July 1st, 2013

Hello!!

Wow! I have had such an incredible week! Sister Thompson and I are getting closer every day and getting better at understanding each other's strengths and weaknesses along with goals as to how we can help make our weaknesses INTO strengths. We have already seen the blessings because of it!

Our Stake President had given our area a list of "Rescue Families" that he wanted the Sisters to reactivate. The names were given to the missionaries about 2 months ago, and up to this point, none of those people have come to church. So, this week Sister Thompson and I really dedicated ourselves to doing service, visiting with, and teaching as many of these less actives as we could. Five of them committed to coming to church on Sunday (which we were excited about) and then when Sunday came, we were ecstatic to see EIGHT of them in Sacrament meeting!! Woohoo! The Lord is working miracles everyday. We had been praying so hard for each of them, and by coming we know that they all felt the importance of being there and feeling that closeness with their Father in heaven.

We also had zone conference this week!! It was both mine and Sister Thompson's first one, and it was wonderful! I got to see cutie pie Sister Brown from my MTC district, and it was really fun talking to her about how her first week was and how our areas are similar/different. Her trainer is really new to the mission as well, so she has been having a fun time trying to learn as well. Anyway, at the conference President Topham told us a few things that really shocked me and that I wanted to share. He told us that 110/211 missionaries in our mission have arrived in the past 6 months. Over half are practically brand new! He then went on to tell us that as a mission in the past 6 months, our "teaching effectiveness"(% of new investigators that are baptized) has decreased from 10.8% to 5.3%.... :( That was not fun to hear. He told us that we as new missionaries need to fully dedicate ourselves because we are being required to learn how to be better teachers a lot faster than missionaries who came before us. I took that as a challenge :)

It is crazy humid here! Actually, maybe I'm exaggerating, but it seems really humid here! Haha It has been fun coming home everyday to seeing my hair has transformed over the course of the day into a giant poof/frizz ball on my head! Oh well, I will learn to love it.

Sister Thompson and I worked a lot this week in a little town called Bainbridge that has been neglected for a long time. It is so beautiful there! It reminded me a lot of home because there was a lot of open space, corn fields, and farms everywhere. And everything is so green, it's amazing. We also passed Nissley vineyards/winery. Apparently it is a big tourist attraction here, so that was cool. The best part about working in Bainbridge though, is that we found 3 people who are interested in learning more about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. One of them is a couple who live in a beautiful country home in the middle of nowhere. When we were driving up to their house, Sister Thompson and I were cracking up because they have a sign on one of the trees alongside their driveway that says, "slow - wild children ahead"... so cute. Their kids were adorable though, the little girl showed me all of the pretty clips in her hair (there were quite a few). She was adorable.

Anyway, this week has been so much better. I've been trying harder to just put my trust in the Lord and not get frustrated when plans (or people) fall through. I read a talk in the May 2013 Ensign called A Time for Faith Not Fear and at the end was a quote by our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson that says, "The future is as bright as your faith." :) I really needed to hear that. Everything will work out the way the Lord wants it to. As long as I am continuing to work hard and be obedient, I will be able to accomplish the work He has prepared for this area. I LOVE YOU ALL! I hope you have an amazing week!

Love,

Sister Walborn

p.s. One of these pictures is of me making mac n' cheese for my companion, and she took it so I could show everyone my cute apron that my awesome cousin Stephanie gave me - thanks stephy! The other pics are of Sister Thompson and I at a lookout over the Susquehanna River. It doesn't compare to Lake Michigan (duh) but it is still beautiful!