Aug.22,2011

NICO MILITELLO IS BAPTIZED!!!! (We call him Nemo) It was the best baptism yet!! I am pretty sure I wrote home about him, anyway he is 18 and has come A LONG WAY! He just graduated high school and is about to go off to Southern Oregon University for wrestling and made the decision to be baptized! We had it on Saturday and it was so big that we had to move it into the chapel! Over 120 people there!! He has so much support, it's awesome! I have been telling him to go on a mission since the day I met him, so hopefully he will because he is one of those people who effects every single person he meets. He comes to play basketball and volleyball every day with our district or work out! Speaking of volleyball, the whole fam played again?!? Woo! Keep it up so we can play in 17 months! :) I'm glad the kids still remember me! I talk about them to all our investigators and the members we have dinner with. So, this week we had Zone Conference. Sunday night before I got a call from my District Leader and my Zone Leader both asking me to share a "finding experience" of a new investigator and I had NOTHING. THey wanted me to share this experience with all the missionaries that Tuesday morning. I laughed and said...uhhh that's NOT going to happen...I have been here almost 3 weeks and no luck yet. My DL (Elder Crowther ((or I call him dad))) anwyay he said he had complete faith in me and he would pray for me to find someone. So, the next day (p-day) we go on with our day, and at 5:00 we see them and he asks, did you find anyone yet?? noope. he goes, "Well! There are still 3 hours! Go find someone! (pday ends at 6 & we have to be back in our apt by 9) Then the Zone Leaders call..."Sister Givens, have you found anyone yet??" noope. So there I am, facing the facts that I do not have anyone to talk about at zone conference. We go on with our night, trying to find people home, that we can teach...NO LUCK. So we decide to go to a member's house to help with their wedding decorations for their daughter's reception. (Ps at this point it is 8:30pm) the phone rings. It is Mario's mom (The 15 year old boy who got baptized in May) Anyway, the mom is in Columbia and the sisters have been trying for months to teach her but she was always SO against it. Anyway, so i answer the phone, "Hello! This is Sister Givens!" "Oh hi missionaries this is Sandra, I have some questions, could you come over and we can talk about them?" ahhhh!!!!!!!! "Of course we can do that Sandra! How about in 15 minutes!?" So...we go over there at 8:45, and she tells us how her only desire in life right now is to be a good mom to her kids and to get closer to God. Remember, she is from Columbia ((she reminds me prefectly of Gloria from Modern Family)) anyway, she said she would even give up coffee if it meant she could get closer to God. Which is amazing for that culture, I know that for certain! She is GREAT! Mario is such a great teacher! We went and taught her on Wednesday and are meeting again with her tomorrow night!! I LOVE HER! The only thing is, is that she might learn better if she were taught in Spanish... so I found my lady and now we might have to pass her off to my District Leader who is a spanish elder, but he doesn't want to until she knows for sure because he feels bad haha, but all that really matters is that she understands, so if we can help her out, it's all worth it! Let's see....OH. Sonia. Sonia is a black lady who I LOVE. She is a member, but is one of the ones we rely on most for missionary work. She is AWESOME! She grew up baptist in LA where her dad was the preacher for the church. She joined and has the strongest testimony of anyone I know. She is battling cancer and this week found out her treatments are not taking. It is SO sad. The doctor gave her 2 months, but after a blessing there is hope that she will make it through. I can not express what was said during that blessing, but it has made me SO INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL for the Preisthood on this earth. That I have it in my life. I am grateful to those who are worthy to hold it. Nico was ordained yesterday and he cherishes it. I am truly so thankful of the blessings our Father in Heaven gives us each day. Other than that....our teaching pool is now a teaching puddle. An investigator came to church yesterday! He is a hippie...but a nice guy. His name is Skye, but we have to pass him off to the Singles Stake. So we are on a quest to FIND this week! We went tracting on Saturday...2 people answered their doors 1: members 2: asains "hello. I DON'T need to talk to you." slam. BUT! We are NOT giving up! We will get there, Trent fell off date for baptism next weekend. I feel like it isn't his time and the other girl, Samantha who we have been teaching (she was on date for next weekend too) we had to drop her this week. She wasn't keeping any commitments. THAT is the hardest part about this job. Having to drop people. But, there are people who are ready, we just need to find them. Have the faith to ACT! On Friday we had a mission-wide fireside! Brett and Brandon Stewart came (Brett is President Miller's Son-in-law) and together ((they are brothers)) wrote Messiah in America It was a huge production up at Temple Square in June...they took all the missionaries. Anyway, what it is, is they put 3rd Nephi to music. INCREDIBLE. They came on Firday and told us the process and what a POWERFUL tool music is in missionary work. Which, is so true. I have been using more and more and more in my teaching. Elder Oaks said "We can NOT teach this gospel without music" Anway, I can not express how powerful it was in that room that night, but I DO know how much I love this gospel and how much I feel the Spirit through music. And! Alex Boye lives here! look him up, his voice is incredible!