It has been quite the week. It feels like a lot has happened, even though I suppose it's mostly all within the business-as-usual categories of missionary work. I think we've seen a lot of miracles and blessings in our work this week. For starters, we met three less-active members who said they would come to church on Sunday. One is a mother who apparently just got out of the habit of coming, another is a college student who was baptized when she was 16, and the last is a woman who is vegetarian and feels bad about not eating meat at church activities. Every week we visit some less active members, and most of them do not come to church the following Sunday, so it's especially exciting to see the ones who do come. Another less-active sister that we visited this week felt like she couldn't come because she needs to be making sales. She is an older widow. She used to run a nursery, but the economy recently has made it less likely for parents to pay someone else to take care of their children. Now she sits in front of her house selling cell phone covers. I hope she can make ends meet, because her house is far from a prime location for finding cell-phone-cover seeking people.
We also set a baptismal date with one of our investigators, and we have another who wants to set a date with us this week :) Setting a baptismal date means that we invite an investigator to set a goal--a date by which they will try to prepare themselves for baptism. To be prepared for baptism, they need to have a personal conviction of some basic principles of the gospel (i.e. God is our Heavenly Father, Christ is our Savior, the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through Joseph Smith and is led by a prophet today), be willing to repent of their sins and live life in accordance with the laws and commandments of the gospel, and have a desire to continue doing that and to take upon themselves the name of Christ. They need to attend several consecutive sacrament meetings, and be living commandments such as the Word of Wisdom and law of chastity. It's not unusual at all to set baptismal dates before all these requirements are met, but then the missionaries help the investigators learn and plan what they need to do in order to meet the requirements by the baptismal goal. So that's what we'll be doing with these two sisters in the next little while, and hopefully they can both be baptized next transfer. I would be extremely excited for both of them, especially because after baptism they would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and be able to have His constant companionship. I know from my personal experience that always having the Holy Ghost is the way to get all the peace, guidance, and protection that I need to be happy, so it's wonderful to see others enjoy the same blessing.
