About time I added some pictures!!

Exciting week!

HEY FAM!!!!!

Thank you so much for all of your letters! They made me SO happy to get! We've been so insanely busy lately even in the wee hours of the morning and lunch and dinner hours that I've literally only had time to open Linny's so far and read it super fast. But today is P-day so once we get home I'll get time to read them. Thank you so much for sending them! It made my whole day to get them in the mail!

So.....I AM SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!! This has been the best week ever! Pretty much, my companion is the greatest person in the whole entire world. She is always super positive and is teaching me how to do the same. And it makes the hugest difference in the whole entire world! I've had a blast so far and this is the happiest I've been on my whole mission I think!

We've seen MIRACLES beyond MIRACLES this week. It's been so awesome. First of all, the very first day that she got here, we had a sweet miracle. It was crazy. As we were on our way to an appointment and already running late, as we stepped into the car I spotted a woman walking down the street and the Spirit said to talk to her. So as we started talking to her she told us that she was doing awful because her son was missing since 1:00 and thought that her worse fears were confirmed, that he was kidnapped. We didn't really know what to say or do other than to offer a prayer with her. My companion was offering the prayer for her to be comforted and find her son and before we even got to the end we heard, "Hi mom!" We opened our eyes and there was her son on his bicycle! We all freaked out including the woman and we told her that prayers are answered! She gave us her address and said she would love to learn the gospel.

On Saturday, we decided that we would have an "inspired dinner." We had no dinner appointment set up for the night and because driving to our apartment and back down south where we usually work would take a total of like 30 driving time, we decided that we would go out to eat and that the Lord would guide us to find the elect wherever we ate. We simply decided that it was going to happen. Usually, it's called "inspired tracting" or "an appointment with the Lord" when you pick a street to knock through prayer. So,I came up with "dinner appointment with the Lord" or "inspired dinner."
When 5 rolled around, we were both starving. I wanted sonoran hot dogs and she wanted tacos so we decided to find a taco stand. We passed a place and she said ooo I wanna go there to that taco place. They also had sonoran hot dogs so it was perfect. As we waited for our food to be cooked, I looked around wondering who the elect was and couldn't wait to meet them! We struck up a conversation with the guy next to us, Carlos. He was traveling through from Cali to Texas and said he always goes to that taco place when he comes. The conversation eventually led to the gospel and he was like "Why are you guys so happy? I wanna know, how?" We talked all about the gospel and baptism and the Book of Mormon. We bore testimony about how much joy it brings us and he was like "I can see that and I want that. I will read this whole book for sure and I'm going to call you." Man the Spirit was so strong and it was just the coolest moment, he was TOTALLY elect!!!! We found the elect at Tacos Apson! Appointments with the Lord WORK. Inspired dinner is the way to go. EVERYone's happy!
As we left the restaurant/stand taqueria thingy, one of the workers followed after us and asked what church we were from and said he'd like a Book of Mormon. He talked about how he's been looking for something to fill the hole in his life, that he wants to follow Christ and will come to church with us next Sunday. He said he would read the Book of Mormon and that we could come teach him on Wednesday. He speaks Spanish, lives in our area and is the next member of the SOnora branch! Woop!

We've been talking about faith lately. Hermana Eyre is helping me to have so much faith, more than I've ever even had this whole time so far! This is why all these miracles are happening! She's so legit. We walked into the library today and this guy was just looking at us and then said he wanted to talk to us. We went outside and expalined the gospel and the resoration and gave him a BOM and the Sprit was so strong it was awesome! We knew the answer to every single one of his questions (well the gospel answered every really good question of the soul he had) and helped him identify the Spirit. It was ahhhh just so awesome. I can't wait to see what other miracles we will have today!!!

Today we're teaching Arcelia. She has to get married to be baptized. Her boyfriend Hugo doesn't like us or the restoration or talking about baptism or anything. We were like well sad day I guess she'll have to split up their family to be baptized, cause she really doesn't like living with him at all even though he is the father of her children. But no! We decided that God wants every family to be eternal and that with faith and repentance and obedience it's possible! We just decided that we're going to have a miracle with Hugo and have their family baptized. And it's going to happen. We can't wait!!!!!

I love this insert that grandma and grandpa put in my scriptures. It talks about how there are two different kinds of faith. The first is the kind of knowing expectation you have from past experience (the sun will rise, the mailman will come, the sun will set). You don't actually know for 100 percent sure cause there's a possibility it won't happen but you can pretty much guarantee it's gonna happen. The second kind of faith is taking a step into the unknown. It's the kind of faith that actually causes things to move and things to happen that wouldn't otherwise occur. It's that faith that caused mountains to moved and that allowed the brother of Jared to see Christ. And it's that kind of faith that makes things happen in missionary work that would be otherwise impossible! We KNOW that we can have a miracle with Arcelia and Hugo and that if we just have the faith and make it happen, it will! I can't wait!

We have a sister's retreat tomorrow. It's going to be so fun. We're going up to Mount Lemon to a cabin for the day. It's gonna be sweet.

My comp rocks! She's also helping me be way better at being myself and truly having the Spirit. We are working so well together and it's totally awesome and we are a great team. This is gonna be like the best 12 weeks of my life.

Well gotta go but I love you so!

Love,

Kelsie :)

Another great week.

HEllo :)

This was a great week. Let me tell you why.

Firsttttt of all KADE AND TAYLOR ARE ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!! THAT'S SO CRAZY!!!!!!! Oh my gosh that is so awesome, I just about fell off my chair when I read it! Haha, it's always the biggest shock in the world when you hear about your friends getting married. I need an announcement for sure! Is there any way you could ask Taylor her address for me? I've actually been thinking about her a ton on my mission and have really wanted to write her for a really long time now. AHHhhh tell Steve and Lisa I say congrats!!!!

