She's leaving me!

Family!!!!!!!
SHE'S LEAVING ME!! Sister Stewart, my trainer, my Mom of my mission is getting transferred! And I'm taking over the area with a new companion!! Man, slightly heart broken. I love Sister Stewart. She made me who I am on the mission! I hope you all get to meet her someday, I love her a lot. Today's going to be my last day with her and tomorrow she figures out where she is going and I figure out who my new companion is. Oh boy, missions keep you on your toes!
This last week with my beloved companion has been a good one. ELIJAH GOT BAPTIZED!!!

He is the cutest! It was a really nice baptism, and Arthur, our recent convert, Elijah's cousin, baptized him!!! It was really cool, Arthur did a really good job, and don't worry--we filled up the font and Arthur only needed one try to get him under! He slammed him in the water, so that was great. :)

Of course it would not be a baptism for us if something funny/awkward didn't happen. So we closed the folding curtains and we asked the Elders to teach the Restoration while they were getting changed. Poor Elders. Arthur was trying to get the font unplugged, super loud. And then they banged on the curtain because they thought the door to the changing room was locked (it was not). Good times, good times. But I'm super proud of Elijah for making this decision especially since his family didn't show up and he's not getting a lot of support. He's a great kid and will be a great leader of the church someday! Super mature! I love baptisms! Make sure you go to them! Nothing more spiritual, especially a convert baptism! I was disappointed that not a lot of people showed up, and Eli wanted a lot of people. Go support everyone by going to their baptisms!!!

The Holy Ghost is alive and well in our lives and a lot of it has to do with the power of prayer. As a missionary I've never prayed more in my life, at least 20 times a day. And to seriously pray, not just say it in passing changes everything. Recently we've been stuck some days on where to go and what to do. So in those situations we stopped and said a prayer in the car. Most of the times we wouldn't think of a specific name, more of an area. Like one time my companion thought of this one area, we got there and tried a lady. She wasn't there. Then I thought of a less active family who I've never met but we've been trying and they've never been home. So we thought we would give it a try and what do you know, they were home! And she said she knows she needs to go back to church! Yay!! So that was a cool tiny miracle.

That happened another night when we were just walking on the street and we felt prompted to go down this road and then cross the street to talk to these guys. Super nice guys! And super interested in learning more and coming to church! It's always golden when you find those people searching for the truth and we found one by following the Holy Ghost! Heavenly Father knows all. It's so cool! And it's amazing, (I know I've said this before) how easily people trust us. It's crazy! We asked directions from this one lady and we then started talking about Christ and if she was interested and she wants us to teach her baby! She just brought us up to her house and in to meet her family. It was crazy! She just let complete strangers know where she lives. She is super sweet and I look forward to teaching her and getting to know her.

We've been dropping investigators a lot recently, some of them are just not progressing and we need to focus our time somewhere else where people are ready to hear the message. We dropped our investigator named Richard, our Seventh Day Adventist. He's the nicest guy, and took it really well. He said he would read The Book of Mormon more and then get back to us. Hopefully someday he will be ready and we can help him progress towards baptism. It's all in the Lord's time, not our own. That can be hard because we get transferred and don't always get to teach them to the end. But it's always an honor to be a part of their journey! I love it so much!

We taught our investigator Sky this week and he is progressing so much! He basically said the gospel is true but won't commit to a date. Dang. The Lord will help us help him. I know it. We also met with our investigator Josh Mahaffey, the Mahaffey's grandson. When we went into the lesson he had a huge notebook full of questions! It was so cool and it was even cooler that I was able to answer some of them! I never thought I'd be able to do that! The spirit helps me everyday! I just have to make sure I'm worthy enough to have it!

I always get so excited when people come to church!!! Church is the best thing ever but it's one of the hardest things to get an investigator to do! And they have to go to church at least three times before they are baptized, mission rule. So that can be frustrating! And recently we've been trying to get this sweet less-active woman to go--we've called her every Sunday morning to wake her up, we've stopped by her house once, and nothing. It can be really frustrating especially when you hear something in church and you know they need to hear it! JUST COME TO CHURCH!!! BUT this week, she came!!!! She is the sweetest thing ever and is going through a hard time and I could just see her soak it all up! She's progressed so much and I am sooo proud of her!!!!!

Also this Sunday, Sister Stewart and I had a hunch it would be our last Sunday in the ward together, so we decided we would perform a musical number. Sister Stewart is a GREAT violinist, so she played violin and I joined her on the piano. We did a nice arrangement of "Nearer My God to Thee." Of course we had the congregation flooding with tears! :) Just kidding. But it was really nice to get all the compliments after, and see how you are appreciated in the ward! I love this ward sooooo much and I am happy I don't have to leave yet! I'm super blessed!!

One of the primary counselors asked us and the other Elders to go into primary and tell the miracles of Christ raising people from the dead. We told the story like we were there when Christ performed the miracles. It was really cool and she had some clothes and head cloths she had from Jerusalem that we got to wear! It was legit! So fun! I felt so cool! And it was really fun to pretend I saw Christ perform those miracles and to see the little primary kids intently listen was so cool! Spirit was there for sure!

I love this work. And I know that no matter what happens for the rest of my mission that it's in the Lord's hand. And that I will go where ever the Lord wants me to go! I will try to touch as many people's hearts as I can! I will try my hardest not to mess up this area without Sister Stewart! But I know that the Lord can do anything and that if I lean on him, which I definitely will, I can do it! It's a great feeling knowing you can accomplish something hard. And missions are hard and I want to make every minute count! Hope my new companion does too!

I LOVE YOU ALL SOO MUCH!

Good luck with school starting, glad I'm not you! :)

And always remember who you are and how much you are worth. Don't let anyone tell you differently! Never, because I love all of you! And I will always support all of you in whatever you do! Remember, DON'T GIVE UP BECAUSE YOU ARE LOVED! (By me!)

Love, 

Sister Whitcomb