Sister Allie Slater: Holidays, Baptisms,and Buckeye Games

P-Day we had zone fun day! It is always a blast:) We played minute to win it games and we also played mafia. Oh goodness, the Elders got so into it haha. I have never seen a more intense game. It was hilarious! Not sure if mafia is “mission appropriate” but whatever haha:) It was still fun:)

So we are teaching this woman, Donna. She is so awesome and nice! Her husband is less active and we asked her if we could practice teach on her. We watched the Prophet of the Restoration with her and she loved it! But, she was just so confused why people were so against Joseph Smith, she wants to do more research online.. haha. That is never good. We told her 90% of what’s online about Joseph is not true, but she said she needs more than one source haha. We are worried. Hopefully she won’t believe all the crazy things about Joseph Smith that is online!

We had a lesson with Wes and he is just so amazing! He bought a journal so he can start writing down all events that happens. Like the incredible experience he had in church, and him telling his mom he is getting baptized. He told us how grateful he is for us! But really, I am grateful for him. Wes has shown me what missionary work is about, and has made me so excited about it! I am grateful I got to find him and teach him, it has been such a blessing in these first tough 3 months in the mission field. He is so excited to be baptized!

Alright everyone, get ready to #sharethegift. For specialized training we talked all about the new Mormon message “He is the Gift”. The church is trying to make this HUGE! They have bought advertisement in Times Square for it, and space on YouTube for it to show, and they are also counting on us. If you haven’t watched it please go watch it! It is so incredible. It really helps us remember what Christmas is about. He is the first gift of Christmas, He is the reason for the season, He is Christmas. It is crazy because being here on the mission for this time of year makes Christmas mean even more. If Christ was never born, He would have never atoned for our sins, and we couldn’t return to Him and Heavenly Father. His birth was so significant, and that is what Christmas is about! So, go on all your social media and share the video with #sharethegift. Help others remember what Christmas is about!:) Also, in your December ensign there is 9 pass along cards. I dare all of you to pass all of those out:) Haha come on you can do it! I believe in you!:) But really, a lot of people should see this video because it is AMAZING!!!:)

IT’S THANKSGIVING!!:) What a fun holiday!:) Unfortunately Sister Horsley was really sick this day.. so a lot of the day I was just chillin’ by myself jamming out to Christmas music, and dancing around. Haha hey I enjoyed myself:) Actually it was nice having some alone time.. that is very rare in the mission field. I treasure my alone time:) But we did go to Thanksgiving dinner with the George’s! It was sooo delicious! Ha it is funny though cause their family is crazy and loud, just like mine, I felt right at home:) Sister Horsley though didn’t know what to do in the situation! Haha it was great. Thanksgiving is a really fun holiday! I had a good day, really though I mainly jammed out to music and ate food, but what more could you need?:) I hope everyone had a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!:)

AHH!! WES’S BAPTISM!! Don’t even get me started:) it was FANTASTIC! We had to be there pretty early to set up and stuff and I was just so so excited. My first baptism! And I taught him the whole entire time! AH! It is such a miracle! This is the first baptism in this area in a year, so the ward was excited too:) Wes came and was just beaming, he was so excited and ready. We started to program and Sister Flanders, Brother Hsu, and Sister Brophey all said wonderful talks for Wes and he really appreciated it and the spirit was so strong! Then, Wes left to get in the font! AHHH! I cannot explain to you the feeling I felt when Wes went into the water and got into position to be baptized. I, Sister Slater, helped one of Heavenly Father’s children to get on the path to get back to him. I helped my brother to be able to live in celestial glory with God. When Brother Flanders said the prayer and Wes was baptized the spirit was so strong. Wes was clean! Wes followed the example of Jesus Christ, and now if he endures to the end, he can be blessed immensely. I just feel so grateful to be a part of bringing Wes unto Christ. Wes then bore his testimony, and it was so incredible. He talked about how he has never known God, that he didn’t even know God was there. But after his experience in church he knows Heavenly Father is there, and loves him, he knows this church is true, and he knows Joseph Smith is a prophet. He said after his experience of feeling so at home in this church, that it is easy for him to know all these things are true because this is where he belongs! When he started to cry, that is when I cried. He will be an amazing member. I cannot wait to see who he becomes in this church. His testimony is so strong, and he cannot wait to get to the temple. Oh, the OSU, Michigan game was also Saturday. People are CRAZY here! They shut down stores for this event haha. And they cross the M out of like everything. We cannot represent Michigan in any way here in Ohio ha. It was funny cause Wes is a HUGE OSU football fan and he was like “yup, we use no m’s today.” And I look at him and I go “You are MorMon. You are a MeMber of the MorMon church.” He got a good laugh out of that one:) Goo Buckeyes! They won of course:)

On Sunday Wes was confirmed:) Brother Hammond gave a beautiful blessing. I asked Wes how he felt after and he said he felt so amazing. How amazing are blessings? The words come straight from Heavenly Father, it is what he wants us to hear. Ah! I love the priesthood. We were supposed to sing in church but Sister Horsley is REALLY sick:( I feel so bad! So we just went to see Wes be confirmed then left, and I got to drive. I haven’t driven in like 3 months. To be honest I was really scared, haha especially because I am driving the mission car, which is a 2014 Toyota Corolla. But no worries we made is safe:) We went back to the apartment and Sister Horsley slept all day.. and I was once again left alone to do my own thing haha but, the mission home had an open house that night and we got to go with Wes and Sister Johnson to that!:) Sister Johnson is a recent convert and she is the COOLEST! You will hear more stories about her:) Man, there were so many people there but I got to see some MTC buddies! Sistser Currier, Elder Roper, Elder Blanchard, and Sister Bradford! I have missed them! It is funny cause we all just huddle together and hang out and talk. We all miss the MTC where we got to be with each other all the time.. it is crazy how close we got in two weeks! I loved the MTC, and the lifelong friendships I made:) But anyway Sister Daines made so much good food for the open house, and we watched a segment from Meet the Mormons:) We watched the missionary mom one.. which always makes me cry. It makes me think of my mom and how I felt when I left. It is so good though, Wes enjoyed it:) Wes said he was happier today than he has been in a long while:) I am just so happy for him! AH! He is a member! What?! I love it:) He is excited to get a recommend to do baptisms!

This week has been a good week!:) And now the Christmas season is here!:) Remember last week when I sent you pictures with all the snow? Yeah well, it has been in like the 50’s here. The weather here is nuts! But anyway, I hope you all of a good week! I love you sooo much!