Gaerwen Week 23

It has been such a good week. We are seeing a lot of miracles again and I think the Lord is really blessing this area at the moment. Laura, our friend on date, passed her baptismal interview and is preparing for this Saturday. Everything is all planned and she feels ready so we are very excited for her. Brother Halligan is still doing great too. We moved the date forward 2 weeks to April 20th. We have been urging him to diligently study for this time before his baptism and he is taking it seriously.

We also had a big miracle with church attendance yesterday. Two member referrals we've been working with decided to attend church for the first time and they both had a really good time. Their names are Nick and Salmah. They must have felt the spirit because they both expressed a desire to come next week. With Nick, we haven't been able to meet with him as often as we'd had liked over the past few months but he has been studying the Book of Mormon despite that, which is definitely a miracle.

I also got to go on exchanges with one of my previous companions this week, Sister Viteri. It was so fun to be able to be with her for a day. We also have first 5 weeks this week so we'll get to travel to Manchester. We'll get our transfer calls too so I'll tell you how it goes.

Gaerwen Week 22

It's been a great week! We have seen a lot of miracles and were definitely being blessed. Our friend Laura, the one on date for the 23rd, is doing really great. We are visiting her pretty often in preparation for her baptism and all she has to say about her baptism is how excited she is. I agree, being baptised is definitely an exciting thing. She has her interview tomorrow and then her baptism next week. I am grateful that the Lord prepares the hearts of people to hear the gospel. 

Our friend Damien is also doing so well! He has been coming to church for 13 years with his wife but was hesitant to be baptised until he knew for sure. Last week he made the big step of setting a day for baptism to work towards. We explained that a witness comes after the trial of our faith and that setting a day for baptism would be that leap of faith that would help him receive an answer. I know that when we put our trust in the Lord he will not let us down.

Sister Larsen and I are still doing great. The missionaries in the area next to ours had to leave because of flat issues so we get to temporarily take over their area. We get to have exchanges again with the STL's this week as well. It's always fun to be able to work with other missionaries. But that's all for this week! Love you all!

Gaerwen Week 21

This week has been full of miracles. Our friends are progressing so much and we have definitely seen the Lord's hand in the work. Our most progressing friend at the moment is Laura Stone. She was taught by missionaries years ago and 3 of her sons were baptized but she never was because of challenges in her life. We had tried to stop by her house every few weeks but it turns out we were knocking on the wrong house. Last week, a member in the area directed us to her house and we were able to talk with Laura and her son Gethin. They had both felt recently that they needed to return to church and Laura's situation had changed to allow her to be baptized. We visited again this week and she accepted the invitation to be baptized on March 23rd. We reviewed the baptismal interview questions and she already believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. She is excited to be baptized in a few weeks. It seems that she has been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Our friend Morgan is also doing really well. We weren't able to meet with him this week but we've been communicating via email and he said he's been having a lot of success
with prayer. He says he's been having a hard time recently but that he has been comforted through praying to God. His Faith in Christ is definitely growing. We are meeting with him again this week.

We also had zone conference and exchanges with the STL's this week. Sister Viteri, one of my previous companions, is one of my STL's so it was so fun to be able to see her. I worked with Sister Paschen for the day and it was an amazing experience. It is always so good to be able to learn from their examples. At zone conference we also talked about how we can improve our companionship and personal study. We talked about how when we seek and write down promptings from the spirit, we are inviting further revelation into our lives. I know that when we seek the guidance of the spirit that we will always be guided in the right direction.