Conference. I really liked Neil L. Anderson's talk about not only "What think ye of Christ?" but, "What thinks Christ of me?" I need to reflect more on my love for the Savior, how I show it, and how I can grow it.

Yesterday at conference we saw a man who my companion just happened to contact at a gas station and invited to attend conference. He came, and he LOVED it! We introduced him to the elders who would teach him and got him a Book of Mormon. It was such an awesome moment for us missionaries to all be standing there talking to him after the last session and bearing our testimonies that he was feeling the Spirit enlighten him and watch him grab his own Book of Mormon from our hands. It's always a funny, awkward situation when a bunch of missionaries are standing around an investigator and he is talking about being interested in coming back and learning more. Everyone wants to jump in and explain everything and bear testimony but at the same time we're all just awestruck at that awesome moment when someone is realizing the gospel is what they want. It was a sweet experience. I probably looked dumb haha, I couldn't wipe this huge smile off my face the whole time he was talking about how he loved conference and wanted to learn more. I was just so happy, it was such a sweet moment.

Soooo, things are going great. This area is really hard, apparently. There hasn't been any baptisms here in over a year. We REALLY want to change that and have been fasting and praying for inspiration and miracles. We've been doing a lot of finding like my last area but Sister Roberts has shown me how to take a lot of the unnecessary stress and bother out of it to make it much more productive. She is the BEST companion. She is sooooo sweet and just cracks me up. She really is the most harmless and pure spirit ever. We've already really bonded and had great memories and an enjoyable time. Hahahha she has a paralyzing fear of dogs, even little tiny chihuahuas. She's had panic attacks before on the mission from being scared by dogs, and has warned me that sometimes if there's a dog she just really can't knock the door or go in or get close enough or contact someone with a barking dog. She always grabs my arm really tight when she hears one and we have to stop. Yesterday as we were walking she spotted a big stray dog walking around and just stopped in her tracks. As she was standing behind me, she was whispering a little prayer to herself to calm down. "Querido Padre Celestial, por favor bendice que el perro es simpatico y bendicelo el perro a salir. En el nombre de JesuCristo, Amen." Dear Heavenly Father, please bless the dog to be a nice dog and please bless that it will leave." I just started laughing because it was just so funny and so cute that I really couldn't help myself. She just laughed and said "sush up." That was so journal worthy.

Saturday, as we were leaving the stake center between conference sessions to eat lunch, an old man grabbed our attention and said that we should stay, that there was a baptism going on right now. All of the missionaries there together had no idea and we all ended up staying. I was so thankful for the invitation for such a sweet experience. I'm glad he invited us, because if we hadn't filled half the room there would have been hardly anyone there. It was the baptism for a 18-year old Ryan. He was so sweet. He bore his testimony at the end about how high school was a really rough time for him, but now he knows how to find happiness and feels Heavenly Father's love for him. Baptisms are the best, watching one of Heavenly Father's children change out of His love for them and feel how proud He must be of the newest member of His Kingdom. I was so glad we got to be there.

We are fed by members EVERY NIGHT except Monday. And every day we are all fed together as a district, with all of our elders. It's really fun and I love being able to have awesome district unity and strong relationships with our partners in crime, but it's technically not really ancouraged/allowed. We're gonna talk to President and see what he says. Dinners are supposed to be the time for the two missionaries to get to know the members and help them with sharing the gospel with specific friends.

I wanted to tell you all how much I love and appreciate you for loving and supporting me enough to do things like go off on my own and serve a mission, or what have you. So many of my companion's families have emailed them soooo many times about how they miss them so much that they want them to come home. It puts so much stress on these sisters who want with all their heart to extend their mission a transfer but feel obligated to return early to make their family happy. How lame! I can't imagine how hard it must be to send away your baby that you love so much, but I can't thank you enough for having enough selfless love to encourage me in having these life-changing experiences. You are all the BEST. Thank you for the encouragement, the love, care packages, emails, letters, and support. I love you.

PS: Anyone in the family who has served a mission (you know who you are hahha), I'd LOVE to get stories!!! Now that I'm going through the same thing, your experiences mean so much more to me adn help me to know you so much better. I'd love to hear about people's stories who you baptized, funny experiences, what it was like working with other missionaries, what studies were like, schedule, all sorts.

Well I just rezlized I'm out of time but I love you all so much!!!!!

LOVE,

Kelsie :)

New Area

HOla fam!

Como estan??? On man. I have to tell you about the past week.

Well first off, I was transfered to a new area today! When I found out I was SOOOO not happy to leave the zone. I cried. I LOVE this zone so much and definitely didn't feel ready to leave but it's obviously what Heavenly Father wants, so I feel comforted.

I was actually praying for a confirmation to know that this was what was supposed to happen and to know that my purpose here had been accomplished. I've felt completely at peace about it after shedding a tear hahha and on Sunday my prayers were answered.

Our ward mission leader in El Dorado was the BEST. He is so funny, him and I got along so well instantly! When I told him on Sunday that I was leaving he got all sad and told me that I had had such an impact on the members. He told me things they had all said and that I have touched their lives. He said that I have a gift of being able to touch people's hearts and that they would miss me so much, and that I was going to have success wherever I went. All of this was such a surpirse to me because I was so worried that I hadn't done enough in El Dorado, that the members wouldn't even remember me being there and that I had just failed so much. Hearing him say those things was an answer to my prayers and now I can rest in peace knowing that I did what Heavenly Father wanted me to do there. I'm going to miss it SOOO much.

