Mum's Note: We Skyped with Katie on Sunday morning for an hour. She is quickly becoming the oldest sister in the mission. We got to meet her companion from Denmark, Sister Paulson, and the two of them work famously together. Katie said that her tentative date of return is Halloween. The Diamond Jubilee will be June 5 and the London Olympics begin on July 27. Great things are happening!
From Winchester:
Right, so I'm so tired, the puddles of drool on my pillow by
morning are getting to be three inches in diameter. (I found out that
improvement has to be measured quantitatively, though it rarely is, so I guess
I'm making progress.)
News!
-We've been teaching Jacob's mum Tina who is now reading the
Book of Mormon and is convinced she's known us for years and years. I suppose
we all knew each other at one point...
-A guy named Jeffrey called us up in the middle of our DA
and asked if he could come to church. We taught Plan of Salvation in Gospel
Principles, and it was so powerful. He would have stayed for all three hours,
except after a massive discussion with one of the members, he felt silly sneaking
into priesthood late. It looks like he may solicit our interior know-how (I
have none, so it's all on the greenie) to fix up his Badger Farm house. It's
moments like this that make us semi-regret our choice to move OUT of Badger
Farm, but never mind. He's a smart cookie.
-Taught a staunch, though recently converted, Catholic
yesterday. He is convinced that he will convert us, saying that all the other
churches have pieces missing and that the Catholic faith is the WHOLE truth
(sound familiar?) We had a great experience though, tea at the Hamiltons ' and joy all around. We're coming
with him to mass on Friday and he's coming to the baptism on Saturday. We
figured it's a fair trade, and helpful that Brother Hamilton was Catholic once.
:)
-Baptism this week. Pray lots that things will go
successfully--we're picking up Jacob from Bournemouth
to come and committing everyone to bring a friend. We're sitting on a lot of
"potential referrals"--these mean that when we come round for tea,
people invariably talk about how they have mentioned the church to a friend at
work/school/soccer, etc. Our goal is to find out this friend's name (for some
reason, no one ever mentions a name), pray for them, and continually discuss
their progress with the member until the member officially invites us to teach
them. Those make for really natural teaching opportunities, and it builds the
members' confidence exponentially in sharing the gospel themselves.
-The ward is spectacular. We've got a lot of activities
coming up, and we had lots of less-actives come to church on Sunday. It's so
cool to see so much happening, and the members can feel the excitement. We are
proud to report that as of last week, we were able to reach twenty lessons in a
week, which is the mission goal for every area. I don't know if Winchester has ever seen
20 lessons before, but I can feel the Lord's guiding hand in assisting us. It's so cool to feel His love and His
go-ahead to do incredible things.
I'm so grateful to be out here. I feel more tired than I
ever have on the mission, probably because I'm so old. But there's this real
satisfaction in the progress I've made as a person and as a servant of the
Lord. I suppose there's a point before or during the mission when you decide
whether it's all a massive sacrifice of your time and friends, or whether it's
the Lord's time to do as He directs because He has led you here. I've really
grown in my knowledge that if someone needs something, Heavenly Father will
send someone halfway around the world just to reach that one person. That's the
way Jesus Christ did it--one by one. I don't know if I've made a huge impact on
the areas I've served in or if I'm remembered by the people I've taught, but I
do feel satisfied that the work of building His kingdom has happened, inch by
inch, under my stewardship. And I do know that because He is so interested in
my growth as His daughter, He sent me 5,000 miles to England to receive the best
possible tutelage.
Oops, it looks like we're getting a referral. I have to go!
Love you all, and the Lord loves you even more!
Love from,
Sister Willard
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