Thanks for all of the love and support you send! I love being a missionary!
As we've used the Christmas initiative to teach the gospel, I've learned an important principle of missionary work. Testimony is key. Teaching the restoration is key. LighttheWorld is great, but the way to get people to listen is to invite the Spirit and testify of our unique message. That's how I've found to most success. I invite each of you to testify of the Restoration as you share your #LIGHTtheWORLD experiences over the next 13 days.
My new companion is Hermana Arenas! She is wonderful! She is from Mexico, but she's lived in Utah since she was 3. She is pretty quiet, which doesn't usually bother me. I can fill silence just fine. I think part of the reason she's my companion is that I need to learn to step back and let my companion speak, and she's perfectly willing to let me teach a whole lesson. I'll be working this week on making sure she teaches at least as much as I do.
What else is new? Oh, most of my area! The branch changed from 3 companionships to 2. It mostly makes sense. We're definitely busy though. There's plenty of work to do! Would you like to meet some of my new investigators?
Carmen! Yes, I'm teaching Carmen! My first name is shared by many women in this area. At first it really threw me off. In fact, Carmen took us to Costco on my first P day in the field, and every time someone would say her name, I thought they meant me. Not so much anymore. I'm pretty used to people calling me variations of Hermana Sleight (Hermana, Sleight, Hermana Sleight, Hermana Slate, Missionary, etc.). Anyway, she's from Mexico. She's a great friend to the missionaries, but she's been investigating for a long time without coming to church. She told us she wants to figure out why the Book of Mormon even exists, and she also happens to be in 2 Nephi 29 in her Book of Mormon reading. Hooray! 2 Nephi 29 is the boldest explanation of why the Book of Mormon exists I've ever read! She's going to love it. We're teaching her tonight.
And I think I've mentioned Yajairah before. She's got finals this week, and when we taught the Holy Ghost, I told her he knows everything, even math, science, etc. and that was exciting for her. Seeing her excitement helped me see the reason for teaching to people's needs. Her brother, Gian Carlo who we call Gio, is also investigating. What I love about it is that at our last lesson, his mom told us she's comfortable at the church they're already going to, but he came to church yesterday, and he explained to us yesterday why he's going to try reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I know that he and Yajairah can gain testimonies of the Book of Mormon. They're going to be such great youth in the branch!
I love you all, and I'm thankful for all you do for me! This has been a wonderful Christmas season so far, and I expect even more to come!
Love,
Hermana Sleight