Okay, so moving forward-- I'm now in South Tucson, in the Sahuaro Branch, spanish speaking! I'm SO STOKED to be here because EVERYONE speaks Spanish. I wanted to stay in Tucson soooo bad for as long as I possibly could and I got my wish! I LOVE this valley. I'll be sad to ever leave. I can't wait to do some finding though, every time we would ever meet anyone in my last two areas who was interested and spoke Spanish they would always say "Oh, I live in South Tucson." Welcome to the motherland of Mexicans, Sister Wadsworth.

So, my companion's name is Sister Roberts. She is the SWEETEST thing in the whole world. All of my past companions have served with her or known her well enough to tell me plenty of stories, so I feel like I already know her. She really has the biggest heart and is just so sweet and I'm so excited to be her companion, it will be such a pleasure to work with her. Su espanol es muy bien y estoy animada porque tenemos la meta juntas para hablar solamente en espanol para crecer nuestro entendemiento. Mis companeras pasadas no hicieron esto conmigo y necesitamos hacerlo para aprender el lenguaje. Hna Roberts me dijo que mi espanol es muy bien para (por?) mi tiempo aqui. Este me da consuelo. El paso proximo es entendiendo mejor!

Sister Roberts and I are doing what's called "pinkwashing." Normally it's called white washing when two missionaries completely replace a companionship in an area but when sisters replace elders it's pink washed. I'm way excited because this means that we will be completely equally yolked. None of us will know anything at all about anything here and will be able to really work side by side in everything rather than one companion following behind, just trusting the other. I can't wait to hit the ground running. We are both growing to grow SO much.

We got to our new apartment this morning and it was SO GROSS. The old elders left the trash cans overflowing and didn't clean the sink or counters or even shower or toilet! Soooooo we're going to deep clean the place for our P-day today. Bleh.

Thanks so much for the emails last week everyone! Grandma and grandpa, I really, really appreciated your email. It really put things into perspective for me.

Mom, all that good news is so awesome! You doing Jenny Craig is so legit. Keep it up.

Last night, we had dinner with a family in the stake who are the parents of my friend Sarah from Provo. Sarah and I were in the same single's ward in Provo for over a year and were pretty good friends, we had all the same mutual friends and prepared to serve a mission at the same time. We actually roomed next to each other in the MTC, and I was the missionary who escorted her when she arrived. I knew she was from Tucson and she told me I HAD to find her family so they could feed me hahah. So they fed us last night! It was so awesome to meet her family and see her neck of the woods. They got your email and I think they are going to send you a picture of us. Small world! There are so many blessings to serving stateside! I can never go anywhere in my life without finding connections to people I know with common friends and so I can't imagine being somewhere for a year and a half without doing that. I'm so thankful that I'll be able to visit my mission often when I go home and have so many connections. In cast you didn't know, finding/having connections with people is my favorite thing to do.

Our new District leader Elder Hill and his companion Elder Cruz are so awesome. They helped us from the transfer site and helped us take all our stuff to our new place and even came to pick us up to follow them to email since they know that we both have no idea where the heck anything is. Elder Cruz is from Ecuador and I don't know where Elder Hill is from but they are both so humble and kind and I can't wait to serve with them.

I really want to step it up this transfer. Transfers are SUCH a mixture of emotions but always an amazing new start. I learned SOOOO much last transfer with Sister Encinas and I want to realize all the mistakes I made and things I want to change to do differently going forward. I feel really ready to really work harder and I think the Lord has blessed me to do so by letting us pink wash. It's gonna be an adventure and I can't wait! I'm also so thankful for Sister Robert's attitude. She is ready to hit the ground as well with new goals and a desire to work hard. We wanna tear this place up. I think we'll be a great team.

I don't remember if I told you about the blessing I got from President Killpack last transfer. It said that I was exactly where Heavenly Father wanted me to be in my life, that I was exactly in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. That's all I ever need to know in life and I'm okay. That's kind of what I learned from Hna Encinas last transfer, that even if the success seems slow or nonexistent, your efforts are exactly what is needed and Heavenly Father is so pleased. I've realized that He knows exactly how I need to grow and so as long as I know I'm doing what He wants me to do I can be happy.

So in this new area we live in an apartment complex with a GYM. I'm STOKED because last transfer, living with members, we had to make up our own exercise routine. That's REALLY hard at 6:30 in the morning! We couldn't run or really do much of anything together because Sis Encinas had alllllll sorts of very serious problems with her feet, knees, joints, wrists. We finally got a member to give us p90X, which we've been doing for maybe the past 3 weeks now. The guy on it is so funny, he reminds me of our zone leader we just had in El Dorado. So funny. It's awesome! It's def hard but it's perfect for having structure. It's exactly what I needed. I would switch back and forth between plyometrics and yoga cause that's all we had. I wish we had ab ripper or some of the other ones!!! But now that we have a gym exercise will be SO MUCH BETTER. I've also been "intuitive eating," and I've def lost weight but I don't know how much because we don't have a scale. But I feel so great. I also drink a gallon of water every single day. It makes all the difference in the whole entire world in my energy level.

Well I have to go but I love you so!!!!

I emailed Jennifer at Marinello requesting the tax documents, and gave her your email/address/cell phone.

Oh by the way the Lord poured out blessings on our whole district lately--we found 4 new investigators in one day last week!!!!!!!

LOVE you :)

Kelsie

I mean....Sister Wadsworth

PS tell Albert CONGRATS for me!!!!!!!

When a storm comes, instead of waiting for it to pass, learn to dance in the rain.

