In Sister Cross's words:
Dear Family and Friends,
What a week! I need to start with explaining some goals President Scott has set for us. He calls them Standards of Excellence. Each week, we set goals to help people come unto Christ. We call them Key Indicators for Conversion. Our mission president set the Standards of Excellence to help us work toward something achievable, but also that will make us stretch. They are: 4 Lessons taught with a member present, 2 new investigators, 2 investigators with a baptism date, 2 investigators progressing toward baptism, and 2 investigators at church. Each companionship still sets goals based on their area, but Sister Messer and I always try to at least set our goals at or above standards. These goals are hard! Sometimes we do very well at hitting the standards in one area, but another area will lack. We've especially been struggling with finding new people to teach.
We have a goal as a companionship to have 2 baptisms this transfer, which ends in 3 weeks. We knew that this last week would have to have MIRACLES happen in order for us to hit that goal. We have prayed our knees off for that miracle. I learned that Hope means to trust that the Lord really will bless us as he has promised. I've been leaning on that hope this week and really stepping out of my comfort zone. As of Saturday night, we had 0 investigators coming to church and we needed 1 more progressing, 1 more new, and 1 more member present as well as 2 coming to church to reach Standards. We prayed hard that night to have a miracle happen. But it seemed IMPOSSIBLE. We got to church on Sunday and Jacob showed! By definition, J. was our one progressing investigator. Still, we did not have another investigator at Sacrament meeting. I leaned over to Sister Messer during Sacrament and said, sadly, "We didn't hit standards. But we worked hard." Maybe not word-for-word, but close.
Sacrament ended and we went to say hi to the Spanish Elders who were talking to a young guy. We knew they were expecting someone at church, so we assumed this was him. Elder Johnson said, "Hey! This is G. He told us some about him. We asked him if they were teaching him and they said no and that he lives in our area! What?! We asked him about how he found the church and he said that he's been coming to play sports at the church almost every Friday night (after Institute, the YSA plays sports) since Jan. or Feb! He said he really wants a positive influence in his life and he decided to see what this church was all about. I literally couldn't keep the smile off my face. As he was talking, he said he's joining the military. I was trying to count out weeks to see when the earliest he could be baptized. The guideline is that someone has to come to church at least 3 times before they can get baptized. Which means the earliest would be May 12. Literally moments after I figured that out, he told us he'll be shipping out to Quebec on May 13! Oh my goodness! He was asking about the differences between us and another religion. We talked a little bit about prophets, but then class started.
After class, we asked Brother G, our Ward Mission Leader, if he would be able to stay and help teach G. the first lesson. He said yes. As we taught, G. asked some really great questions and he said it all made sense. The spirit was strong as we talked about Jesus Christ's example and why He was baptized. I invited him to be baptized and he seemed to like the idea, but wanted to make sure he knew everything first. We talked about how the Holy Ghost can be that constant companion and influence for good. He, without any attempt at persuasion on our part, said, "I want the Holy Ghost!" We taught him the rest of the lesson and told him that we are holding a baptism on May 12. He said, "Right before I leave!" We talked about how we can be sure that he is prepared for that day. And he accepted! Earlier in the lesson, he brought up the Word of Wisdom and said how he really likes it. He said it makes sense that SOMEONE gave us this body and we should take care of it. Man! He is GREAT! After the lesson, I Sister Messer told me how she had prayed and asked for someone to show up at church so we could hit Standards. And he did!
I KNOW that as we do as God asks, He will bless us. He said, "I, the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." As we are striving to be EXACTLY obedient, we see the Lord blessing us. We have 4 investigators with baptism dates right now. It feels great! I know that, if we work hard and pray harder this week, we CAN have 2 baptisms in the next 3 weeks before Sister Messer goes home.
Thank you all for your prayers. They are greatly appreciated! And for your love! I've received quite a few letters this week and I love it! Thanks so much, everyone!
