Sister Allie Slater: Get Baptized Maybe?

This week has been full of miracles.. MIRACLES I tell ya! Heavenly Father is so good to me and Sister Horsley. :)

To begin this week I am going to tell you a fantastic story! So, when Sister Horsley first found out she was going to train, she had a plan. You see my area, Hayden Run, was a really hard area. It is actually known throughout the mission as a way hard area. The last baptism they had was a year ago, people weren’t progressing, and it was just all around a hard area. Sister Horsley knew though that with the faith of a new missionary, this area could blossom. When I became her companion she just told me how AWESOME the area was, and how amazing the members were, and the people. So I never knew this was even a hard area! I had no idea. The day I came we met so many potential investigators and it was always pretty easy for Sister Horsley and I to find people to teach. The area blossomed overnight. It is just so incredible how the faith of two missionaries could have such an impact on an area. We both had faith that Heavenly Father would bring prepared people to us, and he has. We are so blessed!:)

Zone conference was Wednesday, it was 7 hours long but so amazing! I feel so lucky to have President and Sister Daines as my leaders. They are so incredible! I learned so much from them! They are truly inspired. They talked about iPads for the mission..:) Yeah, we won’t get them until March.. I guess haha. They keep pushing it back but oh well hopefully we will get them eventually:) We have zone conference only every 3 months so I was excited to see what it was like! It was fantastic of course:) The spirit was really strong! That took up most of our day but hey, it was so amazing!:)

I went on exchanges this week to London with Sister Jensen!:) It was so fun! I was sad though because I was missing a lesson with Wes but it was still fantastic! We taught this 12 year old named Abby. We talked to her about baptism and she said she doesn’t want to because she is afraid of the things she would have to give up. You see, Abby’s mom doesn’t really pay attention to her so Abby does things like smoke and other things to get her mom’s attention. How sad! A 12 year old doesn’t want to give up smoking... my heart was broken. I know this gospel can bring a lot of happiness into Abby’s life. Goodness I just want to help her. But the lesson went well! She is a sweetheart. IT WAS SNOWING!! First day of snow:) I am glad I was in London with the car cause Sister Horsley and Sister Verhagen were in my area on bikes.. ha. I was pretty grateful because it was freezing!! But the exchange was great! For breakfast we made chocolate cake mix and used it to make waffles in the waffle maker.. healthy I know:) Ha that is what mission life is about! Plus food brings us so much comfort.. it is great!:)

WES IS GETTING BAPTIZED NOVEMBER 29^th!! AHHHH!! I cannot believe it! He was hesitant for December 6^th, but we had a lesson with him and he said he will be out of town the 6^th so he asked if he could be baptized the 29^th. Ha, we didn’t object:) But we still have so many lessons to teach him.. so we are pretty much having a lesson with him every night:) But what a blessing this is! :) We are so happy for Wes and this decision is making! We are starting to plan it and it is just such a miracle. Wes is a man who didn’t even believe in God... he had no relationship with Him. And now look at him! He is on his way to salvation, to be with Heavenly Father forever. Honestly, being a missionary brings me so much joy. The happy moments make all the home sickness, the hard bike rides in the cold wind, and the heart breaks all worth it! Wes is coming unto Christ, he is so incredible! WHOOO!! That is the most exciting thing to happen this weed:)

Another thing that is pretty exciting is a bet/goal I made with Wes:) You all know how much I love chocolate. The whole mission knows as well haha. All the members know, and our investigators as well. I am a sugar addict! Even more so on the mission because it does make me happy. So, we had a lesson with Wes on the word of wisdom and we just talked about how hard it will be to follow that but we know we will be blessed:) Well, Wes always makes fun of me for my sugar addiction, so I told him I will go off sugar for these next 2 weeks leading up to his baptism as long as he keeps the word of wisdom. It will be a struggle for both of us but I know we can both do it:) He told me though if I eat candy, then he is done and his salvation is in my hands. Oooh the pressure is on me haha:) I love Wes! He is worth to stop eating treats for... at least leading up to his baptism:) Man, this is going to be hard!! Wes is worth it though!:) Pray for me, this week will be hard.:)

Oh! We did catch another fly and tried to tie a string to it so we could have him as a pet... it didn’t work out. Oh well:)

As Thanksgiving is approaching next week it really makes me think of all I am grateful for, but the top things are my family and this gospel. We are so blessed to have this knowledge in our lives. It can be hard, and there will be trials, but with the help of the Lord, we can get through anything. We are so blessed to know how much our Heavenly Father loves us, and that he wants to give us all He can. I am also so thankful for Jesus Christ, for without him I wouldn’t be able to return to my Heavenly Father and I wouldn’t be with my family forever. It wouldn’t be heaven without my family.
A huge birthday shout out to Kylie:) Can't believe you are 18! Stop getting so old! Love you Ky Bug:)

I love you all so much!!:) Have a good week:) Just know I am here freaking out for my first baptism! Haha:) AHHH I am just so excited!!