HI FAM!!!!

sooo.....kinda sad....we got to the library and I started talking to so many people about the gospel that my time on my session ran out and I'm not allowed another for the day so now I have to use the remaining 8 minutes on an Elder's time that he was done with.

But pretty much, this week was just way super hard, but I grew a ton. I learned that God sent us to earth to have afflictions and trials. There are two kinds of people, the people that have had affliction and the people that will. I'm learning that.

I don't know where I would be in life if I didn't have the opportunity to take the sacrament every week and be filled with the Spirit and have the weight of the world taken off my shoulders. I love Heavenly Father so much and I am so thankful to Him for blessing me with my trials so that I may grow and be happy.

I talked to a girl who said she worked at the MTC. She said the decision is totally made by revelation. She talked about how she didn't think she'd stand a chance getting the job because she wasn't a BYU student and her job experience was a joke. I just have felt the Spirit so strongly telling me that that's what Heavenly Father wants me to do with my life, and I know that He will provide a way for me to be there if I just have the faith that He really wants me to be there. So at least I know step one of where I'll be after the mission!

Life has just been so great. So hard and so great. I am growing so much and it brings me so much joy.

Happy early birthday mommy and linny!!!! I love you!!!!

Mom and dad, I also just wanted to thank you for doing right in raising me. I can't imagine what it's going to be like to have to raise and guide children. I know I put you through soooo much growing up. I know that everything you ever did right in raising me has paid off in me being a strong member of the church and knowing my Heavenly Father. Anything you think you ever did wrong in raising me is made up for by the Atonement and that it is all outweighed by the good things anyway. You can know that your parenting has been successful, that you have raised a happy, heathy individual who knows who she is. I'm so thankful for your sacrifice and I want you to know that I love you and look up to you for your longsuffering, patience, dedication, and love. Thank you :)

Well I love you so.

Your happy daughter,

Your happy daughter,

Kelsie :)

Another great week.

This week was awesome. I learned so much.

I've been learning how to work by the Spirit and recognize the Spirit working through me. For a while I felt like I wasn't having those "bosom-burning, mega-enlightening moments," or "Enos moments," as my teacher in the MTC puts them, every time I do something. I was upset that this wasn't happening every moment of every day and felt like I wasn't an effective missionary as a result. Sister Wheatley, who I have learned SO MUCH from, reminded me of Elder Bednar's talk he gave in the MTC. He told a story about how when he was on his mission, a general authority and his wife were visiting. As they were boarding a train to leave, Elder Bednar had the thought to give them 20 marks in case they got hungry or something. During their travels, they were stopped in....East Germany? to cross into...West Germany? I can't even remember where they were. But pretty much these huge government officials with guns boarded the train and said that everyone who didn't have a passport had to get off the train. Getting off the train would have meant missing their flight back to the United States, and the general authority and his wife would have been either stranded or imprissoned. They thought fast and slipped the government official the only 20 marks they had in their pocket. They continued on their way just fine. Elder Bednar thinking to give them the money completely saved them. He said that at the time he gave them the money, he felt no special strong feeling to do so, no burning in the bosom or strong enlightenment or anything. It was just a thought that entered his mind and he acted on it. He said that he could only recognize years later that that was the Spirit. In his talk he says that if we are just good little boys and girls, the Spirit will inspire our minds with thoughts that lead to actions, that lead to accomplishing the Lord's work. So he said you can just be a good little girl or boy and trust that the Spirit is working through you.

I've started having much more faith that as I am simply working to accomlish our set goals, Heavenly Father is working through me. Even if I can't identify at the time that my thoughts are from the Spirit, I can have full faith to know that I am being guided by Him. And that's when we see miracles!

I've also learned that when we set realistic goals and do all we can to accomplish them, that's how Heavenly Father does His work. As we are acting, He places us where He needs us to do what He needs done. If we sit around and wait for a prompting from Him telling us where to go next, it won't come. We have to act on our own and then trust that what we are doing is inspired by the Spirit. I've seen in the past few days that even when plans fall through, if we do all we can to still accomplish our goals, Heavenly Father provides us with miracles. It's amazing. Saturday, we had a chapel tour planned with our investigator Ricardo. Because we needed one more woman with us to be allowed to enter a building with him, we planned for Sister Gomez to accompany us. At the last minute, she cancelled. We were stuck in a bind and could have either said "well, she cancelled, so let's just go teach someone else," but instead we decided that there HAD to be SOMEONE that could come with us. I swear we called all the women that we knew in the ward. Finally, we got a hold of Sister Simons, who said she would be glad to come. We picked her up and showed up at Ricardo's house to have him follow us to the chapel, only to find out that he wasn't even home. We were way bummed. We'd gone to soooo much trouble and had this planned with him all week, and it was going to be a really awesome lesson by the baptismal font about baptism. We even had to arrange for the other sisters in a different area to come all the way to the chapel to bring us the keys so we could enter. And now it wasn't going to happen.

So, we decided to walk down the street to Dameon's home to teach him while we had Sister Simons with us. As we knocked on his door, Ricardo's friend Baltazar popped out of nowhere and said he'd love to have a lesson with us. He lives far away but said we could all just sit outside Ricardo's house, so we went back. As we started the lesson, Ricardo finally rolled up in his car and said sorry that he'd missed the chapel tour, he had to go somewhere. We started teaching and a neighbor Jose saw us all congregated outside, so he rode his bike over and sat in on the lesson. It turned out that the experiences and testimony that Sister Simons gave was absolutely perfect for what each of them needed to hear. The Spirit was strong in the lesson and they were all asking a lot of questions and were in deep thought. We realized after their comments that all three of them are the elect. We realized that had the events of the day not changed the way they did, we probably wouldn't have had that opportunity to discover that these are true investigators. They ended up coming to church yesterday and Ricardo said he even was going to bear his testimony but got too nervous. But they are progressing well. Baltazar has read the whole Book of Mormon and knows that it's true. We're working on getting him a date.