Sister Cross
Dear Family and Friends,
What a week! I need to start with explaining some goals President Scott has set for us. He calls them Standards of Excellence. Each week, we set goals to help people come unto Christ. We call them Key Indicators for Conversion. Our mission president set the Standards of Excellence to help us work toward something achievable, but also that will make us stretch. They are: 4 Lessons taught with a member present, 2 new investigators, 2 investigators with a baptism date, 2 investigators progressing toward baptism, and 2 investigators at church. Each companionship still sets goals based on their area, but Sister Messer and I always try to at least set our goals at or above standards. These goals are hard! Sometimes we do very well at hitting the standards in one area, but another area will lack. We've especially been struggling with finding new people to teach.
We have a goal as a companionship to have 2 baptisms this transfer, which ends in 3 weeks. We knew that this last week would have to have MIRACLES happen in order for us to hit that goal. We have prayed our knees off for that miracle. I learned that Hope means to trust that the Lord really will bless us as he has promised. I've been leaning on that hope this week and really stepping out of my comfort zone. As of Saturday night, we had 0 investigators coming to church and we needed 1 more progressing, 1 more new, and 1 more member present as well as 2 coming to church to reach Standards. We prayed hard that night to have a miracle happen. But it seemed IMPOSSIBLE. We got to church on Sunday and Jacob showed! By definition, J. was our one progressing investigator. Still, we did not have another investigator at Sacrament meeting. I leaned over to Sister Messer during Sacrament and said, sadly, "We didn't hit standards. But we worked hard." Maybe not word-for-word, but close.
Sacrament ended and we went to say hi to the Spanish Elders who were talking to a young guy. We knew they were expecting someone at church, so we assumed this was him. Elder Johnson said, "Hey! This is G. He told us some about him. We asked him if they were teaching him and they said no and that he lives in our area! What?! We asked him about how he found the church and he said that he's been coming to play sports at the church almost every Friday night (after Institute, the YSA plays sports) since Jan. or Feb! He said he really wants a positive influence in his life and he decided to see what this church was all about. I literally couldn't keep the smile off my face. As he was talking, he said he's joining the military. I was trying to count out weeks to see when the earliest he could be baptized. The guideline is that someone has to come to church at least 3 times before they can get baptized. Which means the earliest would be May 12. Literally moments after I figured that out, he told us he'll be shipping out to Quebec on May 13! Oh my goodness! He was asking about the differences between us and another religion. We talked a little bit about prophets, but then class started.
After class, we asked Brother G, our Ward Mission Leader, if he would be able to stay and help teach G. the first lesson. He said yes. As we taught, G. asked some really great questions and he said it all made sense. The spirit was strong as we talked about Jesus Christ's example and why He was baptized. I invited him to be baptized and he seemed to like the idea, but wanted to make sure he knew everything first. We talked about how the Holy Ghost can be that constant companion and influence for good. He, without any attempt at persuasion on our part, said, "I want the Holy Ghost!" We taught him the rest of the lesson and told him that we are holding a baptism on May 12. He said, "Right before I leave!" We talked about how we can be sure that he is prepared for that day. And he accepted! Earlier in the lesson, he brought up the Word of Wisdom and said how he really likes it. He said it makes sense that SOMEONE gave us this body and we should take care of it. Man! He is GREAT! After the lesson, I Sister Messer told me how she had prayed and asked for someone to show up at church so we could hit Standards. And he did!
I KNOW that as we do as God asks, He will bless us. He said, "I, the Lord am bound when ye do what I say, but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." As we are striving to be EXACTLY obedient, we see the Lord blessing us. We have 4 investigators with baptism dates right now. It feels great! I know that, if we work hard and pray harder this week, we CAN have 2 baptisms in the next 3 weeks before Sister Messer goes home.
Thank you all for your prayers. They are greatly appreciated! And for your love! I've received quite a few letters this week and I love it! Thanks so much, everyone!
Sister Cross
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