October 21, 2013

Well, this has been an amazing week for us overall! We only had one zone conference to do and one exchange so we had loads of time in our area, which gave us time to visit more of the people we would like to. This week we really wanted to focus on visiting less active members of the Terenure Ward. With our busy schedules, we normally only see about 2, maybe 3 less active members in a week, but this past week, with the help of some active members, we were able to get into the homes of 8 less actives. At church yesterday, we were so excited to see that 7 of those less actives came to church!!! It was an absolute miracle. It was the most I have ever seen on my mission on one Sunday, and it's not all the time that our visits result in them coming to church, so it was just a huge miracle. In fact, a lot of people came to church yesterday- we had to open up the dividers in our chapel for the first time that I have seen. It was packed! It's so fun for me to see the Lord truly hastening His work - and we saw it yesterday. The ward was so happy.

We were blessed to have our investigators Dominique and Ray at church as well. Dominique is on fire! We teach him almost every day and he is preparing to be baptised next Sunday, the 27th! Some of the sacrament talks yesterday were on sharing the gospel, and Dominique is telling us how excited he is to share the gospel with his friends and family. He already has a friend lined up to come to church next week because of the talks given. He is one of the most humble followers of Christ I have ever met- so willing to do what Heavenly Father wants of him. He is going to make a GREAT asset to the church. Ray is...still Ray. Haha. He is such a funny, sweet old man. Things are coming along for him, slowly but surely. Yesterday was his 7th time at church. But more than ever, he is making progress. We know he will join the church- it will just be a matter of when that will be.

Zone conference this past week went well. The zone leaders and us trained the Dublin zone on effective morning schedules (exercise, personal and companionship studies) and how a solid morning of exercise and study can change a whole day's work for us. It was kind of a different training than what we normally train on, but it felt good and it felt right. Hopefully the zone will feel more energized and in tune with the spirit from following an effective morning schedule. Some of our sisters this past transfer have taken a hit with different illnesses so a big focus in the mission right now is healthy eating, exercising, and taking care of ourselves. There's a new manual that has been launched called 'Adjusting to Missionary Life'. It talks about how to handle the spiritual, emotional, and physical demands of a mission. It is inspired. We have already used it so much in different training opportunities for the sisters. You should look it up! It's pretty cool.

Halloween is coming up. I expect many pictures of all of the little kiddos in their costumes.

Love you all so much. I have the best family in the world.

Love ya,