I can't even explain the whole week in one email. I learn so much every day. The work is getting better and better as I slowly learn and apply different principles for success. Transfers are one and a half weeks from now, and I really really really don't want to leave this area (Valencia branch)!!! But we'll see what will happen. I'll go wherever Heavenly Father needs and wants me to go. But I have a feeling Sister Wheatley and I will be able to be together here one more transfer. We've just set up such a great system of communicating and working together and learning from each other that I'm not looking forward to having to start that all over!

Well I love you so much!!

I'm sending you the xdcard today! :)

I totally forgot to include a story about A MIRACLE we had this week, so I copied and pasted it from Sister Wheatley's email to her fam into mine since there's no more time to type it all out. His name is Terry:

"This has been another week of some amazing miracles. Last Monday I was driving and Hna. Wadsworth saw a man crossing the street with a bunch of blood on his arm so she felt we needed to go back and help him. We parked the car at a gas station and helped the poor man walk back to his trailer. He was so happy that Mormon missionaries were helping him. He talked all about how 10 years ago he went to the "Mormon Castle" and he loved it. We got back to his community of people who are 55+ and everyone knows everyone. So naturally when Terry comes in bleeding with two girls everyone comes out. We helped him clean up and got to know so many of these sweet old people. Terry and all of his neighbors LOVE us now! They were such nice people. We ended up staying to teach him about the Restoration and he had AWESOME questions like, "I was baptized Catholic as a baby, that does'nt count right?" and "Did the authority ever get passed on?" Then he asked, "When do I get the Priesthood?" He is such a funny and cute old man. The sad thng is since he speaks English we had to pass him off to the English Elders. So we set up a pass off lesson with the Elders. Well, Terry wanted to have the lesson in the Clubhouse and in the middle of talking about the Book of Mormon a woman came in and totally went off on Anti Mormon stuff right there. It was interesting. She grew up in Palmyra and so she had a lot of hard feelings. We just listened and answered her when she asked questions. I then read the invitation to read the Book of Mormon and invited her to do so and to ask God. She flat out told me, "No; to be honest with you, I am scared to read it." She went off and said that we had been decieved and then she harshly warned us to be careful with Terry. I absolutely love Terry! He remained pretty quiet but stood up for us a little then when she left he asked when church was Sunday. We told him that us or no one else can tell him what to believe. The only thing we invite him to do is to read the Book of Mormon then to ask God if it is true. He can trust that God will answer him. He was just so funny and went off on how he has already been converted and how he will be a Mormon. This was an experience that taught me so much! I think it helped me to realize mostly the importance of the Book of Mormon. Whenever anyone throws anything that is anti against me; things that I guess could shake my faith, I always go back to how incredible and miraculous the Book of Mormon is and how I know that it is everything it says it is. Not only is it the evidence of Joseph Smith and the Restoration, but I feel that by abiding by the precepts in the Book of Mormon I have recieved a sure witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. People just need to read the Book of Mormon and I know that their lives will change dramatically. If they read it and don't recieve a witness then at least they gave it a shot, but I am confident that when someone sincerly reads, ponders, and prays about the Book of Mormon they will receive an answer that it is true."

LOVE you!!!

:)

Hermana Wadsworth

Miracles!

MIRACLES!!!!!

That's been mine and Sister Wheatley's moto lately. This transfer is full of them and we know it will only keep getting better.

MIRACLES: Our investigator Dameon came to church last Sunday, Wednesday night, and the Sunday before that. He has been reading in the Book of Mormon, praying, trying to make new friends, and has a sincere desire to change his life. He has the Spirit with him and it is my dream to see the Atonement working in someone's life. His countenance is completely different from the fist time we met him. He is being fellowshipped so well by all of the members, and even though we probably shouldn't have favorites, he is my FAVORITE. I never want to leave when we are in lessons with him and I can't wait to go back. In our lesson last night about prophets and dispensations, he said "I know now that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, just like those other guys, Moses and Noah. And I think Nephi was a prophet too." He gets it. We set a baptismal date with him for Febuary 25th.

Last Sunday, we had a first lesson with a woman Ramona and her friend Reina. I can't remember if I wrote this in my email last week, but they both accepted baptismal dates in that first visit. Their family couldn't make it to church on Sunday because Ramona was sick with her diabetes but they even helped coordinate their own ride. They say they will be there next week. We know they will. Every time I see her son Augustine, I feel like I have always known him. I know we were meant to find this family, and that they are going to be baptized.

I felt prompted the other day to turn the car around to contact a woman on the street. As we were trying to turn around, we ran right into a couple of our investigators, Ricardo and Ana, who we dropped from teaching a few weeks back because they just weren't keeping any committments or progressing at all. We told them to call us if they wanted to be taught again. They asked us to come in and have a quick lesson, so we did. We invited Ricardo to go to church on Sunday since Ana has to work. He said he would. He always said that in the past but never did. Sunday, he was in church!! He also told us that him and Ana had read a whole chapter in the Book of Mormon out loud together. That NEVER happens. It was a miracle, and God placed him in our path to start teaching him again.

One family named Ortega-Paz came to church for the first time on Sunday. Their LDS neighbors in the branch all went over to get them up Sunday morning and let them follow their car. They were fellowshipped so well. Miracle. Coming to church is a HUGE steps for investigators. When someone comes, it's really incredible.

