigators come and it was the best thing. I can understand now why people always say that missions are "the hardest but best decision you ever make." The change I see in others, and the change I see in myself are just incredible.

Yesterday, Sister A commented, "We are fasting for the Salvation of [his] soul." That just hit me so hard because here I am, 19 years old and I have been given this ridiculously hard but great job to bring others unto Christ through the Spirit. Nothing I have done in my life has been as great as what I have set before me.

This whole week was so spiritually uplifting and amazing, but Saturday we got to have some spiritual fun! We did service all day. In the morning we started our day by helping the achievement day girls. They were having a 3 mile walk to the Portland Temple from our church building and there were some fun stations along the way to help teach them about Temples. We got to be Station 5 and so we just sat on the sidewalk waiting for them to come. It was the first rainy day here and so everyone was out walking in the nice weather. The Temple matron even walked by and talked with us for a bit. Later that day, we went to Party in the Park in Beaverton. It was like a smaller scaled Logandale Fair but it was such a blast! Sister A and I got to do face painting again for a few hours and it was just so fun with all of our Elders from our zone as well as from other zones. 

I am having such a great time here in Oregon and am so grateful for the sweet letters I receive from you! I love you all and miss you!! Have another great weekend and Endure to the End because greater happiness than you can possibly comprehend is in store. 

-Sister Waite

Pictures:

-This is our view at all times: pretty trees and our ducks in a row

Sister Cuenca and Hermana Mercado and I all matched at Zone Conference