Lani's Letter June 3rd 2013 Week 5

Hello Family!

HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY ABBY!! are you ready?? ok.....

happy birthday to YOU.....happy birthday TO you....happy BIRTHDAY dear ABBERS!!....hem hem....HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!....amen.

I hope you had a great day sis! I love you!!

Ah! I loved hearing about how the trip to Seattle went! That is crazy about Melanie Walker! I worked with her a lot and we were all really excited about her mission call. I know that she is going to do great things in Brazil. I am so happy to hear about Uncle Garth and Aunt Mary Gae. I wish I could have been able to get to know them some more, but i love the affect they have had on our family. Hopefully you will be able to go back soon! AND- I want some bread. Just kidding! Don't send it. I will dream about it as I sleep.

This week has been crazy!! We were so busy with exchanges. Sister Jasper and I went on two different 24 hour exchanges. It is such a blessing for me to be with Sister Jasper. It forces me to buckle down and work harder because I am with a different sister two to three times a week! and they have no idea about the area or the people we are teaching. I am honored that the Lord has given me this opportunity. I have been thinking a lot about the weaknesses and trials we have in life. They are so perfect for us. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to grow and learn and become, therefore, why not be grateful for every hard thing we face? It is just to help us become the better us! Life is too short to waste a really tough trial. (a little backwards, but it's a thought).

I have also been thinking about the Lord's timing. It is impeccable!! Friday night, Sister Sacarawazza (from Japan) and I were coming out of our dinner appointment and walking up the street at the exact same time was a girl named Katie who we have been trying to see for a couple of weeks...she has never been home. It was incredible! She has been reading the Book of Mormon and asked for another for her friend Emma. The Lord puts people in our path, we just need to open our eyes and mouth and He will trust us more opportunities.

Do you all remember Mark Rossell? Some sad things have happened and we are having to postpone the baptism. Mark decided to go shopping on the Sabbath. Now, I know that this seems harsh that we are not letting him get baptized this weekend, but we have been praying for something to help humble him. We are told in Moroni 6:2 that before baptism the people had a "broken heart and contrite spirit and witnessed to the church that they truly repented for their sins." Mark is really struggling taking this seriously and needs more time. I have learned a lot from Sister Jasper. We were still going to have him be baptized until this morning when she said to me, "I will not let anyone get baptized who is not ready." It's a scary thought because it is our responsibilities as missionaries to make sure that these people are ready and have humbled themselves. It's not good. It has humbled me a lot because it makes me think about how important baptism is. We are making sacred covenants with God and are expected to obey the commandments. It's overwhelming sometimes because I desperately want these people to be ready and understand completely! but missionary work is a process and I need more patience. Sorry to ramble on about that. I know Mark is going to get there soon. He just needs to repent, I need to repent, we all need to repent and try again. :) That's the exciting news...that we can repent and feel that weight taken off. Phew!

All is well though! This week we have lots of appointments. The Lord is blessing us so much. It's not even funny! We don't even have a preparation day this week because we are so busy!

We are teaching more people besides Mark, which is great. Lynn and Jean are an older couple and they are progressing right a long. Jean  is a grumpy, old fart. We have an appointment with Lynn this Wed. and he said that he was going to the Village Inn (restaurant) at that time. YEAH RIGHT! were we going to let him get away with that. SO we are going with Lynn to Village Inn WITH HIM!

All is well. We went on exchanges with the Spanish sisters the other day. It was great! The hermana who is training was at the MTC with me. We talked for a little while about how she is doing. I love listening to the Sisters talk about things they are going through. I love them so much and I want them to be successful! We talked about our parents and the effect they have had on us. I would not be on a mission if it hadn't been for Michael and Samatha Call. I love you both so much!

Alright, well...onto another week! I hope you all have an incredible week full of exciting things! How is your Book of Mormon reading coming?? Are you still reading Preach my Gospel as a family!? Keep it up if you are. If not, repent. It is so sad to see so many people go inactive. How can people fall away? Simple. Because they do not nourish their testimonies. They aren't doing the simple things. It's an eye opening experience being on a mission and walking away from a LA members home and desperately thinking, I cannot let that happen to me.

Not too many happy stories in this email, but I am happy and doing very well! I am learning and the Lord is blessing me everyday. It sounds like He is blessing you all as well. I love you and am so grateful for your faithfulness. It is an example to me and makes me want to help other families find the happiness we have as a family! :) I love you all dearly!

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Call