We had planned for 15 investigators to be in church this past Sunday! They all had rides and were ready to go. Three families ended up canceling, so only 5 total came. But that is amazing! We usually only have a couple come, if we're lucky. In the past sometimes it's been none. The work is taking leaps and bounds as we try so hard to have great faith and work "smarter."

We had dinner on Sunday with some members, and President Killpack and his wife came (our mission President)! Sister Wheatley and I were both SWEATING but it turned out so great. My heart was beating when we had to share the dinner message and all 4 families present gathered around, President included. But it was so awesome, we shared the First Vision and we all talked about all of the blessings we have from the gospel, and how everything we have has been given to us by Heavenly Father to share with others. We NEED to share this gospel with EVERYONE. It's so selfish to be "too busy" or too nervous to share the gospel. Our friends, neighbors, coworkers, familiy members will all ask us after we die why we didn't share with them what we had. Well I don't know if that will really happen but we talk about it all the time as having no excuses for not sharing the gospel with EVERYONE.

The stake's theme this year is missionary work, which is AWESOME. We have at least one member planned every night this week to come out to lessons with us. I know that members are the key to missionary work and that this fellowshipping will bring about baptisms.

Sister Wheatley and I have been working hard lately to work "smarter," to plan much better and use our time as wisely as we can. I've learned that when you do this, you're never overloaded. I don't think it's normal when people say "I was ALWAYS tired on my mission. You'll be exhausted EVERY day. Won't even be able to keep your eyes open during lessons. THAT's working hard." Ummm....that's not working smarter, that's wasting your energy with things that it doesn't need to be wasted on. We go to bed and wake up every day at the times that we are supposed to, exercise every day, and have faith, hope and focus. This keeps me going every day and we aren't those missionaries that say "I just can't take it anymore, I'm soooo tired. I can't do this anymore." It's not that we aren't working hard, we're just doing everything in order the way that Heavenly Father says too, and He blesses us with all the energy we need. I feel awesome. I really don't want to leave the mission. I want to do this for the rest of my life.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED:

Remembering that one day we will all stand face-to-face with Jesus Christ builds my faith incredibly. I love the quote that some general authority or apostle or someone gave one time when they said (not these words exactly, I can't remember it) "When I see Jesus Christ, I won't know any more then than I do now that He lives, that He is my Savior and Redeemer." I have always wanted to build up that kind of faith and say that for myself. I feel like now, I can. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, that they have physical bodies of flesh and bone. I know that they watch over me every day and that we are only instruments in His hands. I love them both so much and I love the Holy Ghost. I know that when I am praying, I am speaking directly with my Father in Heaven. I know that He loves me and that I am His daughter, that if I am faithful He will lead me into paths of tremendous growth and exalt me after this life. I love being a missionary! I'm so thankful for this opportunity to prove my love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through obedience and service. I know that I don't know everything, He does, and that if I always trust Him and do what He says, I can never go wrong.

Well fam, I loveeeee you. I can't send my xD card until I get the new one in the mail, in case we have to take pictures. I'll get more pictures of our investigators so you can see who we are with every day.

It says in the white handbook (missionary bible/commandments) that we aren't to give out personal information such as last names, addresses, or sensitive information. I just stick to first names. I don't know anything about not giving out your companion's name. But I appreciate the heads up, I'll make sure to double check so that I'm not being disobedient.

I love you!

Hermana Wadsworth

Faith: Hope for things which are not seen

FAMILY!!!

Hello again. Sorry I didn't write yesterday, it was Martin Luther King day and all the public libraries were closed. Just know that whenever a holiday falls on a Monday, I will be writing Tuesday instead.

So....AWESOME WEEK!!!!!

It was hard but awesome at the same time. Sister Wheatley was sick all week, and I got a little sick, so our energy was really low some days. That really affected our morale. But we really boost each other up when one of us is having a hard time. One day during our lunch hour, Sister Wheatley told me to go take a nap while she made me Mexican food. She's that awesome. We make each other lunch and clean up after each other all the time. We're a really good team. When one of us is struggling, the other's positive attitude helps bring the other up until we can work through it. Missions are awesome.

I've learned on my mission that I'm OCD. I've always known that cleaning is my favorite thing to do, and it do it when I'm stressed, tired, happy, upset...no matter how I'm feeling, I love to clean. I really can't stand it if our apartment and car aren't perfect. Definitely a huge change from my high school days!!

Sooo, this past week or two has been all about developing faith, about understanding what having faith really feels like and realizing that it really can move mountains! Faith is incredible! It's amazing to me that "...it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison to tumble to the earth.....the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites....the faith of Ammon and his bretheren which wrought so great a mireacle among the Lamanites. Yea, and even all they who wrought mireacles wrought them by faith" (Ether 12:13-16). I thought WOW....is Heavenly Father telling me that if I simply expect that something will happen, it will? Even moving a mountain? Yep.

