Work Till the Last Minute

Family,

Just wow. Life is awesome! Missionary work is fun and I'm trying to

work my hardest till the very last minute of everyday, and God is

answering my prayers!

Let me tell you, something about Temple square sisters. They just have
the spirit so strongly and it's no different with Sister Kratzer.
She's probably the boldest missionary I've ever met. She's so open and
honest with people and just walks right up to them, I've learned a
lot. She's going to be an awesome trainer! She's been out for a year,
she's in a military family so she was born in the Bay Area (in California) but came
from Alaska to her mission. I admire her. I as well really love Poway
thus far. Covering 3 family wards is CRAZY, but always a good crazy.
:) The members are just hungry for missionary work and the strangers
that we talk to on the street are almost all very friendly. So nice!
But let's get down to the good stories. Tuesday night was crazy! We
were invited to the mission home for dinner because we were picking up
a mini missionary to be with Sister Stirland. The new missionaries
were there as well and guess who I saw...2 missionaries who were at one
time in the Springfield Massachusetts Stake! Elder Daniel Smith and
Hermana Richardson. CRAZY! I had to take a double take, I couldn't
believe they were there in front of my face with a name tag on! It
made me VERY happy none the less. Massachusetts is flooding San Diego!
;)

Let me tell you Poway is the northest part of the mission, a little
ways away. But we got to work right away by meeting some of the church
leaders and street contacting. In the area that I'm in I actually live
with members, really nice, and as we were moving our stuff in we
started talking to our neighbors. They referred us to a man whose wife
had just passed away. We went to knock on his door and a very
depressed man was standing before us. It broke my heart, we shared how
we wanted to share a message of peace and comfort and with a cracked
and sad voice he said it wasn't a good time. But Sister Kratzer being
the amazing missionary she is, bore a powerful testimony and asked if
we could say a prayer. She then said the most spiritual prayer ever!
Tears all around, even from him! We then said a prayer of gratitude right after
for that experience and right as I said amen, these light beams from a
car were right on us! Strong message from Heavenly Father, we go over
to talk to this YSA. We ended up giving him a Book of Mormon and
invited him to be baptized. He said maybe and was not quite interested
to meet yet. He has The Book of Mormon though, all will be well.
Wednesday we walked and walked and walked. I definetly know I worked
my hardest that day and we literally talked to EVERYONE. No one passed
us by. We have been practicing our Spanish a lot! We are a sight to be
seen!

We also ran into Dan, he lives right above a member and we asked
him for directions and started to talk to him about the gospel. He is
going through hard family times, very hard times. So sad. And
apparently his 8 1/2 year old son has talked to missionaries before,
he's sat in some discussions! He welcomed us back the next day with a
cool home and ice water. We had a great discussion and even though he
claimed to be a hopeful agnostic he said a beautiful prayer at the
end. He then came to a Ward pool party 2 days later, he was speaking
German with the Bishop, he's been reading The Book of Mormon and
applying it to himself and he came to church! He literally just fell
into our lap and he is so willing to keep commitments! He accepted the
invitation to be baptized but doesn't feel like he's in a stable
situation to accept a date. Fair enough, someday though. And soon. The
Ward just surrounded him too, it was awesome! Dan is a good man.

Even though triple covering is hard it does have its benefits of lunch
and dinner appointments! So many members, so little time. ;) And
several times members have serenaded us during dinner and lunch,
living the life! :) And Poway is just literally full of green lights,
physically and spiritually. Many prayers have been uttered while we've
been here and many of them have been answered. In role playing we were
able to practice simplifying the restoration in a minute and we got to
practice it a lot on people! We even gave away a Book of Mormon and
left him with a chapter to read. It was very cool. We also went over
to a members house to help her move, and I've never seen so many
Pillsbury dough boys, everywhere. Kitchen supplies, dining, living
room. Everything. And I thought I had seen it all. Nay.

And also my
testimony is strengthened of having lessons in members homes. The
Sisters have been teaching a man named Steve, he is currently without
a home but is being fellowshipped by a member who is also without a
home. I have seen Steve change so much in the last couple of days. We
had a lesson with him at our Ward Mission leaders home, Brother Weeks.
Super cool, we watched the video, "Hope of Gods light" which applied
to him EXACTLY. We then helped him realize the way to start over was
through baptism. HE COMMITTED FOR A DATE OF JULY 16!!!! YAYYY Steve!!!
In order to help him reach this we all decided to fast together. So on
Saturday at 4 pm to Sunday at 4 pm we fasted. We even conferenced
called to start the fast. Very powerful, one of the most powerful
fasts yet.  He came all nicely dressed to church and seemed great! He
was very hungry but great. :) Then last night we had one of the most
powerful lessons yet at Brother Weeks home again. Steve said since the
fast he has received clarity, spiritually and physically. Awesome. We
then talked about the power of The Book of Mormon and to help him to
that we are starting a group text with members about what we read from
The Book of Mormon each day. It's gonna be awesome! Steve is awesome.
I'm excited for him.
We are also teaching Binbin Wong. She's from China and she doesn't
want to meet with Mandarin sisters so here we are! She was introduced
to the church from a member in our Ward and they help her understand
when she doesn't fully understand. And on gospel principles she
announced, to our surprise, she wants to be a member of our church!
Wahoo!
Also on Saturday we had this amazing power hour where we found another
YSA and taught him a great Restoration. We had a lot of questions and
we committed him to be baptized and read Alma 32. As we were walking
away we saw him reading from The Book of Mormon. Best feeling EVER! We
told the YSA sisters to call him ASAP and now they have a potential appt. on
Friday! Yahoo!!! Saturday was also the day of the fast and Ward pool
party. So hard to say no to all that food! ;) And it was super awkward
to stand next to a pool..... BUT Dan was there so it was worth it!
Sunday was amazing and exhausting and all things in between. Have any
of you been to 7 hours of church? No break? Well I can check that off
my bucket list now. And we didn't even have Ward councils because of
Fathers Day. Splits are a real thing and members were so helpful so we
could make it to all sacrament meetings, Sunday school classes, and
Relief Society. It was AWESOME! All while fasting. And THEN we drove
real fast to the mission presidents devotional in Spanish. It was my
privilege again to play the piano for the choir and a special musical
number. And guess what?? MARCO WAS THERE!!! That's right, Marco from
Santee! I was so happy to hear him! He doesn't speak Spanish but he
had a translator, it was so cool of him to make that effort! He went
to church and he's so excited to be baptized! Ah, I love Santee. And
it was awesome when President and Sister Schmitt sang with heir 2 kids
teach me to walk in the light. In Spanish. Talented family. Love them!
And Monday. The day it was above 100 degrees almost all day. Water and
sun screen are real! And I can now proclaim myself a survivor! We did
some service, met with Dan and Steve and the Sisters investigator
Cheryl. They haven't seen her in a while so it was good to recommit
her to The Book of Mormon. Always a good thing. :)
Man family, I am just so blessed. I love where I serve, I love the
people I serve with and I especially love all of you! Never forget.
And make sure to open The Book of Mormon everyday and listen after
every prayer you ever utter. He loves you, I love you. I'm cheering
for you!


Love, Sister Whitcomb