We had transfers last night and (drum roll)...WE ARE SAFE!! Hermana Egbert and I get to stick with each other for another 9 weeks (this next transfer is going to be extra long because President Isom is going out of town)!!! We are so relieved hahaha. We are coming up on the 18th of September (a super big Chillean Holliday) and everybody is getting so excited. Which by the way, our p-day might be switched for that. So If I don’t email that day don’t be stressed. This week we have seen lots of miracles!! On Wednesday, I was feeling a little down in my energy and made Hermana Egbert give me a full on pep talk with jumping and push-ups and everything. Hahah. It sounds dumb, but honestly it helped so much and I was reminded of why I’m here! That night we saw so many miracles. So we have been doing it every morning before we leave, and it has made ALL the difference!! When we have a fire for the work and a love for Jesus Christ, it flows over into everything we do! When we got rejected, it didn’t bother us. When we contacted someone, they could feel something different and wanted to know more! That’s the key to missionary work. Always remembering why we are on a mission and that we have the amazing opportunity to represent the Savior! But really, we have seen so many miracles. For example, usually each week we find one, maybe 2 new investigators if that. THIS WEEK WE FOUND 10!!!!!! And the difference is our faith! Sometimes we can be a block for people that Heavenly Father has prepared to receive the gospel if we choose to think about how tired we are or how long we have been walking. And the weeks before, we honestly thought we were showing great faith! We did have good attitudes and we did have a fire for the work, but nothing like we have had this week and it has made all the difference! When we are EAGER to follow the promptings of the Spirit and we SEEK more opportunities to serve and open our mouths, then we are blessed! Granted, in other parts of the world there may not be people that are as prepared, but we still have the ability to do all in our power to find the people that are. Whether they are few or many. But I’ve learned that I can ALWAYS improve the quality of my faith. And as I do, I see more miracles happen in my life and in the lives of those that I serve! What a blessing it is to be able to repent and become a better person and missionary each day! I love repentance and I’m so grateful for it!! One of those miracles is with 2 of our investigators. They are the ones we found when I was having a rough day and we were able to teach them in English. They are married, he is in the military and she is from Mexico. They are super golden and have incredible questions!! He doesn’t believe in God, and she is super full of faith! They are really smart and incredible people. Last night we had a really cool lesson with them! He was super eager to learn more about our church. He asked really amazing questions and thought about our answers. Because of the Sprit, we were able to answer him in a way that touched his heart and helped him think about what he really believes. At the end of the lesson, we invited them to read 2 Nephi 31 and pray about the Book of Mormon and what we were teaching them after. He said, "I will. If I really want to know I’m going to experiment on the things you are saying." (How prepared is he?). He doesn’t believe in God, but we invited them to say a kneeling prayer with us before we left. Again, he said he would experiment! Before the prayer he said, "I’m really grateful you guys came over tonight. If I wasn’t interested in what you had to say, I would have gone to another part of the house. But we have all reached a really critical point tonight and I’m going to read the Book of Mormon while I’m gone (He’s leaving on a military assignment for a little bit) and I would love to talk about some things when we meet with you again. But I can promise that my wife and I are going to keep talking about what we have talked about tonight after you guys leave. Really, thank you for coming." Then we said the prayer, and after you could tell that he felt something different. It was really a blessing to be able to see the Spirit work through my companion and I, and then to see the Spirit really working in him. That was a huge miracle. They are super special to me, and I am so blessed to be able to know them and be an instrument in the hands of God in their conversion. The mission is the greatest thing I could be doing right now! I am so grateful every day for this opportunity! I think about the line from "Called to Serve" a lot when it says, "Called to know the richness of His blessings". We really are so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives!! This is a gospel of Happiness!!!! I love you all!! Have an amazing week!!
--Hermana West