I realized that to have faith isn't to say to yourself "I believe I believe I believe I believe" in a self-deceiving kind of way, when you actually don't know if it will really happen or not. We have to 100% believe completely in our own hearts that the miracle really actually is coming to pass and we can be really excited for it to happen. Last Sunday, I knew without a doubt that our investigator Dameon and his brother and their friend would attend church. They are ages 17-20. Dameon has done a ton of drugs in the past, and he talks and responds differently than normal and has scars on his face. It's hard to understand his comprehension of the material sometimes but from what he responds we can always tell that he is understanding what we're teaching.. During one of our lessons he was trying so hard not to cry telling us about how he wishes he could feel love in his life again, how his life has become so cold. He is such a good kid and loves and takes care of his family, but has made bad decisions in his life. He has a lot of influence on his friend and brother. They both said "I'll go to church only if Dameon says he is going." Soooo, last week, I knew with all my heart that they would go. We stopped by on Sunday morning as they had just woken up and told them their ride was on the way. AND ALL THREE OF THEM WENT TO CHURCH!!! I was soooooo worried the whole time, I really wanted them to be welcomed into the ward and have a spiritual, uplifting experience. I was watching them all sacrament meeting to see how they responded. They were welcomed by what seemed to be everyone in the whole branch, stayed all three hours, and said that they loved it and are coming next Sunday, as well as attending mutal this Wednesday night!!! I couldn't believe it!!! It really was a miracle. Dameon's face was just beaming and he couldn't stop smiling and laughing. The other young men said they sat and talked with them for all the classes. It was a miracle.

Another miracle is that Dameon's grandmother, who said that she didn't care to change her religion at all, but wanted us to teach her grandsons, has reallyyy warmed up to us lately. She is always welcoming us inside and feeding us and during the lessons she is very concentrated on what we're saying. I think she is really happy to see a change happening in her family, but as she hears the truth, her own heart is softened.

We've been teaching a new family! The Silva family. They are so awesome. The dad is hilarious. The mom and daughter were the first ones we started teaching, and now the whole family grabs their Libros de Mormon and listens to the lessons. The 19-year-old son, Edgar, always participates and does the reading assignments and really thinks a lot about what we are teaching. We were nervous last week when we extended a baptismal date for Feb 11, but were blown away when the dad paused and said, ".......maybe." The rest of them nodded. They said they really want to learn more and need to know more but think the lessons are beautiful. Miracle.

On Sunday, we taught a woman Ramona and her friend Reina for the first time. The Spirit was so stong in the lesson and both my companion and I had full faith that we had to extend a baptismal date, like we are supposed to in every first lesson. Both women accepted a date for the 11th of February and said they would need a ride to church on Sunday. We are teaching them again today. Miracle.

ROSA WAS BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! After studying with missionaries for almost two years, she finally made it happen. It was so awesome! One of our investigators, Filemon, came to the baptism. Our mission President came and brought his family, and President sat in on a lesson with us in the chapel afterwards with Filemon. We were both sooooo nervous hahha but the Spirit was so strong. We committed Filemon to pray about baptism in front of the President. Miracle.

What I want to learn is how to change my attitude when I'm having doubt or disbelief with one of our investigators. I remember in the Bible, when a man asks Christ to heal his epileptic child. He says, "Lord, help thee mine unbelief." When I'm not sure if an investigator will progress, I'm just going to pray with all my heart to Heavenly Father to help my unbelief, to help change those feelings to faith. Richard G. Scott says that every time we follow promptings of the Spirit, that is a manefestation of our faith, a "trial" of our faith, and our faith will be strenghtened by doing so. So, I'm going to do that to work on having more faith. Last week, as we were walking out of our apartment, I had a strong impression to invite our neighbor Ray to church. We went up and invited him, and he said that he really appreciated it and would try to go. As we walked out today, he caught us and said that he will know by tomorrow if he can get work off for SUnday. I really never saw Ray as wanting to attend church. Miracle.

Well time is up and I wish I could keep writing about all the miracles we've had but we have to go. I'm excited to see more miracles this week.

Grandma and grandpa, I'll have to print off your email and take it with me to read tonight. Your emails mean so much to me. Thank you!

Love you all!!!!

Hermana Wadsworth

Families are forever...so you'd better learn to get along!

Hellooooooo beautiful family!!!!

The subject line really doesn't have anything to do with you specifically, it's just a good thought. Haha. If you're stuck together for eternity, you better make your family relationships the absolute best that you can!

I'm SO sorry we didn't get to email last week. The day we were supposed to be emailing was transfer day, and we were sooooo busy that we didn't even get to go grocery shopping! We used up just about every last scrap that we had lying around in our freezer, fridge, or cupboards. Sure we could have gone to the store, but any time at all that we would have gone would have been during proselyting time, which is definitely NEVER okay, or during our studies, which is also definitely never okay. We really can't miss those. Sooo, since we knew we would have a lot of dinner appointments, my companion and I decided to be obedient and wait until the following Monday to go buy food. We knew that if we thought not where our food would come from, put the kingdom of God above all things, and trusted that the Lord would watch out for us for being obedient, that we could make it. I was worried at first, for we were out of bread, milk, ramen, and really all the essentials. But I seriously felt like shopping during our working hours was like breaking the Sabbath day, so we prayed the Lord would provide. And He DID! We had investigators randomly decide to send us home with food, less actives call us up to feed us lunch, and dinner almost every night. We made it through the week just fine. I know that if we strive to be obedient and keep the commandments of God, He will always bless us with what we need, and will always take care of us. Inasmuch as we are obedient, we will prosper in the land. And in our fridge. One of my all-time favorite scriptures that I always share with investigators is 1 Nephi 3:7 "Y sucedio que yo, Nefi, dije a mi padre: Ire y hare lo que el Senor ha mandado, porque se que el nunca da mandamientos a los hijos de los hombres sin prepararles la via para que cumplan lo que les ha mandado." I KNOW that Heavenly Father expects every single one of us to keep ALL of His commandments, and that He would never require anything of us that was impossible. I know that it's true: where there's a will, there really is a way. And if there isn't a way right now, God will provide a miracle to make a way.

