Sister Allie Slater: Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Wow, I did not realize how powerful it can be to help someone come closer to Christ by helping them obey his commandments. Wes is doing so well!:) He says it is so hard, but he knows it will be worth it:) It would have to be hard to stop drinking coffee and smoking when you have done that every day for years! But, Wes already had the desire to stop smoking even before we started teaching him so he is on his way:) He gave us his Electronic Cigarette and nicotine with it haha. He just straight up gave it to us, no questions asked. It was awesome!:) He hardly hesitated! It is just so funny walking home with an e-cigarette in your hand.. haha just doesn’t feel right:) But it is so cool he gave it to us to throw away! GO WES!:) We are just so proud of him!:) Oh my goodness he shaved as well! He looks like a different person! He said that the old Wes with the beard is the smoker and drinker and the new clean shaven Wes doesn’t do those things:) How awesome is he?! The beardless Wes is the new Wes! The Mormon Wes!:) It is just so exciting:)

I wish I could say every day this week was dandy but.. some days were a struggle haha. It is so cold here in Ohio, already. I can’t believe it! There is so much snow on the ground, which was fun the first day but now I am over it. Anyway Sister Horsley and I don’t have the car this week of course, and it is too icy to ride bikes so we have to walk. Which takes forever. So Sister Horsley and I were out walking for 2 hours in 18 degree weather! 18 DEGREES! We were dying. It is like arctic tundra here in Ohio!! No one was answering and we were really frustrated. This is the down side to missionary work haha. I was pretty warm thanks to all the awesome winter stuff my mom got me, but Sister Horsley was freezing. She thought her face had frost bite haha. I was laughing at her because I was cold, but not THAT cold. It was pretty funny:) Eventually we had Sister Hammond pick us up (our life saver) and she took us to her house and we sat by her fire place and thawed out. She offered hot chocolate but.. I am staying strong for Wes:) We taught him the law of tithing and fasting and he has no problem with it:) So we are super excited for him!:)

We helped plan a young women’s activity where the girls could invite non-members friend. They did it not even realizing that they were being missionaries themselves by inviting a nonmember to a church activity! We did a murder mystery dinner:) It was so adorable! All the girls dressed up, and the moment they were in character they all suddenly got British accents. We were the servers and they bossed us around like none other haha they loved it! We had a great turn out:) It was super fun!:)

Thursday was the longest day of my whole mission.. 2^nd longest of Sister Horsley’s so that is saying something haha. We were outside walking from 12:30-6:30 in 25 degree weather. Doesn’t that sound fun? We had a lot of people to visit but no one answered so we were literally walking around with no one to talk to. By the end of it I couldn’t feel my legs. Sister Horsley and I were exhausted, not to mention that we were fasting for a Sister in our mission. Walking+fasting= not a happy Sister Slater haha. It was really hard and long and cold but Sister Horsley and I just kept thinking of the pioneers and what they went through and how it was a million times worse! So we knew we could do it. It was really hard though.. being on our feet 6 hours straight but hey! I knew what I was signing up for right? I chose to be here doing this!:) We hope the Elders really enjoyed the car haha. Yeah.. we are so sore we still aren’t able to walk normal haha.

Wes was interviewed for his baptism this week!:) He passed with flying colors:) He was so nervous though haha. We tried to freak him out a little:) So he is all set to be baptized November 29^th!:) He is sooo excited! Oh my goodness he is doing so well with all the commandments and he is just so ready:) He said this is the best decision he has ever made in his life! We had a lesson with him on the priesthood and his face just lit up! He was beaming when we told him he gets the priesthood soon after he is baptized. He feels so honored to be able to hold that same power Jesus Christ held. It is just so exciting! Ah and at church on Sunday Wes said he had an AMAZING experience. He said he went to church with a question in mind that he wanted to for sure know if this church was true. He said as he sat in sacrament he felt at home. He felt like this is where he needed to be, and he realized that was the answer to his question, that was an answer from Heavenly Father. The church was his home, and he felt like he was finally home by being baptized into it! He has been praying and praying and waiting for answer, and he finally got it in church. He is so excited to be baptized! He is also so excited to do baptisms in the temple. His father passed away 5 years ago and he just cannot wait to get to the temple so he can baptize his dad. That will just be so special. Sister Horsley and I wish we could be there.

Overall, it has been a crazy and long week of walking, and being cold. Oh! On Saturday morning the roads were pure ice… freezing rain. It happens here, a lot. I will get used to it haha. But the snow is all melted now, it looks like it never even snowed.. welcome to Ohio haha. But I love it here so much! I am so grateful to be here! Remember to think of all you are thankful for this week, and remember to be thankful for this gospel because without it we wouldn’t have true joy:) LOVE YOU!!