Okay, so my NEW COMPANION....she's AWESOME. Her name is Sister Wheatley from Heber, Utah. She is so sweet and loving and her favorite thing to say besides "it's all good" is "whatever you need." She is always serving me and thanking me for being her companion. She has 4 months left in her mission. The other day she cried and told me that I'm an answer to her prayers, that she was losing her energy and getting burnt out, and that a greenie from the MTC is exactly what she needs right now. It kinda works out, cause what I need is someone with experience. So pretty much, we're perfect for each other. She is so loving and humble and willing to work with whatever everyone else wants, but is definitely not a push over. She stands her ground and takes equal part in lessons, planning, leading/following, teaching/learning.....she's legit. We work SO well together, WAY better than Sister Jeppsen and I. I miss Sister Jeppsen all the time, and she was the best I could have possibly been given, but because she was so dominant she would kind of take over everything and I feel like I couldn't really grow and learn and get better and stronger because I wasn't given really equal responsibility. Sister Wheatley and I have way better unity, and I KNOW this transfer is gonna be super awesome, that we're going to have success and see a lot of change in the work, that it's really going to pick up and progress.

We had a zone conference last wednesday, and our zone leaders introduced changes that President Killpack wants us to implement. It includes things like how dinner appointments are done, how to work with the members to find and teach, how to strengthen the branch, all sorts of things. The whole meeting I was freaking out, I couldn't wait to make the changes and see a difference in the work. I have full faith that if we are completely obedient and do exactly what President tells us to do, the work will progress and we will see the desired success. I can't wait to get it all going. The members weren't super happy at first about all the changes but we just remind them that it's what has to be done, so they just kind of have to get over it......not that we ever said that, haha, but man these Mexicans get so dramatic! They like everything done their way, and there's always a ton of drama. But we're going to be obedient and we know that if we exercise our faith to follow President's rules, the work will pick up. I can't wait.

We met a family last week, the De La Rosa familia. The Elders in our ward were at the hospital giving a member a blessing, and the De La Rosas were in the same shared room with their dying grandfather. They asked for a blessing for him and the Elders ended up teaching a Plan of Salvation lesson on the spot. The family couldn't wait to hear more, so they started taking lessons from the Elders. The family was passed off to us to start teaching. Every time we've had lessons with them, we've got allllllll of the abuelas, tias, hermanas, hermanos, ninos, primos, y todos en la casa. They all grab their Books of Mormon and gather around and listen about Heavenly Father's plan for us, the resurrection, spirit world, and that families are eternal. It's so awesome. They told us they had to have car washes to raise money for a funeral because they had seriously nada. One day we got to help them out with the car wash, until Sister Jeppsen had the idea to see if they could have the funeral in our chapel for free. We worked with the branch presidency and auxiliary leaders and had a funeral for the family this morning. We had so many teary eyes thanking and thanking and thanking everyone for letting them do the funeral, and specific family members saying that even though they are Catholic they really like the church and want us to keep holding on to the family. There's going to be so many baptisms from this experience!!! I can see now all of them entering the temple and being sealed as a family. The sad news is that we found out they actually aren't even in our branch boundaries, and we have to pass them off to other Elders to teach them and bring them into a different branch. We are super sad but know that they are in good hands.

We have a baptism this Saturday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know if I told you about Rosa Correa. She is a single mom to a 2-year old Derric and is from Sonora, Mexico, which is where most of the people are from around here. There's even a "Sonora Branch," which is the branch we will have to send the De La Rosa family to. But Rosa has been studying with missionaries for over 2 years now, and is FINALLY stepping into the waters of baptism. We are so stoked, my first baptism in the mission!!!! I can't believe it's really happening. I can't wait. The problem is that Rosa always has to work on Sundays, and her boss where she cleans hotels never lets her have time off to attend church. So we are working with the Relief Society president to help her find work elsewhere so that she can weekly take the Sacrament and keep the commandments of God. Last we heard, the Marriot is hiring, and that they are always flexible with allowing their employees to attend church. I REALLY hope she gets this new job. The problem with Rosa is that she is super floja (lazy), so you kinda have to slowlyyyy PUSH her along to get things done. But she's doing it! The members already loved her and she is already fellowshipped well, so we know she will be okay.

At the funeral this morning, I remembered that this life is only a blip on the map, but that it is the time to repent and change to prepare to meet God. This morning for personal study I read Alma 40-42. It's awesome! Heavenly Father is so merciful for giving so much to us: bodies, an earth, families, and the gospel, so that we could have an opportunity to repent and grow. I kinda hate funerals but I also love them for helping me to remember what this life is all about. Sister Jeppsen said she liked to think of this life as being in a virtual reality, where we are given tests to see how we perform and one day we will wake up and be accountable for what we did with what we are given. I'm so thankful to have this knowledge to motivate me to be the best I can be. It also made me remember that death happens to all of us, that one day I'm going to be sitting in a room looking at the casket of my mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins, maybe siblings. The day is guaranteed to come. I need to let you all know how much I absolutely love you. I can't waste this precious time we have by not telling you what you mean to me, what wonderful parents you are and to let you know that you have raised me right. Grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles, I really wouldn't be anywhere without your amazing example. I love you all so much and I coulndn't make it through this life without you.

Well, we have to get back to the funeral to help with the food and cleaning up and everything. But just know that I am doing so well and am so happy! I have so much faith that this transfer is going to be absolutely awesome. I'm learning every day that you have to choose to be happy and positive, and that the Atonement makes it possible to have that hope every day of our lives.

If I can think of anything I need, it would be things to help our investigators, or we would LOVE Ensigns to read. We get them sometimes but we often take Spanish ones and give them away.

I loooooove you.

!Hasta ver!

Hermana Wadsworth